Thanks - it really is amazing scenery, and even to Australians a lot of people have no concept of what it's actually like out there in the much lesser populated parts of our country (almost 90% of Australians live within 50km of the coast). When I first read "desert", all I thought of was just endless, featureless sand - but it is really so much more.

Thanks for the comment. It does seem the music is a bit polarising - I've tried without, but the soundtrack does feel a bit bare. Wish I could upload two versions of the soundtrack so you can pick...

Started at Wiluna with full tank + jerry cans. 178L of diesel at Kunawarritji (Well 33) for the Ranger - vehicle plus jerry cans. (= 16.7L/100km, so they did a bit better than we did in the 200 - we did 22.8L/100km!) They put in 112.5L at Halls Creek, but they left the jerry cans empty. Thanks for the comment, glad you're enjoying it!

@@DropTableAdventures awesome Planning a trip next year in my 2023 Triton and in the process of working out how much fuel I'll need to carry Thanks for the information 👍

Good to hear from you!

Thanks for the comment, glad you like it! I've got more videos coming, I have a huge amount of footage to sort through and edit... I've just been busy actually doing stuff :)

We have both had a bit of experience at climbing. Although most of it's not actually as vertical as it looks, more of a steep scramble. It's really only the "round the outside" bit that involves actual climbing - but there's plenty of handholds and footholds - just don't do it on a wet day, and make sure you have a secure grip before you "use" that hand or foot...

For the chairlift up Kosciusko? We just parked in Thredbo, there's a big car park just down Friday Drive. The ski rental shop at Thredbo claims to have snow shoes for rental: www.thredbo.com.au/ski-snowboard-rental/ - maybe give them a call to confirm.

I'd definitely recommend it! Good luck, I hope it goes well for you.

Thanks for that! As nice as the Z Fc is, it's inescapably a low end camera, so chances are the buyer of it is probably going to consider using it with their existing lenses, and I felt this was under-represented in a lot of reviews. I have however since purchased another lens - a Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 - which I can highly recommend. The effective light gathering capability is significantly better than the TTArtisan 17mm lens even though both are f/1.4 on paper. And unlike the TTArtisan, it has autofocus! However it's quite a bit more expensive, but overall still fairly cheap at about US$450. And Nikon don't even make anything with such a large aperture at that focal length - at any price!

Thanks!

Ahh, so my title wasn't totally clickbait then :)

Thanks! Could never find a simple comparison, just endless pages of discussion about how "this is better than that" and "the professionals only use this". But, we can simply find out!

Thanks!

Thanks for the comment, and glad you still (somewhat I hope) enjoyed it! I unfortunately didn't have a decent external microphone and windsock setup at the time, so I didn't really capture much natural ambient noise, only a lot of loud wind noise... and the in-car audio tends just to be engine noise, loudly blowing aircon, and bits of random conversations about all sorts of things. And the drone shots obviously don't come with sound... Though I'd really love to be able to present that as it was.

@@DropTableAdventures Thanks for replying! Maybe that's a "Director's Cut" version waiting to happen some day! :-) :-) I do admit that ~music overlay~ is a pet peeve of mine, as very many YT creators make BRILLIANT videos (as per yours), then seem to think that their viewers will somehow lose interest in it if subjected to "the sounds of silence" / or the wind/car noises you refer to. I just don't think that is true. Indeed, tastes in music are so widely variable that it's more likely the MUSIC that will force them to change the channel. I have left it too late to visit Australia, I think (I'm a Limey, lived most of my life in the US), but have always always been fascinated by the country since my old Geography master showed us a 16mm film called "Cattle Carters." , , , if you're interested you can even watch it if you want on the BP film library (Google 'BP Film Cattle Carters'). It's still a good little film! With the advent of KZbin I have had a chance to vicariously (at least) travel the remote tracks of your fair Island Continent! All the best, and thanks again for the reply! ---Mike

​@@zzmike I'll certainly consider it - I was planning at some point (probably not for a few months at least...) to cut all these videos together into one long movie-length epic, minus the intros and outros. I'd definitely consider making a version of that cut without the music, if I was to do that. (I do wish KZbin would let you upload two audio tracks, so you could select "with music" or "without music"...) I'll have a look and see if I can find that film - seems interesting.

@@DropTableAdventures "Great minds" . . . (on the two versions: "with" and "without": 'make your choice' . . . I had wondered why creators did not make two versions available). I did not know that YT proscribed having two versions of the same video. Yes, it's a great little yarn about a "grizzled" Aussie cattle train driver who gets lumbered with a "fresh-off-the-boat" Limey co-driver. "Adventures" ensue . . . :- It planted a seed in my young mind as a schoolboy, for sure. )

@@zzmikelove the music but to each his own!

Thanks!

I do own a printer... it's just a 3D one :) And yes, you are correct - a satphone is smaller and lighter than all the HF gear, and would possibly be a better choice for many. Though as I said, the Garmin InReach is a better choice than that as satphone calls are expensive and often unproductive (call the dealership for tech advice, get put on hold for half an hour ($50) then have the call drop? Better to text a friend and have them call.). We have the PLB for life threatening emergencies, which is satellite based but has no ongoing fees. But the thing that I love is that HF gear can talk directly to somebody else's without having infrastructure. The HF gear doesn't cost a single cent to operate, nobody's charging for data or time (on amateur radio that is - and amateur radio being a class license now, don't even need to pay for license renewal - just once off for the exam and callsign). And it's a shared medium - I can just put a call out to whoever's listening, whereas with the satphone you need someone specific to call. And while HF data is slow, we still had it all - could talk to people with voice, send text messages and a position ping every 5 minutes via APRS, email via WinLink, share photos via SSTV, even post some (very low res) pics to social media!

I was just reminded of this by a recent announcement... if I was to have bought a satphone, I probably would have bought the Thuraya SatSleeve (it attaches to the back of your phone, and you make the call with your phone, but you can make an emergency call by pressing a button on the device itself, without a phone.) And then this happened, where Thuraya satellite #2 has died, meaning no more coverage in most of the Asia Pacific region, and your satphone's now a brick: www.pivotel.com.au/knowledge-base/faqs/thuraya-network-closure-faqs.html (I'd likely have actually bought an InReach, which uses the Iridium network, though.) Oh, and I missed your question regarding weight - we have a 3.8T GVM upgrade, the vehicle has been weighed and the weight of these items added up. It was (only just!) under GVM. The total weight of all the spares and fluids was only about 100kg.

It's a bit of clickbait - watch the video to see how I justify the claim, I do have an argument as to how that doesn't count (hint: prominance) :)

Doing that course one-armed certainly would be an experience, I'd imagine!

Yeah. That's certainly a distant memory, though it did drop to about $1/L in 2020 when significantly less of it was being used. Now I feel like it's a bargain at <$2/L, and the $3.20/L at Kunawarritji was barely a shock...

Thanks, glad you liked it!

I don't know where you can get a pre-made one, but github.com/TheSkorm/IC-9350 was what we built. The design's been revised a little from the original to use an Arduino Nano instead of a bare AVR and support components, so it's significantly simpler to build.

Thanks for the comment and guidance on the tracks! I did realise that later about the track from Joy Avenue going alongside it - at the time I wasn't sure exactly where it went (it didn't appear on my map, so I had the road marked out instead). I think you're right about the other path - I've done the ride from Lilydale Station, and also that seems fine.

Hope you have a good time!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks! I guess I got it all correct enough - the trip went pretty well.

1) It was reasonably comfortable on the ride, though I'm somewhat used to riding a fairly upright bike (I also have a Gazelle CityZen C8, seen at the start - the GSD was being rented). If you're used to drop bars, it might be quite a different experience. I think by default the saddle's a bit far back to put a huge amount of power into the pedals (but fine if you're just "leaning" on the electric assist) but it can shift forward to a position you can really pedal hard. At the end of the day, if you don't like the handlebars or the saddle, you could always change them. If the bike's a bit too hard-framed for your liking, you could use something like the Cane Creek Thudbuster for a seat post. 2) It handled pretty well on the gravel, it felt quite stable. Due to the smaller wheels, you certainly feel any potholes you hit, but the front suspension also means they're not incredibly jarring. It's heavy, it has a very low centre of gravity, and it has wide tyres, so it wants to track pretty straight - it's not an amazingly agile bike. But it feels like there's decent grip. I was tempted to take it down one of the easier MTB trails, but there's only so far I want to go on a bike that doesn't belong to me :)

The ones with the D-rings on straps are OzTrail UltraRig (IIRC), the ones with the eyelets that tore out, I think was a not-so-cheap one from Bunnings? As for the month, this was filmed in June 2022.

The seller I bought from isn't around any more but this looks similar enough (and comes in a choice of colour, so you can match your clothing to make it stand out less): www.ebay.com/itm/404695810416 - otherwise if that's not around search for "outdoor microphone wind cover 10mm" (substitute 10mm if it's not a lapel mic).

The seller I bought from isn't around any more but this looks similar enough (and comes in a choice of colour, so you can match your clothing to make it stand out less): www.ebay.com/itm/404695810416 - otherwise if that's not around search for "outdoor microphone wind cover 10mm" (substitute 10mm if it's not a lapel mic).

I was planning to tape the connector so it didn't come loose. I originally had duct tape in the kit - but removed it after I took the strapping tape instead.

How long did you spend trying to decide if (1) you should tape the connector with elastoplast, or (2) tape your knee with duct tape? 🤣

I did my knee with duct tape at parkrun last week because I forgot the right tape - it lasted about 1km until the sweat just unstuck it... but at this point I only really have to tape it for >5km runs (cycling for any distance untaped is fine)

This year, yes - a Gazelle CityZen C8 HMB+. It's a very nice bike for riding round the city (and on gravel, with appropriate tyres!) - especially if you want to carry a decent amount of stuff on the rear rack. But I had the power level turned down to save on battery to make 210km (might have been down a little too much considering how much I finished with), the course is pretty much flat except two notable hills (Westgate Bridge and Mt. Martha), I was above 25km/h for some of it (so no assistance at all), I was sitting a lot more upright so aerodynamics were compromised compared to drop bars, and it's got tyres that are closer to a mountain bike than a road bike (great on gravel but a bit of a compromise on the road). Also it's a Bosch Gen2 motor - so I'm pedalling through a 2.5:1 gearbox before it even gets to the front chainring, and dragging the motor round when it's off (unlike the newer designs where you pedal the front chainring directly and the motor's on a sprague clutch). So I think next year I'll take the road bike that you see at the end.

Thanks for that - I was suffering much the same issue and figured since it's not far off I should just throw the GoPro on, jump on my bike, and head out there for a look!

Someone tests these things first? Also, ironic about the tap - the reason the centre section of the bridge is heritage listed is due to its "importance in understanding water supply systems". I feel like the radar signs exist so that when (not if) there is an accident on the narrow section with the uneven rotting heritage listed planks, the council and government can attempt to dodge liability by going "well we took measures to slow people down, it's not our fault".

​@@DropTableAdventures I am pretty sure the stated reason and the _actual_ reason for heritage listing are 2 very different things. We all know Dan wasn't a fan of cyclists. I haven't measure, but I was disappointed to see the design for the Kew side ramp was not even wide enough for the Victorian Standard (1.6m per lane, design was for 2.6m total) and that both ends are now designed in a way that would make the bridge impossible to widen without major works on both the entry points.

​@@jasonschubert6828 Yeah, although it's a lot wider than what we had before (which I don't think was even 1.6m in total!) it's definitely still not wide enough to comply with Australian Standards for the level of traffic it gets. Definitely agree the reasoning around heritage listing was bizarre and surely the significance of that one bit of pipe can't have been the real reason! WRT the premiers office - they seemed all too happy to put out a press release about the removal of the Gipps St Steps, taking credit there - but maybe that was less controversial though... www.premier.vic.gov.au/ramping-iconic-yarra-bike-trail

That's a very good point - they are definitely better for those walking down there as it'd be a long walk down the switchbacks. Bet there'll be a desire path through the garden bed before long. I may have worded it badly in the voiceover - what I actually found strange about that was that they had ten stairs down to the top of the switchback ramp but then not stairs from there down to the Main Yarra Trail. It's not that duplication is bad - it's that they've only duplicated the very first bit.

@@DropTableAdventures it looks like they are putting a full set of stairs down to main trail on the right (coming from Vic Gardens) that will be similar, but hopefully much wider, than the original stairs. Walking from the west, those few little stairs are much better than the strange triangle you would have to traverse otherwise. I am rapt the triangle is there though, because it makes riding from the switchback _and_ from Walmer Street onto the bridge easy, pretty important considering the amount of cycle traffic here. The original design had a switchback between the "plaza" and the bridge, which would have been a nightmare, and a downgrade from what had existed before!

Oh yeah, I remember that original design. They planned to fix the problem of the switchback being too tight for some to safely ride around - by not letting you do it! Many complained to the council, who initially approved it - then changed their mind following public backlash. Glad we did not end up with that one. Will certainly be good when the other set of stairs opens so there's a direct set of stairs down, and a ramp for the bikes. I don't think I'd ever used the old stairs... I've only really gone through there by bike, but I know that's not everyone!

Thanks for watching!

I'd probably recommend a 2" lift - but in the dry with a spotter and following a good line it should be doable. Maybe I'd recommend AT tyres because I'm not quite sure how well road tyres would go on the sharp rocks...

It's a pretty useful link across the river, shame the reconstruction took so long...

You too!

I wouldn't actually say you're going out on a limb there - I had the same thoughts after doing it again on the same ebike in 2023 (with the weight down from 45 to 35kg by taking less battery and less repair tools!). Video of the 2023 attempt will come next but the preparation video is up at kzbin.info/www/bejne/anvOkmyvmNyohsU - and in it you'll see a little sneak peek of what might just get used in 2024 :)

The LiFePO4 pack was 12v (with all three of those "bricks" in parallel) - it's been rewired in this application to put all 3 in series so the DPH5005 only has to step up from 36v to 42v, as there's a 10A input limit to contend with. However you could use it with 12v input - 12v 10A is 120w, so you'd have a bit under 3A at the battery end at 42v. Provided you wanted to wait a bit longer to charge it, that'd work. As for Shimano STEPS - I cannot find anything about DIY'ing a charger (I thought info on Bosch was thin on the ground)... I would think it'd be similar as overcomplicating the charger would increase cost, but I really can't be sure.

The left hand one on the bullbar is usually a Diamond NR770HSP for VHF/UHF - however at the start of the trip it broke, so we've just put the spare RFI UHF antenna on to have something connected. That one's wired to the Icom 7100 for 2/70 amateur band. The one on the Z-bracket / L-bracket half way down the bonnet on the left is for UHF CB - going to a Uniden UH5060 with the radio body hidden inside the dashboard, as the body's tiny and that radio has controls on the speaker mic.

@@DropTableAdventures awesome. Thank you for replying so quickly. As I mentioned Eralier. Watching your videos is like going away without leaving my radioshack. I also enjoy camping and going in an adventure like your videos sound terrific. Cheers from vk2 And 73

1) You can always use both! Haven't used the BT module but maybe for something like this it would have been handy to log I and V over time, for a nice graph (in addition to the timelapse) 2) 7805 is usually max of ~25-35v in, even at negligible current, Pololu module will take 50v in. All 3 batteries in series so could be wired across just one... though if any significant current is drawn, will flatten one asymetrically (maybe in practice this may not matter, those 3 packs do differ a little in capacity...) 3) Yes the onboard BMS on the Bosch side should disconnect above 42v - it doesn't even connect until you supply the 5v - but the voltage did seem to be pretty accurate when I checked with my meter. While testing I had it top out at 41v just to be safe. 4) Yes it is a SKX171 - used to be my watch before I got a Pebble Steel, then a Pebble Time, then a Pebble Time Steel, then a Garmin Fenix 6X. Nice solid chunk of metal, water resistant to 200m, fully mechanical and self winding. Actually, it's funny how I thought that was a big watch when I got it, the 6X makes it look tiny! 5) In the months since then, I've resumed running and it's getting better. Don't think I have problems with the cartilidge - that sounds painful, hope you can keep it under control.

Good pick-up re the 7805. My oversight is why voltage regulators cower in my presence.

With the right adaptor it should be - the Codan tuning "protocol" is pretty simple, and fundamentally, the radio just transmits 10w of CW, tells the antenna to start tuning, and stops TX'ing when the antenna says it either succeded or failed. You'd just need a circuit to adapt how the Kenwood signals this to the Codan. I can't seem to find one out there, but surely it exists...