Not quite aviation - but close ...

[Dave Kearton]

Just got back from a week in Snowtown in South Australia - on the edge of
our wheatbelt, where I was working at a new windfarm that is being built
out that way.

My job was to haul a signal cable out to 800m and pound in an earth stake,
for earth
resistance tests. The results are used to verify the size of the
earth grids on the towers, in case there's a major electrical fault.

It's hard work, walking out there is OK, it's mainly downhill and as the
cable drum winds out, it gets lighter - quite a pleasant way to earn a few
bucks.





Coming back, the opposite is true........



My wife calls it "Fat Camp"



--

Cheers

Dave Kearton

[Pensacola Beachcomber]

Where we live they build the turbines and housings. They are huge. It's
neat to see them being put on railway cars for shipment to the windfarms.
When one is brought into town to the port/loading area the huge
tractor/low-boy stops traffic in downtown Pensacola. Thanks for the photos
and narrative, Tom



"Dave Kearton" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Just got back from a week in Snowtown in South Australia - on the edge of
> our wheatbelt, where I was working at a new windfarm that is being built
> out that way.
>
> My job was to haul a signal cable out to 800m and pound in an earth stake,
> for earth
> resistance tests. The results are used to verify the size of the
> earth grids on the towers, in case there's a major electrical fault.
>
> It's hard work, walking out there is OK, it's mainly downhill and as the
> cable drum winds out, it gets lighter - quite a pleasant way to earn a few
> bucks.
>
>
>
>
>
> Coming back, the opposite is true........
>
>
>
> My wife calls it "Fat Camp"
>
>
>
> --
>
> Cheers
>
> Dave Kearton
>
>
>

[WayPoint]

"Dave Kearton" > wrote in message
...
>

"Fat Camp"? That's a cheeky lady you've got there. :-))

Snowtown - where there aint no snow?

I can't help but say those wind generators sometimes look like a kids toy -
like those whirly things on a stick.
Until you get up close to even seeing a single blade.
They are truly massive.

Power for the local area? or fed into a national grid as well?

Cheers
Graham





** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[TacAN]

"WayPoint" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dave Kearton" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>
> "Fat Camp"? That's a cheeky lady you've got there. :-))
>
> Snowtown - where there aint no snow?
>
> I can't help but say those wind generators sometimes look like a kids
> toy - like those whirly things on a stick.
> Until you get up close to even seeing a single blade.
> They are truly massive.
>
> Power for the local area? or fed into a national grid as well?
>
> Cheers
> Graham


Oooops - forgot to change my handle before posting aka .. TacAN ;-)


>
>
>
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[Dave Kearton]

WayPoint wrote:
>> "Dave Kearton" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>
>> "Fat Camp"? That's a cheeky lady you've got there. :-))
>>
>> Snowtown - where there aint no snow?



Not sure what the reason is for that - there's never been any snow there -

I guess if they called it "Wheat town" they'd get blizzards.




>>
>> I can't help but say those wind generators sometimes look like a
>> kids toy - like those whirly things on a stick.
>> Until you get up close to even seeing a single blade.
>> They are truly massive.
>>
>> Power for the local area? or fed into a national grid as well?
>>
>> Cheers
>> Graham
>>
>>


It's all national grid these days. There'd be no more than 1,000 people
living within a 50km radius and if you sited the towers close to the
population, the yuppie trash would find something to bitch about.






--

Cheers

Dave Kearton

[Dave Kearton]

Pensacola Beachcomber wrote:
>> Where we live they build the turbines and housings. They are huge.
>> It's neat to see them being put on railway cars for shipment to the
>> windfarms. When one is brought into town to the port/loading area
>> the huge tractor/low-boy stops traffic in downtown Pensacola.
>> Thanks for the photos and narrative, Tom



Thanks Tom,

We build the masts here and (I think) the blades.

The blades are some form of really grunty fibreglass and have surprisingly
small mass balance adjusters built into the tips. Now and again,
there's a blade with some kind of nick or scratch that makes a curious
whistle as it goes past.



--

Cheers

Dave Kearton

[Mitchell Holman]

"Pensacola Beachcomber" > wrote
in :

> Where we live they build the turbines and housings. They are huge.


The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

[Dave Kearton]

Mitchell Holman wrote:
>> "Pensacola Beachcomber" >
>> wrote in :
>>
>>> Where we live they build the turbines and housings. They are huge.
>>
>>
>> The bigger they are, the harder they fall.



Oooh ugly, any idea what happened ?



--

Cheers

Dave Kearton

[Mitchell Holman]

"Dave Kearton" > wrote in news:2GTZj.45$MQ1.33
@fe103.usenetserver.com:

> Mitchell Holman wrote:
>>> "Pensacola Beachcomber" >
>>> wrote in :
>>>
>>>> Where we live they build the turbines and housings. They are huge.
>>>
>>>
>>> The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
>
>
>
> Oooh ugly, any idea what happened ?


Generation 1 wind turbine being removed to make
room for Generation 2. Note the newer high tech ones
in the background. In the Netherlands somewhere.

[TacAN]

"Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
...
> "Dave Kearton" > wrote in
> news:2GTZj.45$MQ1.33
> @fe103.usenetserver.com:

>> Generation 1 wind turbine being removed to make
> room for Generation 2. Note the newer high tech ones
> in the background. In the Netherlands somewhere.
>

Was none of it re-usable? The tower included??
Sorry - Just seems like an expensive waste.

Graham

[Bob Harrington]

I think Dave just mooned us...

Fascinating stuff!

[Mitchell Holman]

"TacAN" > wrote in news:mR4_j.4282$IK1.2518@news-
server.bigpond.net.au:

>
> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "Dave Kearton" > wrote in
>> news:2GTZj.45$MQ1.33
>> @fe103.usenetserver.com:
>
>>> Generation 1 wind turbine being removed to make
>> room for Generation 2. Note the newer high tech ones
>> in the background. In the Netherlands somewhere.
>>
>
> Was none of it re-usable? The tower included??
> Sorry - Just seems like an expensive waste.


The older tower could have been unstable
or the costs of upgrading it too high, who knows....