[sausagesandcash]

Lol, best of luck. I should be able to do the overshot with a nice fall. I would have to build a small dam and run a pipe from it to the water wheen. Should give me at least a 10 ' drop. I don't really want to put in a huge wheel though. Although that being said I could probably get away with a 10 ' one with only 5 ' showing from land level. I need to find out (fools guide), how to build a wheel and change wheel turns into electricity, use of gears etc. Thats where your experience will help! If you can

Thanks Russ,

Morgan

[rustyme]

thats my river/stream. That was in summer , in winter it flows much faster. My main object is to obtain mechanical power from the wheel. Electricity from and alternator is an extra. If you are after a lot of electricity , you need either , a lot of water with a good drop , or lots of money and go micro hydro. I have neither, so I will basically just be making my wheel to provide mech. power , with a little leccy as a bonus. The wheel will be made out of scrap metal , a scaffold pole for the axle and bed frame angle iron for the body , and scrap sheet metal for the buckets . The axle will be sitting in/on a bed made from large tree sections bedded on concrete. Oh yes , remember that the outflow from the wheel will have to be at the same level as the river , otherwise the wheel will just be sitting in a pond!!! ->------o_______>_ . There are a number of water wheels on youtube , lots of different ideas . Mine will be just a copy of 200 year old technology , easy to make and maintain and it works , tried and tested. I don't want to reinvent the wheel  !!!

cheers

Russ

[rustyme]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si1oWJjBD6g

Just found this video on youtube, this is very much like  I intend to do ....very very similar. It says in the video that it produces about 700-800 watts , so that gives a very good idea of what can be produced. My river has more water than that too , so I should be able to get all I need from my wheel.

cheers

Russ

ps: here is their site:   http://www.pedleywheel.org.uk/index.html

[garden cottage]

well rusty old mate got to say it will be a huge loss to this forum if you go, lets face it your a legend on here for all your wisdom and advise. not to mention a great sense of humour. hope you can find a way to keep in touch,were on the border of wales if you need help with anything ring me 07773821121  cheers......................neil

[rustyme]

thanks Neil,
             very kind of you to say those things...I would miss the forum imensley. I learn something new everyday on here, and yourself and the other regulars seem more like family than 'just' people on a forum !! It is a warm friendly place made so by warm  friendly people , who are always willing to help if at all possible!! I will have to make a big effort to try and keep contact anyway I can . Many thanks for the offer mate ....much appreciated.

cheers

Russ

[carl]

I hope your not completely off radar russ. I will miss your postings. While my computer stopped me using this site I could still read what everyone else posted. You are quite inspirational with your get up and go attitude. Lots of little pearls of wisdom and wit. A true warrior spirit. good luck.

[HappyHippy]

Hi Russ,
I just wanted to echo everyone else's best wishes with your off grid adventure.
I'll definately miss your posts - helpfull, informative, funny and bordering on the insane at times, definately on my wavelength ! 
I'm too far away to make any offer of real help, but if you ever find yourself coming to Scotland please feel free to get in touch - there's always a warm welcome here.
I'm such a techno freak now I just don't even know how I'd cope without a constant broadband connection, I'd feel like someone had cut off my leg (ah, the simple things in life  )
Good luck with it when the time comes
Karen x

[rustyme]

Hello Carl , Karen,
       Looks like I will have to keep posting somehow or other  . It may just be a bit sporadic .
I never think that others should do as I do (or say ?), but I just relay how I am thinking or what I am doing or intend to do if circumstances allow. I think that just by saying these things, they open other peoples minds to other points of view !!  Not saying I am right or wrong , good or bad , just putting my way of thinking forward. It also helps me, by others saying how they see things !! Case in point : me dropping off radar ...lol. I didn't think about it much , just thought it was only manners, to say what may happen sometime soon . I thought it would be very rude and thoughtless to just disappear !! Although I never even touched a pc till I was 42 , I to have got very used to all the good points of broadband internet connection. It is so easy to get anything you want, anytime you want . I really don't know how I would cope with no internet at all ? It has become my form of entertainment !! So much information available it is mind boggling , well it boggles my mind anyway !!  I don't travel about much at all , but I do have relatives up in Scotland. One in Keiss and another on Harris/ Lewis , so I could end up that way sometime? Thanks for the friendly words....

cheers

Russ

[rustyme]

thought I should update things here...I have a orange mobile contract, have had it for about ten years now , it is everyday 50 (not available now), I get 50 minutes of free phone calls everyday, for £15 ,so it is a very good deal  really . Before I got a landline , it was how I connected to the internet . I used the mobile phone with infra red to connect via dialup...It drove me round the bend as mobile signal is very poor here , and it would fade in and out , so I would lose internet connection over and over again. Still , it got me on the net and I can always do that again only this time using bluetooth instead of infra red. However , I got a blackberry today , as my yearly free handset upgrade . It is a blackberry pearl 8120, and it has all the normal phone thingies plus full internet ....ha ha ...It is doing my head in at the moment ...trying to work out how much it will cost to connect to the internet ? nowhere does it mention anything about cost !!! My phone costs are the same as always, 50 mins free and then 1p per min to land lines and orange mobile, and bars of gold to other networks. The thing is , it will connect to the net no probs .. but my nephew wants it  and I looked on ebay to see how much they go for ...£140 -£190...dilema....well not really I need the money more than I need a blackberry . So it looks like I shall sell the blackberry for £140 but with the knowledge that I can get on the net by mobile with very little cost really . I think I will last the year out here with broad band and then next year I will be up for a new handset again ...so all should be ok . Back to trying to work out how much it will cost to connect to the net using wi fi . Oh how I love technology ( I have fallen way behind with all the newgizmos !!), give me a hammer and an anvil anytime  !!!!

cheers

Russ

[northfifeduckling]

I think selling your Blackberry is the safe option - you're not the only one doing exactly that with upgrades lol. Bear in mind that Orange will want you to spend more money ( as you are on such a superb tariff and there's no such thing as a free upgrade!), so your internet bill for that will probably be astronomical - do get in touch with Orange before you use it!

[rustyme]

yep cheers NFD,
           It looks like I will have to call orange to find out the costs......i hate asking them things like that ...lol , they really want me off this tariff . About 3 years ago they would call me 5-10 times a day trying to get me to take another offer instead..., but slowly they just gave up. Last year they even gave me a 10% discount off my monthly bill , so it costs me £13.50 now....plus I sold the upgrade for £80.....the year before I kept the upgrade . So my mobile bill works out quite cheap really . I will update on how much it costs as soon as I have all the info ...

cheers

Russ

[doganjo]

Surely if you are on broadband then your blackberry connects through that at no cost?  Mine does.  I'm on O2 (special staff discounted rate) and my phone just picks it up and connects.  It also connects through any other broadband that isn't encrypted no matter where i go.

[rustyme]

hello Annie,
             I only got it today and looked at it after I got back from my walk to the land at 4.30. Although I have broad band here , it isn't with a wireless hub , I could have one but prefer not too. I think I can use the cable to connect but not sure if I am going to keep it yet so don't want to pull it all out and so on . Mobile signal here is very poor, one bar maybe two at best , so that may stop wifi from working ? I don't want to set too much up on the BB if I am selling it !! I will play more later and see whats what , so far I hate the Bl**dy thing ...everything is too small , I hate plain mobiles for the same reason.....still , I will see if it will do what I want when I go down the land where I have no land line !!!!!!!!!!


cheers

Russ

[doganjo]

Hi Russ, I always HATE my new phones.  My son and son-in-law say I'm one of the most techie minded senior citizens they have ever met, but it still takes me a while to get to grips with phones. Plus I'm mean.  I don't have any games on this new phone - Nokia N95 - and my grandson always asks to play bubble breaker, so I had a go at downloading a few games and found out it was going to cost MONEY!!!  So he'll just have to do without!

[rustyme]

lol... I just hate tech anything, more and more .....but mobile phones are just too small for me . As for the cost thing ...well I was born in Catterick army camp , so I am really a Yorkshireman !!! tight as a ducks a*se so they say ....I just call it being careful !!!

cheers

Russ