Watts Clever

I just received a set of these "Watts Clever" plugs that were ordered of eBay seller benjeroo610.

At $33 for the set I think they are a great idea. You can add one of the sockets to each of your energy hungry devices or power boards and then turn them all on or off with a remote control.

The really great thing about the remote is that it operates with a radio frequency rather than using infrared so it will work around your entire house. After I ordered this I saw Mitre 10 selling something similar but I haven't tried their one.

I stumbled onto this unit when I was looking for a way to turn on water pumps for the Aquaponics system using a microcontroller (Netduino) as a smart timer. I didn't want to play around with 240 volt switching but all of the mains power switches that could be controlled using low voltages were built for American 120 volt appliances.

The WC device works on a common frequency that is simple to make use of to allow a program to remotely control mains power outlets.

Greg Rutter

Mt Verpoovius

This is what 10 cubic meters of cow poo looks like. This load was split between a few people but I later put the same amount again onto the lawn to try and build some life into the sterile suburban ground that I started with. The pile became lovingly known to my neighbours as Mt Verpoovius.

Make sure that when you are having your mountain of poo delivered that you place it downwind of your neighbours. I though it was quite a pleasant earthy smell but not everyone has such cultured tastes.

I also added about 100 hay bales which were cheaply available from a farmer near where I live and several trailer loads of free, shovel it yourself, horse manure from the Yeppoon racecourse.

The ground in the orchid area has gone from being rock hard to having a really organic spongy feel to it.

I have been letting the grass grow high and then slashing it down and the volume of material in the soil has increased substantially.

 Greg Rutter

Kitchen Barn Door

My sisters husband Andrew has been visiting most weekends with the kids and helping me get a lot of work done in the house and yard. It is so much easier to do a lot of heavy or fiddly jobs with another person around to help.

One of the things that we are trying to do is make modifications to channel the dogs into certain areas and leave the rest of the house as a people and cat zone only. Sheppy tracks a lot of dirt into the house and he is so much bigger than the children that he keeps accidentally injuring them when he tries to play.

We are using toddler gates in some places to block access but on the weekend Andrew made the suggestion that we cut the dividing door in two and make a swinging stable gate.

This seemed like a great idea as it separates the sections but also lets the dogs still see people and feel part of what is happening. I spend most of my time when I am at home with them or in the yard working on the garden so they don't feel too left out.

The bottom half of the door kept the original hinges and door handle and Andrew added magnetic latches, new hinges and handles to the top half. It all came  together really well.


It needs a coat of paint now and we were going to do the same cream as the rest of the house but I have been thinking that it could look really good with a warm feature colour.

Greg R

Cats - Cheaper than analysts

Mad Max wind power!

I was at a lawn to lunch meeting recently and Alison showed me some photos of a wind turbine that Frank had built from some old truck parts and a washing machine motor.

It’s an early version that is putting out about 150 watts and is being used to charge the water pumps batteries.

Not all washing machine motors can be used for power generation but you can commonly find usable motors in smart drive systems such as the Fisher and Paykel models and many LG washers. There are lots of instructions on the web about how to wire these motor correctly to allow you to generate 12 or 24 volt outputs.

I think Alison's one is an awesome reuse of recyclable parts although the weight of the axle and differential used may be bleeding a lot of power from the unit.

In this case the turbine generates enough power for it’s intended purpose and cost little to build so the end result is an excellent solution.

I was at the dump recently and there was a F and P washer sitting in the recycle section. I had a chat to the guy working there and he let me take it away for the princely sum of $5 dollars so building a wind turbine has now found it’s way onto my extensive to-do list!

Greg Rutter