RobG

I managed to pick a Garmin Vista colour screen up for $59, new, on eBay, to use in the buggy as a speedometer / track recorder. Cheers - Rob

Nothing too fancy, a PL Pepper II. It'll do for what I need for when the wind says no to my bigger kites. Cheers - Rob

Found myself a 3m kite at a bargain price on eBay. No longer required! Thanks - Rob

Thank you for that pearl of wisdom... my only severe OBE so far was about 14 years ago with a little Blade 2.6 in really strong winds! Landed awkwardly on the back of my neck and saw stars for a while... Cheers - Rob

Thanks but 4m is still a little big. I already have a 4.5m Cult, so am after something smaller for the stronger winds. Cheers - Rob

Just wondering what's out there, used. Looking for a high wind FB buggy kite with lines and handles or bar. Likely to be moving back to the UK soon and when it blows on those vast expanses of sandy beaches, it blows Thanks - Rob

I've been out that way a few times now, mainly to Tibooburra and beyond for Gold detecting. The only issues I see are nearly all the land out there belongs to someone. You'd need to find landowners and find permission. A lot of the land is also quite stony with sharp ironstone and quartz. Take puncture repair kits! Which leads to the next issue - buggying on the roads? Vehicles are rare out there, but I have seen the odd outback cop car! And yes, the dreaded cattle grids and the 'dips' - there are warning signs for those so you don't hit one at speed and compress on the way up the other side. From a weather point of view, in my experience, the wind out there can be very strong. It's a clean wind - not too many obstructions, but it doesn't half blow ;-) Have seen a couple of outback dust devils / willy willys too. I also remember being stranded out there for the big dust storm that came through from SA, blitzed us in Tibooburra, then carried on to Sydney and made everything red. Cheers - Rob

$4M now! Cheers - Rob

I'll keep checking in back here for updates of when might be likely. I'm pretty free now apart from 3rd Feb and 22nd Feb. And probably 20th Feb too - since I don't think my wife would want me out having fun on her Birthday Cheers - Rob

How did it go? I couldn't make that trip, but definitely on for any future outings to this location. Cheers - Rob

Thanks for the weather links chaps. Appreciated Looks like the 'Shack by the beach' site is run by a fellow radio ham too Cheers - Rob

I've been into it for years, slowly upgrading over time. I've had virtually every telescope mount out there at one time or another! I used to be involved a lot in the UK with astronomy and media (TV and radio) with the Campaign for Dark Skies. Moved here '07, but into -very ironic - bad light pollution! I still have the mount (AP1200 GTO) - it's for sale on Ice in Space! ($8.5k). Also got the Pentax 75 SDHF Petzval apo guidescope which is a nice imaging scope in its own right, but I'll probably keep that. Might even mount it on my 18" Dob! The NGC253 shot was 1hr luminance, 20mins each R, G, B with an STL11000M. I have a bunch of shots still saved on the computer here, but most are too big to upload! Cheers - Rob

I used to do a bit of astronomy. Here's one of my galaxy shots. Got rid of most of my gear now, just the mount still left to sell, but keeping my little 18" Dobsonian telescope. Too light polluted here now for anything serious. Have seen C/2014 Q2 a couple of times now, getting brighter slowly. Finding it in the light polluted skies of Sydney can be tough. Cheers - Rob

JD - what do you use for wind prediction / status? I found this global wind model thing that I can zoom into Australia on. I wonder if it's that you use, or is there something better? In the UK amongst the paragliding community there was this thing called Wendy Windblows, which charted real-time weather and wind vector information to the internet, real time. When we do eventually meet, you'll recognise the buggy and kites Cheers - Rob

Can't do next week unfortunately... I am a camera operator for a feature film shooting in Sydney. 3 months of shooting should be coming to a wrap by the end of next week, with just some more scenes to do for a couple of days in March. So after next week I should be relatively free! Still browsing Google maps looking for fields, reserves, anywhere that might be suitable to buggy on! Cheers - Rob