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VK4AYQ
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Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 04:34am 17 Feb 2011

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Hi Glenn

It is good to be far enough inland to avoid the salt spray and corrosive air, I would like to go to the beach for a holiday occasionally but for no more than a week, and the trouble is that most beaches are now polluted with people, not as bad as the rotting whale carcass, but still a worry.

You wont have that problem in Toowoomba, and the bonus is that the winds are good up there if you choose the right spot.

All the best

Bob

Foolin Around

dwyer
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Joined: 19/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 574

Posted: 05:06am 17 Feb 2011

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Hi Glen
Would be nice if we start a Wind Turbine Workshop somewhere at Toowoomba maybe once a month meeting so where everyone can met each other and anyone will put their hand out and share the ideas with windpower as l know we will be the first kind to have Homegrown Power,Turbine workshop, Windmill workshop or Windpower Club in Australia Any ideas you have in your mind or feedback will help?

Dwyer the bushman

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5116

Posted: 06:24am 17 Feb 2011

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I think thats a good idea Ian.

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 07:22am 17 Feb 2011

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I'd be in that ,,maybe not every month for me ,,but I think it's a good idea..

Maybe , we could visit each other , everyone having a venue ,BBQ, to spread the travelling and see what each of us are actually doing in our workshop.

Let me see ,, Glenn,Bob, Ian , Phill, Myself , and the many others that are within the area. Bet you'd be surprised how many ..

Cheers,

Bruce

Bushboy

VK4AYQ
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Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 10:09am 17 Feb 2011

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Sounds good to me

Bob

Foolin Around

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5116

Posted: 10:27pm 19 Feb 2011

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Well the packing is progressing. A lot of stuff going to the dump, but I always grab the good bits first, eg, big old microwave oven gave up its transformer and a handfull of goodies, and the tredmill will be scrapped to give up its 3 phase induction motor and VFD. I'm finding homes for a lot of the stuff too. The tower I built for the big Lenz 2 windmill is going to a mates place, he'll put a savonius on it made with a couple of 44 gallon drums.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 11:33pm 19 Feb 2011

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Happy packing Glenn ,, Ilda and I packed 400 cartons over 6 weeks when we sold up in Sydney ,we had to hire a storage shed to accomodate all the boxes. Woolworths, at Brookvale gave us all the boxes for free.

When you get on the road ,if you are in my area ,you are welcome to stay ,

Bruce

Bushboy

santocav
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Joined: 23/02/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2

Posted: 09:45pm 22 Feb 2011

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Would be very interested... Am on Esk Hampton Road and am keen to understand feasibility of using wind energy..

dwyer
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Joined: 19/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 574

Posted: 10:29pm 22 Feb 2011

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Hi Santocav
Welcome come to Homegrown Power and hope you enjoy this forum and do you have wind turbine ?? and also i live not far away from Esk Hampton Road and wondering if the road reopen yet?

Dwyer
All the Best

santocav
Newbie

Joined: 23/02/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2

Posted: 10:51pm 22 Feb 2011

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Hi Dwyer,

Don't have a wind turbine yet.. but very interested in getting one happening.. So looking forward to see if these meetings happen to find out more about what is going on in the local area..

Unfortunately Esk-Hampton Road not reopened.. We're at the Hampton End (just under 4kms from the village), so not really a problem for us... Looking forward to the road being reopened though, cause it's a much better route to Brisbane..

Santo

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5116

Posted: 11:16am 01 Mar 2011

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Spent the weekend moving the rest of my gear to Toowoomba. Well, most of the rest, still a lot of stuff to give away / dump.

I hired a small truck from Budget, and spent Friday night and all Saturday packing it up.

Headed off early Sunday, was a rough ride, the little truck bounced along with every dip or pothole, and I'm sure it left the ground a few times. I was pretty tired and sore by the time I reached Toowoomba 1000km away, took about 12 hours. My brother, father and a family friend were there to help me unload, a lot easier than packing!

Next morning I headed off early to get back to Mackay, again took about 12 hours, but the ligher truck was easier to keep on the road. Fuel consumption was terrible, cost about $600 all up, diesel is around $1.40 a liter at the moment.

I've given myself till Sunday to clean up the rest of my stuff and move out. Giving a lot away, lengths of steel, couple old motobikes, etc.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5116

Posted: 11:45am 09 Mar 2011

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Well I'm here. Finally moved all my stuff and myself to Toowoomba. What a hectic few weeks its been.

A couple of weeks ago I took my old 1992 model Commodore in to get serviced, but the mechanic, whom I've know for decades, told me the old car might not make the trip. The next day its speedo stopped working, and the day after it refused to idle with the air conditioner running. Little problems that could be fixed, but I took it as a sign. So I bought a new 2nd hand Commodore, a 2006 model, for a good price and in good condition. The old Commodore was sold for $450.

Loaded up the trailer with the rest of my gear, big load, a bit heavy. Yesterday morning we ( me and the dog, the cat came down in the truck a week earlier ) said goodby to the beach and headed off for Toowoomba. Was a long trip, the roads are still a mess after the floods, lots of road works and delays. And I had a small problem with the car, a O2 sensor error, got it cleared and checked in Rockhampton, nothing to worry about. Took about 14 hours to reach Toowoomba.

Today I unloaded the trailer and car, the set about making this place a home. The internet and phones are working, so the next few days will be spent catching up on my work, I'm a few weeks behind.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

VK4AYQ
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Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 01:30pm 09 Mar 2011

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Hi glenn

Glad to hear you arrived safely, moving is a pain in the neck at the best of times, but it sounds like you had a pretty good time of it.

All the best

Bob

Foolin Around

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1548

Posted: 08:21pm 09 Mar 2011

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Welcome to Toowoomba and south east Qld , Glenn. I hope you settle in with your pets real easy and be close to dad ,of course.

We'll think about that "get-together" idea in a couple months ,sounds good. Good excuse for Ilda and I to come up to Toowoomba for a couple days or You come down here ,,It's around an hour and a bit.

Ok , I'm just about to leave for Sydney ,,might stay overnight half way..

Taking the lappie with us ,so will be in touch.

Cheers
bruce

Bushboy

dwyer
Guru

Joined: 19/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 574

Posted: 10:48am 10 Mar 2011

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hi Glen
Good to see you back in Toowoomba and hoping find work around this area. I just got another job so now i have got 3 part jobs all engeneering and welding work and i was very lucky that i never had to look for this job, they call me and i have been very busy man. Anyway I think the Ford falcon EL model is better and stronger for towing than the Commodore has.

My 1985 el ford has done 450000Km and the head has never been taken off. I only replaced AU model Auto tranmission and rear diff have been replace. anyway l still like the old Kingswood holden

but not the Commodore.

if you want help looking for a certian job, i know a lot of business people around so just ask and i'll able to help you find some work here or some employment that suits you

All the Best Dwyer

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5116

Posted: 09:01am 18 Mar 2011

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Well I've been in Toowoomba for over a week now, and I like it alot. I've settled into my new home, got the TV and PC's all hooked up. The last few days I've been catching up on work, its fallen behind with the big move.

I received an email from one of the engineer's involved with the installation of the Ropatec turbine, the one that fell over with cyclone Yasi. He's inspected the mounts, and said the bolts were all sheered off, but he believes it was from a wave hitting the turbine and tower, and not the excess wind. The Ropatecs are designed to survive cyclonic winds, but not waves of water. Makes sense, the whole area is now covered in sand and the waves were reported to be breaking over the area the Ropatec was mounted.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
JAQ

Nooba
Newbie

Joined: 07/04/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2

Posted: 10:41am 07 Apr 2011

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Hi guys,

I am new to the forum, so forgive me if my post is out of order or location.

Gizmo, regarding the Townsville ropatec bolts being sheered off, I doubt it was hit by waves, though its not impossible. I spent 5 hours outside during Yasi, 7 km from the foreshore, in a 50ft x 30ft enclosure trying to save a 40ft catamaran project from a similar fate as the ropatec.

The enclosure I was in is a plastic covered dome type arrangement, with gal poles every 1.5 meters with an arc over the top, I had quite a number of bolts/large tek screws shear off due to the violence of the, well, fluttering effect, hate to call it that as it seems quite tranquil, fluttering.

I had one of the poles in front of me, which had a 300mm x 500 concrete footing buried 400mm below the ground level, rise by around 150mm during the storm, aided by the ridiculous amounts of rain that poured down all over me, and said structure, most of which ended up pouring down my back and into my builders cleavage, after five hours this was essentially water-boarding torture, though I did not need to use the bidet for quite some time, and earned the nickname of Mr Sparkly.

Personally, I think the failure was caused by the variation, or confusion phase of the storm, where the wind seemed to vary direction rather violently, at speed of around 300kmph. This was my all time low period of the storm, and it lasted for about 2 hours, after which I was able to tie off a few things and retreat inside for a quick beer, cig and change of clothing before the next rounds.

It was my birthday too, and I have never had, nor ever want again, such a kick ass party.

I will post some pics of the sheered of bolts if anyone is interested.

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