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Tolley

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Everything posted by Tolley

  1. Hello Koggers, I am sitting under a tree at the mouth of the Chapman River in Pormpuraaw in Cape York. We have travelled from Cairns to Cooktown then to Old Laura along the Battle Camp Road, north through the Lakefield NP and west through Musgrave RH and then 216 km west to Pormpuraaw. The roads have been excellent except in the Lakefield NP and the middle section of the Battle Camp Road. By excellent I mean just that. Very smooth and fast for dirt rioads. I understand from my contacts that the roads north of here are just as good. The weather is magnificent and the fish are biting. Life is good. Pormpuraaw is beautiful even if the town is scruffy. The beach, scenery and bird life are wonderful. Diesel $2.30 a litre! This ia an alcohol free zone so I am having my first alcohol free days in a very long time. Lots of cups of tea! Since leaving Cooktown we have only seen two other caravans. One was a Bush Tracker and the other a soft roader Compass. As normal, wherevere we stop people want to talk and inspect Kedron. Its a nice way to meet peoplpe. Regards to all
  2. hello Pete and Tracey, You will find it a really useful space. On my TE I carry the folded up plastic matting we put down outside the van under the awning, a long handle shovel, an open fire BBQ plate wrapped in cardboeard and a garbag, a block of wood that is our door step, a rubber door mat. Then, as we approach a free camp we stop and collect fire wood and lay it across the back between the spares and the van. Regards Tolley
  3. Tolley

    Savannah Way

    Hello Chris, Have you had a look at http://www.savannahway.com.au I have found it very useful. Regards Colin
  4. Yep. That's exactly why I had it done. The car radio worked but the van was a cone of silence. Colin
  5. Hello Jeff, Attached please find the photo's of the antennae installation. Oh! The first photo is there just to show you what a beautiful day it is here in Cairns today! What you cannot see from the photo's is the inside of the van's external cladding. In order to make the antennae connection stable and strong the installers put a backing plate on the inside. The plate is probably 50 x50 mm. Our van has the stove at the rear window so the antennae connection backing plate is accessed behind the range hood above the stove. I had the job done by Austek in Cairns who are sellers and installers of two way radios, sat phones and CB's etc. I have two antennae. The one shown is the big daddy, the 1/4 wavelength HF job. The second one, not shown is a smaller steel whip antennae. Before we depart I simply unscrew the antennae and store it in the boot. On set-up it takes a few seconds to hop up and screw it on again. If there is any radio waves to be found they will be picked up. Hope this helps. Regards Colin
  6. Hello Jeff, I do not have the van at home today as I keep it in undercover storage here in Cairns. I will, however, hae it here tomorrow and over the weekend. I'll take some photographs and post them here for you. It is really worth doing as the little rubber aerial that came with the van was useless. Regards Colin
  7. Hello Everyone, We are planning a Cairns to the Tip trip ETD Cairns 5 June returning about 25 or 26 June. Just wondering if any other Kogers plant to be in Cape York in June.
  8. Hello John & Tricia, I have just been through that exerecise. I took my van to Austek here in Cairns. In a flash they made up a patch lead that connected my phone to the antennae. While I was there I had them make a lead that connected the Next G antennae to a Netcomm Gateway Series 7 wireless modem. Now I have wireless internet within 200 meters of my van! Also, and very importantly, I had Austek remove the little rubbery aerial of radio/cd player from the back of the van and replace it with a quarter wave length HF antennae. It screws on and off. As soon as we stop I just screw it back on. Last week I was in the middle of nowhere west of Cairns. There was no NextG reception out there but the radio stations boomed in! Have a great trip. Regards
  9. Hello Rod & Mavis, Moet and Cherie say g'day as well! Being an old tank soldier and former army radio instructor I am both familiar with and an admirer of HF radio. My purpose in adding yesterdays comments about sat phones was just to highlight the govt subsidy. Until I enquired about purchasing the phone I was unaware that such a subsidy existed. I just thought some of our KOGer friends might like to know. Sat phones certainly do not has a social aspect. HF radio clubs and their members do a fantastic job of monitoring the airwaves. If we were permanently on the road I would do the "bib and braces" thing and have both HF and sat phone. By the way, just to make you jealous, the HF radio I was last associated with years ago in the army was the ANGRC106 which had 600 watts of antennae power through a 12 foot whip antennae mounted on top of the armoured vehicle. You could just about fry an egg whenever you transmitted! We had an exciting trip back to Cairns from Brisbane in mid February. We tried to go west and got caught up in the floods. We did about 30 flooded crossings and at one stage a 650 km detour to get around the water. Bit of fun really. Called into Burdekin Falls. Very impressive. The water over the top of the dam wall was 180 cm deep! We are headed from Cairns to the Tip ETD Cairns 5 June. Watching the road conditions closely. Coen is still cut off. Should be OK by early June. Regards to you both. Colin Gayllen Moet & Cherie
  10. Hello, I know this is a February topic and might be a bit stale. I opted for the sat phone and purchased one last week. It cost me new $1150.00 as the Federal Govt subsidised it by $700. Our subsidy was given on the basis that we work in remote areas. However, a friend of mine also gained a govt subsidy of $700 on the basis of there senior age and that they travel in remote areas on a regular basis. In our business we are big Telstra users. By big I mean how many $ we spend with them. I intended to take a Telstra satphone plan amalgated into our business account. The advoce from my close Telstra advisor was to take the Pivotel option due to the fact that they do not demand a fixed term contract and that they are price competitive. Also, the satpnone reseller with whom I did the business told me to apply for the sabsidy "as I havn't seen one knocked back as yet". Regards
  11. Hello Glynn & Jeanette, Welcome to the wonderful world of Kedron. We are new KOGers and have a newly acquired (Oct last year) TE. So far we have travelled about 12,000 k and its been just great. Can't help much with trip infor as you live in the dark state. But, the sooner you get to Queensland the better it will be! Welcome, good luck and we wish you many safe kilometers in the TE. Regards Colin & Gayleen
  12. Tolley

    Tyres

    Thanks Neil and Tom for your responses. Much appreciated. Colin
  13. Tolley

    Tyres

    Thanks Webby and Tony for the comments. The tyre topic is probably like the Cruiser/Patrol or Holden/Ford topics in terms of personal opinions. Having said that, tyres either perform or they don't and the KOG sure is a great testing forum. I was researching 4x4 and LT tyres when I happened across the Bridgstones. Their web site has some glowing testemonials for them (and of course these would be genuine). Good tyres don't come cheap so the advice based on experience by the KOG members is invaluable. Tony, I live in Cairns so the rig has to be happy in the dirt. At the moment it is all mud and water out there. Where you live would be a demanding testing site for tyres! Regards Colin
  14. Tolley

    Tyres

    Hello Everyone, I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Bridgestone Dueler A/T D694 and D694LT. I have a LC 100 towing a TE. As a general enquiry does anyone have experience with LT tyres in general. The tougher sidewall would seem to offer advantages off-road. Any info will be appreciated. Colin Toll
  15. Tolley

    Dust in van

    Hello Peter ands Tracey, At the concludion of the first half day on dirt roads I fixed the door vent with a piece of VB carton taked over the inside of the door vent. Worked wonders and is still there despite the van being hosed down a good number of times. Being an old digger I intend to try a trick we used in Vietnam to keep the muck our of our armoured vehicle weapons. We used condoms to seal the muzzels and they were a perfect fix. I reckon they will stretch over the external vents on the van. Should attract some comments as well! When you arrive at your destination just pull them off, fill with water and throw at your neighbour! Only joking.....maybe. Regards to all Colin
  16. Hi Kimbo and Happy New Year fom Japan! In Cairns where I live when I am not skiing in Japan and where we live on a daily basis with crocs, our visitors from "down south" often spot what we call "logadiles". That photo looks to me yo be a clogadile! Be hoome soon and back with my Kedron! Regards Colin
  17. Hello Mal and Kerry, We took delivery of our TE in the middle of October. Since then we have clocked up about 4000 km. When we took delivery, the team at Kedron told us that we would probably have some little teething issues but if and when we did they would be there to support us. They were right. The odd small thing has occured and the support from Kedron has been fantastic. Like others, we did our research before purchasing. Kedron won by a country mile. This site and the KOG is evidence of the quality of the product and the loyalty of the customers/owners/. One last thing. When you go to the factory and discover that the tradesman working on your van or tow vehicle is either one of the Gall boys or is an employee who has been there for a long time, you know that this is a special company and special product. We are just delighted with our van. Colin & Gayleen
  18. En-route to Ellim Beach, Hope Vale, Cape York
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