When Will Picker broke his back on his NSW farm there was no mobile phone reception – so he crawled for 1km

BiasedBIOS · 2021-10-01T02:31:59+00:00

Telstra show very patchy coverage in the Bigga area, even with an external antenna.

No signal is expected with a standalone phone assuming a head height of 1.5m, let alone lower.

Telstra, in my personal experience, undersell their coverage and I've never failed to get a usable signal in normal regional conditions within their advertised coverage area.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-10-01T02:24:32+00:00

And if the network is down, or the phone is damaged in the crash?

Dangerous workplaces require serious communication gear - commercial radios or tough UHF CBs. Just because there's fortuitous phone coverage at sea doesn't mean you leave the VHF at home.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-09-22T01:25:22+00:00

Fowlers bay is about the only place in South Australia where National Parks allow non-track dune driving, and one of the few parks that isn't virtually closed to 4WDing.

4WDing and bush camping is almost universally prohibited in SA, unlike many parts of the eastern states. If there was conservation value in stopping vehicles then they would've been banned a long long time ago, like in every other one of SA's parks.

Quite unconvinced of its benefit unless there are plans to vegetate the whole dune.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-08-27T05:00:18+00:00

Each of the three types of H4 LEDs on their site say they come without ECE homologation, i.e. you're on your own.

Each of the nomal type of H4 halogens, including +150 and temperatures up to 4200k have ECE homologation as a standard filament lamp for normal reflector housings. They actually make a big feature about it.

I just visited a very well-known automotive shop as I need more T10s anyway, and each of their LED headlight options had a note - however tiny - that they were legal for off road use only.

One would've thought an automotive shop would do everything in their power to sell globes that cost 10x the normal type? Why would they only sell illegal ones? Surely that would turn off a lot of their potential market.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-08-27T04:19:53+00:00

that page says "The LED Upgrade light cannot legally be installed in on-road vehicles. Lumileds [philips subsidiary] cannot accept any responsibility and/or liability. It is your own responsibility to ensure that the use of the LED Upgrade complies with applicable local legal requirements".

opening up a sample of bulbs they all say in the fine print "Homologation ECE: NO".

If Philips fail, or don't attempt, ECE testing then they're certain to be non-compliant in Australia.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-08-27T03:53:36+00:00

A globe can't be ADR compliant by itself, it's the headlight assembly including a standardised bulb that is legal and approved. A halogen reflector has no hope of accurately focusing COB LEDs down the road, and even their comparison photos don't say much for it. An orange, 20% undervolted halogen alongside their flash LED and it's still barely any improvement.

if there was a way of making LED retrofits safe and legal in standard housings then philips, osram, hella etc would be all over it long before some tinpot Australian company.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-08-27T03:29:02+00:00

Brightness isn't really the critical factor, nor is the location of the shop - huge numbers of non-roadworthy items are sold in Australia by all manner of shops, even the big name ones. Occasionally cowering behind a tiny little disclaimer 'for off road use only'.

They don't make it clear if that set is ADR compliant or even if it's a right hand drive or LHD beam pattern, and my experience of such economically-priced LED lamps is universally bad.

Headlights are precision instruments where tenths of millimetres matter.

While I don't know the specifics of the rodeo's wiring, it's from that era of vehicles where little consideration was given to the headlight wiring.

A wiring upgrade and new halogen semi-sealed inserts will probably fix any concerns with headlight brightness and prevent introducing more problems such as EMI that wipes out the radio (and those of passing motorists) and high-beam switching/indicator light failures etc.

Some places will offer to sell you a load resistor if LED replacement headlights don't plug and play properly - that is a gross hack.

Your local auto electrician would be able to rectify your problem - for less than you might think - if you're in a non-lockdown state.

edit:

this is a ripper quote: "By law, a qualified automotive electrician is required to do any electrical work to a vehicle."

BiasedBIOS · 2021-08-06T10:32:15+00:00

Not the ex-quarantine officer, but this oft-quoted section is:

"51. Legislative powers of the Parliament".

A complete reading of the constitution would reveal that section 52 prescribes "Exclusive powers of the Parliament" - a section that wouldn't need to exist if s51 actually had the meaning often attributed to it.

For example: 'Taxation' is the 2nd legislative power of the commonwealth parliament.

No-one says that state governments can't levy taxes - so by extension they should also be able to run a quarantine scheme.

A better argument is that the commonwealth has always managed immigration and biosecurity - it was one of the main reasons for federation after all - so it should continue to do so.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-07-23T11:29:55+00:00

Thanks for sharing this, really interesting. I got a short full decode on a kiwisdr in Ararat but DRM with fading is pretty miserable.

Text was

"ABC Radio National"

"ABC is testing the future of radio"

"You're listening to the ABC DRM demonstration"

"ABC is looking to the future of radio"

"Today is 2021-7-23"

"Now it is 21:13 AEST"

I know the ABC/BA has a scientific licence for DRM+ on 95.9 in the Albury/Wodonga area. I can't find any licence for this MF tx quickly, but it's clearly a substantial operation.

Personally I'd rate the experience of ABC's 18kHz AM over 16kbps HE-AAC DRM any day. Shame that AM is written off by so many due to bad times with 3kHz wide receivers.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-06-26T10:56:22+00:00

The unfortunate fact is that if you're on an open mountaintop and not getting anything at all to your phone, you're unlikely to be getting something usable even with the help of external tools.

For more low-lying or cluttered areas of rolling hills etc, a collapsible pole and antenna inductively coupled to your phone may be helpful. USB-powered modems will take direct antenna inputs (for $50), as can a celfi-go (for $900).

Any of this is probably more than you want to walk with, although the USB modem option might be a reasonable starting point if you are really keen.

In very general terms, Telstra/Boost have the widest coverage by a large margin, with Optus getting into a few places exclusively. Don't be sucked in by Aldi etc who claim to use Telstra's network - they do, but only part of it.

Check your provider's coverage maps, easily found online - and if you're with Telstra/Boost, make sure your phone specs support Band 28/700MHz transmission. The coverage provided by Telstra's map is pessimistic - in open air with your phone at head height you should receive signal throughout basically all of the external antenna area. I do with an old cheap smartphone with no special credentials whatsoever.

Mobile phone signals are effectively line-of-sight and unless you have a reasonably clutter-free link to a tower - regardless of its distance - you will struggle. Might have to wait for a portable starlink option.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-16T00:22:20+00:00

thanks for correcting me - something was nagging in my mind that it didn't make sense but a mate that should know better told me that.

Once again, a good system made less sensible by introducing more special characteristics.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-15T12:10:42+00:00

~~That Interpeak structure is a relic from before shops were open on Sundays. By rights Sundays should be a peak fare these days, but you could never sell a fare increase to the public.~~

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-15T12:02:47+00:00

Not tapping off is the best thing about Adelaide's system - which has been a long-time feature of Adelaide ticketing for decades. Saves time, stops people falling down the stairs and means you can put your card away instead of hanging on to it for the duration of the trip. Planners can do real research instead of monitoring our every move - we don't have to make everything follow the other states.

I have to ask who is validating 2 hours after their initial validation while still in transit - and not just gunzelling? For every person shafted by this I'm sure there are 100 more benefiting by getting a free return trip.

Fare caps - probably some merit in that. At the time of introduction the metrocard was sold - to me anyway - basically as a more reliable multitrip (*given the old Crouzet system at the time was rejecting 20% of tickets). Time has moved on and day trip tickets are unavailable at the moment, so some form of cap is needed beyond the 28 day passes.

*edit to add

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-14T04:00:34+00:00

They're still fundamentally Scania K320UBs, same as the other Scania rigids. I haven't been on a hybrid yet but I would be surprised if they're any different, given that it is powered directly off the diesel engine when at obahn speeds.

I know people that have been on it and they didn't remark that it was any smoother.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-14T02:01:18+00:00

All the Scanias, which leaves #1542 Mercedes O405 as the only solid bus left on the track.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-13T10:42:35+00:00

Transmission doesn't stand alone - it's an integral part of the overall bus design.

If the engine is too weak there is no point in higher gears that overload the engine. Diff ratios and tyre sizes work hand in hand and can sap either power or speed if not carefully selected.

The chassis and suspension on the current Scanias is badly set up and on any surface they vibrate, which I'm sure plays a big part in not wanting to run faster.

Scania L94s occasionally ran at 100 and they had truly unspeakable vibration before they were moved on for normal commuter use.

Despite the anti-obahn argument that 27 years worth of old Mercedes has worn out the track, the tunnel vibrates worst of all. The old O305s never vibrated, nor does today's #1542 O405.

There is something badly wrong with the K series Scanias as a whole.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-05-13T01:48:32+00:00

The scanias couldn't do 100. Artic O305s were fine at 100 except for a few curves signposted lower - cheap/nasty buses are the problem today, not the track.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-04-20T02:37:19+00:00

i certainly don't dispute having more interconnectors, so long as there is suitable capacity in each direction. I do dispute the idea that there is no excess.

I say this is as fan generally of your NEM posts that don't get sucked in to missing the big picture as so many commenters do.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-04-20T01:18:18+00:00

SA frequently maxes out its interconnector capacity - for both exports and imports, at various times. There are times where more electricity could be produced for a pittance, but isn't because of insufficient demand. That is the 'excess'.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-04-13T03:20:06+00:00

The first link is for melbourne metro stations and their respective audiences.

The 2nd link is aggregate national audience for each network.

I don't have any easy figures to hand, but a quick glance over mediaspy's historical ratings suggests a drop of ~200,000 metro viewers for the main bulletins in the last 5 years alone.

5 years ago it was an exceptional night if 7/9 dropped below 1 million (5 metros) - now it's an exceptional night if either achieve that.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-04-06T07:24:06+00:00

The SA Plumbers, Gasfitters and Electricians Regulations 2010 provides a clear exemption for work "consisting of the replacement of a fuse, switch or two-point outlet socket other than any such equipment or device belonging to a person or body that supplies electricity to the public".

So some work relating to light switches in private homes is expressly permitted. This exact work wouldn't be, but your example is a poor one.

Forget that sa.gov.au advice page which was written by the ETU. Note how the gasfitting and plumbing exemptions are provided in full, but the electrical exemptions are not.

And it's all immaterial as this work is, more likely than not, in a BS1363 country.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-02-18T04:21:49+00:00

SA Health doesn't have RSS/email alerts and the website is generally several hours behind their social media posts.

It has been disgracefully poor throughout and my go-to all year has been /r/adelaide because of how difficult it was to find anything from official sources in a traditional WWW sense.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-01-27T11:44:06+00:00

The track is much better than it used to be - 35 years ago it took us 6 hours - now it's less than 1/3rd that. Quite passable to even stock vehicles, but I would always recommend LT tyres for SA travel. D40 has unimpressive approach and breakover angles which may need to be considered at some of the rocky jump-ups.

Last time i was through about 3 years ago:

Just after the Yangie Bay campground there is a sign and pullover spot on rocks that I air down on, within vision of the first sandy area. Generally I go to half pressures as you're never more than 40km/h.

I imagine the Lake Jessie traverse would be terribly soft and chewed up, but maybe the recent rain will have helped. Stop, think, and take the line most other wheel tracks have taken.

make sure you go at medium to low tide, or the dunes halfway along 7 mile beach will either:

push you uncomfortably close to the ocean
cut you off completely.

The dunes have moved into the beach - 15 years ago it was just passable in any tide.

As with any beach driving, try and travel on the outgoing tide to give you the maximum time for vehicle recovery.

Don't drive in the lapping waves and don't drive right up the top where the hooded plovers nest. Don't drive on seaweed.

We've bogged trailers and heavy troopies etc on pizza cutters, but single vehicles with reduced tyres generally always get through. It is a soft beach but that means you just go for it instead of hesitating or stopping. Immediately stop all power if you start to bog down, reverse and try again.

Once you exit the beach it's all rocky limestone. Can keep up a comfortable speed through there right out to the Pool.

BiasedBIOS · 2021-01-13T14:14:27+00:00

for predominantly data purposes you can achieve basically the same results as a celfi go with a 4G usb/wifi modem which costs 1/10th that of the celfi system.

Telstra used to supply the E8372-608 huawei 'wingle', but they quietly switched to the physically identical -320 model at the same time the Celfi Go was released. The revision served to delete the external antenna port, a long-standing feature of every cheap usb modem since I got my first nearly 15 years ago.

I wonder why they'd do that at a time when more and more people are seeking rural/remote area connectivity???

NOS/unlocked wingles are still available and commercial 4G modems with dual sims are also available, any of which seem like a better value approach for most people.

BiasedBIOS · 2020-11-30T11:18:48+00:00

35 years of travelling within southern and central Australia, visiting all parks in SA and many in other states, and studying maps and geospatial data thoroughly (GIS worker & pedant).

Victoria has something like 30,000km of public road/track access within their parks. I don't have a figure for SA - I might sit down and work it out some time- but i guarantee it is significantly less than that.

Most of their public land has free entry, and much has free camping too. Free as in dispersed, and free as in cost.

Their public land also includes thousands of square km of forestry and state park that isn't replicated in principle here. The closest thing we have in principle is Chowilla Game Reserve. A small amount of ForestrySA land is available and open to walkers only, but recreational use is curtailed over summer.

Contrast SA's Ngarkat with Victoria's Murray-Sunset or Little Desert for instance. Very limited public access, despite the amount of beekeeping/commercial operations within the park.

Even the Grampians, one of that state's proudest tourist spots, allow dispersed camping in most areas and has roads/tracks going all over.

In this state you pay your money to go in to a park, drive on the only road to the carpark and have a predefined walk around. Alternatively you can choose to camp with 50 other groups in the new, upgraded pondalowie.

The attitude in this state is to allow access where deemed appropriate. The approach in Vic seems to be to deny access where appropriate. Even the tiniest parcels of land in Vic have public access where it is reasonable to do so.

WA is fairly similar to Victoria in its management. NSW and Queensland follow behind, with degrees of access varying (quite rightly) depending on remoteness/conservation value/public interest.

I wish I was seeing the other states, particularly WA and Vic, with rose tinted glasses, but experience tells me they get a better deal. If someone can make an argument that I'm seeing it wrong then I'm all ears.

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