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Rod and Mavis

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Posts posted by Rod and Mavis

  1. DC to DC Chargers

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings all

    We have had a “REDARC” DC to DC charger fitted for the last 5 months.

    This little beasty is a 25 amp smart charger.

    The reason I went for this extra expense was the fact that our AGM fridge battery in the car only lasted for under 3 years.

    That is pretty good you might say but I was not impressed as our 3 house batteries in the van have just ticked over 5 years in operation and still going strong (touch wood). This is due I firmly believe to the way that they are kept correctly charged by the solar and the smart (240v) charger and probably also due to the fact that we had the van was re wired correctly soon after we took delivery.

    The REDARC not only looks after the aux battery in the car and the van house batteries from the alternator but also uses the caravan charging systems (solar and 240v charger) when the car is plugged in via the Anderson plug and car engine not running.

    Lotta money but all indications are that it should do the job and it is nice to have visual confirmation that all is well. :thumbsup:

  3. YUSUF Concert in Brisbane June 2010

    in Around the Campfire

    Posted

    Greetings Tony.

    Mate if you have any contacts that need an entertainment reporter, that are willing to pay for concert tickets pleeeeese let me know grin.

    Have you seen the cost of the Eagles Platinum tickets for December $669.40 and that is each how bl..dy insane with nothing left in the pleb classes does not leave any chance for most fans. :shutup:

    This one sold out within 1 day, bugger for most,we managed a couple of Gold class and we are actually sitting together what a bargain. :biggrin:

    Happy travel mate and hope to meet up one day.

  5. YUSUF Concert in Brisbane June 2010

    in Around the Campfire

    Posted

    YUSUF formally Cat Stevens was born Stephen Demetre Georgiou in 1948 to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother and grew up in England.

    post-36-1277802692.jpgpost-36-1277802733_thumb.jpg

    This concert was one the most memorable experience that Mavis or I have ever had. We attended with Margaret, Mavis’s sister and her husband Robert both of whom also raved about it.

    YUSUF’S Son’s band opened the concert and played for a little less than 25 minutes then leaving us to an intermission of 30 minutes before YUSUF came on stage at 9pm

    This 62 year old grey headed legend has lost absolutely nothing with the slow aging process that we are all experiencing.

    The first couple of songs were performed with himself and only two other guitarists, this was awesome music played by superb guitarists. The whole band then began to filter onto the stage to join them.

    This dynamo performed non stop for one hour and ten minutes before leaving the stage while his superb back up group played and sang Waltzing Matilda to an audience that was thoroughly appreciative.

    When the group had finished Waltzing Matilda Yusuf returned after obviously having changed clothes and refreshed to continue performing without fault until the end of the concert at 11pm.

    His whole performance went non stop from 9pm to 11pm WOW. All of his well known songs as well as some great new stuff were played beautifully and with the passion that was always in his music.

    Having grown up with his great music I have to say that there were times during his performance that brought tears to my eyes, associating past memories both good and bad with the songs that he performed.

    What a legend and what a superb performance!

  6. Kedron CX

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Good point John.

    Our XC 16'6" shower van was ordered in early 2005 with a promised tare weight of 2150kg.

    When we went to the factory to pick it up in August 2005 the tare was 2345kg's.

    The stated reason for this massive increase was that they had decided to put the beastie on an ATV chassis.

    Also keep in mind that most van manufacturers state the tare weight without gas bottles,or water in the tanks and some without spare wheels , sadly it is up to them as to what they include in the tare statement.

    This unfortunately left us with only being able to load up a couple of cans of baked beans and a few clothes to bring us to our legal limit of 2500kg's for our Nissan auto 3 liter.

    Having said that, it was our first van and in ignorance we took it as was, in spite of the shortcomings weight wise.

    Bear in mind that the van was ordered to be tugged with a 3 liter Nissan auto that had a tow capacity of 2500kg and was sold as suitable for the Prado and the Pagero as well as the Nissan auto.

    The Nissan did a great job as our tug until I decided that we needed to put water in the tanks, more solar panels on the roof, an inverter, diesel heater and heaps more mods which made us lots heavier than the Nissan could legally pull.

    So after all this waffle on be aware of the weight of any XC that you look at, check the data plate and look at any mods that have been done to the van.

    We actually increased the certified weights on our van by having it re certified by an engineer to keep us legal due to the fact that Transport departments on the East coast are now occasionally road side weighing rigs, a scary thought for most of us. :thumbsup:

  8. New McHitch coupling

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    So sorry for the delay Rosco.

    Please see the attached pics they might help to see the hook up procedure.

    I love it especially with the levelers gone, we no longer have to take them off to negotiate difficult terrain nor do we scrape into servo's grin.

    post-36-1277268853_thumb.jpg post-36-1277268915_thumb.jpg post-36-1277269353_thumb.jpg

    post-36-1277269443.gif

    Give Chrissie a big hug from us will ya.

    Love to ya both and safe travels wherever you are

  9. New McHitch coupling

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    HI guy's

    I have found that the hitch is no problem un hooking at any angle and there is no grease in the post due to there being no movement. The only grease is in the nipples two on the longitudinal pivot and one on the universal

    To hook up at an angle you still need to be fairly straight on to the hitch not necessarily straight to the draw bar, having said that I have found that when the hitch is lowered onto the pin it does not take much to get it to seat.

    We have been away for a while give me a little time and I will post some pics to explain a little better.

    :thumbsup:

  11. New McHitch coupling

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings Mr and Mrs Blackie.

    Bout time for a new pic is it not grin.

    How is the effy going and did ya cry for long when the Patrol went?

    Glad to hear that the hitch is working as well as ours.

    Had some work done on the car at Springers at Lawnton early this week and Joe Springer was saying that he had a new Bushwacker and a new Kedron in the shop the week before with McHitches on them,the biggies in off road are trying them I guess.

    Hope you guy's are travelling well and happy.

    Love to ya both.

  13. New McHitch coupling

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Well the new McHitch is fitted and all I can say is WOW.

    post-36-1274225195_thumb.jpg

    Our first run with it was to a private property at Kilcoy here in QLD. Only about 400kms return but it performed well with load levelers fitted. The only problem here was that the love of my life managed to break her ankle, :sad: but getting back to the really important stuff.

    Our second foray into travelling with the new hitch was a run to Bellengen Music Festival early May.

    After re distributing some weight off the draw bar we did this run without Weight Distribution Hitch or load levellers, 1000kms in all.

    Joe Mcginnes (the inventor/manufacturer) recommends 150kg’s or less for a heavy van due to the hitch being fixed onto the tow bar and not relying on weight to hold it there. It works beautifully.

    This is where the wow factor jumped in. No load levellers consequently no turning noise as a matter of fact no noise at all from the rear. The car performed better than it ever has while towing the van (tracked straight, great braking and sat on the road beautifully)

    I/we opted for the 6 ton hitch (our van has been re plated to 3500kg's due to mods incorporated)

    The reason for the 6 ton choice was the off road factor and the way the van is used. Had we had a road van of the same weight and used it only on road I would have opted for the 3.5 ton McHitch.

    Gotta say the new baby made me feel absolutely confident and comfortable with the tow.

    The hitches look beefy and they are, our new one is 5 kg's heavier than the old Hyland but beautifully engineered.

    Dam I sound like a salesman perhaps I should hit for commission :biggrin:

  14. Interchangeable wheels

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Hi Brian.

    In April last year we were travelling from Comeroo Camel Station to Burke (all dirt).

    We had changed a wheel on the Landcruser at the camel Station before leaving due to a slow leak.

    Unfortunately we staked the second Cruser wheel on the track to Burke.Even more unfortunate was the fact that when we bought the van new in 2005 we had a Patrol so the van was fitted with Patrol wheels.

    We had to repair the staked tyre to get us out of trouble.

    When we had to go to the cruser it was not economical to change the van wheels as we needed to change the whole axle assembly's due to the wheel offset.

    I can thoroughly recommend matching wheels on van and car for remote travels. :thumbsup:

  16. Towing Mirrors

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    We are still looking into them at $650 they are very pricy but for the convenience think they would be great.

    Waiting to see them at the Brissie show before making a decision.

    http://www.clearviewmirrors.com.au/

    I am assured that they don't fold in with passing trucks.

    For those that are not familiar with them, they replace your original door mounted mirrors and retain the original electrical adjustment.

    When towing you simple pull them out to the tow position and off ya go too easy.

    Will update after the Brisbane show. :thumbsup:

  19. HF or Sat

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Hi to all from us.

    I/Rod can not wait for our first HF gathering,(will be Kilcoy QLD 11th-14th June).

    I have so many questions that need answering and need some time face to face with someone that knows the ropes. :biggrin:

    The TIC is a great addition Lea & Rick I am sure it will come in handy.

  20. HF or Sat

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings again Colin Gayleen Moet & Cherie.

    Wow the AN/GRC-106 sounds like the go hahaha.

    Good to hear that you all are enjoying your travels and using the Kedron to best advantage.

    Keep safe guy's and enjoy the trip north and yes we are green with envy,but I guess our time will come :thumbsup:

  21. HF or Sat

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings Bob & Annie

    I joined the HF Radio Club Inc. Have a look at the web site it is very helpful.

    http://www.hfradioclub.com.au/

    Their are a few Kedroners in this club,how many,I could not tell you but I did pick a few from the supplied selcall list and rogues gallery pictures also supplied when you join.

    We actually purchased our radio from the club,so it was preloaded with their frequencies.

    Denise Ryan was my contact (Secretary/Webmaster) ph 0417267660. A very helpful Lady.

    Kimbo is a member and might be able to better answer you if I have missed anything,being that I am a complete newby to the HF scene.

    Hope this helps :thumbsup:

  22. HF or Sat

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings Colin & Gayleen.

    Thanks for your info on the Sat phone.

    Since generating this discussion we/I have decided on the HF radio as our choice for traveling coms.

    Of course we did pay a considerable amount more than your purchase with no hope of a rebate (bugg.r) :confused:

    Our reason for choosing the HF over the Sat were many.

    The fact that we have made new friends and new potential for gatherings with the HF Radio Club was a plus.

    Also that we could make phone calls and send SMS's using the radio for very little cost (after the initial purchase of course).

    Being able to communicate our position and intended travels with the HF base was also a security bonus.

    The ability to have family contact us in emergencies through the bases is also comforting. Anyone in the network can relay messages to us if required.

    The radio also has a feature that we can transmit our position to base using the GPS program installed. Secondly the GPS function can be used by family and friends to project our travels onto Google Earth if we desire.

    All in all we are happy with our choice as we are sure you are happy with your choice, it really is an individual thing that is dependant on requirements.

    P.S say hi to the pups :biggrin:

  23. Kedron Caravan Stickers

    in Public Forum

    Posted

    Greetings Crow&I/Brian :biggrin:

    We had the same problem and the two of us spent a whole day removing same with a hair drier and Gerni,followed by a gentle turps rub to remove the sticky stuff. It was a major job.

    We were and still are thinking of having the striping painted on but the van looks great without the stripes. We did leave the Kedron name on front and back. The jury is still out but stickers will not be going back on for sure.

    That was a huge quote for replacements :confused:

    We have not seen a set of stickers that don't bubble eventually.

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