This was fixed by downloading froyo 2.2 update from the htc website and dropping it into the SD card. However this introduced a second issue, in so far as it kept rebooting after the update. I eventually discovered that this was due to not using the gold card, copied the update to the gold card, did a forced update again to 2.2 (I didn’t need to downgrade for some reason) and everything worked.

Anyway, now I don’t have the stupid orange installed apps (honestly, why do they bother?) and I’m running 2.2 happily.

Lego 8043XL Upgrade (Base View)

Lego 8043XL Upgrade (Front View)

And for the curious, here’s a video of it in action!

Hooked up to the Drobo Share, it allows access across the network which is cool. And it’s now about half full, after I dumped a lot of the stuff off the 1TB RAID1 on my main PC as well! Some stuff I shall now keep two copies of, the rest can reside in just the one location as it’s better located than before.

Drobo+DroboShare

8043 Excavator

Here it is in all it’s glory. You get a lot for your money, two remotes, 4 motors, and two IR blocks. 4 Linear Actuators are supplied, and the excavator is capable of doing a full 360, round and round and round! This is achieved by a single centered shaft, and using the gear changing cogs to stack up round a central shaft, allowing the central shaft to move independantly of the gear changing cogs. One runs the left track, the other the right. The downside to this however, is that there is a degree of takeup, and the excavator does “creep” when spinning round & round. The remote controls need you to flick round the motor polarity on one channel when using the boom, and annoyingly the driving control needs a different motor polarity when you’re playing with your bulldozer!

I did a time lapse set of pictures when building it this time, 102 images taken at 2.5minute intervals which is about 4 and a half hours for the build, all done in one hit this evening. Has to be the fastest I’ve built a model of this complexity. Watch it on YouTube by clicking below:

Comments on Useability after the initial build:

Whilst this is the best RC unit since the bulldozer, I have had some thoughts on it’s limitations since building it.

1) The main dual actuator boom has the ability to lift a bit over 400G in weight, but much more than that causes issues.

2) The speed at which the unit moves is very slow.

3) Takeup in the right hand track is delayed by about 1-2 secs due to the drive arrangements through the turntable.

4) When slewing, the excavator creeps (as the gears lock up on the motors, and thus when you spin, you drive the tracks).

I’ve played with it a bit since building, and my thoughts on a possible rebuild are thus:

1) Buy 2x XL Motors and rebuild the base to house it’s own battery case and IR brick. The XL motors can then directly drive the tracks as they do on the bulldozer.

2) Rebuild the 4-motor drive to remove the switching mechanism, as you can then use the 2 IR bricks and 4 M Motors to perform all the upper body tasks, including the 360 Slew.

In my opinion, this should be a fairly minimal build, as you can drop a lot of the gearing that goes into driving through the turntable out, and instead concentrate on the arm and turntable slew.

I’ve been using the Palm Treo 750v for a while now, it’s a Windows Mobile based phone so was perfect as it would synchronise with Exchange and keep my contacts backed up there.

Palm Treo 750v

However after nearly 2 years, it was time for a change, and my Orange Contract was up for renewal (the 750v was a Vodafone supplied phone via a client’s contract which was subsequently upgraded to a BlackBerry, the second phone I normally carry) so after a bit of looking online the HTC Desire was what I wanted. Online, I was quoted £49.99 for the upgrade, but the website wanted me to change my plan, so I rang up only to be told my upgrade was free! Yay! Ok, another 18 month contract, but that appears to be par for the course these days, and I don’t vandalise my phones unlike some! Ordered on Thursday and Delivered today, so can’t get much better than that! I also took the precaution of ordering a Hard Shell Case for it from eBay, with a Screen Protector, which came in at the grand sum of £3.50!

So anyway, here it is, my latest toy:

HTC Desire

The OS is brilliant, but Android 2.2 is supposed to be even better. As it stands, I have wifi, exchange sync, and lots of fun apps FartDroid here I come!

Cut 8mm off the left hand mount on the main bumper also and beat that back into place now, so it’s all anchored properly!

The steering guard mounts to the inside of the chassis rail at the bumper, and the ouside of the rail in line with the steering pump (you use the bolts to hold it in).

Steering Guard & Bumper

The Landy

Fabricated by Paul Short at Torque Performance 4×4 (http://www.tp4x4.co.uk), this bumper is a custom revision of their stunning looking Rock Bumper, but with a unique and very useful twist.

Like many off-road vehicle owners we all worry about some of the toys we have bolted to our trucks, as if it bolts on, it can also be un-bolted! And like many other Discovery owners I’m not happy about cutting large chunks out of the grille of my vehicle to allow a winch to sit back there, and I am only too aware of how much approach/departure angle you give up when extending your bumper forward to accommodate a winch.

I was also looking into putting a front push tow-bar point on the vehicle, the cost of which would potentially be around £150, which seemed a bit on the high side, and would have to be custom made in order for me to be able to use it with the 2″ Class III Receiver I have on the rear. The perfect solution therefore, would be a bumper that allowed the best of both worlds, the approach/departure angle at it’s maximum, with a 2″ Class III Receiver built into it.

It took me a while to find a Heavy Duty Bumper for the Discovery 2 that I liked the look of, most were very angular and often left your washer bottle exposed hanging under the bumper. Eventually on a thread on the LRO Forums, someone posted a picture of the Torque Performance 4×4 Rock Bumper, and I was instantly sold. I got on the phone to Paul Short at TP4x4, and laid out what I had in mind over the phone and asked if it was possible to have this bumper made up for me. He agreed to do so, and charged me for a Winch Bumper version instead of a Rock Bumper version (as they do both for those of you who are happy to bolt 300+ quids worth of winch to your truck *and* cut your grille a bit!). The following picture is what I’ve ended up with, and cost £340+£40 for delivery, and included a pair of 55w spots built into the bumper, giving it a facelift bumper look also.

TP 4x4 NAS HD Bumper

The bumper incorporates a 2″ Class III receiver point, allowing me to insert either my Warn Shackle point for pulling something by rope, my Adjustable Drop Plate for pushing/pulling a trailer, or a winch tray (which I have yet to purchase). It’ll probably end up with a jump start point mounted somewhere on it, perhaps inside the top cover which unscrews to allow access to the receiver pin to lock whatever I have attached in. When not in use, the number plate just sits over the top of it hiding it from view! Paul helpfully delivered it pre-tapped with a pair of stainless screws and 4 new bolts to replace the rusty old ones we removed.

Drop Plate Inserted

Warn Shackle Point Inserted

Receiver Pin Access Plate

The benefit of putting the winch on a removable carrier is twofold, if I need to pull myself out backwards, I need only slot it into the rear, connect it to a Anderson jump start connector that I’ll be installing back there, and away we go! Ditto if any of my mates put a similar mounting on their vehicles, when we’re out off-roading, we don’t need to worry about everyone owning a winch. Just plug in, and away you go.

Paul was also very helpful when I rang him on a Sunday asking about the front cross member, which was rusted to hell anyway, and helpfully told me about their steering guard that they also make, so looks like I’ll be ordering one of those sometime this month, as well as adding his Tree Sliders to the wish list!

Record No 5 (Before)

I’m a big fan of “Proper” old tools, the like of which I doubt we’ll see again with the large quantity of Chinese Made, microprocessor controlled equipment on the market these days. Even the current Record vices are only Record vices in name only, they’re made in China now and even though they claim the QA is better than on the older ones, thankfully lots of the older ones are still around! And at a fraction of the price too! (£40 got me 3 of them, versus £150+ each new).

When the world explodes, amongst the Audi 80′s that will fly out there will be these lumps of metal, still fully functional along with the older drills and lathes built in the 50′s and 60′s. I once owned a lovely pillar drill that was more of a milling machine, but lost that a few years ago when the company I worked for and had lent it to went under. One day soon however I hope to get another, along with a bigger lathe. Anyway, on with the article on restoring the vice…

The process to get it apart is very simple, start off by opening the jaw as wide as you can, and turning it over.

Underside Main Body

If you look between the fixing hole on the left of the image, and the rectangular cut-out in the centre, there is a small round pin. Smack that out using a drift and it will free up the captive nut held into the main body with a tongue and groove style fixing, with the pin stopping it from coming out when you unwind the vice.

Underside Jaw

Looking at the Jaw end, you see the spring, washer and in this case a split pin holding the two in place. Remove the split pin, mine helpfully cracked off at the end and I was able to lever it out. The No5 I did first (these pictures are of the No 6) had a steel pin in this position that I couldn’t get free. I got that one apart by striking it backwards and forwards and working the washer & spring over the pin until they were free of it, then drawing the screw back so I could strike the pin all the way through the screw bar into a recess in the jaw.

Once these are free, unscrew it fully and withdraw it. This older No 6 has it’s turning bar held in with a split pin also, so I was able to remove that entirely, which should make painting easier. The No 5 had a fully formed turning bar which was not removable.

You can now slide the jaw back, and tap the captive screw back also until it falls out. The jaw can now be withdrawn fully and set aside.

No 6 Vice Dis-Assembled.

You can then remove the Jaws from the vice, the No 5 had flat head screws, the No 6 had imperial hex head screws. If your jaws are in poor shape, Farnell sell new ones fairly cheaply and they come with new screws.

You can now clean the vice up with a angle grinder & wire brush, lots of de-gunking agents and a dremel for the hard to reach parts. A re-paint later, and you’ll have something like this:

Record No 5 (After)

So, for the record, here’s a picture of my Record No 6, which I’ve started work on today. I’ll post again when it’s finished. The No 5 was re-painted using a white undercoat and a red enamel overcoat, but I don’t recommend this combination as it was a pain to get the red to sit properly without looking white underneath. As a consequence I think I have put too thick a coat on, but hopefully as this sets over the next week or so it will harden a bit more. The No 6 I intend to paint using a Hammerite direct to metal blue.

Record No 6 (Before)

Edit on the 17th of May 2010 – Finished the Blue Vice today, I’d mainly completed it about a week after writing this article, but had to replace a cotter pin, which took me a while to find a suitable replacement, and get round to fitting it. It’s at about 96% completion, there are a few bits that need touching up and the handle needs a clean on a wheel at some point but other than that is functional and neat enough for me.

Record No 6 and No 5 Side by Side

As you can see below, I’ve not cleaned the jaws from over painting, and there’s a bit of a dirty mark in the paint, but I’ll sort these in the next few days.

Record No 6 after Repaint

My first purchase was the 8241 Mobile Crane (featured here) which was modified slightly as the pneumatic cylinders weren’t up to much and now features dual double cylinders. I’ve also experimented with various concepts with the motors but have never gotten round to turning it into a true RC crane. Construction time was around two days for this.

Next up came the 8275 RC Bulldozer (featured here) and took me about 2 days to build also. Value for money wise, this is the best set purchased to date, and has in fact gone up in value now due to it’s rarity! This set is stock, as frankly LEGO got it right!

My next purchase was a disappointment, the 8258 mobile crane (featured here) for the following reasons:
1.) Front wheels foul upon the steps to the cab when on full lock.
2.) Rotation of the mast occurs when engaging and disengaging a function.
3.) The rubber restraint piece holding the crane rope in/out from moving doesn’t work very well, often when you twist it, the stud comes out of the rubber and has to be pushed back in.
4.) The extending jib isn’t motorised, which is a bit of a let down.
5.) If you’re picking up a heavy load the jib just rolls in under the weight.
6.) The crane doesn’t tuck away neatly, it seems like it needs adjustment to sit neatly without being under tension.
7.) When you roll the legs out initially, you then have to switch motor direction to un-tuck the arm.
8.) No RC functions! For what is a very expensive model (£130!) this is a big let down.
9.) Confusion occurs when moving the arms and legs and turntable due to the single motor running everything. IMHO a pair of M motors running each linear actuator would be better suited to those operations, run from an IR block on the arm. A further pair of M motors on a IR block would then suffice for the slew and legs. The XL motor could then be used to drive the model, with an M motor for steering on a third IR block. A further pair of M motors and IR block could then sit on the last crane arm and provide the jib in/out and wind the string in/out also. A £200 price point wouldn’t be unreasonable for this amount of functions, and I’d certainly pay that. Looking at the RC Bulldozer, you get 2x XL and 2x M motors, 2 IR blocks and the battery box for around £100. This model is £130 and you get an XL Motor, Reverser Switch, and Battery box!
10.) While the engine is powered from the wheels as is typical, it would be nice if the engine ran while the motor was running, instead of from the wheels. After all, with the cab in place you can’t see the engine while you’re moving the unit.
11.) Getting to the battery box to change batteries is a real pain, and requires some disassembly, as well as rotating it at an odd angle to get it out.
12.) The linear actuators are nowhere near as powerful as hoped, though I admit that they are better than the pneumatic system.
13.) Proportion wise, I think it would have been better to build this model as a flatbed truck, rather than an artic tractor. The back of the unit is basically useless as the fifth wheel is non-functioning, it would be better if it was stretched slightly more and given a flat back.
14.) The stabiliser legs don’t really have any feel to them, and seem to catch slightly when moving the model over a surface.
15.) Packaging – Why did they bother to pack things in so many little bags, when they are all jumbled together! Why not package gears in one, studs in another, coloured parts together etc.
16.) Labels – I’m not normally one to use the labels provided but as they seemed a large part of the model I relented this time, and I’ve been disappointed. 2 Days after building and I have them peeling on several parts. The sheet came badly folded in the box, and I think this has had an effect on their durability.

Subsequent testing has shown it has a maximum 100g lift at it’s furthest reach, and can just manage 400g close in.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it for it’s technical complexity, building it was a wonderful time, slowly assembling one of the most complex gearboxes I’ve ever seen, but this same gearbox is also this models biggest weakness and folly. It tries to do too much! And for the money, I wouldn’t recommend this model.

The latest addition to my “fleet” is the 8294 Excavator (featured here) arrived at Christmas from my Sister (no doubt to keep me quiet for a few hours while she prepared the meal). Great little set for the money, but sorely needed the 8293 Power Functions set adding to it. It’s designed for this to be added, which is just as well as winding the little cog on the back was a real pain! Wish they’d just sell the two together! So with that added fairly quickly it took on a whole new life. I added an IR brick I had in stock and that gave it a bit more to play with. Routing the LED’s into the model also worked well, but the best bit came when I grabbed a second M motor and managed to fit it on the opposite side, removing the sliding switch to select one arm or the other. Now it happily moves it’s arm via IR, and I did plan upon making it fully IR like the bulldozer (as other people have done) but a new excavator is on the horizon for late 2010 – the 8043 (image here) so modifying this one seems a little pointless, and I’ll probably build it into the B model when the new one arrives.

I’ll leave you with an image of the 8294 I took after completion at Xmas, and a link to the video of the completed RC version on YouTube here.

8294 Excavator

So you will need:

• 300g oaty biscuits (Hob Nobs are good, a pack is normally 300g)
• 60g butter , melted
• 397g tin Nestlé Carnation Caramel
• 3 large bananas, sliced
• 350ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Run the biscuits through a food processor until crumbed, and then melt and add the butter and give them another whiz until it’s well mixed in. Pour this into a 24cm pan with removable base, and then press down firmly. Bake at about 180-200 degrees C for 10-12mins until lightly toasted, then leave to cool. When cool, pour the caramel over the base, and chill for an hour or more. When ready to serve, whip your cream with the icing sugar until fluffy peaks form easily. Chop the bananas up and lay on the caramel base. Spread the whipped cream over the top and garnish however you wish. Should look like this:

Banoffee Pie

I used about 1/2 to 3/4 a bananna a slice, with a good bit spread on top too. The BBC Good Food recipe suggested drizzling melted dark chocolate over it, but I chose not to do this as it’s messy, a pain to wash up, and time consuming. And I don’t like dark chocolate too…

2 Tips here:

1) When the caramel comes out the tin it’s hard to manage, pop in a jug, zap in the microwave for 1m-2m until runny then it’ll pour easily.

2) Your dish should make 6-8 portions depending on your appetite/portion size, but if you only plan on having a couple of portions at a time, only whip up enough cream and chop enough bananas to do the portion you’re serving. This makes preparing easier, presentation neater and saves things going too soggy in the fridge.

Enjoy!