RodnSue

Lol Sue with taking notes.....not at you, but with the idea....I too have 3/4 a page of notes so far plus page no*s for reference & still have 1/2 the article to read. Have been thinking that if I quote too much they may not bother to read what I submit. Will just have to be clever in how I present it I guess. Grab yourself a drink or 3 when you tackle same article, as it's 58 pages long........ Agree that we musn't sit on our hands on this one. Cheers Sue

Hi Every one, I read this article on another forum & thought I would share it with you as most of us are supporters of freedom camping. This is our chance to make comments for future planning etc if it gets to the Gov level. Hopefully I've inserted the link properly as below. My link Then go to PDF - it's quite long, but worth a read To Quote some of the text on the web site - Draft Queensland Drive Tourism Strategy The Queensland Government is developing a strategy to help strengthen the State’s economy by encouraging travellers to take a driving holiday in Queensland, and delivering targeted support for the drive sector. We are particularly interested in your views on which are the highest priority initiatives outlined in the draft strategy. Topics include meeting consumer needs; road quality, safety and maintenance; signage; roadside infrastructure; accommodation; visitor information and technology; and marketing and promotion. Draft Queensland Drive Tourism Strategy (PDF, 3.6 MB) (PDF) Have your say on the draft strategy for Queensland's drive tourism sector. unquote I've yet to travel much of Qld in our van, but I will submit some ideas/ suggestions that I've experienced else where. Hopefully all submissions won't be a waste of time & effort. The more submissions made, the more the Gov may listen to us travellers. cheers Sue

Hi every one We’ve recently put our 2010 ATV van into a shed. We are following the advice in re charging the batteries every 3 wks with 240v. I’m trying to read the manuals & understand the different read outs on both Xantrex boxes & more so since the van has gone under cover. After all we want to keep the batteries healthy. Every thing is turned off in the van. Today, 72hrs after connecting to 240v the Xantrex Linklite read 100% & 13.4v (this was synchronized 3 wks ago after the last connection.) (I also thought that the volt reading is higher whilst in charging mode)(before connection to power it was 12.8v & 95.3%) (also the below readings were the same 24hrs after power connection but I left the power on to see if these readings would change, but haven’t) Inside the boot is where I get a little confused. 1. The True Charge charging output is <5%, & the Charger Status shows a solid green light “ready” & solid orange “charging” which per the manual the batteries are in “Float Mode” ie - all batteries are fully charged & ready for use. ( I’ve not taken any notice before re colour of LED, but is it regular for the charging LED to stay orange?) 2. The controller has the green light at 3 blinks. I would have thought that the green light in the Controller box should be solid as the True Charge box is in “Float Mode” (Float setting in the controller box would be a solid green light as per the manual) (it dropped to 2 blinks after 1hr of no power) 3. We tested the batteries with a battery tester that indicates all 3 batteries as being “good" after turning power off & waiting 1 hr A -Is there a mis match with these 2 boxes? or am I not getting all the info given here right in my head? Or should we be using the ‘reset’ button on the controller in this instance? B – I thought that we should be guided by the Controller box indicator light & ignore the True Charge readings for the purposes of knowing when the batteries are fully charged? C- How long would you expect the batteries to go into “Float Mode” after connecting to 240v from a base of 2:1 blinks on the controller & 95.3% / 12.8v on the Linklite? My apologies for this long winded post. I look forward to hearing your replies Sue

Hi Rod & Mavis many thanks for the heads up on this 1.I will get Rod to look at this tomorrow. I was going to become financial from Sept, but have done it now to access the site & lots of other invaluable stuff. cheers Sue

Hi Colin & Gayleen what a great idea starting this thread, so thanks from me. Tip 1 Diggers Rust & Stain removal with oxalic acid as per Col & Debbie's suggestion on another thread here from Feb 2011. Mixed in 10% solution & left on no longer than 5 mins & washed off well worked a treat. The Kimberley & Pilbara of 2011 left a lot of stains on almost every where. Tip 2 Bi carb soda mixed into a paste & rubbed over the marks left on the awning gets almost all the stains off. It also gets the Kimberley dust stain off the awning as well. Does any one have any ideas in how to prevent the dust from being sucked into the rear rangehood vent hole other than gaffer tape over the external vent? cheers Sue

Hi Rob I'd be asking the boys @ Kedron to see if they'll install the little fuse & relay box inside the vehicle as ours was installed onto the under side of our Patrol. Am not sure why, but for easier access maybe. Unfortunately the dusty roads through Qld & NT mixed with water rendered the little box useless within 50 kms along the Gib River Road. Kedron very kindly replaced the box though. We managed to go with out the reversing for the next 6 months of our trip & just used hand held walky talkies for parking up the van. I can't comment much with the camera monitor on the dash as our vehicle is a Patrol, but is was placed on the middle of the dash with a flat plate stuck on the dash then the monitor can be removed when not being used. (the plate stays in place on the dash) We used a combination of larger & smaller plastic tubs under the bed & also with out the lids under the sink. The larger tubs can be stacked 2 high & I placed a sticker on each to identify what was in each. Our smaller 1's are 38 x 32 x 17 High (cms) The larger are 57 x38 x 24 high (cms). We didn't fill the entire space with plastic boxes though & left room for miscellaneous items such as liquid refreshments & tent (Bungle Bungles) etc. I hear some people use large storage bags as well. It's all personal preference I guess for what does & doesn't go into plastic boxes. Hope this helps & have fun with your Kedron when you get it. Cheers Sue

Hi Jody many thanks for your reply. I did a trial this morning & deleted 1 file from Picassa to see what would happen. There was only 1 photo in it, the only pic that uploaded before the problems started. Sure enough the image was deleted from the blog. I won't be deleting any further pics from Picassa Fortunately that blog was my last for that trip. I had seen that other people recommended wordpress in December. Future blogs will most likely be under that site happy travelling cheers Sue

Good morning every one Last year we travelled NT & WA for 7 1/2 mths in our caravan & had a fantastic time I wrote a blog - mostly photos - of our travels - with the last entry after we got home. I used blogspot.com & found the site very easy to use including uploading pics - once I got into the swing of it. I had great pleasure sharing my blog With my last blog I have found that the pics are showing blocks of same colour across them. I've tried uploading pics from different files with the same result. I thought that maybe I had run out of my 'free' space, so before Xmas I purchased 20GB for $5 for the pics & supposedly another 'album' would be created for use. This didn't happen & I'm still experiencing the same issue. Blogspot / Google don't have a contact centre, just a forum of help questions/ answers on their site. These haven't helped my situation. Have any forum readers here had similar issues & what did you do to sort the problem? If I delete an album from Picassa to 'make space', the site says that I will lose the pics from all the google products - which I presume that pics will disappear from many of my blogs many thanks Sue www.ournomadicways.blogspot.com

Hi Maureen & John you guys are powering ahead of us now, we will be leaving the beautiful Kalbarri area tomorrow. We're heading towards Geraldton & Mullewa You & every one keeps telling me the wild flowers get better as we move further south. I've been blown away with what Kalbarri Nat Pk had to offer. We did some whale watching from the rugged cliff tops down the road from a very chilly & windy Kalbarri, with a mother & calf prob 100 mtrs from our vantage point. We won't need to pay mega bucks for a tour in the Moreton Bay now re van service - not looking forward to our costs that come up soon for us too. Hope you have some luck in the south for the fishing & enjoy the beautiful south cheers Sue

Hi Rod & Mavis the highest temp so far has been about 33* in far north & down to Pilbara region. Many of our walks were very warm indeed. I see it's much hotter now around Broome & Kununurra. It's less than 30* now I think & hope that the temps stay around & less than 30* as we move further south. We're hoping to be in Perth mid Oct, & I have no idea what temps are like there for then. I look forward in seeing some flower labeling too if you can cheers Sue

Hi Rod & Mavis I have been suitably delighted so far with the Pilbara area - esp Karijini Nat Park, so am really looking forward to seeing fields of different flowers other than tall Mulla Mulla I love your pics. We are currently in Exmouth, & heading to Perth & then east. Enjoy your experience. My Rod is ho hum with the flowers, but not complaining (yet) when I want him to stop whilst I get another photo cheers Sue

Hi John we checked into Exmouth this morning. Might be in the area for a few days, then we're off to Coral Bay. It seems that we're still a wk or so behind you. We may eventually catch up with you. We called in to see Russ @ pretty Cossack - had a great fish & chip meal @ Point Samson tavern. Cleaverville was windy, but Dampier windier due to the high down south How are the wild flowers going? - I'm loving the changing landscape with the flowers, green spinifex, hills, escarpments, ocean, sand dunes etc. - endless changes cheers Sue

Hi Russ have fun in your kayak & the fishing. Hope you get lucky. Rod caught a big 1 on the Daly River a few months ago. You're safe this time, we're heading off to Karijini in the morning, then Millstream, so maybe up to a wk away yet yep, some one has to do the testing of lots of great jobs cheers Sue

Hi John thanks for the heads up on the camp spot near Roebourne - have noted it in the Hema maps. Lots of post it notes every where - just another note added thanks to you. Also noted snake Creek camp ground. No doubt Rod will cover his eyes & be extremely embarrassed (not) if he gets an eye full of lady taking a bath in the open air :)Will let you know how Rod's luck goes, lol. I'm looking forward in getting away from busy Port Headland. another Too noisy after the tranquility of Barn Hill & 80 mile beach. still hope to catch up with you somewhere down the road. cheers Sue

Hi Russ I saw a few days ago that you lived @ Cossack. Was thinking of maybe calling to see you & Sue, so you've made it easy for us to find you if you're the only ones in 'town'. Will be awhile yet before we get there, so keep the drinks on ice cheers Sue & Rod

Hi John we've pulled into Port Headland today. Few days here depending on a parcel arriving from Kedron - the reversing camera filter & fuse box under the car died on us a month ago at the beginning of the GRR. We are heading down to Karijini as soon as we get it & then up to Millstream. How was the road up into the other gorges from Dales camp ground & the road up to Millstream? Maybe catch you up somewhere which would be great, but it sounds like you are seeing similar stuff to us - which by the way has been fantastic. cheers Sue & Rod

Hi Mayzee, you must be about 1 wk ahead of us. We just this morning checked into Barn Hill with the most glorious views out our back window. We are heading south, so if you're still in the area might catch up with you. There are 4 other Kedrons here, 2 of them not in the KOG. Don't know about the other 2. We should be in Port Headland Mon / Tues cheers Sue & Rod

Hi Russ had a good chat with Tom @ the factory this morning as the monitor reading hadn't come up to 100% after being connected to 240v for 44hrs. The monitor is still only reading 93.8% & still flashing in the boot. It seems batteries the are full & we should sync tonight & do so every 2/12 or so. Last sync was <1 mth ago any way. This is our 1st experience with vans so we're still learning as new things prop up. We appreciate all the advice you've given, & have a copy of your SOC/V readout sheet in with the rest of the manuals cheers Sue

Thanks Bryan & Russ for your responses. Bryan, the van is only 11 mths old. The batteries have been kept in > 75% charge apart from 1 occasion near the beginning of owning the van, due to a misunderstanding of the required charge & on that occasion it went down to somewhere between 60 & 70%. So the life of the batteries should be good, I would have thought. Russ, will give the test a try in the morning. We are currently attached to 240v in Katherine to give the batteries charge a helping hand. Rod plans to synchronize the monitor when the green light in the boot is solid. Will also see how things go over the coming weeks. We’ve had no grief up to now, so am hoping the wiring has been done correctly ? We used to be guided by the % reading up to this issue & had no prior issues. I was telling a fellow vanner our situation this arvo & he suggested we should be going by the % reading rather than the volt reading. Your thoughts on this would also be appreciated Regards Sue

Hi Everyone this may be basic stuff - after uninterrupted sun on our 3 solar panels from 10 - 5pm today,our Xantrex linklite battery monitor inside the van read 81.6% & 12.6 volts.The bar status says 6 bars out of possible 10 bars this evening. Over night the power reading dropped to approx 74% from a readout of approx 89% at end of sun. We can't remember the volts, but it didn't match the % reading if going by Russ' table. It was reading more than 12.4volts at least this morning. (we've just been using 1 - 2 lights washing up & fridge,( no showering in the van for 6wks as we haven't been able to free camp) The panel in the front boot was blinking green today. No other colours shown. This is the 1st time we've had such lousy power reading from what seemed like plenty of sunshine. Now this is where we are confused - according to Russ power chart in a another thread on power in April - 12.6volts should be above 90%. We haven't been connected to power for at least a week. We had 240v power for 1 night which almost fully charged the 3 batteries. Sunshine alone was giving us up to 97% charge. We have mostly relied on un powered sites in the parks to in the Top end. We spent 3 days in the Wangi Safari campground Litchfield which gave us sun for most of the day. We arrived @ Daly River yesterday & received >6hrs sun either from travelling or once camped. There seems to be a miss match with the 2 reading & we have gone by the volt reading this evening & used minimal power over the evening as is usual for us. Apologies if I sound crytic in my post, but can any one shed some light on what we do next. many thanks in advance Sue