It's Completed

You may recall last November I wrote about converting our old Maglite torch to rechargeable lithium batteries with a LED bulb <here>.   The battery was ordered from Aliexpress and we waited for it to be delivered.  And waited….. AND WAITED!   After the 70 mandatory days without delivery Jan claimed a refund and I ordered a replacement bulb from a different Aliexpress seller. 

This time the bulb arrived within 10 days.

Project finished!

This left me with the laborious job of polishing out the scratch on the camera lens.   I changed my method.  Instead of using the battery Dremel I used a larger polishing bit in the bench press.  This new pad had a greater surface area and using the bench drill press provided more control.

After an hour the last of the scratches on the lens had almost been removed.

Just the one tiny mark left.

Jan's mode of cooking has changed.  The gas is out and electricity is back.  Most of the cooking is now done in the pantry and Jan became concerned about heat from her cooking appliances adversely affecting the plasterboard wall lining.  Could a small glass splashback be fitted to the wall in the area where she cooks?  She probably remembered I had fitted glass splashbacks on Waiouru's galley tumblehome.

Why do one small area?  Let's cover the entire lower wall!  Rather than use glass we've opted for a polymer product which I should be able to cut to shape with a suitable blade in my circular saw.    

Did I mention Jan has also asked if I can install skirting boards in the house? 

6 Hours

There is fine orange powder everywhere!  

After four hours of polishing the Insta360 lens with the powder and Dremel the result looked like this.

 

Before

Four hours.  Three small scratches remaining

 

Six hours. 

There are still three small scratches but I decided to stop and do a trial recording tomorrow to see if (and how badly) they affect the picture quality.   Hopefully I won't need to continue as it's quite a laborious and dirty task.

An error I won't repeat!

First evening on my Easter 4WD trip and I decided to use the new Insta360 camera to record activity at the campsite.  The camera was fitted to the extended selfie stick which was then fitted onto the tripod.  My thinking was it would be sufficiently high enough to capture quasi drone footage.

I had just walked to the opposite side of the camper trailer when there was a strong gust of wind followed by a crash.  The wind had blown over the tripod.  That's an error I won't repeat.

Two days after my return from the trip whilst attempting to edit something useful from my recorded trip videos (I'm a poor photographer) I noticed a blur in some of the recorded scenes.

After examining the camera I realised one of the two lenses had been scratch.  Probably when the tripod fell over.

 

Replacing the lens requires it be sent to the USA at a cost of approximately US$200 plus shipping.

I started thinking about polishing the scratches out.  With nothing to lose, I researched polishing glass and identified cerium oxide powder can be used.  The only supplier appeared to be Amazon and the powder was expensive.  Further searching identified a supplier on Temu.  At $15.99 with free shipping it was a financially viable option.   The order was delivered last night, less than a week after placing the order!  

The pads are far too large to use on the small camera lens.   It's the powder I need.

I masked around a scratched lens with paint masking tape.

I remember being in a UK Lidl eight years ago and seeing a small battery powered Dremel.  I said to myself "That might be useful one day!"

I even bought the case of additional accessories

Of course I haven't used the Dremel in years and consequentially the rechargeable battery was flat. 

I'll let you know whether the plan works.  If it doesn't I'll have to examine replacing the lens.

Easter 4WD Trip - Day 4

Some of the group were up at 5:00am this morning heading off at 5:30 to walk to the summit of Peak Charles, a three hour round trip.  I decided against going as my right heel was very sore after driving yesterday.  The usual breakfast before wandering around the lower slope of Peak Charles with the Insta360 camera.

Today's route turned out to be rather interesting as we wended our way north on  winding dirt tracks adjacent to dry salt lakes. 

Our intended campsite had been burned out by a bush fire sometime during the last couple of years and the trees hadn't grown back.  Everyone wanted shade and a decision was made to continue on to "The Breakaways" on the Norseman - Hyden Road.

The afternoon was hot and the flies were out in force.  Foolishly I went walking without my head net and paid the price.  At the base of The Breakaways I met Vlado and Audrey, two members of our group.  Vlado is from Croatia and Audrey from Singapore. 

This is a large camping area.  However the only facilities is a bush toilet (long drop)

The Breakaways are formed when there is a hard surface layer covering a softer and deeper layer beneath.    The ironstone or granite top layer remains in tact whilst the softer underlayer is eaten away by the constant action of wind and rain.  Eventually this creates a mesa or cliff.  When the sun falls on the Breakaway it produces a spectacular array of orange, red and white. 

 

That evening the wind arrived along with a serious drop in temperature (it is desert).  I decided not to attempt to cook an evening meal in the wind and went directly to bed with a ham & cheese sandwich. 

During the night the rooftop tent on the trailer received some buffeting from the wind however I managed to sleep through most of it.

The wind had died by morning and I decided to have last night's dinner for breakfast.   Grilled sausages and two eggs.

Everyone was packed and ready to move by 9am.  Some; like me; were heading directly back to Perth, whilst others intended to spend another night.  Being Easter Monday I wondered how busy the road home might be with returning holiday makers.  It actually turned out to be a relatively relaxed 540km drive and I arrived home mid afternoon.

I now face two days of cleaning the 4WD and camper trailer. 

Easter 4WD Trip - Day 3

The usual breakfast of bacon and egg grilled in the frying pan and eaten on a toast sandwich.  Yes, I'm a boring cook and hate cleaning dishes.

After an hour driving on unsealed tracks we turned south on the sealed Coolgardie - Esperance Highway reaching the town of Norseman which is located at the western end of the long Eyre Highway that crosses the Nullarbor Plain to Adelaide in South Australia.

Gold was found here in 1892.   A prospector discovered a major gold seam here in 1894 and named the town after his horse (Hardy Norseman).   At one time the area was the second riches goldfield in Western Australia.  Today the town survives on mining and tourism

 

The group stopped to refuel at the BP Roadhouse although I only purchased 11 litres having used two of my 20 litre jerrycans before departing that morning.

Wide main street allowing plenty of parking for large caravans.

We continued south with a short detour to the east to view the western end of the Old Telegraph Line.  The telegraph line was one of the first major infrastructure projects built across the continent.  With no existing road all the materials had to be transported along the coast and then carried inland on camels.

Our campsite for the night was Peak Charles.  Another major rock formation.

Short blue line on the map above

The unsealed road into Peak Charles was very heavily corrugated and consequentially I was quite surprised to see five caravans at the campsite below the rock.  It was a tight squeeze but everyone in the group filled the last of the available sites.  An hour after our arrival three more 4WD's arrived only to discover the site was full.

Some members of the group decided they would walk to the summit of the rock.  But would wait until tomorrow morning when it would be cooler.

I decided to be adventurous and cooked pasta and mince for dinner managing to burn the bottom of the pot in the process!  We haven't been able to have an evening campfire during the trip as it's still total fire ban season. 

Easter 4WD Trip - Day 2

Early to bed and early to rise.  Up at dawn before the flies and promptly cooked breakfast of bacon and egg.  Others rose later and I suspect shared their breakfast with the flies!

Today was to be another long day of driving.  Continuing east on the highway we reached Coolgardie, where most of the group refuelled.  Knowing I had 100 litres on the trailer, I didn't bother.  Instead I deflated the tyres in preparation for venturing off the bitumen.

On leaving Coolgardie we changed direction heading south (purple line) through the western edge of the goldfields.  Much of this area used to be covered in Sandalwood.  At one point Sandalwood oil was more valuable than gold.  Almost all the Sandalwood has now gone and what little remains is mostly conserved or protected.  The land has reverted to the ubiquitous eucalyptus trees.

Our first stop was Burra Rock.   Another of those large isolated rocks surrounded by flat land.  Here also the early Europeans built a low wall around the lower edge of the rock to collect the infrequent rainfall.

Several members of the group decided to cool down by going for a swim.

The next stop was Cave Hill Rock.   A similar setup to Burra Rock.  The Parks & Wildlife camping areas in both locations were being used.  I assumed most of the campers were from Coolgardie or Kalgoorlie.

The area on the rock was littered with animal dung.

My guess was camel dung as I assumed the feral camels visited the rock for water.   Another member of the group suggested wild donkey dung.   That surprised me as I'd never seen a wild donkey out here and didn't know they existed.

Well I know now because two hours later we passed two wild donkeys on the side of the track! 

We continued on along another less frequently used track before being stopped by a fallen tree across the track.

My small DeWalt battery powered chainsaw made quick work removing the tree.

The day ended with us reaching our wild campsite just off the Hyden-Norsemen Road.

After dusk I cooked a meal consisting of lamb chops, potatoes and peas.  I'm a terrible and lazy cook.  Therefore I tend to cook something easy, which must include little in the way of dirty dishes to clean afterwards. 

Easter 4WD Trip

Over Easter I joined the local 4WD club for an outback trip to Peak Charles.   A 1500km journey with the emphasis on avoiding bitumen roads where possible.

The RV for the start of the trip was east of Perth at "The Lakes" which is a road junction with a large service station.   Last time I had an RV here it took me more than an hour to drive out of Perth and I was almost late.   This time I allowed myself two hours and (of course) arrived more than an hour early.

Eight vehicles made up the group.  Three of us were towing trailers or a caravan.  The first stop was at Tammin for a comfort break and late morning tea. 

 

Continuing on the Great Eastern Highway we reached Merredin for lunch.

Old Merredin Railway Station which is now a museum.  The new station is much smaller and far less grand.

I spent some time checking the trailer and attachments knowing we would be traversing some rough terrain over the next few days.

Merredin's main street

Another stop at Southern Cross where I topped up the fuel tank on the Isuzu MUX.  A small fuel tank (65 litres) is the one major weakness with the vehicle.  It's the major reason why I carry another 100 litres in jerrycans on the trailer.

By late afternoon we had reached our bush campsite for the night, Karalee Rock.  Today we covered 415Km.  The route is the red line on the map below.  Double clicking on the map should increase it's size.

Karalee Rock is an interesting campsite.   The urgent need in the Western Goldfields was water.  Especially for steam locomotives.  The early settlers enhanced the knowledge of the local aborigines who knew water collected in depressions on these large rock formations.  The Europeans improved the quantity of rainwater water being captured and stored by constructing a 500mm stone wall around the base of the rock, channelling the collected water into reservoirs.

Everyone set up their campsite and in the evening there was a group meeting to discuss the next few days

Got that one wrong!

Reader, you may recall I had decided to make a low power media streaming server using a Raspberry Pi 5 (RPi5) with attached usb hard drives.

The RPi5 works when connected to a standard usb power source.   However there is a low power warning if the RPi5 detects the power source is insufficient to power attached external devices (eg, usb hard drives).

The Raspberry Pi company sell a high power device for the RPi5.   It's rated at 27 Watts.  All RPi's operate on 5 Volts.   The advice from the Raspberry Pi company is a RPi5 requires a minimum of 5 Amps.  Their power source is rated at 5.4 Amps.

Purchasing an official RPi5 power supply has two disadvantages.  1.  Delivery would take two weeks.  2.  The postage added 33% to the total cost.

Looking for an alternative I found a local computer store selling a usb power source rated at 30 Watts.  Not only was it cheaper, but more powerful.  I purchased one and the RPi5 worked.

However this morning I found the RPi5 had stopped working ??????   I couldn't get it to start with the external usb hard drives connected.   When these were disconnected the RPi5 would start but displayed the following screen message.

The problem couldn't be the power supply as it's rated at 30 Watt (6 Amps).   Perhaps it was the cable between the power supply and the RPi5.

I connected my USB Tester between the power supply and the RPi5

There was 5V and only 0.77A.

After a period of various trials I reverted back to the original power supply

The RPi5 worked.  Albeit the external usb hard drives were not attached and I wasn't getting the low power warning

Next I plugged in the four usb hard drives and they were recognised.

But the system has lag and sometimes freezes.   Obviously the original power supply doesn't have enough power.   But it's doing better than the 30 Watt device.

The 30W power supply is marked as 30W.   It's grey text on a grey case so you will have to take my word for it.

Then I realised there was some tiny grey on grey text on the side of the case.  I've done a Kate and enhanced it

The problem has been revealed.  The power supply is rated at 30W when drawing 15V @ 2A.   The RPi5 needs 5V and the device can only supply a maximum of 3A (5Vx3A=15W)  My 30W supply can only produce 15W at 5V.   This is insufficient to adequately power the RPi5 when the usb hard drives are attached.

Bugger!

Rule ONE and Ants

Yesterday I forgot Rule ONE and consequentially wasted half a day. 

I'm going on an outback trip over the Easter holidays and decided to check the camper trailer domestic wiring.  I mentioned in the previous post that I'd upgraded all the external 12V trailer sockets and yesterday I wanted to ensure everything was working correctly.

There were no issues with the domestic system; except I'd failed to reconnect the main positive cable to the battery terminal.  That was resolved rather quickly and I then decided it might be a good idea to check all the trailer lights (indicators, brake, trail lights, etc).  I backed the 4WD up to the towbar and connected the trailer plug.   To my surprise nothing worked!  I "jiggled" the connect and one indicator light worked.

There remainder of the day was spent fault finding.  Eventually I found a loose connector but that only got the brake and trail lights working.  More searching an fault finding suggested the wires to the left and right indicator lights might be broken.  These are routed through the chassis frame and are very hard to access or replace.  Running out of daylight I slept on the problem.  

During the night I remembered the right indicator light had worked when I'd jiggled the plug connection to the 4WD.  Rule ONE…. Look for the simple things first!   This morning I wire brushed the terminal pins on the trailer plug and reconnected it to the 4WD.

All the lights worked!

Meanwhile, Jan has been complaining about ants in the kitchen and bathroom.  We think it's the long spell of hot and dry weather that is attracting them into the house in search of water.  They are very small and can squeeze through the most minute of cracks. 

We think we've identified the entry and exit locations in both rooms.  I used masking tape to prepared the areas before applying silicon sealer.

They are desperate and persistent little creatures and I won't be surprised if they find other gaps.

The HAT

After a week of watching the postman pass our letterbox on his e-trike yesterday he finally stopped and delivered the Raspberry Pi Jan had ordered from the UK.  It was the final component for my latest Raspberry Pi 5 project.

A desktop computer has a motherboard.  When a sub-board is plugged into the motherboard the sub-board is usually called a daughterboard.  It's slightly different with a Raspberry Pi.  The added sub-board is referred to as a HAT (Hardware Added on Top).  

In my case the HAT is actually a "Bottom Board" and fits underneath the Raspberry Pi.  The new HAT will enable me to convert the Raspberry Pi storage from a micro SD Card to a NVMe storage module.  The latter is much faster and more reliable.

(Clockwise left to right) NVMe M.2 512GB storage module,  Raspberry PI 5 with heatsink and fan. NVMe Bottom Hat

I made several trial assemblies before being satisfied with the final configuration.

 

After starting the Raspberry Pi the operating system was transferred from the micro SD Card to the NVMe module.  Next, I needed to change the Boot configuration file to ensure the computer would boot from the new Bottom Hat.  Then the Raspberry Pi was then turned off, the micro SD Card removed, and the system restarted.  

Wow…. It is so much faster!

The plan is to use it  to replace the existing energy hungry desktop computer, which is our dedicated network media server. 

The current heatwave has meant each time there has been a slightly cooler day I've gone for a training bike ride.

 

I've been attempting to establish what distance I can potentially cycle with assistance from the lithium battery.  To date I've been able to cycle 80km using less than 50% of the battery capacity so I should be able to travel 160km with the 19Ah battery.   Yesterday I purchased a 40Ah battery from Aliexpress which will be delivered to the UK.  Based on my current experience it should be good for 360km or more.

The other outdoor tasking I've been working on is a modification to the sockets on the outback camper trailer.  There are four external Anderson sockets.  One on either side of the trailer as inputs for the portable solar panels.  The third is a 12V outlet and the fourth is the input for a 12V battery charger.  

When the sockets were initially installed I tried to complete the task "on the cheap" by just using the Anderson plugs.   This hasn't proved to be a successful as I want.  Despite me sealing the back of the plugs with silicon the fine Australian bulldust gets into the terminal area at the front.   I've now purchased four Anderson plug mounting enclosures in an effort to resolve the issue.

 

The task is taking longer than expected because I've discovered it's only comfortable to do the work early in the morning and just before dusk.  The rest of the time it's just too hot!