Hello from Thomas Hypher / ThomasPixel

[Peter Mugridge]

My dad has a flatbed scanner but since I no longer live at home and will have a fair number of photos to digitise it might be worth investing in my own flatbed scanner. Do you have any recommendations for an affordable but good quality flatbed scanner?

Standalone flatbeds don't cost very much these days, but do look around and compare prices and features and consider what else you might want to do; these days you can get combined laser printer, photocopier, flatbed scanning and fax all in one machine which saves a lot of space and also means only one lot of cables as well, so it's much tidier.  That works out a lot cheaper, as well, than having all those functions in separate machines.

My own one is a Samsung CLX-4195FN; there are many other makes and models available.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

I recently got myself a very cheap and very good scanner, which is also a printer and photocopier -- it is only the cartridges that are expensive, so probably not a good model if you need to print a lot.

The reason I mention this is that this particular model, which is excellent for me in every other respect, cannot scan negatives or positives, only printed photographs (if it is photographs you need to scan). For the negatives and positives I use my old computer with an old scanner, which too is excellent but is no longer compatible with my everyday computer. Just saying this so that you ask the right questions if you decide to purchase.

[Peter Mugridge]

That's interesting; why won't yours scan positives?  Surely there's not a lot of difference between those and printed pictures?  I can understand it not scanning negatives as that requires a bit of image conversion software to be installed.

You are right the laser toner cartridges cost a bit, but they do last a very long time.  I got nearly a year out of the demo cartridges which came with the machine ( they typically are only 20% to 25% full ) and for new cartridges I have put cheaper generic equivalents in ( NOT refilled ones; refills are a bad idea ) and it works just as well with those as with the branded ones.

[Thomas Hypher]

Hello everyone,

I definitely recognise parts of the suite in your photos Myles, thank you for posting the photos!

Thank you for clarifying Rod. I find it surprising that she didn't have CP propellers originally to save some of the weight of the gearing otherwise required. I imagine the gearing in the steam plant was very extensive given the torque and power it had to handle?

Myles, if I remember correctly, QM2's average crossing speed these days is a paltry 12 knots (7/8 knots being the speed limit in Southampton Water for comparison) and from experience on QM2 it looks as if she's virtually stationary from the boat deck for example. I suppose this won't change anytime soon as Cunard (I mean Carnival    ) put profit before most other things and the extra days at sea are an increased milking opportunity. Also they will never want to burn more fuel than they absolutely have to for the same reasons.

Isabelle, I find writing these posts brings back memories I don't normally remember - hence the long posts and frenzied, slightly incoherent detail.

Thank you for the advice Peter and Isabelle. I'll have a good look around on amazon before pulling the financial trigger.

Thomas

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Hello Thomas,

I have just had another look through this your excellent topic, because I was wondering how you you have come to be so knowledgeable as regards ships. In this Forum, you are often able to offer explanations and advice where some of us lack the experience and expertise. You are also very well informed about QE2 in Dubai.

I would love to know more about how you have been able to build up all this knowledge at your (still) young age. And you obviously have a lot of enthusiasm!

[Thomas Hypher]

Hello Thomas,

I have just had another look through this your excellent topic, because I was wondering how you you have come to be so knowledgeable as regards ships. In this Forum, you are often able to offer explanations and advice where some of us lack the experience and expertise. You are also very well informed about QE2 in Dubai.

I would love to know more about how you have been able to build up all this knowledge at your (still) young age. And you obviously have a lot of enthusiasm!

Hello Isabelle,

Sorry for my delayed reply, have had a busy day (for me at least, these days  )!

I have been interested (or maybe obsessed ) in ships for most of my life (for longer than my other major interests - even IT and technology) since I was about 2/3/4 years old (I'm 21 now). My Dad fostered this interest as it is one of his too. My Dad followed QE2's construction as a 10 year old or so and made scrapbooks at the time (that he still has). He also saw Queen Mary leave Southampton for the last time in 1967 with his Dad (who was a photographer and photography teacher so we wonder if he took any photos but can check with my Dad's 7 other siblings). My Dad saw QE2 quite often in Southampton in the mid to late 1970s (sometimes in the King George V drydock as it was) as he worked in the town and the train from here in Bournemouth goes past the docks.

My Dad has also been a member of the Ocean Liner Society since late 1998 or was until recent years. The Titanic (of course!) was a part of my early interest in Ocean Liner's specifically, in addition to the quarterly editions of "Sea Line" the magazine of the Ocean Liner Society. One of the first issues we got featured the old SS America after she had run aground and been lost in Tenerife (a group of people illegally went aboard her as she was still very intact then). I also remember reading about the loss of the SS Sun Vista in one of the editions around the time of her loss in May 1999 (She was originally SS Galileo Galilei). Through my Dad I developed a particular interest and fascination in QE2 and learnt all I could about her in the years before August 2003 (our first QE2 trip - my parents seeing her at Calshot about a year before and shortly after deciding we would travel on her - my Dad wondering how we'd afford to as it was the most expensive holiday by far he'd been on at that point) - mostly through books at that time.

Seeing QE2 for the first time that early August 2003 morning, her famous funnel from the taxi on the overpasses on the main road by the docks in Southampton, I was jumping up and down and almost squealing with excitement as travelling on her was a dream come true (as it was each time).

I have and always have had a sponge brain for facts and other information in areas that interest me, so I don't really try to remember ship related stuff, more absorb it, for example. I have read extensively on ships generally over the years (being particularly fond of Ocean Liners and QE2 of course) both via books and online, as well as watching documentaries and films. I have also been to a number of ship related lectures over the years (including on QE2 and QM2). Also getting books and magazines at some of these lectures and attending a couple of the Ocean Liner Society's Ship Shows around 2004/5.

Back in around August 2010 (when I registered here) the sponge brain met the brilliant and massive knowledge base that is this forum and my QE2 knowledge has grown thanks to the number one QE2 experts (Michael primarily). This has combined with my prior reading of ships generally and QE2 etc etc and personal memories of QE2 (including my Dad's). I still learn an awful lot from this excellent forum, nearly 8 years later!

Anyway sorry for my usual lack of conciseness! Also sorry if I have come across as bragging, not my intention as I'm not that sort of person.

Thomas

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you so much, Thomas!

I am full of admiration for the knowledge that your sponge brain has picked up. You are an asset in this forum, and I doubt that anyone here has ever thought you are bragging .

And here I was thinking that you were preparing for a maritime career!

By the way, I too was a member of the Ocean Liner Society for a number of years and really enjoyed the company and the magazine. I would have kept it up if I lived closer to where it is all happening for them (mostly Southampton of course). I am still a member of Liners' List (a Yahoo Group) but must admit that I am a lurker almost all the time.

[Thomas Hypher]

Thank you so much, Thomas!

I am full of admiration for the knowledge that your sponge brain has picked up. You are an asset in this forum, and I doubt that anyone here has ever thought you are bragging .

And here I was thinking that you were preparing for a maritime career!

By the way, I too was a member of the Ocean Liner Society for a number of years and really enjoyed the company and the magazine. I would have kept it up if I lived closer to where it is all happening for them (mostly Southampton of course). I am still a member of Liners' List (a Yahoo Group) but must admit that I am a lurker almost all the time.

Funny you should mention a maritime career, being a bridge/deck officer (only possible through the cadetship route for me) has been my dream career for several years now after realising my maths would never be good enough to be a naval architect. The bridge visits on QE2 have fuelled my dream, along with spending many hours at the bridge viewing gallery on QM2. I can watch the sea for hours.

Yes, the Ocean Liner Society is excellent (although seems to be quite London based as lectures and the Ship Shows were up there) along with the World Ship Society (with it's local branches).

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Hello

My name is Thomas, I'm almost 14 years old.

I have been very lucky to have been on QE2 six times, going up to the bridge twice, once when going at 28.3/4 knots.

I have also been on QM2 twice, my most recent trip being earlier this month.

My interests are:

Ocean Liners, Ships in general and Computers

Hi Thomas, it is amazing to think that you have now been a member of this forum for almost ten years!

I was wondering what motivated your parents to take their first cruise (with you) on QE2, and several more after that, when they never took one before then? What was it that triggered their decision that the right moment had come to venture on board QE2?

[Thomas Hypher]

Hi Thomas, it is amazing to think that you have now been a member of this forum for almost ten years!

I was wondering what motivated your parents to take their first cruise (with you) on QE2, and several more after that, when they never took one before then? What was it that triggered their decision that the right moment had come to venture on board QE2?

A little over a decade now!

My parents saw QE2 depart Southampton from Calshot Spit about a year beforehand if my memory is correct (I don't think I was with them), and that was around the time they decided it was doable having thought QE2 was beyond our means beforehand. They made it their goal to sail on her having been taken in by watching her sail past them relatively close and wondering how long she'd be around for given her age.

My Dad had grown up as a fan of the ship too (amongst ships in general), having followed her launch and trials with newspaper clippings in his scrapbook as a child (that I now have), having seen her quite often (including in KGV from the nearby train line into and out of Southampton in the Bournemouth direction) when he worked in Southampton in the mid to late 70s, and having seen her from home here in Bournemouth/Christchurch when it was possible for large ships to use the Hurst Channel past the IoW and the Needles.

On that first voyage we were all bitten by the "QE2 bug" and never looked back, there was never really much debate on sailing on any other ship whilst QE2 was still in service. We were well and truly hooked and QE2 became a second home for us!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

I am very glad you all got bitten by the QE2 bug! You have been a great asset to this Forum, and you have often brought your ever-growing knowledge of ships, including the all important technical side, to us here.

Here is to the next decade, and to your continuing work experience of ships and the sea!

[Thomas Hypher]

I am very glad you all got bitten by the QE2 bug! You have been a great asset to this Forum, and you have often brought your ever-growing knowledge of ships, including the all important technical side, to us here.

Here is to the next decade, and to your continuing work experience of ships and the sea!

That is very kind Isabelle . Looking forward to continuing to contribute to the forum for many, many more years and hopefully making it to an in-person gathering one day!

[Lynda Bradford]

Thomas, my first thought when I read that it has been ten years since you joined the forum, was how much you have matured over those ten years.  Your contribution to the forum is very much appreciated and I am in awe of the knowledge you have of ships. 

I have enjoyed reading, again your previous posts on how you became interested in ships and your first cruise on QE2.  We are very lucky to have you as a member of the forum and your input is very much appreciated. 

[Pete Hamill]

10 years already? Congratulations Thomas. Keep up the great contributions.