Best laid plans.......
Submitted: Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 21:37
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Willem
I am
home again after three very busy action packed days. For those of you who know Uncle(LD trip), he is very crook and in hopsital in
Broken Hill. Wasn't much I could do there so came
home to repack and fix things before going to
Birdsville next week.
I had bought some new jerries and they must have had some sort of coating in them to prevent rust. Anyway, I just filled them and we were on our way. Saturday arvo I refuelled at
our camp at the
Darling River and then Uncle collapsed and I had to rush to
Broken Hill...yeah I know you can't rush in a Datto........anyway the stuff in the jerries clogged up the fuel system and once we got to the bitumen it took two and a half hours to do 84k. Uncle was slumped over in the passenger
seat and I tried to reach various Flying Doctor stations but my old HF set relies on skip now and then and I found none...so kept on going. Today I decided to come
home and it took 5 hours to do 135k when at last I came to a standstill on the side of the road. I had already changed the fuel filter, pulled the carby to pieces and back together minus some parts which I dropped in the dirt(thats another story) so when we came to a halt the fuel pump was next. Once I had the new one fitted(electric...and I always carry a spare) the
old truck was running sweetly and we made it
home without a hiccup.
It is very very dry in outback SA and NSW and we were plowing through
miles and
miles of bulldust on little used tracks. Everything in the truck and in the trailer is full of dust!!! What fun...but it is clean dust.
A good cleanout, repack, fix a flat tyre and will be on the road again.
CYA
Reply By: Member - Andrew & Jen (Melb) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:02
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:02
I hope that Uncle is on the improve. Give him our regards when you talk to him and I hope that he improves quickly. I am a little concerned that it could be the prickly pear juice that maybe did something!! Shouldn't joke about this sort of thing but I am a naughty boy and can't help myself.
Best get yourself to
Birdsville now that the vehicle is running
well again and get some TLC from Auntie Ruth. She is an expert at it and you will enjoy your time there. We haven't told her what you are like and she is still looking forward to seeing you.
Sounds like an eventful trip, Willem. Glad to hear that you are
well. You are good to be
well prepared as if the same happened to my car, I would just be sitting by the road drinking water waiting for help to come.
Cheers
Andrew
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:12
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:12
Yes you are a naughty boy but I have become used to your weird sense of humour. The PP juice was tempting but the bottle I have with me is earmarked for someone else.
Am going on a direct trip to
Birdsville now and will follow the original plan back
home. Have to order a new spare fuel pump afore I go.
I don't believe you when you say "We haven't told her what you are like and she is still looking forward to seeing you."
I will pass on your message to Uncle.
Regards
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Jen & Geoff - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 12:43
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 12:43
My Goodness Willem, While modifying your vehicle you had better add flashing lights and airconditioning. I thought Andrew with his expertise would have answered a post a few after yours. J&G
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Reply By: ianmc - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:06
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:06
Hi Willem. I have had experience, not on the road fortunately, of jerries shedding their internal zinc chromate (red) primer & causing a few problems so all should watch for this.
Ian
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew & Jen (Melb) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:12
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:12
Do you reckon that the plastic jerries would be better? How do they go durability wise?
Andrew
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:18
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:18
G'day ianmc
Yep, these jerries had a white coating in them as I saw in the funnel filter after refuelling and the stuff closed the in-line filter of the electric pump.
Andrew,
I have two plastic jerries but I have an issue with them as the smell of petrol is always inside the car...not so with steel jerries.
Cheers
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Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:13
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:13
Time to replace the HF then?
Hope all works out
well..
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:22
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:22
Yes...I have been looking at a Satphone and have been given the subsidy by the govt but at $35 per month plus all other costs I am now not so sure about its viability. At least with an HF you can talk all over the place if you are so inclined and for a once off cost.
Regards
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:24
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:24
I agree with the satphone thing.. I dont think they are as good.
Is your issue with the HF typical of them? or just yours?
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:31
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:31
No it is just mine. I have an old 6924 25watt Out Post Radio set with all the channels and it works..... but not always. Maybe I should go for a later model..it will have to be second hand though coz newbies are out of reach!
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Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Victoria) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 23:15
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 23:15
Sorry to hear about Uncle and the fuel problems Willem.
While in the bush solo over
Easter I spent a few evening hours listening to the vks737 network on my HF ham radio. This is one fantastic network and I can almost assure you that with a radio on this network you will never be caught short. This is one fantastic community of likeminded people something you can't get with a telephone. Even if you cannot raise a base station there are always other mobiles willing to help or relay messages. I was so impressed that I'm looking for a Codan myself as legally I cannot use my ham gear on those frequencys as it's VFO controlled. Reasonably priced Codan radios regularly appear on ebay.
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 09:27
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 09:27
I think the fact it didnt work when you needed it says without doubt it needs replacing.
Maybe next time you will need it even more.
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 10:18
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 10:18
FOR SALE 24/3/04
Codan 8528 H.F. Radio, Control Head, Auto Tune Antenna, all mounting
hardware, all in excellent condition, $1500.00.
Contact Dick Lambeth trikidiki@hotmail.com
Location: Penrith N.S.W. Australia.
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Reply By: John - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:23
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:23
Hi Willem
Thats not the story we were looking forward to hearing.
I hope Uncle is going to be "OK".
What about you mate, are you "OK" sound's like a bit of a stress situation for you.
Are you going without uncle now ?
Take care.
Regards
John
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:43
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:43
Hi John
I tend not to stress but I did find myself leaning forward involuntarily as if to get further as the old bus was hiccuping and farting and blowing bangs out the pipe. Getting to
Broken Hill was my main concern.
Today I decided to clean the mainjet of the carby on the side of the road. I had to remove the float out of the chamber to get to jet and dropped a minute circlip in to the dirt where it now will become part of the environment. A kindly youngster from
Roxby Downs stopped and together we made a substitute cirlcip from electrical wire. Then he insisted I call the missus on his mobile and wouldn't let me pay for the call......see there are still some bighearted people out there.....then the oil bath aircleaner fell over spilling oil everywhere(that part wont rust ever), and then I was on my way again until I had to fit the new fuel pump. About 80km out from
home the missus came out with a flask of coffee and we had smoko and then the rest was plain sailing. Did the 287km in eight and a half hours....What fun. Just as well it is an old petrol banger I can fix myself..hahahahaha
Cheers
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Follow Up By: GOB & denny vic member - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 16:40
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 16:40
goodday willem
i am sorry to hear of your woes with uncle and the car
there always seem to be a few radios for sale in the trading post each week
i must agree with you and andrew with the old gq time and a few &6%$# words and icould get it running but with th gu diesel i think it maybe sit and wait .
its a wonder some one from vks didnt answer your call as some of the channels are close to rfds
hopefully all is well now with uncle and you can enjoy the rest of your trip
steve
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Follow Up By: Savvas - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 18:35
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 18:35
"Just as well it is an old petrol banger I can fix myself"
Those few words say volumes ... imagine what would have happened to a new efi motor with in-tank fuel pump!!!!
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Reply By: ianmc - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:26
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:26
On some other place I have seen the Rheem heavy duty plastic ones recommended. They must be pretty tough.
No jerry should let off vapour if it has a good seal but they all want to stretch in the heat & petrol needs so much more care than diesel.
A lot of the new steel ones are very thin, unlike the ex army units which will bounce before they break.
I had a couple of the thin chinese ones & they both cracked at the X crease in the side.
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Reply By: Peter 2 - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:26
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:26
Willem sorry to hear about you woes, hope Uncle is ok.
The other cause of probs with jerries is that unleaded petrol is such a cocktail of stuff that it does shift paint and other coatings and that is before some unscrupulous (sp) person has diluted it with thinners or something else in order to make a bigger profit. It will also soften/melt the rubber seal on older jerries especially.
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Reply By: Member - Bernie. (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:32
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:32
Hi Willem
Sorry to hear of you're plight and I hope that Uncle will be OK, gee I bet you wished you had that Sat phone.
Best laid plans do come unstuck.
Re the Flinders Trip, We did not leave
Melbourne untill late on Sunday 4th April & went via
Adelaide so did not get to call in and see you, and was in a rush to get to Morgan on the way home, what we saw of the area around
Peterborough made me put it on the list of
places to go back to. Lois spent 2 nights in 5**** at
Parachilna pub with a Virus but came good to finish the trip, and the Dust is still inside the Prado, the rain We had cleaned the outside a bit. We have had good rain here but was probably a good thing you did not get it whilst around the Darling area.
Regards
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Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:55
Sunday, Apr 25, 2004 at 22:55
G'day Bernie,
I had wondered what had happened to you......never mind, we will catch up some time.
I suppose if I had buggerised around some more with the HF I would have reached someone but I figured that by the time I had done that I would have driven another 20k. Not so sure about the Satphone... you will have to carry a lot of numbers around in your addressbook or wherever and the place you will need to call will not be the one on your book. Anyway still mulling over it.
Cheers
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Follow Up By: Brad - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 09:40
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 09:40
Sorry to hear about your woes - fortunately sounds like it will all work out okay.
1. If you decide to go with the satphone, you can just dial 000 or 112 in an emergency (ie you don't need to know the numbers of the local RFDS or whatever - I have heard it said that even a satphone will put these calls thru without a valid SIM card, I don't know this for sure).
2. If you decide to replace the HF let us know what you purchase/costs etc (i'm interested in a small 2nd hand HF).
Regards,
Brad.
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Follow Up By: John - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 17:33
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 17:33
Brad you are correct about the 000 or 112 access.
That is to say it's the case with the Telstra / Iridium system don't know about the others.
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Reply By: Member - Bob - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 10:22
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 10:22
Willem
sorry I missed you in
Peterborough on Easter Saturday. We came through at 0700. Great little town. I envy your proximity to so many interesting
places.
I see you as more of an HF man than a Satphone man. I used both on the trip and I'd have to say that the usefulness of the HF scheds has increased dramatically. The
Derby and
Perth bases at least spent a lot of time on road condition/
weather reports etc For calling home the satphone is the way to go, but at a cost.
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Follow Up By: Willem - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 19:17
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 19:17
Bob,
Yeah...and I had laid out the red carpet and all....was up and about that morning at 6.30 and you could have dropped in for a cuppa....but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Mmmm...last time you said I was going to buy a GQ but you were wrong:-)........now you say I sound like an HF man. Frankly I could not be bothered to listen other people chatting away over the air waves...I have better things to do out bush and only carry the radio for emergencies and would probably get more use out of a Satphone. I have been offered a Motorola Satphone at a reasonable price so am contemplating it.
Will catch up one day in our travels.
Regards
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Reply By: Member - Ruth D (QLD) - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 13:33
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 13:33
The moral of this story is: Don't anyone travel with Willem - he makes them sick!
(Hey Jenelle, you shouldd know about this seeing as Andrew makes you sick at dinner).
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Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 09:02
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 09:02
I will ignore that comment Aunty Ruth......................
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew & Jen (Melb) - Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 12:37
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 12:37
I think that we were caught out a bit by not drinking enough water - you should have some of those unisex toilets so that I can check that her urine is running clear.
Andrew
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Follow Up By: Member - Ruth D (QLD) - Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 16:33
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 16:33
You are gross Andrew! Don't worry about the Performance Pack either thanks - the old bloke has a chest infection and just wants to die. Went up to the Clinic today and it took 3 hours to check his blood pressure. I wonder what she was doing?
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Reply By: Des Lexic - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 14:23
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 14:23
G'day Willie,Hope Uncle M is OK. Give him our regards when you see him please.
Got home last night after leaving Arkaroola yesterday AM and straight down through Frome Downs and Yunta. Gee thats a good road. Came past
Peterborough but didn't expect you would be there so came straight on through.
Had a great trip. More later
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Follow Up By: Member - Ruth D (QLD) - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 17:28
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 17:28
Hope you had a good trip and will catch up later.
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Follow Up By: Willem - Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 08:56
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2004 at 08:56
G'day Des
We might have crossed paths within hours of one another. I got home at 6pm. We trust that you had a good trip and came home unscathed..hahaha...
Getting ready to leave Thursday again on my own. Will attempt to pass on you risque mesage to Ruth.
Uncle is in need of some internal repairs...see my post below.
Regards
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Reply By: Member - Captain (WA) - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 15:29
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 15:29
Hi Willem, sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Hope all turns out OK :)
Have been away myself and was using VKS737 for
weather reports and to check in. If I ever had to choose between a
sat phone and HF, there is no doubt that HF would win hands down for me. You never feel totally isolated when you can hear the VKS737 traffic chatter, plus bound to get a listener just around the corner only too willing to help.
Cheers
Captain
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Reply By: uppy - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 19:28
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 19:28
Hi Willem ,I hope everyting is ok with your friend, and with you.
kind regards uppy
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Reply By: Willem - Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 20:44
Monday, Apr 26, 2004 at 20:44
Hello everyone
Uncle say thanks for all the good wishes. He is still crook and will probably be flown to
Adelaide during the week for some work inside his engine compartment. Hopefully he will be disahrged by next week but by that time I would have eaten all the yabbies at
Birdsville :-)
Cheers
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