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upliftingnews·Uplifting Newsby18107

Accidentally range testing an electric motorcycle, and unexpected kindness

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/27301455

I took my new (to me) electric motorcycle out with friends for the first time.

I calculated from my previous solo trips that the motorcycle had a range of about 120km (75mi). My friends were more experienced than me, and they picked the route. I had told them that I was only comfortable riding 100km, but I guess that didn't mean much. If I had pressed for details about the route instead of trying to fit in, I would have discovered that the round trip was 140km before we left.

The motorcycle performed beautifully until it shut off after about 120km. Still 20km from civilisation.

What I learned that day is that the average person is far kinder than social media will lead you to believe. I was near the top of the hill, so I decided to push to the top and coast most of the way home. I think around 6 people stopped to help push on the steep section of the hill (one at a time), and I lost count of the number of other people who stopped to check on me on the flat sections. I'm guessing over 20. I was actually thinking of writing a sign that said "I'm fine, don't help me" just so I could make faster progress.

It was a pretty warm day and the motorcycle is about 300kg (650lb), so I was happy to take water from 4 different people along the way.

Eventually someone with a trailer stopped and asked if I wanted to put the motorcycle on the trailer and get a ride home. I don't think I've ever accepted anything faster. It cost me a bottle of high quality whiskey, but it was still much cheaper than calling for roadside assistance.

In summary, it was partly my fault for not pushing for details, and partly my fault for not checking the distance travelled as we went. I'd love to blame the motorcycle for cutting out with 2/5 bars remaining, but I really did know the maximum range. It's also a really cheap motorcycle with almost no thought or effort in its design. It even has a chain guard for a hub motor (no chains anywhere).

I still love the motorcycle, will still only ride electric, and will probably ride with those friends again; but next time I'm checking the distance first.

TL;DR
Rode electric motorcycle further than its max range. Humans are much more caring than you'd expect. Got home exhausted, but proud of humanity.

View original on aussie.zone
chat·Chatby18107

Accidentally range testing an electric motorcycle, and unexpected kindness

I took my new (to me) electric motorcycle out with friends for the first time.

I calculated from my previous solo trips that the motorcycle had a range of about 120km (75mi). My friends were more experienced than me, and they picked the route. I had told them that I was only comfortable riding 100km, but I guess that didn't mean much. If I had pressed for details about the route instead of trying to fit in, I would have discovered that the round trip was 140km before we left.

The motorcycle performed beautifully until it shut off after about 120km. Still 20km from civilisation.

What I learned that day is that the average person is far kinder than social media will lead you to believe. I was near the top of the hill, so I decided to push to the top and coast most of the way home. I think around 6 people stopped to help push on the steep section of the hill (one at a time), and I lost count of the number of other people who stopped to check on me on the flat sections. I'm guessing over 20. I was actually thinking of writing a sign that said "I'm fine, don't help me" just so I could make faster progress.

It was a pretty warm day and the motorcycle is about 300kg (650lb), so I was happy to take water from 4 different people along the way.

Eventually someone with a trailer stopped and asked if I wanted to put the motorcycle on the trailer and get a ride home. I don't think I've ever accepted anything faster. It cost me a bottle of high quality whiskey, but it was still much cheaper than calling for roadside assistance.

In summary, it was partly my fault for not pushing for details, and partly my fault for not checking the distance travelled as we went. I'd love to blame the motorcycle for cutting out with 2/5 bars remaining, but I really did know the maximum range. It's also a really cheap motorcycle with almost no thought or effort in its design. It even has a chain guard for a hub motor (no chains anywhere).

I still love the motorcycle, will still only ride electric, and will probably ride with those friends again; but next time I'm checking the distance first.

TL;DR
Rode electric motorcycle further than its max range. Humans are much more caring than you'd expect. Got home exhausted, but proud of humanity.

View original on aussie.zone
linuxphones·Linux Phonesby18107

Dual sim

Do any combination of phones and OSes have support for desktop Linux apps, VoLTE, and dual-SIM?

I want to get away from Google. My current phone (Nokia G42) doesn't seem to have support for any OS except Android. My ideal setup would be a Fairphone 5 with Ubuntu Touch, but that doesn't seem to support dual-SIM.

View original on aussie.zone
selfhosting·Self-hostingby18107

Sanity check - NAS with backups

I've had an old laptop running Home Assistant for quite a while. I've recently started getting into docker. I'm part way through setting up a NAS and want to check if I'm doing anything really stupid.

My ideas so far:

  • Samba sharing a host folder on the local network
  • Rsync for regular backups to a separate host folder
  • WireGuard to connect directly to an offsite laptop with the same setup
  • Syncthing for realtime synchronisation and temporary file versioning
  • Home Assistant for rsync backup monitoring

Are there any issues with this setup, and is there anything else I should consider?

View original on aussie.zone
buyitforlife·Buy it for Lifeby18107

[Request] Internet Routers

Request: I'm looking for something with high reliability rather than high speed. It needs to support 30+ devices.

Additional information: My house is about 30m (100ft) long, and the internet comes in by ethernet at one end of it. I'm happy to use a Wi-Fi extender if needed.

Context: I've been having issues with both my current and previous routers. Devices are randomly unable to communicate over the network for several seconds at a time. Both ethernet and Wi-Fi are affected.
I live in Australia, so even the slowest router should be more than fast enough.
I have a large number of automated devices that need to stay connected at all times - even 5 second network dropouts are difficult to deal with. Internet dropouts are handled gracefully.

Any suggestions are gratefully received.

Update (8 months later):
My existing routers are ASUS RT-AX53U. Updating the firmware had no effect.
Replacing the firmware with OpenWRT fixed all of the issues.
I've also run an Ethernet cable between them, but it was working perfectly as a Wi-Fi mesh/extender anyway.

View original on aussie.zone
meta·Metaby18107

New community request - Amber Electric Users

A community for users of the wholesale electricity provider Amber to discuss strategies for optimising energy use, and request help with understanding how energy bills work with wholesale electricity.

There are several Amber groups on Facebook and Discord, but nothing that is publicly accessible or viewable without an account.

EDIT: The name is still under consideration. Suggestions for a name to encompass all users of wholesale electricity prices are appreciated. I'm currently leaning toward "Wholesale Energy Australia".

View original on aussie.zone
migraine·Migraineby18107

It's migraine season again.

It only lasts for 12 months out of the year.

I was trying to ask my partner for a pbj sandwich. I accidentally asked for a beef sandwich, then tried to describe the sandwich as boneless and without the meat.

I eventually reached apricot marmalade, which was close enough for my partner to understand the request.

View original on aussie.zone
migraine·Migraineby18107

Headache log

I've been logging my headaches since I started taking Eletriptan in 2020.

I've had an average of 10 days per month with headaches, and 4 days per month with migraines.

So far I've identified stress and insufficient sleep as contributing factors.

View original on aussie.zone
nissan_leaf·Nissan LEAF electric vehicleby18107

I got a V2G charger!

I've been waiting for 2 years, and I finally got a Wallbox Quasar. I believe I'm the second person in Australia to get one (ignoring government trials and business installs).

My thoughts so far:

The ability to set how fast the car charges/discharges is nice.
The app lets you set a maximum and minimum battery level. I've currently got it set up 20% - 85%. I'll probably adjust this as I learn more.
You can set schedules for charging and discharging. There is no option to set the rate in the schedule. Instead it uses the rate currently set in the app. This is fine if you just want to schedule the times, but frustrating if you want multiple schedules with different charge rates.
There isn't a way to automate the charger with wholesale prices in Australia yet. Amber (a wholesale energy provider) is currently working on this.

This is an early model of V2G charger without all the features you might expect.
The Quasar is not able to operate during a blackout. This is mostly because it doesn't have the ability to disconnect from the grid (powering the entire grid during a blackout is not a good idea). The Quasar 2 (not yet released) will have this feature.
The minimum charge/discharge rate is 6A (1.4kW). No-one has been able to tell me why this limitation exists. If the house is using less than 6A, the Quasar will be exporting the excess to the grid. It means that the Quasar is not suitable for powering the home unless a house battery can soak up the excess. I'm hoping that future V2G chargers will not have a minimum rate.

South Australia has a lot of renewable energy and not a lot of storage. This has caused variable wholesale energy prices ranging from -15c/kWh to 90c/kWh, with rare spikes to $20/kWh.
Having access to the 50kWh (usable) car battery provides a lot of opportunities to make money from the grid, while also assisting with grid stability. Most days only have a saving of $2, but the occasional day with price spikes can make over $40.
I'm hoping to have a net negative energy bill over the next year.

View original on aussie.zone

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