willedoo

That hit home recently when I was looking for a power steering hose for my Rodeo and realised there's no Holden dealers anymore. Had to scratch around Repco and Bursons for after market parts. The nearest hose Bursons could find was 2,000klm away in Melbourne. Some of that after market stuff can be a bit dodgy like that hose was.

The Russians are using barrier troops the same as they did in WW2. Any forward troops trying to retreat or surrender come under fire from the barrier troops in rear positions. If they are close enough, they shoot at them, if further away, they redirect their artillery onto their own troops. Most of the cannon fodder troops sent into forward positions are conscripted prisoners or ethnic non-Russian minorities conscripted from the regions. The regular and contract troops don't give two hoots about them and see them as expendable. The cannon fodder gets sent in first so the Russians can see where the Ukrainian fire is coming from and then shell their positions. If the Russian cannon fodder survive to take a position, then the Russians send the higher quality troops in to hold the gained ground. The cannon fodder don't have much chance of a mutiny as they are very lightly armed compared to the regulars behind them. If they attack forward they get killed, if they retreat back to their lines they risk their own troops killing them, and if they are spotted trying to surrender the same thing happens. They lose a lot of people that way but from their point of view, they are emptying their jails and getting rid of minorities and saving their higher quality regular troops. Note that higher quality in this context doesn't mean high quality as we know it. To them, anything higher than low is higher quality. Edit to the above: 'ethnic non-Russian minorities', meaning Russians who are not ethnic Russian. Groups like Tatars, Buryats, Ingush, Yakuts, Tuvans etc..

I saw recently where the Ukrainian sappers said they had encountered anti tank mines that the Russians had booby-trapped by placing a grenade underneath. Specifically done to try to kill the sappers when they are de-mining.

Regarding the Ukrainian summer counter-offensive, there's a lot of figures given of the amount of area regained, but not much mention of net gain allowing for the Russian gains in territory. According to the Belfer Center at Harvard, Ukraine made a net gain of 8 square miles of territory the month to Oct. 10.. The way that reads, it's a figure for a one month period. It would be interesting to know the net gain figure since the start of the summer campaign. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-russian-forces-improving-positions-along-front-line-ukraine-2023-10-15/ Meanwhile the Russians are throwing everything but the kitchen sink into their attempt to take Avdiyivka on the outskirts of Donetsk city. There's been reports of big losses of men and equipment by the Russians. A lot of it has been a result of armoured columns bunching up on limited access points and being hit with drone directed artillery. It just goes to show how hard it is for either side to make major advances. At least Ukraine learns from experience. They tried the frontal assault with armoured column tactic at the start of their summer campaign and came to grief, so have abandoned that and are concentrating on the attrition of Russian forces and their logistics. Their only way forward is to weaken the Russians to the point where they can then advance. The Russians on the other hand, haven't learnt, and are still trying major armoured assaults across narrow roads and minefields that are under Ukrainian fire control and drone surveillance. The Russian defeats at Avdiyivka are a rerun of last year's failed assault on Vuhledar. Battles like what's been happening at Avdiyivka where Russia expends large amounts of life and equipment for little tactical gain surely must be a political decision made in desperation for a victory to announce to the Russian public. Either that, or the generals really are incompetent. I don't know how accurate this chart is, but it compares the daily artillery fire rate of Russia and Ukraine and shows Russia's fire rate dropping below that of Ukraine for the first time since the start of the war. It could mean Russia is low on ammunition and conserving it, or that they are short on replacement barrels for their artillery, or a combination of both.

It looks like the national average was 60/40 on the state count. On today's AEC figures, the state no vote from highest to lowest is: Qld. 68.61%, SA 64.45%, WA 63.43%, TAS 59.47%, NSW 59.37%, VIC 54.79%.

octave, I'm just wondering whether you're getting Jacinta Price and Lydia Thorpe mixed up. Lydia Thorpe was against the voice because she thought it did not go far enough, and she is pushing for the treaty option. Jacinta Price's main public reason for opposing it is because she thought it would divide the nation along the lines of race. She's a born and bred conservative Liberal and most of her views on Aboriginal policy are about law and order and ending welfare dependency. She rejects any white privilege narrative and is highly critical of any left wing views on Aboriginal policy. Jacinta Price is the polar opposite of Lydia Thorpe. Price is conservative with a capital C.

There will probably be a bit of that. People in countries that have a race biased constitution will probably have some moral credit to critisise us for not having the same, but people in countries that don't have a race biased constitution would be a bit hypocritical to critisise us for being the same as them. I think most critisism would be on an individual level and not on a governmental level.

Based on the ones I've known over the years, I doubt it. Like mixing oil and water.

I blew up a battery on a small Case dozer once. No fire, but the bang was as loud as a shotgun blast. It split the battery casing vertically on the corners as well as splitting the top. That was caused by my idiocy, connecting jumper leads in a non safe sequence. The positive post was a bit loose and venting gas. It wouldn't have happened if I'd done it properly and made the last connection on a vehicle earth on the starting vehicle instead of on the crook battery.

I see what you mean. I got about half way through but the presenter was started to grate so I aborted the viewing. One thing he said was that diesel doesn't give off white smoke when it burns. Fair enough, but if you see white smoke coming from anything soaked with diesel, it means it's just about to explode. I saw that first hand one night when my brother blew his eyebrows off trying to re-light an already warm combustion stove with copious lashings of diesel on the kindling he'd put on top of glowing coals. It wouldn't have blown if the stove was dead cold, but the pre-heated fire box was an ideal combustion chamber.

Like Bitching Betty in the aeroplane.

It gets worse. Watching Tik Tok will result in you losing your mind.

Back on topic, I couldn't find anything about the legality or otherwise of using a mounted phone for navigation while driving. It's not allowed to have the phone anywhere in the car if it's turned on and the screen is visible to the driver is one thing I read.

I found this photo on a radio website where someone has set it up in the backyard. It doesn't have a handpiece; it connects to a leather flight helmet and throat microphone, both of which are located in the kit. The whole kit weighs about 14kg..

First step, I might have a look through the manual to see what voltage it runs on. The battery and radio fit together as two halves of a portable case, and when you open them up there's a bit of a dodgy electrical smell, so I wouldn't be surprised if something is fried. The frequencies fitted are 2182, 4182, 8364 and 12546. It also has an SOS setting which I assume works as an emergency transmitter beacon.

I've got a mint condition R-861 Aktinia portable emergency HF radio set out of an Antonov. It's the type mounted on the wall of the cargo hold on an An-12, but is used in other types as well. It's for use on land or can be set up in a life raft. I've often thought about trying to get it going to see if it still works. Haven't checked the battery but I'd say it's long dead. I think it's illegal to use HF channels if you're not licensed, so maybe best not to play with it.

When I first started working FIFO work, we used only HF radios. We had channels on 2,3,4,7,9 and 13 MHz. From memory 2020 was the channel the locals used (known as the chatter channel). It was sometimes amusing to tune into and listen to the old girls swapping recipes. The 3MHz channel was the one we used in the field, the 4MHz channel was the flying doctor. 7,9 and 13 we used to contact our base in S.E. Qld. 7 would normally get out to the top end of South Australia, 9 was needed to reach the top half of the NT, and 13MHz was used to reach the Kimberleys in WA. Early in the morning in the NT and the Kimberleys we used to get skip interference from Indonesian fishermen on the 3MHz channel. Later on when satellite phones became available, the HF radios were no longer used and we used UHF radios to talk in the field. I missed the safety aspect of the HF radios as the UHF had it's limits sometimes. Luckily we never had too many emergencies. One downside to the HF was those whopping big sprung aerials we had to have on the bullbar. I can still remember the night I first saw someone demonstrate how to light a fluro tube with one. It's a weird feeling to hold a fluro tube in your hand and watch it light up.

Jerry, you're not thinking of the Golan Heights are you?

I've known a few Maltese people over the years, but only recently found out that Maltese is part of that Hebrew/Arabic group of languages.

In the Qld. regulations radios are specifically exempt: '(5)In this section— mobile phone does not include a CB radio or any other two-way radio'.

The Qld. law says you can use the phone if parked, but not if stationary and not parked, meaning stopped at traffic lights etc on the roadway. CB's and two way radios are legal to use, also emergency services are exempt and can use their phones. I guess the leniency behind UHF radios and the like is that they are not as distracting as a phone. They are turned on all the time and there's only audio and not a distracting screen. Talking only involves grabbing the handpiece and holding it. Most radio users stay on a set channel so there's no fiddling with knobs or buttons while driving.

Re: Trumpism coming to Australia. Our old mate Muddoch is responsible for a lot of it. I don't see him as using his wealth, power and media influence to push his own view of politics. With him I think it's all about money. There's a huge market for the tripe he pushes. His web based news outlets rely on clickbait headlines to rope the punters in. Once the article is opened, the reader can see the headline has little relevance to the article, but by then it's another view which keeps the advertisers on the hook. TV is no different. Sky News is just the TV version of the Web's clickbait. Again, there's an audience for that stuff, and more viewers, bigger ratings = more sponsors/advertisers = more cash for Rupert's empire. He couldn't give two hoots about the views and opinions of his readers/viewers and is just jerking their chain. The more he jerks their chain, the more the paranoid and gullible lap it up and the more money he makes. He found a lucrative niche in the market and went for it. That's all there is to Rupert; it's nothing complicated. Trumpism is money.

I found the Qld. regulations which clears some things up: Use of mobile phones (1) The driver of a vehicle must not use a mobile phone while the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked. Penalty— Maximum penalty—20 penalty units. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a driver using a mobile phone— (a) to the extent the mobile phone— (i) is in a pocket of the driver’s clothing, or in a pouch worn by the driver; and (ii) kept in a way that— (A) does not allow the driver to operate the phone, or a function of the phone, other than by using only the driver’s voice; and (B) does not allow the driver to see the face of the phone while the phone, or a function of the phone, is operating; or (b) while the vehicle is stationary and to the extent the mobile phone is in a wallet, or has attached to it a wallet, that the driver is using for any of the following purposes— (i) to obtain and produce for inspection a licence, permit, authority or other document, as required under an Act or by a police officer or another person acting under an Act; (ii) to obtain and use money, or another form of payment, to pay for goods or services, if the place where the vehicle is stationary is a place where the goods or services are lawfully paid for; Example of a place for subparagraph (ii)— a drive-through retail outlet (iii) to obtain and use a card or other thing to enter a road-related area or land adjacent to a road-related area. (3) Also, subsection (1) does not apply to a driver using a mobile phone while the vehicle is stationary for any of the following purposes— (a) to produce for inspection a digital authority or other document stored on the phone, as required under an Act or by a police officer or another person acting under an Act; (b) to pay for goods or services, if the place where the vehicle is stationary is a place where the goods or services are lawfully paid for; Example of a place for paragraph (b)— a drive-through retail outlet (c) to use the phone as an electronic device that enables the driver to enter a road-related area or land adjacent to a road-related area.

$1160 is the mobile phone usage fine according to some websites and talk on the radio, but I found out the maximum is now $3,096. The reason behind the discrepancy with information on some websites is that the government is continually raising the value of a penalty unit.