Fiji Trip Status Update (13 March 2007)

[BT Humble]

I've commenced my leave from work (I return on April 15).  

Last night I went to log on to Otherpower and discovered that my ADSL Modem/Router/4-port Switch had died.  I think it was just a lemon, as I had to send it in for warranty service when I first bought it in order to get it working, and the same problem has happened again.  So anyway, I went and bought the same type of unit with wireless capability.  Since all my stuff is cabled already I just switched off the wireless feature.

On the way to buy the unit, I passed by my favourite scrap metal dealer.  I dropped by to buy a few 200 litre (44/50 gallon) drums while I was there.  These drums came from the Australian Mint, they get their coin blanks delivered in them.  They have a full-sized lid on the top, which secures with one of those bolt-on snap rings that you can see on the left of the photo.  Definitely rat-proof! ;-)

I also picked up a nice little 3-phase motor suitable for a windmill conversion (he had a big pallet box full of them).  I could have gotten one about double the size, but I wanted to be able to move it around on my own.

It's about 330mm/13" long, with a 28mm shaft.  It weighs 38kg/84lb.

I think it has potential for a conversion.  Of course, I won't be starting on it until AFTER I return from Fiji! ;-)

All up it was $40 well spent, I thought.  (Hopefully my Beloved will agree!)

BTH

[richhagen]

I'm getting all packed up for the trip here.  I have to be at the airport about 0600 hrs. local time here on Thursday, and with working and making arrangements, will be going non-stop every waking moment from not to then.  With the seven small panels, a controller, and some electronic parts packed, there isn't much room or weight left for clothes.  I'm thinking the x-ray technician is going to give my bag a thorough going over at check in.  I don't think many bags go through with this combination of items.  I just hope they re-pack the solar panels well enough to survive the bag getting tossed onto and off of the plane.  I don't have a good history of success with checked luggage.  Rich

[BT Humble]

I'm getting all packed up for the trip here.  I have to be at the airport about 0600 hrs. local time here on Thursday, and with working and making arrangements, will be going non-stop every waking moment from not to then.  With the seven small panels, a controller, and some electronic parts packed, there isn't much room or weight left for clothes.  I'm thinking the x-ray technician is going to give my bag a thorough going over at check in.  I don't think many bags go through with this combination of items.  I just hope they re-pack the solar panels well enough to survive the bag getting tossed onto and off of the plane.  I don't have a good history of success with checked luggage.  Rich

We do the best we can, Rich.  A lot of things are literally out of our hands whilst travelling.

I'm going to be about 20kg overweight.  Not to worry, we can always buy clothes when we get there! ;-)

BTH

[nothing to lose]

"All up it was $40 well spent, I thought.  (Hopefully my Beloved will agree!)"

Tell her I bought it for you as part of the FIJI project

Go back and get more motors

You put up a Wind genny in Fiji on past trips didn't you? I wasn't sure but thought so.

 How is it working if you did.

Well guys, have a great trip. If you have time  and resources get me some pics of the local people and comunites etc, average real stuff.

You can e-mail them to me later if you don't want to post them as part of the trip/project.

And I love those barrels here. I use those types for several things when I can get them. When used for vegtable oil for cooking I consider them safe for food of course. When I get them from other uses I use them for charcoal makers and wood burners, feul oil storage etc..

 Not good for gasolene though, at least some barrels have a painted type liner that eats away and makes a gooey glop, don't ask how I know that! Those were not removable lid types but same liners.

I thought about using them to condense alky feul into, should lose heat allot faster than plastic barrels, not sure how the liner will hold up, alky may eat it away just lke gasolene does.

Have fun.

[BT Humble]

You put up a Wind genny in Fiji on past trips didn't you? I wasn't sure but thought so.

 How is it working if you did.

Yep, it's one of these:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MG4510

It was one of the early ones that didn't come with a contoller, so I built one.  Unfortunately I didn't build it robustly enough, so I'm taking along a better one and a new dump load.

It works OK and reliably puts out plenty of amps, but it's LOUD!  The blades are a sort of extruded-looking fibreglass with no taper, no twist, and a fairly steep pitch angle.  When it starts to overspeed it makes a lot of aerodynamic noise.

It's set up with a hinged tail, but the tail is too heavy and the yaw offset is too little to let it work properly.  I'm thinking of sawing 6" off the tail boom when we get there to see if that helps.

BTH

BTH

[richhagen]

After a marathon 21 hours of air travel, I've arrived in Australia and met up with Commanda here, who has been gracious enough to show me around the City.  I've been downtown to do the touristy things, see the Opera House, and the Harbor Bridge.  





The solar panels seem to have made the trip OK so far, I was a bit worried about the baggage handling, but I still haven't unwrapped them.  

It is actually amazing to me how similar it is here to the U.S.  The same stores, with the same exact items in them.  Many of the same restaurant chains, fairly similar construction techniques, except for the more extensive use of tile roofs here than back home, and the 220V wiring, the finish - trim, and furnishings seem about the same.  I haven't seen a large number of solar installations here though, but there are some on sign posts, and some of the BP  petrol stations, identical to those in the U.S. have some solar installations on them.  Of course, they drive on the opposite side of the road here from the U.S., which gives me a start every time making a turn to see cars coming at you in what I am used to being the lane I would be turning into.  I wouldn't want to drive here if I was tired, I could see me accidentally turning into the wrong lane out of habit.  The climate in Sydney appears similar to that of Miami in the U.S. so it doesn't freeze here, and like Miami, the construction techniquws reflect that.  

I've now tried vegemite, an Australian spread which is Iconic here.  I was suprised to find that it was made by Kraft.  I haven't ever seen it next to all of the Kraft items in the grocery stores back home.  Their beer here is about 5% alcohol, compared to the 3% or so of most beer in the U.S.  I guess they have different tax laws on the alcohol content, which in the U.S. limits the alcohol content in most brands.

So far it's been fun and very interesting.  My cell phone is unlocked, not tied to a particular cell phone company, so I got a prepaid sim card for my cell phone, and got a local number for it so I can easily keep in touch with folks here or back home.  

Well, it is time to do some more exploring here, so I will write more later.  

Having fun in Australia, Rich Hagen

[vawtman]

Very nice Rich show em how its done!Stand tall and have brewskie for me!

 Someday i would love to make a trip like yours to visit Solwind in New Zealand.Been invited.

[RP]

Hey, get us a picture of Commanda and BT too!

[BT Humble]

That's a relief, I suspected you'd be feeling like a limp dishrag at about 10pm last night.

No trouble with Customs then?

My bus will be dropping me outside the International terminal at 12:15pm tomorrow.  I'm intending to book into the Formule 1 motel (10 minutes walk away), then spend the remainder of the afternoon twiddling my thumbs unless a certain travelling companion of mine gives me a call... ;-)

My number is 0429 907 329.

BTH

[ghurd]

Don't you miss the snow?

G-

[BT Humble]

Very nice Rich show em how its done!Stand tall and have brewskie for me!

 Someday i would love to make a trip like yours to visit Solwind in New Zealand.Been invited.

I keep searching but not sure what im looking for.Have fun Vawtman

Y'know, there's a song by U2 that might help you with that problem, ;-)

BTH

[richhagen]

Ghurd, not in the least.  We didn't have a huge amount of snow this year, but it was enough for me.  I would think for you too.  The palm trees here are nice too.  Rich

[richhagen]

Ok, I finally got a hold of you :-)  Anyway, today we put together some of the 12V compact flourescents that Amanda got and donated to the effort.  On one, a connection on the soldered circuit board was bad, but Amanda tracked it down and fixed it up with a bit of solder.  Unfortunately two were broken on arrival, and with a third, well lets just say that we discovered upon attempting to snap the plastic case together after soldering that the tubes are very fragile, which may explain the two that were already broken when we opened them.  Three have made it this far, and three have not. Amanda also donated some screw in fixtures for them, and I brought a couple of different design from Chicago as well.  Tomorrow we will try to get a couple more 12V CFL's before we meet you at the airport.  So far, so good, see you tommorow.  Rich

[gordon01639]

The link posted does not work as far as the picture but this is where the pictures are, must be a log of the last trip.

http://www.smallsolar.org/success/mar2006/

Gordon..

[nothing to lose]

Glad you made it safe, have fun.