Chris_Cook

Does the key or the lock have a number on it? It might be something like 92250 which you could get from amazon or a locksmith. Probably won't be that exact number though. If its the same type of lock as a filing cabinet it might be a 3 digit number which you can add 92 on the start of. Your site manager might also have a master key for filing cabinets which will let you get in. You can get these keys for about £5 last time I checked. CPC also do camlocks if you want to change it. Other options to access it are a big flat blade screwdriver, or get some lock picking tools. you should be able to rake one of these locks open pretty easily. There are a number of other common camlock keys like 1333. Can't remember them all, but Deviant Olam has some videos on youtube on this sort of thing. I think the video was in relation to American door entry systems, but I recognised most of the keys from work.

I recently got a neotec 2. Its not a bad helmet, but had a few things I wasn't so keen on compared to my old HJC (which is no longer available). The wind noise is quieter, but the external noise is more noticeable. Kind of hard to explain, but the ventilation is better designed to allow good airflow but keep the wind out. The pinlock insert technically can't be used at night as its slightly tinted (down to about 80% through transmission which is right on the legal limit for night use - I've not found an alternative for this and its not clear when you buy it. It is very good for bright light though. Just the right amount of tint without blocking your vision in the shade. The built in sun visor is also really good. The visor doesn't stay open like my old one - I used to be able to have it open just a finger width gap. But the ventilation on the helmet is actually quite good so that's not too bad, you have to just trust the helmet to do its thing. The good things are there are lots of padding options available to custom fit the helmet to your head shape. They are pricy though. It is a comfortable helmet and the cover over the chin strap helps that to not bite in. The cut-outs for your ears are also much more comfortable. There's good parts availability, but they are more expensive. Overall, it just takes a bit of getting used to. I'd always recommend going to a shop and trying different ones. They all have different head shapes and that makes a big difference. I had HJC before and they were good as well.

I tried this before and gave up. If I were doing it again, i'd connect a multimeter in continuity mode or maybe even try something with my picoscope and test the relay contacts with the door closed and opened and lock energised and de-energised. I think there are 2 options for monitored maglocks - one that reports the status of the electro-magnet, and one that senses the position of the door. I think many maglocks do the first, so your relay contacts won't change unless the lock is energised or de-energised. If I were to do another one, I'd probably get a plain alarm reed switch and keep it separate from the lock.

I think that projector is only 800x600 native resolution. Would you be better off replacing the whole thing? Something like an Epson EB-x49 would give much better image quality.

I believe foreign numbers can cause this issue as well, it doesn't like +44 etc on the beginning, or if the numbers are too long. You could do a sims report of all numbers and then dump it into a spreadsheet. Filter for any numbers not starting 0 or over a certain length.

I think many POE switches have built in options to shutdown ports and status LEDs on a schedule, Not sure I'd use that regularly though as you would essentially be doing an uncontrolled power off on a computer. You might also have issues with excessive log files being written to flash memory and causing wear issues. Probably less of an issue now than in the past. Most quality power supplies seem to outlast the useful life of a PC, so I wouldn't worry so much about that. With recent discussions on here I have been starting to think about ways we might be able to save energy on core infrastructure. As others have pointed out, its spending about 2/3rds of its energy doing nothing (probably more if you include holidays). CCTV and access control excluded of course. I think the best options are to use built in power management for things like wifi and phones (turning off screens, backlights and radios), and then maybe look at how many switch ports and printers etc are still required. I've re-jigged our main comms rack recently so that we don't have every port in the building patched in. The let me remove 2x 48 port switches and a 24. Also helps with UPS runtime. There's another couple of little cabs that only serve a few PCs each that I've got my eye on. Might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but has other benefits like reducing the mass of patch cables in the busier cabs and the number of devices to manage. I've also done some back-of-the-envelope calculations on the cost of running our desktop printers all the time (even in standby) and that surprised me. So that's something I want to look into reducing again over the next year or 2. Another option to maybe reconsider is the whole 1-2-1 laptop vs classroom PCs. If staff take the device with them, then its not going to be on all night. Plus its more likely to work through powercuts and you might reduce the need for printing if they take them to meetings.

I'd generally put an HDMI connection point in on these sort of installs - then any visiting speakers etc can plug their own device in. Most things will convert to hdmi. As for splitters, you need to look for one with HDCP copy protection, as you may find you can't play copyright movies etc. I think many of the more expensive ones have this now, and I'd probably avoid the bargain basement stuff anyway as you are likely to have issues. for your cables, I'd recommend the AOC (fibre optic) cables for this sort of length. They seem to give us fewer issues than the cat5 based solutions. 10m is the upper limit for copper hdmi cables.

It depends a lot on what you are running on your servers, and how much your employer values it being on. Assuming you servers have dual PSUs. You can have one PSU on a ups and another on the mains. This gives you protection against a single fault - loss of power, ups failure, disconnecting ups or psu for maintenance etc. You wouldn't be able to do two of those things. The ideal would be 2 UPS's plugged into separate mains supplies, and 1 PSU on each server on each ups. You could get an auto change over switch for anything with single psus like switches etc. If you bring in a separate feed from another dist board, then you need to be very careful that the earths are bonded correctly. It would be worth consulting an electrician who has done this before. You don't want you or your equipment becoming the link between the 2 earths. It would be worth investigating why the ups went onto battery. some newer UPS's with LCD screens can display this, or if you have the NMC it will be in the log. I'd recommend getting the NMC so you can do the safe shutdown and email someone when the power goes out. It might be you can adjust the sensitivity of it, if the voltage is within spec, but not what the UPS is expecting. I think most servers traditionally just ran both PSUs in parallel and probably used diodes to prevent one back-feeding into the other. On our last lot of Dell servers there was a bios option to set a primary PSU and switch over to the backup when needed. How much power that saves I'm not sure. There are more expensive solutions that can manage all of this, but are probably out of most schools budgets. One benefit of this might be to bind a server to each ups in a 2ups/2 server setup and increase your runtime a bit. If you are getting electrical work done, it might be worth seeing if the electricians can fit an SPD (Surge protection) in the board at the same time.

same here. Nothing wrong with xibo, but windows wasn't that reliable. Slides is much simpler and can be shared with more staff. Don't really have to touch chrome sign builder now. Even doing a new group of screens, I just tend to copy the JSON code from the last one. Unless you want to change the layout and have multiple slides or calendars on screen at once.

Net2 doesn't use all the bits from the serial number, and the other system may not either. The other issue is if you are using HID readers, or Paxton readers, as they can read back to front as well. Have you got the card IDs in hex format from papercut or AD? The hex number is usually complete, so you can do the conversion if you have that. But once the bits have been stripped you can't get them back. For our HID readers, its something like the least significant 55 bits from the hex number you need. You lose a byte and 1 bit or the left most hex character and part of the second one. When you reverse the number, you have to reverse the hex number, but in bytes or pairs - so A1B2C3D4 becomes D4C3B2A1 I have a google apps script that does the conversions for me in a google sheet, and I think salamander can pull them out of AD into Net2.

As above it depends a lot on how much is feeding into and hanging off your AD and the number of users + devices. I'd probably start with a trust relationship to allow logins between the schools. Then look at reviewing / documenting the structure, file + printer shares, group policy, account provisioning process etc. Having a clear idea of how want your overall domain to look when you are done is worth having written down. Once you have this, you can create checklists to make sure things don't get forgotten. When we did this a few years ago, we ended up making a new trust domain, setting up automated account creation with LGFL + other scripts, and then re-created the Group Policy and shares, share permissions, security groups etc, taking the opportunity to get rid of stale stuff. It took a while, but it was worth it to clean everything up and get things automated. The last thing we did was moving the PCs over (We might have done 1 site at a time). An advantage of doing a new domain is that you can test and develop without getting in the way of anyone, then you have 1 switch over say a holiday. It would be worth talking to your LA and or someone like Salamander to see if automation is the way forward at least for the accounts. Were we to do this again, I'd start looking at things like Azure or Google's windows support. I think hosting your domain in the cloud in some way is the way forward.

If its on its own circuit with a low value breaker like 6 amps, then it might be ok. If its on a ring main, then it needs a fused spur (probably switched) as the appliance flex is rated less that the ring main wiring and the circuit breaker. It should be labelled with where the isolator is at a minimum - in case it gets knocked off the wall etc. There are probably more suitable fans that could be fitted while they are there. Basically, wherever you reduce the diameter of wires and the current carrying capacity, you need a fuse or circuit breaker. I'd pass it on to the site or H&S manager and recommend they get an approved electrician in to look at it. It might be on some sort of old style lighting or clock socket but it doesn't look like it. It might slide or twist off, but don't undo the black bit. But if its outside of your training/expertise, then get some advice from a pro. -- As for what to test, its up to the organisation to do a risk assessment looking at the likelihood of damage and frequency of damage, as well as the class of equipment and built in protection like earthing. The HSE has an example table. All organisations are legally responsible for buildings, infrastructure and all work equipment and making sure its safe or dealt with. Someone qualified needs to determine whether that's a user pre-use visual inspection, regular formal visual inspection, PAT test, or fixed wiring test, or specific tests for say machinery like lifts, DT equipment etc. There's also issues with things like IWBs, stage light rigs and whether they are securely fixed to walls, ceilings etc. The legalities are mostly covered by PUWER (Provision and use of work equipment regulations) and building regs. Often equipment will need a combination of tests at different intervals. EG power tools probably need user inspections, PAT testing as well as specific testing from a tool expert. The PA testing would need to be done alongside (or by) someone with expertise with the tool. So something like a laptop charger is probably fine with a regular visual inspection and insulation test - Users should be familiar with the risks of using damaged electrical equipment and should report damage. The person doing PA testing should back this up every few years with a formal visual inspection, and class II insulation test assuming it has the class II symbol. A fixed hand dryer is unlikely to be damaged so can be done every few years - its hard wired, so needs a sparky to disconnect and reconnect, so they might as well test it along with the fixed wiring tests. Something like the caretakers drills or hoovers are getting lots of use and movement, so need more frequent formal testing - insulation testing, and earth bond if earthed as well as user inspections. Something like a server if its correctly located, on a filtered supply, of good quality, not physically accessible by many people and not run for decades is probably ok with a visual inspection. There is very little that's going to affect the safety of it over its expected lifetime, but we still should be ensuring its correctly located etc. All this should be covered by PAT test training, and if specific items aren't, then you should contact the manufacturer for advice. Given how often this comes up, its probably training all IT teams should be getting so we at least know what needs to be done when we oversee it. So the question isn't so much 'should it be checked' as 'how should it be checked', 'how often should it be checked' and 'who should be checking it'. Apologies for the long post.

do you know what the make and model of the bike is?

Is it like an allen head bolt, but with a bit missing? Or is it a normal bolt head? Maybe find an allen key the right size and grind/file one of the corners off. That, or maybe hammer an old Torx bit in if you can get one just a bit larger. The other option is to look up the service manual for the bike. These often give you a part number for the tool you need. But I bet the official tool is not cheap. If there is enough to grip onto, you could try getting some Knippex Cobra grips/pliers. These are really good at gripping/biting onto bolts, but I suspect this is probably stuck in quite well. Last and most destructive option is to drill it out. if you can center-punch the middle of the bolt, then drill using progressively larger bits until just the thread is there. Or drill the head off, get the casing off and hope there is enough bolt left to get some grips on it. If you drill it out, then you need to get it very straight in order to not damage things. You can also get left handed drill bits that will help un-screw bolts if the bit snatches and binds up. Great for rounded off bolts.

There are other switches in the Aruba instant-on range. I think they have the 1960 IIRC which is a bit more powerful. Recently we've got a lot of unifi which has worked really well, but its getting harder to get hold of recently. The instant on range looks like it might be a good alternative. I think Cisco are coming out with a similar sort of cloud managed range as well. I think for school use, you don't need to go super high spec. The core switch is a bit different, but for the access layer, you need web management (ideally centralised cloud management like Unifi), vlan support, and preferably 10g uplinks. As long as it isn't bargain basement stuff it will probably be ok.

Stone recycling might also be worth a try.

If you have SC (large square) on the patch panel, and LC (little square) on the SFP, then you need an LC to SC patch cable: https://www.comms-express.com/products/ce-lc-sc-connector-multimode-duplex-fibre-patch-leads/ You should check the cable on the back of the panel for the fibre diameter (OM1 - OM4). If it doesn't say, its probably OM1. If the patch panel has LC connectors as well, then you probably need this cable: https://www.comms-express.com/products/ce-lc-lc-connector-multimode-duplex-fibre-patch-leads/

Is it overheating and throttling the CPU speed down? Sounds like a performance issue of some kind, so maybe check for other logged in users, or SSD health, RAM usage, chrome extensions etc. Another thing might be a corrupted home drive (or files on it). I'd maybe create them a new temporary one and see if that fixes it.

Your 3cx server can be onsite or cloud hosted. Depending on your internet connection and phones, you may need an SBC (session border controller) on each site. This especially seems to be the case with ATA boxes and hotdesk phones. Depending on the number of phones, you can host this on a raspberry pi, or on a PC/VM.

I've been riding for about 10 years on CBT retakes. I've tried the Mod 1 direct access a couple of times, but didn't get on well with the U turn and the hazard avoidance parts especially on a big bike. Then lock-down happened and I haven't picked it up again since then. I started on an automatic, and then the second or third time i did the CBT I borrowed the centers geared bike to get the training in. That worked well for me, but takes time to adjust to the clutch in your left hand rather than a brake, or not changing gears when going back to an automatic (I own and ride both). Gears can take time to get used to before it's smooth, and I preferred to get confident on the road with traffic etc before adding gears into the mix.

The power for audio systems is logarithmic, so to double the volume you need 10 times the power. Plus many cheaper systems spec the peak power rather than continuous. You also lose half the volume if you double the distance from the speakers. I'd also recommend finding a local AV installer/hire company to recommend what to get for the venue. Most venues end up getting 3 systems - the cheap one, the really expensive one, and then the one quoted by a sound engineer. I'd always recommend skipping straight to the third. A sound engineer can make recommendations on the room acoustics and the suitability of the system for the room. Not every speaker will sound good/clear in a space. And physical positioning of speakers (and mics) will have much more impact on the overall sound quality than which brand etc. I'd also recommend overspecing the system in terms of power if non-experts are using it. Its better to tell someone off for playing too loud, than telling them off because they blew it up the day before a critical event. If you have a working system, then you might be able to find a bluetooth receiver, or an amp/mixer with it built in.

It's not great is it? Perhaps you have some of our staff that won't add themselves to our parent pay... For the CSV export, there is an option on Arbor to generate the file. Its under School > Data > Export > ParentPay Export. I'm not sure if that includes Staff though. We had fun with a French phone number on Arbor that was apparently enough to block the whole parent pay staff sync. Lets just say I'm glad we've moved from Sims and are moving from Parent Pay.

We use Zoho Vault. I'm not sure on the pricing. We also use their helpdesk, but they are separate products other than the login. Works well, and gives some usefull information on weak and duplicated passwords.

It's probably a relay to turn the CCTV off when the bus isn't running, or the battery voltage drops below a certain point. It's not ethernet as the RJ connectors don't have enough pins, and the unpopulated 8 pin RJ socket pads are wired wrong. I'm guessing there is a PIC micro-controller underneath (or something similar), or one can plug into the RTC pins. There are some pads for ICD which are likely "In-circuit Debug" (essentially a serial port). The L7805 and the diode next to it would take a higher voltage supply (between 6v and 30v ish) and generate a 5v supply. 5v isn't used much for CCTV, so that's likely to power an MCU on the underside.

The other thing I'd recommend with the basic continuity testers is not plugging them into a port with POE on it. I've seen a few break from this as they have no protection. It's mildly amusing when a contractor does this twice in a row. Not so funny when you end up re-running a cable because your tester you've been using all morning just broke and you didn't realise. POE testers are available and worth using first. It's worth testing your tester if it says a cable has failed.