dgsmith

I have the memories of upgrading our CC3 network to CC4 back when it first came out and everything that came afterwards.. i'll pay you to take those from me! Most (perhaps all, or anything meaningful) of our remaining CC4 relics I removed from my working quarters in the summer, having held on to them for no apparent reason over the years!

The cameras being internal show little signs of dust accumulation, no more than any others anyway. Some have been moved over the years which in turn has meant a cleaning of some description. I am sure part of it could be that newer cameras of a similarly advertised specification have just got better in recent years to produce a better quality but I didn't think the difference could be quite so noticeable.

A fair few of our internal IP network cameras have been in situ for a good number of years (2009-2012 are among the oldest, 1 or 2 slightly older) and despite at the time being 2-3MP and from memory fairly good quality, these days the quality "seems" to have reduced, despite the settings being unchanged. Compared to our newer hikvision cameras of similar or even slightly lesser megapixel quality, there is a clear difference. Can the lens in these units degrade over time to output an inferior image even if the settings are broadly the same as when new? I have no comparison of the output from 10+ years ago so can't really be sure if it's just the newer kit is better at the same megapixel quality or if quality is "lost" over time. Our older cameras are mostly ACTi and Axis.

Thanks. I should have said that it's chromebooks that we use with students, hence the need to have it as browser-level rather than OS level. Colorveil looks good but seems to be OS based, limited to Windows?

Hi, I have been asked to allow the chrome store "color overlay" extension, but the reviews on it give me pause, especially considering not one actually rates it favourably. I am a little surprised there isn't something more native unless I am overlooking it. I just wanted to check if anyone else is using this extension successfully or an alternative that works as expected? I am always a bit weary about allowing user-generated chrome extensions and even more so when others who have used it don't actually have anything good to say!

Hi, we have 2 rather old Sennheiser g2 lapel mics, circa 2006. The transmitters are still ok but one mic is very crackly now, possibly the connection. I am wondering if I can try and do a bit of a fudge with the connection, but we also have some cheaper brand transmitters with headsets where the option of lapels would be handy. What we can't afford is sennheiser branded replacement lapels @ £90+. I see many "budget" options between £10-£20 but without buying them to see, it's not easy to know how much of a quality compromise these budget ones are. Does anyone have any considerably cheaper than sennheiser alternatives that would still be a sound (and build) quality step up to the really cheap ones without being in that premium price bracket? I have seen something like this on ebay which visually compares similar to the premium stuff at a fair price, but I appreciate there is a lot more than just visual appearance. What should we be paying the most attention to when considering replacements?

Depends on stock levels at the time the claim is made. One time I got lucky and they swapped a 2510 for a 2530 as the wait time on a refurb 2510 would have been outside the SLA, though usually as you say, it's like-for-like, not brand new. I have perhaps 2 or 3 26x0 switches in storage for about 2 years, not booted in that time but wouldn't have expected they may not, so I might check these just in case, as they are the emergency swap-out stock!

Thanks for the heads up, glad it is affecting many sites too (I thought we had a really unique issue for a while)! Will monitor updates on the other thread.

I have been alerted to a rather peculiar issue with a department's google drive, whereby the department head can see all folders and docs in their drive, but the staff can only see a few (fairly random). Initially they thought they had been deleted and recreated, only to reappear "randomly". I since found out the reappearing is when the department head loaded up either the folder or file, as it would then be visible for the others again. Some files and folders are owned by the individual subject teachers, not necessarily all by the department head. Similarly, some of the vanishing ones were created by the teacher who then loses visibility. Some of the other affected teachers have the same role assigned (manager), others are a content manager. I went through with the subject lead, asking them to load a number of folders up and when checking with other teachers, they were then back. This isn't a fool-proof strategy and some may be missed, but more importantly, I still have no idea what caused it, or if it may reoccur. Has anyone else come across this rather odd phenomenon before?

Traditional is best, chocolate chip!

I think the less powered ones tend to also be more cost effective, but I appreciate that decent ones can be higher powered and shifting a fair amount of air without being noisy. Hadn't considered 48V fans, assuming they can be fed comfortably from 24V supply! No suggestion of connecting in serial, as each already has its own supply. This is a projector enclosure though, not a projector

It's very likely, as I remember it being installed in 2006 so it's done a fair service!

I am aware that a lower wattage will invariably decrease the air throughput (CFM) however with two of these beasts operating in a room which is not always smokey (in fact, not often smokey) then I think we could easily get by with lower air throughput. I feel the fact we even have this enclosure is a slight luxury, as some schools may just have projectors without any protection in cookery rooms? If I understand right, I can get a lower MA rated fan than the current ones as they will only draw the amount of amps they need, even if the supply can do more? The age of the enclosure means it may not be economical to overspend on this so looking for a cost effective option is desirable (probably something like https://www.amazon.co.uk/GDSTIME-Cooling-Brushless-Airflow-Radiator/dp/B087FG4QPF).

Hi, closer inspection seems to suggest that the power board is only rated at 24V DC and doesn't suggest a variable voltage, so we may well be limited to 24W fans. They are a fair size (120mm in each direction) but I think we could get by even if they were half the power. Would it be easier to find fans the same size/voltage but a lower amp (like 140ma or lower)? They seem fairly simple fans, just two cables each for the power lines and nothing else.

In our food tech room, we have a Mitsubishi CEP3 projector enclosure, fully ventilated but very loud! It's been in since around 2006 and the teacher says the fans are now unbearably loud (doesn't help that the maintenance on it since then has been nil). I can see from the two fans inside that they are each 24V rated @ 210mA for 5W total per fan, wired separately. The fans are currently EMBPAPST 4414F - basically this: https://www.buyqual.com/ebmpapst-4414f-24v-210ma-5w-2wires-cooling-fan.html I see that is shows a variable voltage on the fan of 12-28V, so does this imply that it can be replaced with a fan needing half the voltage, or just that it will run from a 12V supply as well? I think the current setup is overkill and while the chassis is quite old, it's not that easy to find something else (or cheap) and it is fine for its purpose, less the noise from the fans. Alternatively, would we be better finding fans with less amperage but same voltage if this means slowing them down a little (i.e. less noisy)?

Thanks all. I have seen that smarty and asda mobile have the cheapest 30-day pack options that you can flexibility renew/not renew (up to a cut off point) which I think is better than PAYG (especially when most PAYG options now are averaging 10p/MB, so 60MB is then the same as getting a £6 monthly pack of several GB). I think the days of topping up and it lasting for several months on very light use, like with three's old 3-2-1 are a thing of the past!

The ad-hoc nature of the requirement is that they may not need it for 2-3 months at a time, so just want something as-and-when, otherwise we may as well go pay monthly.

Hi, I have been asked to see about getting a SIM card that we can use in a dongle so that staff can make visits outside of school but still have access to the internet. There is no appetite for a contract as it would be ad-hoc but the PAYG data rates don't seem as attractive as they used to (i.e. three 3-2-1 disappeared last year). I have looked at the options out there and it seems getting monthly "packs" are better value than simply paying as you go, but quite a few say they last for a "calendar month", which implies that buying a pack on 28th month gives you just 2-3 days before another top-up is needed? Just wondering if anyone else has something similar in place who could suggest a viable provider. I have considered 30-day pay monthly too, like smarty, but I think that would need cancelling after each billing period (rather than just paying once and know it'll last 30 days until you want to renew).

Would this form the basis for assuming eligibility is there from day 1 and treating any such students as such? If that is the case, is there still an expectation on them to apply formally and make it official, it would the onus in this instance be on the school? This doc is from >4 years ago however I'd hope that fundamentally nothing has changed in this regard.

Hi, we received our first Ukrainian refugee this week and the question about lunch provision was raised but without any real clear answer. We fall under Lancs County Council and their website suggests that parents should apply through the usual channels and will only have FSM if they have an eligible benefit (which was reiterated when our finance officer called them). Yet, I can see various other council websites stating that Ukrainian refugee children of all ages get FSM automatically, and that schools should treat them as having the entitlement from day 1, making a note of usage and retrospectively declaring it. Surely this should be standardised nationally and not differing dependant upon which region of the country a child is in? Does anyone have any more understanding about this or looked into it themselves? The majority of councils do seem to have taken the stance of "assume FSM from day 1, sort out making it official later".

We went with wave9 about 2 years ago, which I admit to being a bit sceptical about at first, however I can't really say we have had any issues. All the trust is now on wave9 with sophos boxes and I am glad my initial hesitancy was unnecessary. Good product, good support, good pricing.

Thanks all. We have a number of chromebooks in fixed trolleys too, so another option is we get some dual-USB socketed plugs like above and free up the actual chargers in there presently. 45W seems to be the standard however I guess if something is being charged overnight then even at ~25W it probably isn't noticeable. As we roll out more and more chromebooks each year, the need is only going to increase!

We've recently had an increase in students who have "lost" their chromebook charger, or were it has failed out of warranty. I try and dissuade them from picking up cheap ones from common auction websites or the like, especially if it's "cheap" from a land far, far away without any quality assurance. In some cases, the chromebooks were free DfE ones so we either retrieve the chromebook without a charger or have to use one from another spare. Does anyone have any recommendations as to a good priced reputable option for these, even if it is the more portable approach of a separate USB-C cable and USB wall charger (higher powered variant)? Quite a few students it seem use their mobile phone charger, but don't always realise that a chromebook will charge slower on these.

According to the apple support page on pro x 10.7.3 (latest version, that we're using), it still implies that the pdf export button is inside the print dialog, but while I can see what it should look like from screenshots, I am not seeing it on our setup.

Hi, we have just rolled out a bunch of new Macs but the Music teacher has noted that the print to pdf button is not showing up within the score editor. Although the machines are jamf managed, it was (still is) there when logging in to an older device, but I am unsure how to troubleshoot as both Logic and Apple are not within my comfort zone! Is there some simple reason why the pdf print button would be missing? This seems to be consistent on different machines, so I assume there must be config somewhere. Thanks.