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Here is a video on how to fold a shirt very quickly, should make laundry a breeze

Medic.........

I have started work on the XJ, I have got a couple of old army ammo boxes for panniers and am painting the bike a deep green similar to british Racing green, the intention is to create a survivalist looing bike with an army theme.

Ran out of oil

Well the RD seized last week. I ran it out of oil in the auto lube and didn't hear it. I didn't drop the bike when the rear wheel locked up and after it had cooled down I managed to get it the last couple of klicks home. I ripped the head of with Mick and the right barrel was scored, when he ripped the left off the top ring was missing and seems to have been for a while, that explains why it always felt gutless.

I sold the RD to Mick as is and brought a Yamaha XJ650 an 81 SECA model not the Maxim. It needs a few things for RWC and a lot of TLC. I have managed to track an XJ900 down for parts. The XJ900 runs okay but is missing 2nd gear.


Things I know I need to swap of the 900 (if any good) or replace to get a RWC

Indicator lens
Mirrors
Seat
Front Brake System
Rear Shoes or swap XJ900 disc rear end on to it
Electronic Flasher Can
Tail light globe
Tacho light

Air Wasp

Not to be out done (by complaints or police) I've found something to keep my self active, have you ever heard of a "Hilsch Vortex Tube?", nor had I, till just recently. (once again thanks to Mark and Stumbleapon!)


Put simply it divides a stream of gas (or liquid) into a cold and hot flows.

Commercially available ones claim to get down as low as 20 degrees C above absolute Zero!

I also read a blog that a hobbyist claimed to get 275 degrees F on his "hot"side! (point 1. I don't believe it, point 2. I can't find the blog in question to make sure I read it right, (I'm sort of Dyslexic) point 3. if I'm wrong about point 1. and point 2. I apologize and Kudos to you for doing it at home, well done! (Card carrying Engineers eat your fucking hearts out!))

Here is one I prepared earlier!


As you can see it is made from standard, over the counter plumbing parts, the "Hot" end is the bit with the Blue handle, (actually it's a 3/4" Ball Valve!) the silver bit near the top is a Hi Flow Compressed Air fitting (male) and, of course the short piece at the top is the "Cold" end!





Now lets take a look inside shall we?

Basically, as you can see, the air is made to swirl as it enters the chamber (aided by the offset input, the aluminum piece inside and even the thread of the collar that makes up the outside of the chamber!) Note the washer (reducer) to the left of centre, this is very important as the air must travel to the hot end first forming a vortex then the hot air passes thru the ball valve whilst the cold air compresses into a smaller vortex which moves back down the low pressure area created by the original vortex and passes thru the reducer into the cold end

The ball valve seems to have more effect on the cold than the hot!

When tested (with a multimeter and a temperature probe) the best we got out of it
was8 degrees C at the cold end and 24 degrees C at the hot end!
The ambient temperature was about 14 degrees C!

Not too shabby, for something that took me more time to shop for than it took me to build!

I'm sure I can improve on those specs by making the swirl chamber more precise!

Remember that there is no such thing as cold!
It is merely an absence of heat!

Cheers all for now, Mick. ;-))

airwasp

Well it didn't take too long (about a month) too get myself shut down!

I had been running it for about 1/2 an hour, shut it down 4 a couple of minuites then fired it back up again for about 20 mins, then Mark comes bolting thru my backyard drawing his thumb across his throat and gesticulating wildly, taking the hint I shut it down.
Mark, seemingly still very exited, finaly blurts out, "Theres a Copper about to kick in your front door!"

So I waltz thru the lounge, unlock the front door to find a very Pissed Off Copper standing there going, sort of going purple, to cut a long story short, after he vents his slpeen at me he asks,
what the hell was that?

It's still red hot so I can't pick it up to show him, I'm there hopping from foot to foot, (knowing the bong and mix is out on display in the lounge!)
So I reluctantly show him thru (trying to keep me between him and the bong )
and after I explained it to him, he was quite inpressed
( "sorry Mate but I deem that thing too loud for suburbia!")
I then asked if it would be banned in a rural setting and he said "not that I know of!" so I guess I have to get freindly with a local farmer, (I'm putting it in a r/c model boat! so I needs a farm with a dam!)
My parting coment to the Copper was "they put me on a Pension so I gotta do somthing to keep my Brane active!" and buggar me dead HE agreed with me and wished me well!
Said he was sorry but, "it's too loud Mate!" and left with a smile on his face!!!!

Well I'll be fucked, I'm pretty sure he saw the bong but, I didn't freak out so He didn't!

Something new happens every day the trick is you gotta be there to observe it!
Cheers all, Mick. ;-))

Sam's Schematic Collection

Various Schematics and Diagrams

I stumbled across this site today that has all sorts of circuits to make, so if you are in to electronics check it out

On the road

Well after a bit of mucking around getting statuary declaration filled in as I didn't have a receipt
I managed to get the RD registered today.

I was a bit worried they might send me to get an engineers certificate as due to the age of the bike it didn't have a compliance plate, and it hadn't been registered since 1979 so was not in vicroads system.

The girl at Warragul was looking for the vin number and couldn't find it on the system so she asked if I had evidence of previous registration, when I pulled out the old 1979 sticker she said "Well that explains it its from the days of Noah thats why I cant find it"

Stock Photos

Here is a great site that lists heaps of stock photo sites, free and cheap ones. Stock photos are able to be used in your websites and flyer's etc legally so if you need a photo check out

http://www.powstock.com/

Nearly there with the RD

Well the end is in sight now, I am waiting on some foot peg rubbers to come tomorrow and that should be it. I got a permit for a week today so I took it for a short test ride and it all seems to do what it is meant to. i am going to take it for a ride tomorrow out to Tyabb to make sure no parts fall off :)

It is booked in at the bike shop in Warragul on Wednesday for the Roadworthy and then i will book it in for the registration inspection. Oh and the brakes are great for a drum setup.

Spewing Dragon

I ran in to a bit of a problem, when I took the bike for its first quick run I had oil spewing out of the dragons exhausts, I actually drained out nearly 500ml from the mufflers. It took me a bit of thinking bt I narroed it down to the auto lube pump having corrosion on the cable, so a quick spray of mechanic man in a can (aka WD40) and everything was flowing freely except the oil, this was now limted and didnt flow freely out the exhaust...

Air Wasp

The Bush Pig gets a Makeover!







It goes from this;












To this;

in one afternoon/evening!



And this is how it was done!







First the bit of mild steel exhaust pipe, injector-cap/shroud and threaded studs went,














and then I flared one end of a piece of
stainless 1,1/4" tube 17,3/4" long,








then the Gas Injector gets the treatment,






and welded to the combustion chamber with
the tapered shroud added at this time as well!










All that's left to do is fabricate a large washer and weld it between the injector casing and the front of the tapered shroud, and then,........................Fire It Up!












And fire it up I did,
seems I am very good at designing Ram-Jets,
shame, I'm setting out to design a Pulse-Jet!








The combustion seems to be happening in the beginning of the exhaust pipe not in the combustion chamber!

Mark and I branestormed about it last nite and came up with 3 possibilities;

1, the c/chmbr is too short,

(we'll fix that by cutting the c/chmbr behind the spark-plug and adding more length to it!)

2, the air intake is too small,

( the fix here is a little out there cos I didn't want to pull the injector assy apart, [I welded it too well!!] so we'll drill down thru the shroud and c/chmbr at the front, to let in more air!, and seal the shroud temporarily with aluminium tape in case we need to adjust the airflow!)

3 the Shroud is too short.

(easy, I'll get another 2 1/2" to 3" reducer and weld it to the original)(this will also act as a concentrator for the thrust created at this point!)

Air Wasp

Earth shattering News dept.


I am now the proud Owner/Builder of a working Pulse Jet!




The Bush Pig was a bit of a Dud,
(Mark reckons it's a win coz we got it to run, I say it's a dud coz it wouldn't sustain it self without the start air!)

But it was a learning experience nonetheless.







The trick is to make a Pulse Jet not a Ramjet!

Anyway, I was a bit bummed so, I went online and found a plan, (of an actual working one, [I checked on Utube first!]) of a Chinese Acoustic Folded Wave Engine!

I had to change it slightly, for ease of construction.
( you know me, I had to give it the Mick twist!)
If you look closely at the plan vs, Me you'll see my combustion chamber is stepped and the plan calls for a proper concentric cone, as I said earlier it was an ease of construction thing!

I did find out however. that the most important thing is, the centre line of the inlet tube must be aimed at the seam between the domed front and the c/chamber at the bottom!
(don't ask!, suffice to say it put me back a day on the build!)





I must say starting one of these Bastards is actually not quite rocket science but, it seemed like it, till you work out the art to it!












But the upshot is,

It runs!

Most Importantly,

By itself!





Warning! Wear hearing protection!

Wow the noise Indescribable!!!!!!
No matter how hard you poke your fingers into your ears, it's still uncomfortable!
( the noise that is)
(pushing in your fingers too hard is no picnic either!)

And I wasn't prepared for this, the Vibration!
It's incredible, you can actually feel it in the ground coming up through your Feet!

We did take a Video but it has to be edited, so you'll have to wait for my next post!

The pix will be better tomorrow (it'll be daylight!)
I have a full tank of L.P.G. and I intend to use it!

That's all for this post,
see Y'all soon,
cheers, Mick. ;-))

Air Wasp

Well shit a brick!

It works!!!!!

I hooked up the Flasher Can to an Ignition Coil (out of the magneto off a old Briggs and Strugglin I had lying around!) and wired it to my Power Supply, and what do you know, a nice steady click,click,click, just like when you flick on your Indicator on you Car!

It throws a fair spark (a little on the orangey side) but certainly good enough to light an L.P.G. flame!



The poor quality of the spark is (I suspect) probably due to either;

no capacitor on the relay in the Flasher Can or,

that it is totally the Wrong coil or,

a combination of both!





I'll rectify that by getting a proper G.T. 40 R Coil (they actually run on 8 Volts and only require 12 Volts when starting) .

The upshot is I may be able to run it off a 9 volt battery to keep it all compact!

(it draws a fair bit of current cos the relay spends most of the time in the normally closed position i.e. dead short! So if it runs on a 9 volt battery it's already current limited!)

And of course, put a capacitor across the relay points in the Flasher Can!

Well that's it!

First update complete.

;-))

*End Communique*

Air Wasp

Well Mark would be pleased,
looks like I'm actually writing a blog!

OK here goes.

It all started when I was a Kid and my Dad got me into building and flying Control Line Model Air-Craft,
I can't really remember when I first heard of Pulse Jets but it was around then and, I have been fascinated ever since.
I've always wanted to build a Model of a V1 Flying Bomb (a.k.a. Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug. Best known during the Battle of Britain or more precisely the London Blitz.) and may still will but, to do that we need to acquire a power-plant i,e. a Pulse Jet. When I was a Kid they were banned in Victoria so, the only way to lay your hands on one was to send to the U.S. and mail order it or, build one. The problem there is, not a lot was known about them and, getting plans was nearly imposable! (no Internet back then!)

I sort of forgot (How could I?) until my early twenty's when I met a Bloke who had built one and he showed it to me.
It was BEAUTIFUL! (the fires burn Bright again but,.............die again to embers)

Fast Forward to present!

So the desire to have one was put on the back-burner again until, my friend Mark (a.k.a, my personal I.T. Tech., friend, confidant and many other things!) stumbled me a heap of Pulse Jet sites and U-tube's (not knowing of my previous hankerings. He didn't know me when I was a kid!) So the Fuse (so to speak) was well and truly RE-LIT!
And now we come to about a month back and I decide to go to my local Exhaust Joint and bought some stainless tube 2 1/4" (for the combustion chamber) 1 3/8" (for the exhaust pipe [which turned out to be mild steel! oh well )
I cut a pair of triangles out of one end of the 2 1/4" and heat and beat at it for the next 3 days! Till I had it necked down to the 1 3/8" I needed and Mig Welded it all together.
Next I went to my local Honda dealer and got a small spark-plug (NGK CM 6) and then off to the Bolt Joint for a suitable nut and some stainless socket bolts, nuts and 2 large washers all M8 x 1.25. (these are for the L.P.G. injector. More about that later)

Next comes the big decision, Reed Valves or Valveless!
(now having started my time as an Outboard Mechanic I actually knew where to source out petal type reed valves! heh heh sneaky little bastard aren't I!)
But I decided to go reed-less anyway!






And here's what I came up with;







Looks pretty spiffy doesn't it!
It isn't actually finished quite yet, it needs to have the injector cap affixed to it and then it's ready to fire up!

But last night I had a bout of design frenzy and came up with this sketch!


And so the Air Wasp was born!
(sorry about picture quality, my scanner seemed to read what was on the back of the page as well)
Obviously this is not to scale but I'm proud of my artist's impression anyway! (I've never been very good at drawing I usually just picture it in my mind's eye and then make it! [good for revisions that way, they're instant!])









I've had an idea about where to source out stainless stuff, Milking Machine suppliers!
(comes from living in a Rural area and working on a Dairy Farm when I was 17)
No shit the stuff they've got on their shelves is Manna from Heaven to people who are interested in experimenting with Pulse Jets!

Trouble is it's expensive!
But, not as expensive as having an engineer make it up for you!

I spent less than $50.00 AUD all up on building the first one, (pictured above)
It cost me 50 bucks just to acquire 3 pieces of stainless to start the Air Wasp!





But I'm willing to pay for Beauty, and you'll see from the picture here that the potential is there to come up something really Beautiful!







As you can see the Air Wasp already looks good and I haven't even done anything to it yet!
You can also see that the first one (which I think I'll call the Bush Pig!) looks like it was home-made in someone's back yard workshop, (it was, Mine!) but the Air Wasp will look like a Bought One!
(Don't get me wrong I LOVE my Bush Pig[who wouldn't?] but the Air Wasp well.................!)


P.S, Air Wasp is sort of a tribute to my Dad, (who Passed Away last year). He raced Austin Specials in the 50s and 60s. He called his cars WASp. (Mk 1, Mk 2 and Mk 3.). Wasp stood for Woods Austin Special, which I have altered slightly to Woods Australian Special.

Hence Air Wasp!

Went to Darren's (where my Lathe is stored) and started work on the Air Wasp.



Didn't do a heap, just got out the boring bar and took some meat out of the combustion chamber (it was about 5 mm thick, so I bored it to about 2 mm thick) and










chamfered the rear of the combustion chamber to fit the cone a bit better.



It'll go together a little bit like this!

Mark came up with a novel idea for a budget igniter,
"why don't you hook up a flasher-can in series with the primary of an ignition coil?"

Well for the life of me I can't think "why not!" (well it did occur to me that the coil primary may require more Current (Amps) than the can could supply but, we can get around that if we need to! the idea is still basically sound!)

I've been to T.N.T. (my local Auto Parts Supplier) and Terry hooked me up with a 2 wire flasher-can (it can't get any simpler)


I'll get back to you and tell you how it goes!

And now we get to the bit where I say

"Watch This Space!"

It's getting dark, my glasses are dirty and it's getting hard to see to type, I'm hungry and so are my critters!

I'll be back when I have more to update on the build!

Cheers, Mick. ;-))

The Motorcycle Rider

I don't know who the original author is but one of my motorcycle email groups forwarded this email it is worth the read.

The Motorcycle Rider

I saw you pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
But you didn't see me playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you change your mind about going into the restaurant. But you didn't see me attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.
But you didn't see me riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you frown at me when I smiled at your children. But you didn't see me when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you stare at my long hair. But you didn't see me and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves. But you didn't see me and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you look in fright at my tattoos. But you didn't see me cry as my children were born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere. But you didn't see me going home to be with my family.

I saw you complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be. But you didn't see me when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you yelling at your kids in the car. But you didn't see me pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.
But you didn't see me squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you race down the road in the rain. But you didn't see me get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But you didn't see me trying to turn right.

I saw you cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
But you didn't see me leave the road.

I saw you waiting impatiently for my friends to pass. But you didn't see me.
I wasn't there.

I saw you go home to your family. But you didn't see me. Because I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a bikie. A person with friends and a family. But, you didn't see me.

Lots of news on the RD

I haven't posted for a while and have been doing bits and pieces to the RD. Most of the stuff has been the fiddly things I didn't want to do, but the things I had to do to pass the Roadworthy certificate test.

Replace handlebars I used cut down AG bike bars they suit my more erect (read stuffed back) riding posture, it also has an instrument cluster protection bar that will make a great mount for the digital camera when I go on rides.

Sticky throttle- rubbed down the handlebars as they had some old paint on them that was causing problems, and take the burr of the end from the shortening I had done. Lubed up all the cables with WD40 and now I have a throttle that makes a decided thud as the slides in the carby close, nice and quick.

Replace clutch lever as the old one had been broken in the crash

Replace clutch cable as the old one is stretched

I had the back wheel straightened and a new tube fitted, tire is in RWC

Welded up the headlight shell then rewired the bike in to the back of the shell, up to this point I had just been working out the wiring and had it hooked up temporarily.

I had to rewire most of the cables running to the headlight shell as they had been ripped out during the crash. This was the first hurdle to get it running as we had no ignition as the wires had been ripped out so no spark, we ended up hot wiring the bike to start with.

Fitted the two remaining indicators to the front and am looking around for some chrome indicators, round ones that will suit the bike, this way I have pairs front to rear.

Stripped out the axles and brake pivot points (drum brakes front and rear) and lubricated, the brakes actually release now when you let them go and the wheels turn with a light push instead of busting a spleen trying to push it around with dry axles and brakes locked on.

Had the seat re trimmed in black vinyl with high frequency welded seams, it looks almost factory.

Swapped some rectangular mirrors I had been given by Mick for a pair of round ones that suited the bike better.

Replaced the fuel lines.

Cleaned some over spray off the tank, i used WD40 again, stripped the over spray off but didn't damage the original paint.

Replaced the plugs.

Replaced battery, this was a no brainer a 30 year old battery left unmaintained, I knew this would need replacing and had one on order before I picked up the bike.

Removed muffler baffle tubes to clean them but they look like they were replaced yesterday.

There was a light on the instruments that came on with the brake lights, I disconnected it as I didn't want it flashing on and off in winding roads at night especially as it was RED what the hell was that designer thinking, red is bad and how is putting the brakes on bad...

Brought an old style helmet on eBay and got some riding goggles with 3 different colour lenses as well.

Well that is about it for the list of things that have kept me busy, with no undercover area to work in I just work in among the rain and at this stage am looking good to have it on the road for Christmas. Then it is time to start getting her ready to take from Melbourne to Perth Australia one of the longest runs in the world, coast to coast it is about 3600 km's or about 2240 miles.

This is my first long distance trip so any suggestions from readers is most welcome, just leave it in comments. I plan to do about 500km a day or 5 hours riding but that is just a plan, when I get the time I will put the list of items I am taking with me.

Left for RWC

Okay I gave you a list of what i have done here is what i have left.

• Replace front tube. (leaks)
  
• Fit rear indicators. (missing or broken)
  
• Fit handlebar end caps (missing)
  
• Replace headlight lens (cracked)
• Adjust chain
• Fit clutch cable and adjust up clutch (stretched)
• Fit front brake switch (broken)
• Maybe replace forks (some light surface rust at very top)
• Maybe replace rear shocks (might be leaking)

Ferrofluids

Velcro was a great discovery (or was it given to us in a treaty agreement with an alien race) but Ferrofluids are really interesting. A mix of nano sized particles of something like haematite or magnetite with a carrier to keep it all in suspension. The nano particles are small enough that an equal dispersion is maintained by the heat in the system creating thermal agitation.

Some of the ideas these things are good for a killing cancer by injecting some directly in to the tumour and then making it "dance" around with magnets causing friction and local heat that destroys the tumour. Another is replacing the air around the voice coil in a loudspeaker with a ferrofluid, one of the things that a ferrofluid does is behave along the curie effect, as it gets hotter it loses its magnetism, in the voice coil this means that the colder ferrofluid is drawn to the voice coil, as it becomes hotter and reaches its curie point it is no longer magnetic and colder fluid comes in while the hotter fluid is moved to the outside near the heat sink, no moving parts required.

Oh and they look good as well here is a picture from the wikipedia article on ferrofluid's.

Ubuntu Linux on Armada 1700 Laptop

Well I finally got around to installing linux on the laptop. I played with a heap of different distros before finally finding one that I understood how to configure :P

I thought I might put my experiances down in a quick howto as installing Kubuntu on the Linux Armada 1700 Laptop wasnt all that hard.

I will point out that I was given a custom Debian distro from Computerbank Victoria a few years ago and had a bit of a play with it. The system that was set up and designed to run on the laptop I had. The developer used a similar laptop for development .

So I did have a bit of a play with config files and the like. I am from the days of C64's BASIC and DOS so I know what a command line is and I wasnt scared to use it. well help is only an install CD away.

Well on with the installation of Kubuntu Dapper Drake 6.06 Alternate Install CD

Here are the hardware specs for the machine, certainly not a powerhouse type of a PC but it could run WINXP so I figured a Linux of the same era should work so I stumbleupon a site that mentioned ubuntu and Kubuntu and I got to downloading.

Compaq Armada 1700:

Tech Code: 6300/T/5000/D/M/3
CPU: Genuine Pentium II 300Mhz
RAM: 160 Mb
Display: 14" LCD
Video chip: Chipsand Technologies 65555
Sound chip: ESS1869
Internal modem: Compaq 56VL (Lucent WinModem)
PCMCIA/CardBus slots: Two
USB 1.1 slot:
Floppy drive LS120: internal
CD-ROM drive: internal
Hard Drive: 3.3 gig
Mouse: Synaptics Touchpad (PS/2)
WiFi Card: Compaq WL110 PCMCIA card

Okay I downloaded the Dapper Drake 6.06 iso Kubuntu Alternate install disc, from www.ubuntu.com. There are links in the lower left of the homepage if you want Kubuntu with KDE (Kubuntu) instead of gnome (Ubuntu)

The reason for the alternate install CD image is the normal install CD uses a live linux version running in RAM. As most Armada Laptops from the 1700 range are fitted with less then the required 196 mb of ram for the install we have to do a text based install from CD 2 the alternate install CD Oh and not the DVD as we dont have DVD drives either.

I am not going to cover the complete ins and outs, this assumes you can read a screen and answer simple english questions and that you can use google to get basic information just like this howto. Take hostname for your computer, Easy it means a name for the computer call it Bob, Jane, Spot or Rover, just think of a name for your computer and type it in.. I will leave all that sort of stuff up to you just like the timezone you are in.

Basically if you can install windows by yourself and get all the devices working so have a grasp of drivers then you should be right.

However I will help you get all those little things like no sound, acpi shutting off laptop, framebuffer in 1024x768 for a fullscreen console and get X running in 1024x768 so your desktop is fullscreen as well. Those things that like windows work but usually just need a tweak to fix up.

I didnt get a few things working as eiether A. I dont use them so havent checked or B. they dont work and I havent learnt how to fix it yet. I am still a linux newbie.

Okay Download the ISO and burn it to disc, I used nero on a windows XP system but if on a mac do it the iMac way on nix do it the nix way etc.. Just burn it as a bootable image like any other ISO file...

Then boot of the CD on the laptop, if your laptop id not configured to boot from CD you will need to change the BIOS settings, Google for Armada 1700 BIOS Settings or similar for help on that.

Choose Text install from the option menu that appears.

Work through the standard installation questions on computer setup etc, and get the installation underway, like a windows install a hot beverge may aid here, unlike windows you end up with a full install of applications as well making it a true out of the box solution.

Okay you should now be able to log in to your desktop and once you have you should have noticed 3 things, the text at startup only fills the middle of the screen (640x480 mode) the desktop fills the middle of the screen (800x600 mode) and there was no sound at startup. Lets fix all thre in that order.

One lets get the framebuffer running in console mode so that our "Dos" text fills the screen.

First you need to open Kate the advanced text editor, it is found under the "K" menu lower left of screen, just like the windows start button. It is in the utilities section.

In kate you need to open /boot/grub/menu.lst this is the boot loader config file. Here we are looking for the following lines in the code

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-26-386
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-386
savedefault
boot

we need to add acpi=off, this turns power management off which shortens battery life :( but if you dont for some reason the laptop thinks it is hot and shuts down, fan doesnt work with Kubuntu. We also need to add vga=791 to enable the frame buffer. We still get a few short duration startup screens smaller just like windows but our console is fullscreen :)

Change this
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
to this
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash acpi=off vga=791

Save the file in your home directory as you cant save it back to the grub directory as your are not Root "Administrator" to the linux newbies like me.

Once you have it saved to your /home/username directory as menu.lst you need to copy it over the top off the old one, to do this type the following in to a console window. The sudo gives you tempoary root access

sudo cp /home/username/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst and hit enter

Thats the first one fixed, next is the desktop we do this the same way but this time we want to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Go through and look for a section like this

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Chips and Technologies F65555 HiQVPro"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

What we need to do is go through and only down the bottom remove any reference to 24 bit colour depth, change it to 16 and we need to remove all the modes like 640x480, all we wnat left is 16 bit at 1024x768.

we end up with a section like this

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Chips and Technologies F65555 HiQVPro"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

save it top the home directory then copy it over the top of the old one with

sudo cp /home/username/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and thats the desktop taken care of. Now lets fix the sound which isnt really broken it just hasnt auto detected the sound card so didnt load the driver no diffrent to windows, a quick tweak of another config file and we are in business.

This time open up /etc/modules and add this line to the end

snd-es1688

save the file to your home directory and then copy it with

sudo cp /home/username/modules /etc/modules

Type in the following command to reboot yes only one reboot :) and thats it, see a lot easy then windows.

sudo reboot

Oh and when it asks for a password for sudo just use the password for you own account you created during the install, thats an admin account.

Hope this helps you out

First post from my linux box

I finally got around to installing Linux on the laptop tonight, after a day at the dentist with two extractions and then a major bleed that required coagulant dressings stiched in to the gum :(.. So in pain and cant sleep what to do but install Kubuntu.

So far pretty painless, I had to tweak the xorg.conf to 1024x768 as it was defaulting to 800x600 leaving a black border around the screen.

I dont have sound yet but the wireless is running great. I will work on the sound later..

I have got some bits and pieces from using the site linux on laptops might be worth a look.

Linux borris 2.6.15-26-386 #1 PREEMPT Thu Aug 3 02:52:00 UTC 2006 i686 GNU/Linux

Finally Running

Well I got her to run and finally got around to making a little movie :)

Here she is running from cold with half choke which I have to cut straight away as she wanted to stall on choke. At the moment I am running a a heavy 2 stoke mix of about 20-1 in the tank plus what the oiler is throwing in from the autolube system so it is pretty smokey.

It is slowly starting to take shape with only a few things left to do then clean and polish over winter to get it ready to register in november

We are here as well..

When you see us moving past you quickly:

Don't take offense or think we're trying to "show off". Ninety five
percent of the time, we're trying to get out of your blind spot or
taking ourselves out of a potential dangerous situation that has
evolved around us.

Distancing ourselves from you does not mean we want to race, but that
we're giving ourselves the edge we need at the moment.

When you hear our horn: Don't take offense or think we're trying to
aggravate you.

All we're doing is letting you know where we are in relation to you on
the road, and we're more than likely aware of your inattentiveness to
us while you're talking on a cell phone, eating, reading or involved
in some other distracting aspect to your driving.

It's important to us, and you, that you know we're there.

When you hear our loud pipes: Don't become angry and hostile toward us.

Yes, some are quite loud, but for some, there's a purpose behind being
loud.

It's about letting you know we're close by and we're constantly hoping
that our investment in this accessory will help save our lives.

Our pipes are really not about our ego...it's a pride and
personalization to our form of transportation.

When you see us in our clothes: Don't become fearful of us or think
us weird. Our leather jackets, chaps, gloves and boots are the
barriers between loosing massive amounts of flesh should something
cause us to go down...nothing more, nothing less. Safety
gear is paramount to our riding.

We wear patches on our jackets, and pins on our vests.

These are symbols of pride and honour within our group(s), individuals
giving back to those who gave.

These things bond us as a brotherhood and sisterhood among bikers.

Not that we're better than anyone else, but that we have the same kind
of nobility and pride in our accomplishments as you may have in the
various aspects of your life.

I guess one could say; our patches and pins are the decals and the
bumper stickers of our involvement with society and the general
public, of which we are very pleased to be a part of in our own little
way.

When you see us in a restaurant: You don't have to shield your child
or feel intimidated.

We have family, wives, husbands, children and loved ones too, just
like you.
We smile; we laugh and enjoy the moments we have.
We are approachable, and would befriend you, if given the opportunity.

When you see us in a parking lot: Don't convince yourself that we're
there to "get you".
More than likely, we just finished a long ride and are taking a break.
Or, we may be meeting up with other riders for a charity run for young
children, or another very worthy cause.

We may just be admiring one another's bikes, sharing our pride with
other brothers and sisters, just like you do with your personal vehicle.

It's what we do...it's a part of our lives, and we'd be more than
welcome to share with you what riding a bike is all about...if you'd
only ask.

When you see aggressive riding bikers: Don't put us all in the same
stereotypical category as those whose behaviour and actions would
cause you to react in disgust and intolerance.

Many of us do not agree with this style of riding either, and we know
and understand that human nature tends to blend us all together as the
"same group". Most of us don't want that title...and don't deserve it.


When you see a group of bikers on the roadways: Give us the courtesy
of sharing the road with you.
Please don't "move in" between several bikers in formation.
This gets us very excited and nervous, especially when it's done with
no due regard for our safety.

Provide us with your awareness of the fact that we are much more
vulnerable than you.

We don't want to challenge you, for all of us are wise enough to
know...we'd lose that battle.

When you are turning left Or Right or entering a roadway/highway:

Look, then look again...and then one more time.

For we can be easily hidden, and appear to be invisible by such things
as a telephone pole, another vehicle, bright lights or the glare of
the sun...or possibly, the beads hanging from your rear-view mirror,
among numerous other items that are displayed there.

If you see us flashing our lights at you or blowing our horn,
we're only trying to ensure that you will see us before tragedy
changes both our lives.

When you are behind us: Please give us the room we need and don't
tailgate us. If you hit us, we're going down...HARD!

We don't want to play games with you, we just want to enjoy the ride
and the fresh air, and experience that which many of you have never
lived for.

If we accelerate away from you, don't interpret this action
as though we want to drag race you. We're only trying to take
ourselves out of a bad situation if you insist on being too close.

When, and if, you experience road rage: Don't take it out on us just
because we're smaller than you and more vulnerable.

Think about what you're doing and the end result that may become a
reality.

The consequences of your actions and choices could be very detrimental
to our well being, our families, our children and our loved ones.

Yes, there are those that can tend to piss you off, however, rage
towards them will not solve the issues, but accentuate them.

Nine out of ten bikers will do everything they can to take themselves
out of that situation without causing you or them harm.

When you have an opportunity to talk to us: You'll discover, outside
any influenced or stereotypical mindset you may have, that we are just
as human as you are, just with different interests and toys.

Many of us would give you the shirt off our back if it would tend to
brighten your day or console you in some way.

We're really no different...and we drive cars, trucks and vans too.

So, meet us and greet us...

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised that you'll be met with open arms.

Thank You for attempting to understand.

Author unknown
Originally seen at www.gippslandriders.twistedsouls.com

Firing on all cylinders

Well trials and tribulations.. I got the oil out of the carby, fixed a few fuel leaks brought a battery and now have a bike that starts first kick and runs on both cylinders.. I have the auto lube system working and have also added oil to the petrol to make sure the lower end gets a good drink of oil after 30 years.

I now have to get 2 indicators, a headlight globe, front tyre, mirrors, clutch lever, brake cable, clutch cable and a few other bits and pieces then I will be ready for roadworthy..

The plan is to get it roadworthy and registered then I can tinker and start my mods..

Theres fire in the dragon

I finally got my head around timing a stroke (The RD250 is 2mm BTDC) and then charged the battery, I didn't have fuel lines hooked up so I pulled the air cleaner out and gave it a squirt of 20-1 2 stroke mix straight in to the air box, I used the 20-1 ratio as I wanted to make sure that those bearings got a good drink of oil after 30 years.

The first kick wielded nothing, however on the second kick she fired and ran for about 5 seconds, I was wrapped that I got it to fire..

I mucked around a bit and Mick and I sorted out the fuel lines and got some fuel in to the tank, but the left carby wouldn't take fuel so after dinner I pulled out the carby and dropped off the float bowl with Mick, It was FULL of OIL.....

Hmm maybe somewhere along the track someone hooked up the oil line for the auto lube to the carby, I guess I will never know, I will soak the carby in fuel for a day or two to clear the oil out of the galleries then see what happens...

Here's a pic of the offending carby, found the pic over at www.britcycle.com

Yak 50 Russin warbird

Here is a photo I took of an old Yak-50 I think.. I got the snap just at the moment of contact and if you look carfully you can see the prop flexing forward as it starts to rotate click image for a closer look

Out of the blue

On the way home from picking up my RD250 www.rd-25.blogspot.com I spotted these so I pulled over to take a quick snap, click for the bigger pic

She has a new home

I went down to Brad's today just to dig it out of the shed, all went well all though someone has ratted the wiring a bit in the back of the headlight. Another job to add to the list of things to do. At least the damage doesn't appear anywhere else in the main looms and all the wire is nice and pliable and hasn't dried and cracked.

Here are a few pics of today's adventures....



Go to ImageShack® to Create your own Slideshow

More for less

I know it sounds like an oxymoron but the idea is to take a submarine capable of launching nukes and converting it to launch tomahawk cruise missiles, thats the good bit or the less as in less destruction, but the downside it can store and launch seven per launch tube :(

Here is an overview from Northrop Grumman Corporation's press release about the contract they have just recived to develop the prototype.

Multiple All-Up-Round Canister (MAC) concept ..(is designed) to adapt the missile tubes of Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) submarines from launching nuclear ballistic missiles to conventional cruise missiles. The reconfigured submarine will be known as the Ship Submersible Guided Nuclear (SSGN).

The MAC is a subsystem of the AWS that will replace the existing Trident ballistic missile launch tubes and provide for the storage and launch of up to seven Tomahawk missiles from each submarine missile tube. Each SSBN submarine will be able to accommodate as many as 154 precision-guided, conventional land-attack Tomahawk weapons.

It is planned that each of the four SSGNs will be modified to allow two Advanced SEAL Delivery System vehicles (mini subs) to dock, enabling Special Operations Forces deployment to wars worldwide.

So less nukes but heaps more conventional firepower oh well.

Thanks to www.irconnect.com

Come on NASA let us know the truth..

A person who I personally admire and I think his Galaxy clock is great is ufologist David Sereda, he feels NASA has not been truth about things in space, and that they doctor their photographs before the public gets to see them. (I have seen footage recorded by a cable company of the live feeds from the 1980's shuttle missions in the film EVIDENCE The Case For NASA UFO's and something is up!)

This well-known Ufologist, take's his message concerning UFOs to many people, but feels that NASA has secrets about UFOs it is keeping from the public, and its time to change this. He has an online petition to try to get him on the shuttle as a passenger on an upcoming flight, and he wants to take along his cutting edge equipment including special cameras sensitive to visible, infrared and UV to search for UFO activity. And then report his findings to the world.

If nasa has nothing to hide why don't they run live broadcasts anymore ? Why do the astronauts go "quite" midway in conversation ? (some say they are talking on an encrypted NSA channel)

Here is a excerpt from his petition.

Dear Chief NASA Administrator Michael Griffin;

Subject: Special Skills application for Astronaut

I, David Sereda, would like to apply to become an astronaut for special reasons. I saw a UFO in Berkeley, CA in 1968 when I was 7 years old. It was saucer shaped, metallic and hovered silently not far from the Berkeley National Lab for over 20 minutes. There were fifty or so witnesses with me. After 20 minutes, the flying saucer went invisible: invisible to the naked eye that is....

...NASA anticipated contact with Extraterrestrials when it first set out to journey into space (See the Space Act and the Brooking study 1958). If contact has been made, and the American public has been deceived, NASA may have made the greatest mistake ever for a public agency....

Please advise me of the application process.

Sincerely,

David Sereda

I hope he makes it, maybe the Russians who are more open to UFOs will take him up.

thanks to UFO.Whipnet.org

Taxing times

I found this via www.whatdoiknow.org, it is policy, law whatever from the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDR) and basically it says that drug dealers must affix Tax Stamps to their deals to comply with state taxation laws ???

What happened ? Did all the state officials sit around one night having a discussion on how to fix the low levels of the state coffers, someone pulls out a joint and a light goes on (they paid the power bill).. The rest is history we can tax an illegal activity Lets see that open up all sorts of legal loopholes.

Here is the text from the KDR website

"The fact that dealing marijuana and controlled substances is illegal does not exempt it from taxation. Therefore drug dealers are required by law to purchase drug tax stamps.

The drug tax is due as soon as the dealer takes possession of the marijuana or controlled substance. Payment of the drug tax will purchase the drug tax stamps. Attach the stamp to the marijuana and/or controlled substance immediately after receiving the substance. The stamps are valid for 3 months. Drugs seized without stamps or having expired stamps may result in criminal or civil penalties which may include fines, seizure of property or liens against real estate.

A dealer is not required to give his/her name or address when purchasing stamps and the Department is prohibited from sharing any information relating to the purchase of drug tax stamps with law enforcement or anyone else.

Purchasing drug tax stamps does not make possession of drugs legal."

And here is some pics from the D.E.A. website at http://www.dea.gov

Pretty in pink

I have had my first lesson in resto and I don't even have the bike yet..I am pretty anal and the bike has a small dent in the front right of the tank, I was going to fix it up but have had three people tell me that as the paint is original and the dent is small I should leave it,so decision made and lesson learnt.. Always ask at least 3 people in to resto of cars bikes etc before I make a change to her..

So no she wont be changing her colors and will have her original bronze paint job left untouched.

How to 'aquire' a project bike

It is an interesting tale as to how one comes across a project bike, I wasn't looking for one I was actually photographing sheds (garages/workshops) for a photo project I am working on. While in the shed the photo you see in the sidebar of this blog is the sight that greeted me about 4pm on the 20th of February 2007.

It was the shed of a friend of mine TL (tyabblemons) and when I saw it the conversation went something like this

ME: Hey TL !

TL: Yeah ?

ME: What size bike is this under here ?

TL: Ummm I think it is a two fifty...

ME: Oh yeah, here it is it says two fifty on the side cover,its a Yamaha.

TL: Yeah a Yamaha

ME: Where did you get it ?

TL: I inherited it.

ME: Do you ride much ?

TL: No I've never actually ridden that one.

ME: Well if you ever decide to sell it let me know, I might be interested.

TL: If you want it you can have it....

ME: Okay, Ummm... I wonder if we can fit it on the trailer this time.. HEY MICK... can we fit this bike on trailer with the fish tank ?

(ED. Paraphrased due to memory leak)

We didn't get it on the trailer but I did get my brother sprocket2cog (S2C) to check it out and he said it looked like a Yamaha RD 250,Mick disagreed as he thought they had squarer tanks, and a sportier look rather then the cafe racer look, as it was when I got home and did the internet research thing it turned out S2C was right it is a Yamaha 1974 RD. Have a look at this site for some photos of a few 74 RD's. ( www.cyclechaos.com a wiki on motorcycles. )

I got to speaking to Mick (from my cartoon strip www.twistedsouls.com ) about the history of the bike and the story goes like something like this...

I think...

1. Bike is brought brand new in 1974 by a gas engineer with love of motor vehicles.
   
2. Bike is garaged sometime pre 1979 due to health of owner.
3. The owner never rides again.
   
4. Owners son inherits the bike.
5. The bike is garaged again by son after a quick attempt to start it with no sucess.
6. I buy bike of son (tyabblemons.)

• Originally manufactured and assumed brought circa 1974
• Garaged pre May 13 1979 (this is when the rego ran out)
• Assuming 12 month registration periods we can say first licensed May 1974
• Ridden at most 13 May 1974 to 13 May 1979 5 years
• I found it 20 Feb 2007

So that means with a quick calculation or to that the bike is 32 years and 9 months old, and outof that time it has been unridden undercover for at least 10148 days or 27 years, 9 months, 10 days. That means at least 85% of its life since it was manufactured has been spent under cover and unridden. So I am wrapped with it,and hope to have it all fixed up and registered by Christmas. So anyone that buys me gifts may I be so forward as to ask for bike bits to restore my bike :) thats if you want to give me a meaningful gift..

My wishlist page

This is what the NOLAN "Jet N30 Flashback Plus in flat white" looks like

and a page with things I want or need to do to the bike before it hits the road

All I can say to tyabblemons is "Thank you very much." It has really gone to a good home and once running will be my daily ride...

" YOU GOT TO RIDE IT,NOT HIDE IT"

I got a H4 conversion

I was chatting to a mate today and mentioned I am chasing a H4 conversion kit for my RD, he wandered in to the spare room and came back with one hand handed it over.. So I now have the H4 lens and reflector for the bike so I can see a bit better. :) http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/leur.jpg

I also picked up a bikini fairing for $50

Its all happening

Well a quick phone call of about 30secs tonight I arranged the pick up of the 'LIL Dragon" for tommorow afternoon. I will head up to tyabblemons with Mick tommorow afternoon with the camera.

So expect a full photo diary to accompany this blog from the moment I first saw the bike to the moment I first ride it away from the registration office.. you can see a few pics allready on my photo blog at http://RD250.photoblog.com

Projects

It may seem a little quite on the front at the moment but in reality it is the sound of the dust settling on the mind of senility. What we have been doing is having a visit from sprocket2cog from over at sprocket2cog.twistedsouls.com (ed. my brother) and have been throwing ideas around and then waiting to see what we get....

In amongst a few black eyes and broken bones (you really must be careful throwing ideas around) we came up with a few new ideas and a few new tangents, so BASIC is back :) and 8bit isn't a 4 letter word.. no really it isn't it is alphanumeric so 3 letters one number.

While I was at tyabblemons I asked the right question at the right time and inherited an RD250 Yamaha road bike circa 1974 I will get some pics up soon..

Geek By Nature Linux by Choice

Well I finally took the plunge at around midnight and started to install Debian gnu/Linux.

I cant do things the easy way (my laptop is only a P II 300 with 160 MB and a 3 gig HDD) so I got the business card install about 40-50 MB and did a net install, I am using an old XIRCOM real port that overheats, it was high 30's (celcius) today so I have the pedestal fan blowing on the card until I get the base install done and then get the Orinoco drivers running for my wireless..

Oh and I am doing a custom install to save space..

Wish me luck and lets hope that those swimming penguins can keep me afloat

Nearly a fatal wedgie

While just gliding around under her para glider 2,500 meters or around 8000 feet up Nicky Moss (of the English para gliding team) got attacked by a couple of wedge tail eagles.

Reuters is running the story about her twisted tail in outback New South Wales, in a bid to become a better para glider pilot and beat us in the world championships Nicky was just flying around minding her own business when a couple of Wedge tail eagles swooped in and scared her right in to a wedgie, and at that height I think it came with a skid mark or three.

"I heard screeching behind me and a eagle flew down and attacked me, swooping down and bouncing into the side of my wing(para glider) with its claws," Moss told Reuters on Friday.

Seeing tounge

Frankensony HTPC

I am in the very early stages of developing a Home Theater PC. I am using a Sony DVP-S715 DVD (see review here) player as the basis for the case and hope to be able to use the genuine remote. I am thinking of the following bits and pieces.

• mythTV
• Use the original sony remote for the S715 player
• Small Form Factor Motherboard (VIA Eden ?)
• 512mb RAM
• 80 gig HDD for DVR (temp storage only)
  
• 2 gig Compact Flash RAM for OS
• 802.11g Wifi (most of the music/video content is on server)
• S VHS out
• Composite Video out
• All original buttons will work, some obscure DVD related ones will be reassigned.
• Where the display was I will make a flip down panel with card reader and USB
• MAME using Play station controllers for interface with USB adapters.
• Laptop Dual layer DVD burner
• 12 volt so it can be used in the car

Well thats about it for now, I dont have any money to do anything else for a while so it will gather dust for now....

Electric Dreams

Music I grew up with :)

Scary isnt it :-0

Bright Flames burn the fastest

Kitty Kat Kollar

Logo I designed for DIET PC

Animusic

A coll clip from one of the animusic DVD's I look forward to the day i can afford to buy them..

Save the "Net" Petition

If you have had a look at the videos here and you want to send a message to your local Federal member of Parliament in Australia then head on over to this site and locate your electorate, copy the text below and paste it in to the email to your Member of Parliament expressing your outrage at the thought that the internet is anything else then a common carrier...

---
Petition for Internet Neutrality

Dear Insert Member of parliament Name here

Parliament must act now to preserve a free and open Internet.

Major players in the ISP and Telecommunications arena's both domestic and foreign are trying to control and limit the type, amount or quality of the internet traffic routed over their networks. This can not be allowed to happen, the internet is not the property of the "carriers" they only carry the data, they own this data flow as much as they own the voice on the end of a telephone.

They are "Common Carriers" and as such should not be allowed to control the type, amount or quality of the internet traffic they are routing.

The majority of the content on the internet is user created with sites like myspace.com, youtube.com and blogger.com being created not by a team of Managers and staff but by the people who use the internet, not for work but for entertainment.

The internet must stay neutral, the change is already happening even here in Australia, for example a pastime of many Australian males is the V8 supercars. The telemetry data from the cars is available on the internet but the caveat..

You have to be a Bigpond customer.

I don't just mean you have to sign up to the Bigpond/V8 site and pay a fee, you have to be a telstra bigpond Broadband customer to access the telemetry. I am not saying that premium services need be free, I am more then happy to pay for the V8's for instance but I shouldn't have to change the "common carrier" I subscribe to just to access content.

Please vote for enforceable network neutrality and keep tollbooths, gatekeepers, and discrimination off our Internet.

Insert your name here

Insert your address here

---

thats it copy the text above change the name's and address and email it off... and please don't forget to send people to this site or if you don't want to do that email them with the petition instead