The subject of the following picture is probably quite innocent, and may well be something very domestic and mundane. However, it doesn't conform to any of the devices I have in mind, have used, or wanted to use, although that might just mean it's made by a manufacturer I don't favour.
It doesn't seem to correspond to any Government or utility providers either, at least not from the perspective of those nice "Conspiracy Theorists' that provide so much 'inside' information about things hidden in plain sight that normal mortals are not supposed to notice, or wonder what they are for.
So, I'm not dropping any hints as to what I think it might be, for fear of biassing anyone else's inspiration (or better knowledge )...
The orange gismo rings no bells and pushes no buttons for me. I am sure I have never seen one of them. Could it be a Brandane identifier or perhaps it zaps non Bradanes who pass by that way.
I was having some difficulty understanding what it was I was looking for until Fox mentioned the "orange gismo rings ", then I found I was looking at the correct thing: a direction sign with a traffic reflection disc, and the word "Shalunt". I re-read the opening post and it didn't state we weren't to use "Google", so i used "Google", but I must have missed some point because "Google" does an excellent job of describing "Shalunt".
If it was 'official' buried pipe or cable, then it would have an marker plate or stone identifying it. There's no good reason why water/gas/electric/phone or similar utility would not follow procedure and use their designated marker - apart from being in their 'toolbox', they'd be in legal deep water if the marked item was not properly marked, and damaged as a result.
As far as being a marker goes, there would be little point in having a cable running from the disc into the ground if that's all its job was.
It's pretty much home-made (compared to any 'official' hardware. The three clips on the vertical cable are more suited to indoor wiring, and the orange disc device is secured to the wooden post with chicken wire, placed over it and fixed to the post. Relevant, as it makes it difficult to touch the thing, so it's not likely to be a lamb's bell-push
Unless I have my mark wrong, this is near where the sign point to...
The cottage is to the south east of the red ring, the farm to the north west. As you'll see, this is a shore road, with the disc on the west/left as you drive from the populated area toward the wee ferry at Rhubodach, and angled so that it is not visible from the opposite direction of travel.
I should add that the 'gizmo' is NOT at the cottage entrance, but at the farm to the north west (unless I'm way off the mark), but no-one has a pic of the farm for me to use
Headlight sensor? Unlikely as there is no shielding and it has a clear sky view, so might only work at night, which could make sense in some applications, but is difficult to justify purposefully here.
Merely a light? Still unlikely, as it is too thin for a conventional bulb, and so far, I haven't seen any sort of modern LED system that uses anything that obscures the LEDs to te degree of the orange disc - they don't have enough light output to spare, so lenses are usually both clear, and mode with optical lenses designed to shape the multiple point sources into a more useful/useable conformal beam.
Reflector? Doesn't need a cable leading to it, complete with clips.
Are you sure the orange bit is covered with chicken wire? It looks to me as if it has a mesh pattern on the surface but is not covered with mesh. What I have been trying to resolve is the pattern of nails etc on the post round the gismo. It almost looks as if there might have been another older and possibly larger gismo there before.
Processing the image to enhance what detail there is shows the chicken wire, but I could just as easily convince that the mesh only shows over that 'orange' area too
Here's another thought, just to confuse things a bit...
If you look at the whole disk, and compare it to the end of a ~400 gramme tin can, especially one that has a painted interior, then you'll find that you can provide yourself with a VERY similar disk to that shown in the resolution of the pic. Then, if you look at the perimeter, it's easy to see that there are foue nail heads clearly visible, almost in a square, and the apparently orange central area is nothing more than a reflection in the flat metallic centre area, and an optical illusion!
Still doesn't help with the cable and clips though.
Just read in the local rag that there have been a large number of Ice Detectors placed beside the roads of Argyll & Bute.
Could it be that the cable leads to a ground temperarure sensor and the gismo measures the air temperature and sends them by radio to base? I assume that you would need both to assess the likelihood of ice on a road. I have a domestic version of such a gismo and it is quite small. The range is only 30metres but I would assume that the authorities would be permitted more transmitting power.
My goodness, but I don't know what you guys are all talking about! What is it I'm missing? I visited the web site recommended by Apollo and found a picture of a fence post with a traffic reflector and a direction sign. The post looks like any other post and the reflector like any other reflector. So the sign says "Shalunt", which is simply the name of a location on the island. Oh I did enjoy looking at the pictures of Bute on Apollo's recommended website, but where the heck is the puzzle?
The 'reflector' has a wire or cable leading to it from below, and carefully clipped to the post. This tends to make it not like "any other reflector". The purpose of this wire is... ?
There is another one, and the puzzle for this one is: How do this chappie's arms work?
To work why I'm asking the question, stand in front of a mirror and compare the position of your thumbs with his, when you hold your hands up the same way (this one's just for for, in case anyone tries too hard
Afraid not (you can always check the original link in the first post of this thread for any update tot he original item).
It's noted for a check the next time I pass, but I'm not predicting when this will be as doing this has jinxed a number of planned visits and meetings on the island for some years now, prior to which I usually visited at least once a year.
No guarantee seeing it will help, but with any luck there might be something like info or specs visible, or the wire, if connected, may lead somewhere nearby or lead off somewhere that gives a clue.
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