Epic Adventurer Thinking something actually happened

Something actually happened!

I did something.

I secretly fed a duck and a turtle in a park near a hospital (Where there are "please dont feed the wildlife" signs, but I picked at the bark and leaf litter on the ground, and fed other bits of the wildlife to the other wildlife, so I figure...

Wheres the crime?

anyway... they looked hungry and made pleading sounds, so I fed them some other things

but I guess I DID feed them things that (if I could read exoskeleton facial expressions) looked very frightened, and screamed in utter misery the entire time...

But anyway...

after that, and more importantly, I have more stuff in my brain that I did the other day.

and that feels a little odd

Its been a while.

Ive had a tummy ache.

They thought C17H19NO3 might help so gave me lots of it for ages.

Lately it feels like theres been a eighteen month slow leak of stuff from my brain rather than the thing I was going to say but forgot a bit...

So Ive got that going for me.

But today I continued on from the other day, and actually finished some work on my solar boat that may have actually got me a little closer to something.

Which is nice.

It doesnt sound like a lot. To anyone who hasnt tried to make a trailers wiring communicate with a cars wiring it wont sound like a lot, but if you have, and you know either something, or nothing about electronics, youll know that having your brake lights strobe when you turn left is actually a reasonabe outcome. At the very least, the person behind you knows that something is about to happen, and they should probably change lanes and get as far away as they can.

Not such a bad outcome as far as safety is concerned.

But what works even better is a system that uses the correct lights where they are appropriate!

Who knew!

But the best part, is that I wired it up, hot glued it in place, plugged it in...

And it actually worked.


Today at least, physics does my bidding.


120ThingsIn20Years - Bam!

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Thinking Theoretical economic Anthropology and the Gold star Standard

One of the problems I see in the western world is its dependence on reward.

The internet seems a little better than the real world in this respect, but I suspect its because we dont see the takers doing the taking. We just see the givers being generous. The nature of the stuff up for grabs means that if you take more than you give, theres still exactly the same amount left for everyone else. Open source software is a good example. 

Ive taken much, much, more from the net than I can ever give, but all the stuff Ive taken is still there. 

Which is nice.

But in the real world you take some stuff, and theres not as much left for the next in line. And sometimes there isnt even a line*.  Ive been lucky enough to have spent my formative years living in Papua New Guinea. To say anything about Papua New Guinea is to be wrong about most of it, but Ill say some stuff about it anyway. 

When I was in Papua New Guinea, I was there at a time when the locals were making the transition from the cultures and lifestyles they had been enjoying for the last few dozen centuries, to one that looks and tastes a little more like you might expect in a western city. One of the problems with shifts like this is the clash between the old economic system and the new. From this point is should be noted that when I talk about some attribute of Papua New Guineas culture, I refer to only the bits I know. There are something like a third of the worlds languages (or something) dont quote me)). and many more cultural ... things... paradigms? Anyway. every few hundred people are different. They talk different, they look different, they believe different, and they think different. Not just different as compared to me, but different from all the other different groups. I knew a fishing net merchant who could easily pick a persons birthplace to within a hundred kilometres or so, just by meeting them over the counter. Often with much greater accuracy to the point where they could name the village. Anyway...   One of the most interesting things about the culture clash was the gradual decline in the worth of generosity. Or at least my perception of that decline. There seemed to be some kind of social credit that a person could gain by simply giving stuff away. You might get something back from acts of generosity, but it might not come from the person you gave things to. You still see this in the west in small groups, but once you get to a certain population level, one where everybody can no longer know everyone else, the system breaks down. There comes a point where giving stuff away is no longer useful. 

And here I come to my point...

When youre little, you gain respect and trust within your family and friends, you are rewarded with new responsibilities, freedoms, and smiles. 

You dont need gold stars gummed to your work. 

I think gold stars (or points for Hufflepuff) might be encouraging our kids to seek only monetary reward, or perhaps an Oscar. 

I think we should stop it. 

120 things in 20 years thinks the best part about not being an academic, is that I have no need to quote sources, and I get to say whatever I want. 

*A line has just one characteristic. Its endedness. Two** ends, but just one characteristic. A list of people who can make the most noise from lowest volume to highest could be seen as another line, and often making the most noise gets you first grab at whatevers going. (see baby birds in nests, and political lobbyist)

** a circle is a line with no end. I guess that means I mean a "queue".  

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Epic adventurer Fishing gear theft

Someone stole all my fishing gear from my shed, so the epic adventure has been postponed at least for another year.

Sad.

The only time I really shopped for quality was for my fishing gear. It was the backbone of the trip and had to reliably feed me every day I was away.

I hope whoever stole it cares for it as much as I did over the 6 years it took me to accumulate it.

It was around $500 dollars worth of small, light weight gear (4 lb line) that I had bought over the last 6 years, all based around what I would need to fish all day as I boated along. I bought reasonable quality stuff as I would have limited ability to repair it. Not "real money" quality, because thats way out of my league, but stuff that with a bit of care and maintenance would outlast me.

Now I spend my days wondering if there is any point trying to buy anything else because they will be back.

Even more sad, is the almost certain reality that the person who stole it suffered a desperation for the funds it generated for just that afternoon.

I guess their life probably sucks more than mine.

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Aquaponics The no holes fishtank window

Ive been thinking about adding a viewing window to my fishtank because Im part way through moving and expanding my little system, and now would be a good time.

The new system is going to be a simple CHIFT PIST* with fewer points to go wrong compared to my current system.

The problem with adding a window is that its another point that could fail. The side of the IBC fishtank is flexible, and the glass window is rigid, and that never ends well.

So I thought Id run it through the invention engine and see if there was a safer way.

It came up with something it likes to call the "No Holes Fishtank Window".

Which is nice.



So, it turns out you could probably force an aquarium partially under water from the surface to make an interesting inside-out aquarium.

Its a little reminiscent of Woncos house, "Outside of the asylum".

A better viewing angle would be made from a wedge shaped aquarium made from two squares of glass, and two triangles for sides. One square sits flat against the side of the fish tank (the side you would be leaning against when viewing), and the other sits at an angle of 45 degrees, so that it meets the other square 40cm underwater.

The entire device is mounted on a bracket that keeps it underwater. The bracket is an inverted U shaped bar of stainless steel (stainless steel, so the fishies dont get all dead). One bit of the U is siliconed onto the side of the window, the other end has a locknut to attach it to the frame of your IBC.

It could be easily removed to clean, or to simply add to land fill.

It will probably work, and might look a bit like this...

I might even make one for my boat.

Surprise!

120 Things in 20 years is still alive!



*Constant height in fish tank, pump in sump tank

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Epic solar boat adventurer Stress testing my old battery

Ive had this big old deep cycle battery for years, and I dont know enough about it so I thought Id learn some stuff.

Its a conventional, unsealed, 100ah lead acid, deep cycle thing.

At least I think its 100ah. Thats the kind of thing youd think someone would emboss onto the side rather than adding it as a stamp. That and the voltage.

At least they went to the trouble of embossing the + and - marks.

So with this kind of battery, it seems they dont mind being run down as much as, say... a car battery might. Car batteries hate it when they are run down, and it shortens their lives in a big way.

A deep cycle battery (also called a flooded battery apparently) is a bit more forgiving, but they still see damage with every bit of use. The lower you allow the voltage to get before recharging, the less charge cycles you get from them before they need replacing. 

As I understand it, 11.8v is considered "empty", but thats at rest 6 hours after you stop using it.

I need to know what "empty" is when Im cruising along drawing 20 amps or 35 amps (that being the amount of juice the motor pulls from the battery at speeds 4 and 5 of 5.

So my education for today turned into more questions than answers. It looks like its business as usual.



120 Things in 20 years thinks the Internet might not know something I need to know.

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Thinking TV police chases

Its bound to happen sooner or later that a villain being pursued on foot will slowly gain distance on the police officer in pursuit and eventually, gradually, escape.

I think its time Hollywood.

I think its time.

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Epic adventurer Solar boat progress

I made some progress today buy building the frame to hold the solar panel on my little boat.

Not a lot of progress, but a bit.

I was prompted by Dave, a solar panel exporter from China to make some progress, so here is the result.

I made it all out of 25mm aluminium pipe, and plastic plumbing fittings. It should work well enough once I tie or wire it down. I might add some wire tension as well to make sure it all stays where it should.

The best part of my new adult construction kit is that Im able to adjust any of it on the go with nothing more than my hands and some luck.

At some point I plan on building a solar tracker so my panel always points to the sun regardless of where my little boat is pointing.

As a result, I?ll need the design to be flexible enough to allow me to add electronics and some kind of actuators to raise and lower different ends, and sides of the panel.

The basic plan will see me sit at the end with the chair on the right, looking under the solar panel when Im sitting, and looking over the top of the panel when standing. This height gives an unrestricted view when sitting or standing.

When sitting, I wont cast a shadow on the panels even when the sun is setting directly behind me.

The panel will sit on top of the two bars and form the final bit of structure.

That should work.

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Epic adventurer Lifestraw

My Lifestraw was delivered today!

A Lifestraw is a very cool device for personal water filtration. Its guaranteed to deliver 1000 litres of clean safe drinking water from any dodgy water source. The Murray River is one big dodgy water source, so a it fits the bill perfectly.

It looks like this, and weighs almost nothing.

According to the packaging, it does what all the other water treatment methods claim or better.

Apparently, my little Lifestraw removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, 99.9% of waterborne parasites, and provides a minimum of 1000 litres of clean drinking water.

I also bought a PermaNet 2.0 mosquito net that not only claims to keep mosquitoes at a safe distance, but also kills them when they land on it. That means the world health organisation thinks its ok to use me as bait.

Fair enough I guess.

So basically my Lifestraw is a stack of tiny straws crammed into a tube with a sippy cup mouthpiece at one end. You stick the blunt end into a stock trough, or creek you dont quite trust, and drink through the mouthpiece as if it were a gigantic straw, and bam! you keep living.

My PermaNet 2.0 is a mosquito net.

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Epic adventurer DIY paracord bungee that should outlast the polar caps

Making a home made paracord* bungee** to take my new and very small Gerber Dime® multi tool on any epic adventures I may set off on turned out to be pretty worth while. Claiming that it will outlast the polar caps probably isnt saying that much.

Oh well.

I wanted to make it so I could use my new little multi tool while it was still attached to my belt so I couldnt lose it overboard, but didnt want it dangling around my ankles when I let it go without re-clipping it. I figured if I wasnt actively using it, Id clip it to my belt, but when I was using it, I could just it to still be attached. That would mean there was a loop of rope hanging down a foot or so from my belt, and I thought that might be annoying. I have a bungee cord with a hook at each end thats been sitting in water outside in the sun for 3 years and is still in perfect condition, but I have also bought a few dozen that didnt make it 3 months. I have no idea what brand the good one is, but even if I did, its too think for my requirements.

The invention engine said I should make my own.

I started with some paracord and removed all the inner strands. If they are tight, just pull one out at a time until they come out with ease.

The mess should look something like this when complete.

The next step was to cut a length of inner tube into a strip thin enough to fit inside the hollowed out para cord.

I cut a length around 30cm long, and around 2mm wide

Try to avoid any nicks and rough edges as this is where it will break if stretched too far.

But we wont be stretching our too far so it wont matter.

I then threaded a thin wire through the hollow  length of paracord, bent a loop, and tied the strip of inner tube to it.

I attached to other end of the wire to my house because it was the only heavy thing I could find.

With the help of some pliers to grip the paracord, it was simple to pull the strip of inner tube back through the empty paracord.

I added a decent quality swivel from my fishing gear as an afterthought, but it would have been a lot neater to incorporate it into the knot so it might lie in a straight line to the DIY paracord bungee.

As it is in this pic, I can stretch it to around twice the relaxed length.

In later experiments, I discovered that if you scrunch the length of paracord bungee into a rough ball, then roll it around between your palms as if you were rolling a ball of dough, it gains extra creases and folds. This allows you to untie it, and shorten the length of inner tube inside, and as a result bunch up the paracord.

So now I can get a stretch of around 3 times the relaxed length.

To get maximum stretch, bunch up the paracord until its still slack when you stretch it. This means the inner tube is the limiting factor. Then let a little paracord slip through your fingers until the inner tube is still fully stretched, but the paracord is also tight.

Tie it off, and you should be set. As long as you didnt stretch the inner tube too much before tying it off, the paracord should take any extreme force thats applied, and your rubber inner should stay intact for the next 25,000 years or so.

All in all this suggestion from the invention engine turned out well.

The short length of very thin and super strong DIY paracord bungee is ideal to suspend my new favorite tool.



120 Things in 20 years - Oh look, a post!



* strong, thin, light, multi strand rope you use to hang from parachutes
** rubbery rope you use to tie things to your roof rack, or tie your ankle to a bridge with when you are about to fling yourself off.

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Epic adventurer Solar fail safe kill switch

Ive been worried about all my dodgy electronics on my solar boat, so I figured I should have a master kill switch that couldnt fail, and came up with a fuse holder and a 6mm bolt, tied to some artfully arranged paracord in the form of a survival bracelet that my brother made for me.

Cut the threaded bit off the bolt, tie a nice grippy paracord handle to it, then put the bolt in the fuse holder that connects all the electrics to the positive terminal.

One pull and everything stops.

It should work.

If it does, I should also be able to clip onto it with with a 2m bungee cord when I want to move around the boat if Im under way. That way if I fall off, the motor will stop. I think its called a dead mans switch. I was originally planning to create one digitally, and I still might if it turns out to be a pain, but if I need it, Ill build it on the boat. If I did it digitally, Id make a simple sonic tape measure with a PICAXE chip that would notice if I left my chair. Then it would beep in 60 seconds, then kill all power to the motor if I didnt wave my hand in front of it within 15 seconds.

I think I prefer paracord and my bolt fuse.



120 Things in 20 years realises a solar deadmans switch sounds like safety overkill, but Ill have junk everywhere, no side rails, and 2000km is a long way to chase a boat moving slightly faster than I can swim on the Murray River.

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Epic adventurer Customs

I just received the ten pieces of paper I need to get my solar panels through customs.

Actually it was only nine, but Im trying to make a point here.

Whats with all this paper?

Why am I even involved with the process?

If someone has to send something to someone, and then they have to present that to someone else, just make it so the someone else can get it from the someone!

And make it all online.

And call it...like... "something something international import export clearing house"


120 things in 20 years thinks this might be why some people dont become major players in import export. I also think I might be wrong. But seriously, what do you do if you are a major international import export business, and dont happen to own a printer? Then what? Is my lack of printer ownership hindering my ability to be seen on the S&P 500? The world has gone totally crazy.

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Epic solar boat adventurer deep cycle battery performance

I put my sweet looking battery to the test today to see what would happen running the motor at half speed.

Fresh looking isnt it.

I decided to run it on speed 3 of 5 to see what kind of range I might get without any sun.

I should get around four hours of full sun in spring on the mighty River Murray on a fine day.

Or so Im reliably informed.





Much of the country on the lower half of the river is effectively desert so there should be plenty of sunny days.


As I move further upstream (to the right) the weather will get more and more overcast. The beginning of the river is in dairy cow country I think. The middle (shown here) is more like that kind of country thats good for growing a goat... maybe even two goats. A few meters either side of the river is nice (in an Australian kind of way), but this is a very, very old land, and this river has dug out a trench to run through so it could ignore the vast parched land surround it and just on with doing its own thing.

 I have no idea what that being upstream will mean to my levels of sunshine at this stage.

But I wont be in any hurry, so I dont really care.

Todays test involved running the motor, and writing down some numbers every half hour. I also turned the motor off for a minute, then wrote down some more numbers.

Minutes	1	30	60	90
Amp Hours	less than 1	8.71	16.14	23.29
Volts under load	11.7	11.44	10.94	10.36
Volts after 1 minute rest	12.4	12.22	12.06	11.9

After the test I waited an hour and the voltage had bounced back to 12.31v.

I turned it on for another 10 minutes and the voltage dropped rapidly to where it was before the hour long rest.

Final numbers after the additional 10 minutes were 10.36v under load, 12v after a minute rest, and 26.54 amp hours used.

I think what all this means is perhaps my battery might be good enough. Im hoping to keep it almost full all the time with only a small amount of use for a little light.

That should put me within range of humans for 80% of my journey, but there will be a few sections where I might not see people for a few days.

To be honest, I have no idea. 

I hope I dont die!


120 Things in 20 years hopes I dont die.

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Epic adventurer Think steering and kill switches

I built a more sturdy frame to hold the solar panels.

It sits quite low to the back half of the boat.. On my epic adventure, Ill add 4 extension tubes so that I can get under the frame and use the space (and perhaps even sleep under if), but when I just go our for a day trip, Ill leave the tubes off, and keep it low. It needs to be low so it can travel on highways on the trailer without shaking to bits, or catching too much wind. 

Im mounting the entire assembly on hinges so I can lift one side at a time to add the extension tubes before I set off.  

The panels were originally going to be mounted on hinges as well so I could tilt them to the sun as required, but I figured Id keep it simple and see how much cruising time I have per day without moving them. I can always add hinges later.

The frame looks a bit like this...

 (you might recognise it as my old aquaponics growhouse with some bits re-aranged), but I might cut some more bits off to shorten it a little. Its around 200mm longer than the solar panels, so the rest is just excess weight. 












120 Things in 20 years thinks it might actually happen. Some of it already works!

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Epic adventurer Solar boat trolling motor

I got one step closer to setting out on my zillion mile epic adventure on the mighty Murray river, on my little solar powered boat.

That step included testing just how much juice I was going to need to run the trolling motor, and seeing if the solar panel I have will provide enough.

My boat is a displacement hulled catamaran. That means it doesnt do the skimming across the top of the water thing that most other racing cats do, so its very outdated for racing, but it floats well, and the hulls are very low drag.  At their widest, they measure only 20cm or so. They are 4.2m in length, so they slide through the water without a lot of effort. Probably even slicker than a kayak.

The result of all this is that I can tick along at walking pace with an electric trolling motor on its slowest setting.

I like walking pace.

In fact, aside from jet aircraft pace, and insane motor bike pace, walking pace is my favourite pace.

So I think, the result of all that is that I should be able to power my little boat with my single solar panel. That question has been nagging at me for ages. My solar panel says it delivers a maximum of 230w at 37v and also mentions 7.5 amps or so.  I think that means that at 12 volts after an MMPT solar charge controller, it will offer the battery a maximum of 19 amps. Probably much less.

But...

I just put my trolling motor in a bucket of water (large bucket) and ran it through my multimeter. As far as I can tell, it draws around 12 amps on the lowest speed setting. Ill be taking a 120 amp hour deep cycle lead acid battery. From memory, before I had the solar panel, that battery gave around 5 hours cruising when I ran it down to 11v. But my memory is terrible for stuff like that.

Also as far as I can tell, I think that means I should be able to cruise for a reasonable amount of time each day. Theres also the option of running a bit faster during the middle of the day, when my solar panel is generating the most power. It would be nice to leave the battery with a healthy amount of charge at the end of each day so that I could use some for light, charge my phone and UHF radio, and to power a laptop so I can get some blog posts out.





Ill probably want to set up camp each afternoon when there is still plenty of light, and get up early each morning to pack up camp and get under way when the river is at its best. If I leave a full battery at the end of each day, I should be able to set off at first light, and then make up the charge by the end of the afternoon.

Or something.

But I have no idea how this will all pan out in the real world.

What I need is a 36v to 12v MMPT solar charge controller that actually works, and wasnt sold to me fraudulently by that trader on E-Bay.

Now I dont trust the world any more.

But Ill probably get over it.

But on the up side I now know how much current my little trolling motor draws, and Ive also found a brand new way to inject a lot of oxygen into my fish tank very quickly, and perhaps mince fish.

Which is nice.

This is the trolling motor on its highest speed setting.

Excited water.







120 Things in 20 years thinks its found the worlds fastest way to empty a large bucket of water all over itself and its shed, without actually picking it up and tipping it over itself.

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Epic Adventurer Solar Boat Bullwinkle III

I made some progress.

Actual progress!

I have a plan, some drawings, and newly found personal temperature control.

Which is awesome.

If you havent had personal temperature control for a decade or so and then you get it, its pretty much the most wonderful thing you could imagine.

I no longer need ice packs under my hat and in my pockets.

Awesome.

Yesterday I was cold for a bit.

Awesome!



120ThingsIn20Years... No really - Awesome!

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Epic adventurer New solar panels

Bullwinkle III is about to be born.

Bullwinkle was the first incarnation of my little boat. It was originally a SunDance 4.3m one man racing catamaran.

I went halves in it with a friend.

It was old and slow but built solidly.

We broke it.

We fixed it up, but it wasnt strong enough to put it under the kind of strain that a boat sees when its under sail, so the sail had to go.

I put a 1.8m square of marine grade plywood on it and turned it into a fishing barge. I added a large deep cycle battery and an electric trolling motor. This gave me a range of around 6km which is surprisingly enough to catch lots of fish and more importantly, lots of blue swimmer crabs. This incarnation was Bullwinkle II. With the aid of some rope, and some plastic hand reels as pulleys, two empty milk crates as seats, and a pram wheel as a steering wheel, it was quite comfortable. the only downside was that people kept boating up to us to see if we needed help because we looked like a sinking dingy. A sinking dingy with two people standing on it fishing.

Then came Bullwinkle II.V which was essentially the same as Bullwinkle II but it also had a 3hp two stroke motor, but that was just annoying.

So today I spent the money Ive received from you nice people clicking my blogs ads on two new 180w solar panels. They have apparently been built, and are now being put on a ship in China.

Thanks clickers.

Thanks China.

Thanks boats.

So now I can finally build Bullwinkle III.

I have the hulls, the decking, a motor, the frame of my 1.8m grow house (the one that let the sun dissolve its cover), and an office chair.

That should be plenty enough junk to solar boat the length of the mighty River Murray.


120 Things in 20 years just remembered that I hadnt ever gone camping alone, so the night before last I drove to the river with my swag, and tried it. Nothing bad happened.

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Thinking Solar photovoltaic panels Epic boating adventure Lunacy

I looked away for a bit, and while I wasnt looking the world notched over to complete lunacy.

I bought a solar charge controller that was advertised as being able to accept voltages 12v-40v.

That was nice because my solar panel is 37 volts.

But when I opened it the docs inside said it was good for 12v-20v. I complained and eventually the internationally known E auction site gave my my $70 back, but I had to pay $30 for the return postage.

I sent it back to China.

Today I just got it back in the mail.

Apparently they didnt bother to collect it or they dont really live at their stated address.

So far its travelled 20,000km.

The world is an amazing place.

And a completely loony one.

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Epic adventurer Solar boat Nobility of metals and becoming unhinged

So...

 Im building a framework to hold some solar panels to power me the length of the mighty Murray River, and I figure I should mount the entire assembly on hinges so I can lift one side at a time to add the extension tubes to raise it up high when Im on a long trip so I can use the space under it to sleep or whatever.  

The panels were originally going to be mounted on hinges as well so I could tilt them to the sun as required, but I figured Id keep it simple and see how much cruising time I have per day without moving them. I can always add hinges later.

One of the problems I have is that Im using three or four different metals in a potentially salt water environment. 

Metals hate that kind of thing. 

They have a problem with nobility. 

It turns out that if you arrange a stack of metals in a particular order based on something called their nobility, and you pick some that are a decent distance away from each other on that list and try to build a boat out of them, you get a battery, and some stress.

I already have the stress, and the battery doesnt even exist yet. 

And by the way. Wherere not talking about some awesome battery that will be useful, but the kind of battery that used to be around in the 70s in your transistor radio left in a cupboard in your room, and that was left un-attended for too long and decided to go all acid all over the shop and make your mum angry because you didnt own clothes any more. It seems when you stick two metals that are far from each other on this table of noblenessso they touch each other, and then wet them with some electrically conductive liquid...say... salty water, they get all crazy and dissolve each other and basically ruin your boat. 

Sometimes ruining your boat includes letting go of solar panels while youre driving to the water at high speed, and that is the very thing Im trying to avoid.

I have stainless hinges, painted iron grow house tubes for a frame, nickel coated nuts and bolts, and aluminium frames on my solar panels. 

Lucky me!

I bought some rubber grommets because the guy at Bunnings told me to, and said everything would alright. He was the one who sold me the hinges, the nuts and bolts, the grow house (two years before) and all the tools I needed. He was very reassuring. 

But just in case he had no idea what he was talking about, I paid some drunk guy with a boat shaped voodoo doll to make everything better, so I should be good. 

At least he claimed his boat shaped thing was a voodoo doll. 

Whatever.

Im sure everything will be fine.




120 Things in 20 years needs all the magical help it can get to prevent becoming unhinged, and/or zombieism.

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Winner The first 120 things in 20 years competition

So a while ago, I bought a MPPT solar charge controller.

It turns out the nice ebay based company I bought it from was a fraud, and sold me a product that wouldnt work with my solar panel in spite of my having asked them and then double checking. My solar panel had too high a voltage, but the listing said it would be fine.

Anyway...

The result was that I was sent a product that didnt work as advertised.

Eventually ebay made them give me my money back. The company insisted I return their product at my expense.

I posted it to their registered address, but the post office in China said there was nobody by that name at that address.

So China Post returned it to sender.

Me.

All this is old news to anyone who follows this blog, but this is the new bit.

I thought Id give it away because its of no use to me, and might be exactly what someone else wanted. But who to give it to?

I thought Id hold a competition, and give it to the winner, but I cant think of a decent theme.

The current plan for the first ever 120 things in 20 years competition is to run it through the invention engine and see what it thinks.

so... stay tuned I guess. Its late, and Im going to bed.

Tomorrow, the competition begins!

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Epic solar boat adventure Extension poles

Part of the latest design plan is to be able to raise the solar panels when my little boat is going on an epic adventure, rather than just a day trip.

During transit on the tralier, I want my solar panels as close to the deck of the boat as I can make them so they dont fly of in a direction of their choosing. I want them to be a little more under my control that the wind might, so keeping them low means I get a bit less wobble. If you dont know what Im talking about, get a neighbours kid (dont use one of your own) and see how much more they move about if you lift them up high on a post.

Thats physics at work.

Or something.

But anyway, if you built a carport on 300ft long broomsticks, it would fall over in the first stiff breeze. But the same carport would hand it just fine if the broomsticks were only 4 foot tall. (I presume you drive a Ferrari)

So I want my solar panels to sit atop their low rise roof in 110 kph transit, but be extended to a more convenient height when Im on an epic adventure. I dont mind stooping a bit to get under cover, but it will drive me nuts if I have to crawl under the panels if I ever need to sleep on board.

So..

The in the low rise version (road transit, and day trips) the solar panels will sit at around 400mm high.

In high rise mode, they will sit at more like 1200mm high.

In order to move from low to high mode, I figured Id mount the entire frame on hinges so I could add the extension tubes first to one side, and then to the other by lifting the frame with one hand and adding the extension tubes with the other.

But I have a problem. I cant wrap my head around Newton and his pesky rules...

If I mount a 1.8m cube of grow house frame so that all four of its legs are hinged to enable it to tilt around an axis running front to back of the boat, will it fall down, or will its integrity be maintained by the structure of the top.

I realise the answer is going to start with "it depends", but arggggh!.

I want my old brain back.



120 Things in 20 years wants to start using the invention engine again. Its always worked much better than this brain thing.

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