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HELP !!!!!!
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Got a bit of a problem, I have to confirm that I
actually have a GCE in Geography, don't laugh, problem is I lost said
certificate of proof years ago, I can get a statement of fact but I need
to know who the examining board were, can anyone remember ? I think it
may have been Oxford Uni.
Thanks Stu
Mar. 2, 2010
(Edited Mar. 7, 2010)
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I had a G.E.C. radio at school .. does that help Stu?
Mar. 2, 2010
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NO!! it don't Williams! probably more use though. ha ha
Mar. 2, 2010
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I think these people have probably got records of your
qualifications Stu, they can issue a copy document http://www.ocr.org.uk/learners/lost_certs/index.html#nogoor
more probably this organisation hold your records, they will not issue a
new certificate unless it is backed up by an insurance claim and crime
number for theft or fire, loss is not a reason to issue a new one but
they will issue a statement to your employer http://web.aqa.org.uk/admin/p_records.phpSouth East/South West Regional Examinations Board East Sussex, Kent, Surrey, London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Exeter, Somerset and Wiltshire AQA Guildford Tel: 01483 506 506
Mar. 2, 2010
(Edited Mar. 2, 2010)
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Thanks Tony, at least someone's serious. I've got
AQA's stuff inc. an online application form, as you say they can provide
a statement of fact which, apparently, is as good as a
certificate, but at a cost, still needs must.
Thanks again Stu
Mar. 2, 2010
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Only problem is that they will only issue it to your
future ? employer, I know that it wont really effect you but if a
younger person applied for a statement its possible that they would have
to go through the whole thing again if they changed jobs and its not
cheap by the looks of some things on their website.
Mar. 2, 2010
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Just in case no one else has the courage.
Stu,
please forgive me but ( given you age etc ) I was wondering what you
want evidence of your GCE for? Or is that a too indelicate question to
ask?
Rather touching nonetheless
Mar. 2, 2010
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Oh by the way Bill, have you still got it and if so dos it still work, unlike some of us.
Mar. 2, 2010
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No Chris, not too indelicate, I was invited to
apply for a job last year which required Maths and English at GCSE O
level' I stated at the time that I only had Geography, no problem passed
all the interview requirements, had to do an exam of spelling and
grammer, was the only one who completed task and scored 84%, and
subsequently got the job. Since had to do two City and Guilds, with
passes of 87 & 97%, but have now been asked to prove qualifications,
all down to someone else who blagged their academic qualifications, so
they're having a crackdown. Trouble is I haven't seen my certificate for
+ 40 years, so am having to organise a statement of proof.
Stu
Mar. 2, 2010
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You're right in your first post Stu, I'm pretty sure it was Oxford Uni.
Rich
Mar. 2, 2010
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Mar. 2, 2010
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Tony,
Regretably the small 3" x 4" G.E.C transistor in its little leather
case did not survive the rigours of adolescence .. but there is good
news; .. A larger Sobell, (aka G.E.C) I bought with my first weeks wages
from the co-op at Shearns in the Oval has (minus the screw-on back).
Haven`t switched it on in ages, it`s in the loft. Has some nice big
juicy AF117? transistors inside. Runs on 4 x A.A. battereies, has Long,
M.W. and S.W. bands only.
Another radio, (Hacker Sovereign, that uses 2 x big PP6 batteries,
with F.M. and a 8"x 6" speaker) I bought in 1968 at Ryland Huntley, Old
Bond St. Bath (worked there when I was 15, bought it in 1968 aged
20) is still working o.k. in my work-room. I have a spare, that I
bought at a boot sale in the 80`s tucked away safely under wraps.
I also have a Eagle microphone, and a pair of full-range Eagle
8" speakers (with horn tweeters & crossovers all from
c.1963) somewhere in the loft. I don`t however have the crystal
set in the matchbox that a few of us made while at school. Still,
we must move on .. shame.
Stu, I`m glad Tony & Rich managed to help out with the
serious stuff (I`m not too good at that these days .. ha ha). I`m still
in two minds about the reunion. Carole is not against the idea,
especially when I said we could stop overnight after getting merry. I`m
off to browse the Web, and have a look on Wikipedia before retiring for
the night. Catch you guys later maybe....
Mar. 2, 2010
(Edited Mar. 2, 2010)
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Hi All.
Why are you in two minds about the reunion Bill, sounds like it'll
be a goodish sort of bash! You must use your persuesive powers on
Carole, if necessary promise trinkets.
All this talk about old transistor radios brings back some happy
memories. In the 1960s I was working on PA systems quite a lot, but
still running on valves, some of the earlier ones were still using 807s
with 500V on the anodes (which was the top cap), used to catch out the
unwary, or just plain dumb, occasionally. The later amps were all KT66,
KT77 and KT88s in parallel push pull, a much safer option, but not
nearly as reliable. Oh by the way the earlier ones also had 'Soft'
mercury vapour rectifier valves, should see them glow when they were
being driven hard. Where was health and safety in those days?
Happy days.
Sticky.
PS Yes Stu, it was Oxford University as the examining body for our GCE exams.
Mar. 2, 2010
(Edited Mar. 2, 2010)
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Hello John,
Quad 50e`s come to mind when you mentioned the "KT" range of
pentode valves. Got a feeling they used EY51 rectifiers. Pre-amp stage
was ECC83 I think (double triode). 100v line transformers were quite the
norm as well in those days. Lowther, Goodmans, Wharfdale, Stenorian
speakers (to name a few) were prevelant. Early model speaker units had a
spiral paxoline suspension arrangement, it was not uncommon to have to
re-centre the voice coil units after much abuse at bass frequencies.
I expect you will recall that in the late 50`s and early 60`s that
the best "Hi-fi" cabinets used to be sand, filled twin walled stiffened
ply, corner reflex units with tuned bass porting. 3000 cu.in. cabinet
design was typical domestic dimensions for 8" bass units.
Horse-hair absorbency lining was used to assist damping. Paper cones
were popular, but bextrene (doped) cones were becoming favourites
(humidity problems with earlier paper construction) . Trebax made a
wicked range of horn tweeters in those days too.
Look at the changes in technology today John, multiple small wide
range drivers appear to be the norm. The bass range from these
(relatively tiny) speakers is amazing. I have a digital piano with 8
small drivers, and the bass is unbelivable. I use a pair of modified
Teak Spendor BC1 monitors in the lounge, and modified medium
size Warfdales in the workroom. Well, done my bit for today to
bore the majority about sound .. ha ha
Mar. 3, 2010
(Edited Mar. 3, 2010)
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Prompted by your request for help Stuart I have dug
up my old papers. Spurred on by the faint memory that I did in fact get
some GCEs and hey presto I have found the certificates to prove it. The
certs were indeed awarded by the University of Oxford so I guess that
is a reasonable place to start to get copies. Hope this is helpful.
Ian T
Mar. 3, 2010
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I used to have a pair of BC1's, Bill and they were a
revelation when I first heard them. They are still in action in my
Brother in laws home. With regards to Valves I regularly turn to
my Quad II's for a bit of warmth (in all senses) from the
KT66's....athough I also have an Affordable Valve Co KT88 powered
integrated amp which sounds fabulous and also warm the room very well.
I
built a pair of "folded horn enclosures" designed bt John Crabbe and
with Wharfedale units. They sounded................dreadful!!!!
Until I inserted, in a kind of medical proceedure, a mass of Dr Baileys
long fibre wool up their fundaments....then OK until aforementioned B in
law destroyed them at a party with an underpowered amp.
Viva olldenn technology.
Mar. 3, 2010
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Hi all.
Nice to know that you are still a 'valve' man Chris, what does Parrotty make of that?
Yes, Bill, on all PA the 100V line transformer was the norm and in
the days of KT 66 etc the pre-amps and phase splitters were usually
ECC83s, never much trouble in spite of their diminutive (comparitively)
size. Earlier amps used 6SN7GTs. Used to have trouble with output
stages mostly, cathode decoupling caps exploding and spilling their
contents all over the underside of the chassis, and short valve life.
Bad design initially, insufficient neg bias and valves operating class
AB driven (partly) continuously. Lower bias voltage so that valves moved
towards class B operation cured the problem completely without any
deterioration in performance.
I tried it on one job with complete success, told my boss and he
didn't believe me! However, head office engineering came out with a mod
sheet shortly after, so I guess he passed it on (And probably claimed
all the credit) but who cares, it worked.
In the early days of my apprenticeship I used to work around the
Bristol and Swindon areas sometimes, and used to try to pair up with an
old boy called Win Shepperd he was an absolute wizard with amps and he
would take the time to explain the principals and theory behind the
operation of all the main features. I owed him a great deal for all
the tuition and encouragement he gave me.
Enough of the boring stuff already!
Have to go now, back to insanity soon.
Have fun.
Sticky.
Mar. 3, 2010
(Edited Mar. 3, 2010)
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Thanks Ian, and every one else, matter now on hold
may not be as urgent as once believed, personally I can't see what
possible bearing having a GCE in Geograph has on my job, I've only got
to be able to find my way between Bideford, Torrington, Holsworthy,
Hartland and Clovelly, and if any of you don't know where those are I
wouldn't worry, you haven't missed much.
Spent much of this week preparing my new office for the slipway,
the caravan's been replaced Tony, it finally died of metal fatigue,
(chassis rotted, and all the seats collapsed), so I've got a new
portakabin, well new to me that is, the director of Operational Services
reckons I'm the only person on the council who has a council provided
summerhouse, so I've put in a request for some decking and a barbecue.
Stu
Mar. 5, 2010
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What date`s the party then Stu?
Mar. 5, 2010
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Francis,
I do hope you and Carole can come to the reunion. In all
seriousness you've done more to get this site going ( and the one
before) than any one. Anth has also been a stalwart and I'm sure that
he, Stu and myself, on behalf of everyone else would be more than
pleased to meet up for a few bevvies !!! So,
to get down to the nitty gritty............Get yer ass to the reunion, Williams !!!!!!
Rich
PS I avoid reunions like the plague, but I just feel it could be a great night !
Mar. 5, 2010
(Edited Mar. 5, 2010)
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