I’m using a Raspberry Pi as a video player as described in my other blogs. Obviously, you need some sort of remote for a video player, so I bought a Logitech K400 Plus for this. It is a small general-purpose wireless keyboard with a built-in trackpad and comes with a wireless plug-in USB receiver that you can put into any of the Pi’s USB ports. It is a plug-and-play device that was immediately recognised by the Pi without requiring installation software.
I can recommend it as a general purpose keyboard for the Pi. It is still available from UK sellers for less than £30.
I blogged about getting a Raspberry Pi 3B+ to work as a video and photo player back in 2017. Recently, I found all the connectors and peripherals, fired it up and it worked after a fashion, using OMXplayer and VLC as video front ends, but it struggled: the video was fuzzy and kept freezing.
I then spent a lot of time making various changes to the settings according to on-line advice. These made little difference and, perhaps wrongly, I concluded that more recent updates to the video player software were probably not compatible with the Pi 3. Rather than struggling on, I decided to upgrade to the latest Pi 5. Unfortunately, this took a lot of time and was not immediately successful.
To save time for anyone wanting a quick solution, after much struggling it dawned on me that the problem is at one and the same time very simple and very obscure. It was the screen resolution!
HDMI Resolution Only
The Pi 5 boasts support for HDMI and 4K screen resolutions, but NOT for intermediate values. I use a computer monitor which has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200. If you plug the HDMI output of the Pi into the monitor, the Pi detects this and sets up the display resolution correspondingly. However, the video player software can’t manage that resolution properly. The simple answer is to set the display resolution to the HDMI value of 1920 x 1080 and everything works brilliantly! On my monitor, everything is slightly stretched vertically, but not unacceptably, whilst on the telly which has HDMI resolution, it is perfect!
Overview of the Pi 5
I bought the 2 GB version of the Pi 5 and immediately realised some serious differences from the Pi 3B+.
The USB ports are the same as the Pi 3, although 2 of them are USB 3 high-speed ports: but the main output is two micro HDMI sockets.
The audio output jack has been replaced by two camera/ DISP headers. This means that audio out is via the HDMI, a sound card connected via a USB port or a ‘HAT’.
Of course, this means that a PI 3 case won’t allow access to the ports.
Other differences
You need:
a new power supply that can supply up to 5 A at 5 V via a USB-C connector. I bought the standard Pi power supply;
a micro-HDMI cable to use the video out;
a new case with suitable apertures and probably a cooling fan:
the case must accommodate my 2.5 inch hard disk: I had to search a long way to find a suitable case.
Setting up
I had bought and inserted into the slot a micro-SD card with the Pi OS installed,
I connected the video to a monitor and
I connected a wired keyboard and mouse to the USB ports of the machine.
I have some USB powered ‘Razer’ headphones that I plugged into the other spare USB port: these self-installed and worked immediately.
I then powered on. The first thing it did was to ask me set up a new user name and password and to connect to wifi, which I did.
It then updated all the software. This took around five minutes to download and install automatically. It then asked me to launch the desktop. It told me I was connected to wifi with the IP address 192.168.1.162
Installing video player software
The terminal icon was in the taskbar. so I opened this and typed sudo apt-get install vlc
This proceeded smoothly and then I was told to remove some unwanted apps, using sudo apt autoremove
I also installed kodi with sudo apt install kodi
I have a usb-stick
Unfortunately, it was no better than on the Pi 3, which was a huge disappointment. I read that when a Raspberry Pi 5 experiences video freezes while the audio continues, it is typically due to the CPU struggling with software-based decoding of high-resolution or unsupported codecs. Unlike previous models, the Pi 5 lacks a dedicated hardware decoder for many common formats like VP9 (used by YouTube) and AV1, forcing the CPU to do the heavy lifting.This is rather unexpected: I would have thought that video processing was a big application for the Pi, but it is clear that industrial users want other things and I guess they are the big-spending market for the device, so they will have a big influence.
The trouble is, the manufacturers emphasize the new features of a device and tend not to say what has been sacrificed in the upgrade, such as the loss of the audio output socket, and some hardware video decoding.
However, it turns out that the Pi 5 has plenty of power for software decoding. The actual problem is that software decoding is designed for resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 (full HD) whereas my monitor is 1920 x 1200. The Pi will try to output at that resolution but this causes problems with the decoder. I set the display resolution down to 1920 x 1080 in the Pi’s screen settings and this seems to have fixed the issue. I can’t be 100 % sure as I haven’t tried every video, but soo far, so good!
I’ve just read in today’s Financial Times (11th April 2026) that ‘Eight top AI models all lost money betting on Football Matches.’
Apparently Claude Opus 4.6 made an average loss of 11 %, Grok 4.40 went bankrupt on one attempt and Gemini 3.1 Pro made a profit on one attempt but went bankrupt on another.
It’s April Fool’s Day, so a good time to review my progress with learning Morse.
I’ve been attending the Sutton and Cheam Radio Society’s regular Monday evening meetings, where a group of us are trying to improve our CW. Their shack is on top of Epsom Downs, in an excellent location with long uninterrupted views north and south. They’ve got a decent long wire dipole HF antenna and a couple of vertical VHF antennas. We have been able to hold QSOs with a large number of European stations.
IZ2UUF Morse Koch CW Android app
I realise that I need 20 wpm to be able to hold QSOs and I’m not getting there using LCWO, so I’ve just started to use IZ2UUF Morse Koch CW, which is an Android app.
I’m finding it excellent. You can select the number of characters (which build up in the same order as LCWO or its own order), the speed and the length of the test. It sends them on the phone both in Morse and letters on the screen. The nice thing is that it repeats each group three times, which is brilliant when you need to catch something subtle. After each group, it then speaks the characters, so you don’t need to look at the phone, which is good if you’re using headphones whilst walking, for example.
I think I’m making progress. I’m running it at 20 wpm since I do know at least 40 characters. My main problem at that speed is confusion between a character and its inverse, such as F and L or K and R.
Obviously at that speed you can’t think about each character, they just have to trigger the correct response. This is where the repetition is very helpful.
At present I’m using the free version, which has all the features I need right now. I’m thinking of upgrading to the PRO version so that I can do the simulated QSO exercises.
The author of this App is to be highly commended for what must be the best Morse app out there.
Storm Goretti on Thursday 8th January 2026 brought winds of 99 mph and left more than 200,000 home without power at its peak: some villages were without power for more than four days. The damage included many fallen trees and burst water mains, leaving over 30,000 properties without water.
An Ofcom report says that for outages of an hour, two thirds of the population would be able to make emergency calls using their mobile phones, but for outages of six hours the number would be ‘far smaller’ – but the actual number is redacted from the report. Few mobile masts have multi-hour batteries or generator capacity.
There is concern that in such circumstances, it would be difficult for emergency services to contact their own staff, as neither mobile phones nor radio can function for long on batteries.
Indeed, few people have battery-powered televisions (lap-tops and tablets mainly use wifi rather than GPRS for wireless comms), although many people will have battery-powered radios in their cars
So, the loss of battery-powered telephone exchanges has significantly reduced the resilience of our comms system in emergency situations.
When we had an extension on our kitchen, my partner Cari felt inspired to make a leaded-glass window to fit a window that looked over the bins and a fence. We asked the builder to install a plain non-opening double-glazed window in a white aluminium frame in that position. The frame had the inner rebate about 1cm deep and 95 by 75 cm height by width.
Traditional window-leading
The window was made using traditional leading (not copper foil). The coloured glass shapes that make up the pattern are each surrounded by lead H-shaped strips all designed to interlock and to fit into a rectangular H-frame about 1.5 cm smaller in height and width than the recess of the window where it is to be fitted. The glass pieces all held into the leadwork, which is then soldered together. The glass is sealed to the leadwork with window cement to keep it stiff and water-tight. Nevertheless, like anything made of glass, it must not be bent, otherwise the glass will crack.
We really had no idea how to fit this onto the existing window! Obviously we sought advice from the stained-glass tutor, but in the end we had to use our craft skills and YouTube!
A supplier of leaded-glass windows showed how they fitted a rather smaller window against a wood-framed window using double-sided tape. What? Then they sealed around it with mastic to fix it in place.
Materials
Double-Sided Sticky Tape
But they didn’t say what materials they used. Hence the purpose of this blog. After research, we settled on Scotch Fix Double-face Exterior Mounting Tape, 19 mm wide on 5 m rolls. This tape is black, very flexible and very sticky, on a plastic backing. We put this all round the face of the frame holding the existing double-window and since the tape is slightly wider than the face of the frame, we folded the edge over the frame towards the glass. This hid the white edges of the frame.
The leaded window has knobs of solder at each joint, so would not be able to make full contact all round the edge. Obviously we were worried that the adhesion may be inadequate, so we stuck double-sided tape onto the flat parts of the outer lead of the H-frame. Since the tape is about a millimetre thick, this ensured a much greater contact area.
Trial fitting
Leaded-glass Window
The tape is extremely sticky, so as soon as the new leadwork makes contact, it is immovable without tearing the adhesive.
This meant that we had to dry-test it before putting on the sticky tape, to check that the gap between the glass frame and the window-frame was correct, and to get some practice at how best to offer up the window. We were only going to get one chance to do this.
The gap was about 6 mm all round, so the measurements and making were excellent! Also the window wasn’t too heavy and yet it was stiff and strong enough to survive being lifted and tilted into place.
The bottom-edge gap
We realised that the secret of fitting it correctly was to ensure that the bottom-edge gap was correct and held firmly. We found a strip of 6 mm plywood that just fitted, and we rested this on the bottom edge of the rebate, with some small off-cuts underneath to hold it level. The double-sided tape grabbed the edge and kept it there.
Masking Tape
We then applied masking tape all round the outer face of the window and the frame, to protect them from the sealant we were going to use to seal the gap later.
Having made sure everything was spotlessly clean, we offered up the window, resting the bottom edge on the strip of plywood, then tilting the window vertical without touching the sticky tape. There was just room to get our fingers in. Then, checking that we had a 6 mm gap on each side and keeping it vertical, we slide the glass against the sticky tape on the window frame. It stuck immediately, and after checking the position again, we carefully pressed the lead frame against the sticky tape all the way round. It was firmly fixed.
Sealing the window in place
Now it was time to seal the lead frame in place. This is to prevent moisture and insects getting into the space behind the glass, although it does mean that it’s probably not possible to remove the window without damaging it.
CT-1 Mastic-Sealant-Adhesive
We used White CT-1 sealant-adhesive. This isn’t silicone and doesn’t use solvents. Moreover, it remains pliable, which is important for a window that will be subject to considerable temperature changes – this should mean that it allows for expansion but doesn’t shrink or crack over time. Interestingly, this product was recommended to us by our cleaning lady whose husband is a builder who uses this all the time.
After squeezing enough sealant to fill each of the edges, we smoothed it straight away. We used thin plastic gloves, wetted the gloved index finger with plain water and carefully ran it along each edge. As soon as this was done, we vary carefully removed the masking tape, taking care not to get any excess onto the frame or window. It’s important to do this immediately so that the sealant hasn’t started to skin over. It is very sticky and messy. We needed 1½ tubes of sealant.
CT-1 is fairly slow to cure so we left the plywood strip at the bottom for a couple of days until the adhesive had set. The reason is that when we did a test fitting, I removed the bottom support before putting in any sealant and over a period of days, the sticky tape stretched more at one side than the other, letting the window twist out of vertical. It was very slight, but my eagle-eyed partner was understandably most dissatisfied.
It is now quite magnificent and we couldn’t be happier with it.
I recently wrote about Community Resolution Orders not being a mere ‘slap on the wrist’ as has been touted and so I read with great interest about a woman by the name of Louise Gather who received this blot on her record without her even knowing about it!
She enjoyed foraging for wild food items and she had a particular interest in mushrooms. On a particular day in November 2024, she visited a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) called Bradgate Park where she had been told that a there were some rare ‘Magpie Inkcap’ mushrooms growing. She went and spoke to staff there and found the mushrooms. It seems that someone from Bradgate Park reported her car registration number to the police alleging that she had been seen collecting the mushrooms, which is illegal on an SSSI.
When the trust was asked why they hadn’t approached her at the time, they said she had a knife. The woman said she did have a knife in her foraging bag to cut mushrooms, but didn’t think she’d taken it out of the bag as she hadn’t collected anything on that occasion.
A policeman visited her house when she was not at home and spoke to her husband who signed a paper apparently to the effect that she would not return to the site. That seemed to be the end of the matter, but she wrote something on TikTok about this being excessive and she hadn’t picked any mushrooms that day. This got picked up by the the police force’s professional standards department and they found that the police officer who visited the woman’s home and spoke to her husband had entered the Community Resolution Order onto the woman’s police record.
The Police Force’s Professional Standards Department found that the policeman involved would have been sacked for gross misconduct had he not already resigned, because the ‘case could have caused the woman Significant Harm’.
‘She could ultimately have lost her job had the community resolution remained on her enhanced DBS checks.’
Because the correct procedure had not been followed (i.e. the officer hadn’t spoken to her directly and she hadn’t admitted the offence) the order was rescinded.
However, this is a salutary warning that a community resolution order is a lot more than ‘a slap on the wrist’ – it is an Admission of Guilt to a criminal offence, and in the words of the Police, ‘can cause significant harm.’
Moreover, it is not impossible for you to get one without knowing about it.
As a leader of bell-ringers in my local church, I’m required to have an enhanced DBS check: given the poor record of churches in respect of safeguarding, this is a necessary precaution. However, there has been some debate as to whether other ringers need to be checked, especially if they teach children or vulnerable adults.
Then, if someone should not have a 100 % clean sheet, what should be done about it? We will leave that decision to trained safeguarding officers.
However, the corollary is what sort of offences are revealed on an enhanced DBS check – and the answer is exceedingly complex. Whilst there are many obvious offences that will be shown (including some driving offences), and others that are deemed to be ‘expired’, it turns out that ‘Police Cautions’ and ‘Community Resolutions’ ARE revealed in an enhanced check, such as those required when you take a responsible post as a Bell Ringer.
Police Cautions and Community Resolutions not just slap on wrist
Now, people are told that ‘Police Cautions’ and ‘Community Resolutions’ do not result in a ‘Criminal Record’ and are no more than ‘a slap on the wrist’. This means that they quite often agree to this form of punishment as a way of avoiding court, even when they don’t feel they were in the wrong.
There was a recent case where a young man reported that he was assaulted by someone and he fought back. On the advice of a witness, he reported it to the police but was then accused of precipitating the assault. The police told him to accept a Community Resolution and in the absence of independent advice and with the prospect of facing court, he did so. BUT accepting a Police Caution or Community Resolution means admitting guilt. In this case, he had to admit he was guilty of affray, whereas the situation was more probably one of self-defence.
In the absence of advice, he didn’t realise any of this: it was only later that his father realised and following a complaint, the police withdrew the alleged offence.
The important point here is that the offender has admitted his guilt and this will show up in any future DBS check which could completely blight his future prospects. A Slap on the Wrist it certainly is not!
Live Facial Recognition
I’m also finding myself concerned about ‘Live Facial Recognition’ which is being used in my town. They say they’re only looking for criminals, but as part of that, they’re intending to start using the entire passport database, not just ‘wanted’ criminals.
I can’t imagine that the Police would reject the opportunity to use them on suspected shoplifters and other petty criminals too.
You’re Innocent but Guilty
I remember a QC (and part-time judge) to whom I was giving technical advice saying to me, ‘Just because you’re innocent, don’t imagine you won’t be found guilty’ and he then described situations where that had happened to his clients. In one case, the guilty ‘offender’ was no more than an innocent passer-by outside a pub when a brawl burst out onto the street. The police were already in attendance and arrested him for affray. He was found guilty by magistrates but was acquitted on appeal. What if he’d accepted a ‘Police Caution’?
AS of September 2025, OpenReach has 5,600 telephone exchanges, but only about 1,000 will be needed for ‘Fibre Broadband’ services.
So far, only three legacy exchanges have been closed as part of a pilot programme (Deddington, Ballyclare and Kenton Road) and the next 12 for closure have been announced. These are mainly along the Thames valley, with some in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Another 106 are listed for imminent closure and as far as I can tell, these spread out from these places. Some closures have been delayed due to active use. It has proved to be quite difficult to move some people, especially those using some body-worn alarms, onto fibre connections, partly because these need back up power during supply outages. Some non-BT providers have been fined for failing to ensure a smooth changeover.
Internet of Things (IoT)
I’m aware that in my locality, they have been upgrading all the traffic lights to use the GSM network to communicate with the central traffic control computers, presumably because the copper landlines are being decommissioned. This is proving quite disruptive, as workmen progress around the various pedestrian crossings and road junctions, using sometimes badly-programmed or faulty temporary lights to control traffic whilst they do the work.
This is especially annoying in the Epsom area, where the gas and water companies are also closing roads to do their work, and most recently, major excavations to instal HV cables from the grid sub-stations to boost the electricity supply network.
I don’t think this is all caused by a change-over to green technology – population growth and lifestyle changes, such as working from home, are also a factor.
Live Facial Recognition
But I’m also finding myself concerned about ‘Live Facial Recognition’ which is being used in my town. They say they’re only looking for criminals, but as part of that, they’re intending to start using the entire passport database, not just ‘wanted’ criminals.
I remember a QC (and part-time judge) to whom I was giving technical advice saying to me, ‘Just because you’re innocent, don’t imagine you won’t be found guilty’ and he then described situations where that had happened to his clients. In one case, the guilty ‘offender’ was no more than an innocent passer-by outside a pub when a brawl burst out onto the street. The police were already in attendance and arrested him for affray. He was found guilty by magistrates but was acquitted on appeal.
I came home to find a letter from Thames Water on my doormat to say that I can now ‘enjoy the benefits of a smart meter’ that they’ve fitted: I will get hourly readings of the water I’m using!
I remember getting smart electricity and gas meters fitted about ten years ago. The only thing I got from that was a tiff with my wife: I foolishly pointed out how much electricity the oven was using and her retort was ‘Well, do you want you dinner or not?!?’ The display was swiftly consigned to the back of the understairs cupboard. Maybe the spiders have found it useful?
So now, am I going to tell the Mrs not to flush the toilet or have a bath? Not likely!
Prostate Intrusion
And to get a reading of my water usage every hour? That will be more useful for them to detect when I take a leak, not whether I have got a leak!! No doubt some cocky person will do some research as to how smart meters can alert the medics to men with prostate problems. The national screening program they’ve been demanding!
Justification
They say that smart meters will enable them to save enough water to supply 5,500 houses. That doesn’t sound like much of a saving. Apparently there are around 3.8 million homes in London, so it will enable them to supply an additional 0.15 % of homes. And the cost of this? Over £50,000,000. They’d do better to fix the supply pipes. They’ve known about a major leak in a road nearby for over 2 months. The water is coming up through the sides of a filled-in trench that had been dug by the electricity people, so probably that weakened the ground around the water main, causing a joint to fail.
Hosepipe Bans
It’s obvious that there must be some other justification for spending this huge amount of money on replacing perfectly good meters. Probably we are going to have more hosepipe bans, and this will allow them see immediately if anyone is infringing them – they’ll just compare water usage in normal weather against water usage during drought, and whack you with a surcharge.
Water Butts
In case anyone thinks that I don’t care about saving water, you can see my blogs about how I’ve put in enough water butts to store almost 2 cubic metres (2,000 litres) of rain water. The only issue with them is that I need to drain them as the winter deepens, as they will split if the water freezes. This storage was enough to keep my important outdoor plants watered during the dry summer we have just experienced.
Underground storage
I had thought about getting an underground storage tank instead of a soakaway when I had extension built, but that all happened during the Covid lockdowns and it all got too difficult. Something that I regret.
What will we come to regret about smart water meters?
