Monday 9th April.

   Sheesh, its like I'd been at it for ages and this is only the start of the 5th day. And I've planned for well over a hundred days. If this keeps up I could die of excitement.

   But back to the real world. Up relatively early and after a shower, I got stuck into the laundry. 
Then I settled into the camp kitchen and laid out my electrical "kit" of batteries, wires, solar panel and small tools to put some quality time into fixing my battery problem. I must warn readers here that the next few paragraphs will necessarily be technical, so feel free to skip ahead it you get headaches reading such stuff.

   As I am the planet's greatest diagnostician of electrical problems, I had already deduced that, of the more than 20 "AA" Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries I was carrying, a significant number must be faulty. I had purchased these from my favourite Jaycar electronics shop on the Gold Coast and was generally very happy with the quality of their products. They even weighed a 3 amp hour jell cell battery for comparison with NiMH "AA"s as I suspected the 10 "AA"s would be a better "power to weight" ratio, which it was. But, they were a world away and I needed them to relocate here quicksmart. Part of my kit was an "el cheapo" multi-meter which I chose for its low weight (and the scrooge in me liked the price). So I proceeded to measure each cell individually and sort them into their voltage rating. This only tells me the state of charge "now" and is not a real good indication of how each battery will perform.

   What I needed was to check each cell "under load" and that seemed a bit tricky but a quick bit of lateral thinking provided the answer. I can check each cell while charging from the solar panel as that would provide the same information. So I moved out to a picnic table just outside the camp kitchen to get the solar panel into better sunlight. With a couple of small jumper leads (I can't live without a few of these things within arms reach) I wired up the solar panel, a battery (in a 4 X "AA" holder) and the multi-meter set up to measure 200ma and I was away.

   I knew the solar panel would put out a maximum of 400ma which was too much. The optimum rate for a 2500ma "AA" NiMH is just 250ma. But I was in semi-shade under a great Aussie gum tree and I could aim the solar panel away from the sun as a crude "current regulator" (see photo 114 for a shot of the picnic table with the solar panel feeding my 12V "pack").

   Well! What a let down. I thought I had figured out what I would get from the solar panel in this situation based on years of experience (well a couple)  but the meter told me I was only getting 15ma. I manipulated the solar panel to the sunniest spot on the table but that was the best I could do. Now this is a good caravan park and there was shade everywhere. Damn. I bundled up the whole caboodle with jumper leads holding it together and headed off a hundred metres or so to get some "full sun".

   Horror of horrors! 15ma. What's going on? I replaced the battery in case it was "broken" and not presenting a load. No change. Then I remembered that you could "short circuit" a solar panel and take a reading of the "maximum current out" so I set up the multi-meter to measure this and,,, more horror of horrors. Still only 15ma.

   I quickly deduced that one of  the connectors of the solar panel was "iffy" but nup, they were ok. Next I tried where the wires exited from the solar panel as this is always an early suspect on any electrical gear. Nup again. I held the solar panel in front of me, like Rolf Harris with his wobble board, even shaking it. But more in suppressed anger than trying to get a sound out of it. While I was mesmerised in this beautiful setting, in the middle (early) stages of a great adventure in a great caravan park, playing with electronics I was glad there was no-one around. It must have been a sight.

   But a movement caught my eye. Well not a movement, but a change on the multi-meter. It was changing from 15ma to 1--- and back again as I wobbled the solar panel. I was transfixed staring at it. Every time I flexed the, quite flexible (see pic 189),  panel the meter changed. I finally woke up (pun unintended). The reading of 1--- was signifying that the current was greater than the meter could display while set at 200ma maximum.

   I changed the meter to read 10A max and started again. It was easy to get it to vary from 15ma to over 300ma, which would be what was expected in the sunlight. I settled down and did some specific flexing. I soon found that I could hold the panel in such a way that it would put out what was probably its intended current.

   Well this was good news and bad news. The good news was that I could probably do something about the fault and fix what I had erroneously diagnosed as a battery problem and probably keep my batteries up to the charge required to run my extensive electronic gear.

   The bad news was mainly a severely dented ego. I had had plenty of time to think over the battery charging problems while walking. There aint much else to do. My status as the "planet's greatest diagnostician" had plummeted putting me in the ranks with the "average" techos or even a tad below them. I also got to thinkin' that maybe the reason I could find such an allusive item for sale was because it was faulty "out of the box". I remember well the "second hand" look of the carton when I purchased the solar panel and I wonder if it had been "sold" a few times and returned.

   I'll never know. Mainly because I finished the walk with the solar panel performing properly after repairs and I was not inclined to confront the seller in Dapto with an educated guess that he had sold me a suspect panel. And the sad end to the solar panel tale is that I had taken it into Rex's place in Brisbane (more on Rex [VK4LR] later) after the walk for a "show and tell" session. When I carried all the gear I had displayed back to the car, I must have put the panel on the roof while I packed the other stuff away and driven off. I missed the panel the next morning and a phone call to Rex did not remedy the loss. Such a good and (ultimately) reliable companion should at least have been given the opportunity of a decent burial. It probably became road kill.

   But back to the malfunctioning solar panel and the solution. I got a few metres of "light venetian cord" from my pack. This is what I carried to haul my antenna up into the trees. I attempted to tie the solar panel up in its distorted shape like a badly wrapped birthday present. After half an hour with only momentary good results, I realised that even if I "got it right" there was no way that I could walk with this monstrosity hanging round my neck. I tore off all the cord and sat fingering the solar panel while I watched the multi-meter.


                    

   Hours must have passed (well quite a few minutes) while I was in my "diagnostic dream" trying to think like a broken solar panel. I knew that is was made up of quite a few cells wired in series/parallel to get the voltage and current characteristics. There had to be a lot of junctions internally that were probably some sort of metal strips spot welded that probably would not take solder easily. Like most techos I have pulled apart a few solar garden lights so I had extensive experience concerning the manufacture of solar panels.
   
   Divine intervention at this time prevented me from ossifying or petrifying into a statue. I again noticed the multi-meter changing from its 15ma reading to over 300ma as I was fingering the panel. I changed to a more "position and pressure specific" pattern and eventually found the "sweet" spot. If I applied a slightly more than gentle thumb and finger pressure right "there", it put out its 300ma no matter how aggressively I flexed it as long as I didn't deviate from the spot. Magic! I did it! This is fixable.

   I remember, from yesterday's trip into town, a fascinating shop (EMPORIUM) which had a bit of everything. Kinda like a combination Crazy Clark's and a country hardware store. I had gone in to buy some "AA"s for my camera as I did not trust my ability to keep the camera going with my charging problems. The owner of the shop sold me some "Primary" NiMH batteries and carried on with a technical description of why these were best. I mean, this is a very small country town, the guy is 70+ and stacks the shelves himself, looks like he could tell you all about the cheap nick nacks all around and here he was holding his own giving a very lucid talk on camera batteries.

   So I headed back across the railway lines, this is a serious railway town, and into the shop. I had carried the setup, meter, jumper leads and all and asked him if he had a "gadget" somewhere in his million item inventory that would put this kind of pressure "just here". He beckoned me to follow him to the rear of the shelves and selected a bubble pack of three small 'G' clamps (Made in Taiwan) with a throat deep enough to get the inch or so into the sweet spot.

   I ripped open the pack, walked a few metres and sat on the floor on a bright spot being illuminated by a nice strong bit of sun coming in through a skylight. I set up the solar panel, battery, jumper leads and meter and applied the clamp. Well, the magic happened. The old bloke even understood what I was doing. We were grinning enough to compete with Alice's Cheshire. I remember well being the centre of attention to the other customers, but, what the hell.

   I went with him back to the counter, happily (for me) parted with my $3.00 (incl GST) and floated back to the caravan park. I gave Gary the other two clamps for his junk shed after telling him the story. He was technical enough to enjoy it to the max. Photo 189 shows the solar panel with the "repair" in place. With a couple of half turns on the screw over the next 4 months the solar panel kept everything charged to perfection. Well, too much in some cases, but that is a later story.

   The solar panel saga has been told a million times. Whenever a vehicle would stop and  'avachat, the solar panel would always raise a question or two and the sight of the bright red clamp played its part too. "Ah, what's the clamp for?" brought on the full story of the "little solar panel that could".

                  

   The rest of the day went  really easily with the battery problem behind me. I even tackled the commercial Maytag washing machine in the laundry. Did I tell  you I hate working on washing machines? Anyhow, from memory, the problem was water leaking onto the floor so I ran it up and sure enough a good leak started. I tipped it back at a 45deg angle, resting against the wall, and could see that the bottom seal must be gone as the water was coming from the bowl and dribbling down over the gearbox. I explained what I had found to Gary and how best to resolve it and he nodded agreement. I feel he may have just asked me to look to confirm his ideas and maybe to make me feel better by giving me something to do. Maybe not.

   Next, Gary and I pulled down the mast holding the antenna that is supposed to extend the range of his cordless phone. He finds it extremely handy if he can use it from in town which is less than a kilometer away. We undid all the tape and cable ties holding it together and examined the connections. Some were a bit loose but all were clean. I tested for short and open circuits and we put it up again. There was no noticeable improvement. We discussed the encroachment of several large trees but, in the end, it was just an interesting exercise. But he did appreciate having me there to go through it with him.

   I heated some of the sausages that I had cooked for my healthy sausage sandwich(es) breakfast and had a couple more for lunch. I needed lots of bread and high calorie sausages to replace lost body weight. This would be a pattern in the comming weeks. And it suited me. I loved to stuff myself with hi carb foods and the lean days in between allowed me to indulge.

  Late in the day I met Graham who, at near retirement age, was driving his self contained one ton van with his bicycle on the back. His plan was to leave the van here in the park and cycle along a section of the Mawson Trail and circle back a couple of days later. I wished him luck.

   I also met and chatted with a lady who was walking a section of  the Heysen trail. This South Australia trail is 1,200 km long and extends from Cape Jervis, on the rugged south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, to Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges. With her husband and young (6yo) child and a friend, they have devised a way to walk the whole Heysen Trail in many stages over many years. They started before their daughter was born! They drive both cars to the finish of the next stage they are about to walk. They leave one of the cars there and all hop into the other car and drive to the start of the stage. Then they walk till their feet fall off and all hop into the first car they dropped off and then go pick up the other car. I thought that was ingenious but I guess that's how people with cars organise a straight line walk or bike ride. I have only ever used public transport which worked fine most of the time.

   I finished off  the last of the sausages and  bread and gave away the remaining margarine and BBQ sauce. I would be off in the morning before the office was open so I dropped into the office and said my goodbyes to Gary and Bronwyn and it felt like parting after a long friendship instead of a just a couple of days. Another guest was also leaving and Gay broke into fluent German to say goodbye to this overseas visitor. It was startling to me. Gary was just an Aussie bloke and here he was the international host. It turns out that he lived in Germany for 5 years working in the computer industry. You never know what the story is you are about to hear (or miss) from the person sitting opposite you.

   I again discussed the hoons that threw the rocks at my tent on Saturday night and Gary's theory was that, as it was Easter weekend, it was probably young blokes up from "the big smoke" spreading havoc and "generally having fun". He said that the level of petty crime always went up a bit over holiday weekends. I readily agreed.

   I fired up the radio and heard Lloyd (VK2FLYD), a neighbour of Bills, calling from Newcastle. Bill had told me to expect to hear from Lloyd who would be calling from time to time. I tried a call back to him but got no recognition from him. The background noise on the radio was terrible tonight and sounded like static from an electricity generator or a "noisy" flourescent light. Next problem to overcome is getting communications working reliably.

   After a two day break, refreshed in body, mind and spirit, I was ready for a good night's sleep and hit the road again.