Chris D. Ryan

G'day

For anyone in NSW the Central Tablelands Local Land Services is hosting biodiversity farming and food events as per attached pdf.
All events held at Australian National Field Day site unless otherwise stated.

For those that cannot attend there are resources available online...
https://www.lls.nsw.gov.au/regions/central-tablelands/key-projects/fungi-guide

There is a guide that covers:

   Fungus conservation
   Major fungus morphogroups
   What to look for when identifying
   Aboriginal uses of fungi



CTLLS have worked with ecologist Alison Pouliot to compile a series of videos that explore the Forgotten Kingdom which will help you understand the role of fungi and hopefully have you looking differently at soils and plants...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tl_scW0jBU&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fnsw.gov.au%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt


I intend to grow some mushrooms so watch this space.

G'day
A couple of interesting things I have done with copper.
I found an old switchboard in a skip bin and from it I got 6 lengths of heavy duty copper cable and the 3 bus-bars, one of which I put into a pot with a plant that has been sitting there not doing much for a long time. After 2 weeks it has 2 new light green leaves.

Even though I am an L-platter as this stuff, I have given several presentations to excite others. Every participant gets a bamboo antenna. I found some more copper wire and have started making more for the next talk I give. I even used a dead pine tree to make a long one.

Eric Hanson wrote:Chris,

That is a great way to repurpose an old stroller.  You have some basic simplistic engineering in there.  I do have one question though.  I noticed that you are using alligator clips to charge the battery.  Is the device in any way switched so that those alligator clips can't accidentally touch one another such as in during setup?  I love to tinker and utilize solar energy, but one pesky aspect of solar is that panels simply can't be shut off.  They are always on and when I pull out one of my solar panels to charge up my battery pack, I have to take great care to not let the leads touch lest it short out.

This is all just a question I have about the design and I do not mean to take anything away from the device you have built.  I love it!

Eric

G'day
I built it out of what I could find. The clips are the good end of an old set of jumper leads. The copper tube is the switch that I use to connect the panel to the regulator after connecting to the battery. The other way to turn the panel "off" is to throw a towel or chaff bag over it.
A normal battery charger uses smaller clips and has the same risk of shorting out.
Maybe I am just careful but I have not had any dramas using it. And it is a lot easier than running out a long power lead or trying to jump start off something else.
I have also found it useful to setup a temporary power centre as I am off grid for all of my power. All of my panels, batteries and inverters came from scrounging. Since getting older money becomes scarce.
I am only throwing the idea out there as an easy way to handle solar panels.
I am glad you like the concept.
Regards

And also old twin prams are hard to find, I have just built another unit using 2 single prams tied together.

G'day

One of the problems with living on a rural block is flat batteries in machinery and vehicles. Running power leads for battery chargers is usually a problem and jump starting a flat battery will damage it.

I have built a portable solar charger out of bits I had laying around as per the photos.

I used an old twin pram, an old house 190 watt solar panel, some batten strap offcuts, a charge controller, a set of jumper leads and a small section of copper pipe for the switch. The copper switch is used as the battery has to be connected before the solar panel.

It took about an hour to make and works great. When I want to limit the current for trickle charging, I put a towel over part of the panel.

Jay Angler wrote:So sorry for your loss!

Been there, done that, but it was a van - not a tiny house, a glancing blow - not a full on hit - and cedar instead of eucalyptus.

Is anything salvageable?

G'day
It is a sad loss but not mine, I am merely an interested bystander.
From what I have heard only the cat was salvaged and it had lost one of its lives.

G'day

The eucalyptus tree is an Australian native well known for dropping big limbs at inconvenient times. I have lost a couple of cars to such events.
Sadly I saw what was left of a nice tiny house after such an event.
The tiny house is a great concept, but parking under a big tree was not.

Cujo Liva wrote:I found a free 3D model.  Haven't tried it yet, but I'll have a friend try printing one for me:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5960175

Talk to your friend about scaling it up. We have made one that is 14cm across the base.

Cujo Liva wrote:I found a free 3D model.  Haven't tried it yet, but I'll have a friend try printing one for me:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5960175

Is that white spiral standard plastic-wrapped wire or painted copper?

Thanks for finding that. Last time I looked on thingyverse there was nothing. I note that was only posted recently.
Also he changed the design to use less filament.

The white spiral copper wire is actually the tinned tube from a fridge thermostat. I use old fridges as secure storage to keep mice out of my valuables and so have a quantity of old thermostats that I have removed.

Some of the older fridges have a larger copper pipe at the back that can be wound and used. I made the large coil by winding around a large orange cone that are used as a road marker.
Also of interest is that for years the bird of paradise plant only had 4 leaves until 6 weeks ago when I put the large coil in the pot. All the extra leaves are new!

Fuel Magnets – Fact or Fake?

I have seen articles on the net about blokes putting magnets on their cars fuel lines and getting improved performance and economy. There are also plenty of articles debunking Fuel Magnets referring to placebo effects.
I have been told about farmers putting magnets on the fuel lines of their tractors to increase the pulling power with noticeable success.

Well after talking to a bloke who is adamant that they do work as long as they are installed correctly, I decided to give it a go.
I collected the following...
4 doughnut magnets out of microwave ovens. Look for late model high power ovens.
4 steel plates to sit at the back of each magnet and drilled to take zip ties.
4 spacers made of wood and slightly thinner than the diameter of the fuel line.

I assembled 2 sets of magnets with the South pole facing in and mounted them on the fuel line just in front of the air-filter at 90 degrees to each other as per the photos.

The result?
I have a "test track" which I use to compare vehicle performance. On the way home there is a railway crossing with a Stop sign. Then there is a 380m run to the top of the 9m high ridge where a 132kv power pole sits beside the road. For the last 37 years I have tested every vehicle that I have had, checking the speed on a GPS as I pass the power pole. Results varied between 75km/h and 132km/h.
When I was younger I owned some very fast vehicles but economy is now my main focus. Despite this  I still like a responsive vehicle.
I own 8 Suzuki Carry vans that I have driven and the best time that I have been able to get was 95km/h when still relatively new and low mileage. Currently I have a 2004 Van with 240,000kms and is standard apart from a sports exhaust. Recently 90km/h was the best speed I could get until fitting the magnets. My first run after fitting the magnets was 97km/h. I have never been able to do that.
The van definitely is better to drive with more torque especially at 2000rpm and lower. The exhaust has a different, milder sound especially when the motor is under load.
I have been enjoying the extra go and can report that fuel economy is at least 10% better. When the van was newer, I could easily get 400km before looking for a servo. Recently I did 442kms between filling.