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Yesterday, we had a good day of racing right through Tennant Creek and for the rest of the day. The weather has been excellent - clear skies for as far as the eye can see.
We camped near the famous Devil's Marbles landmark, but for us, the main attraction was the absence of the swarm of (non-stinging) bees that plagued us at the campsite the night before. Some of them managed to follow us for the nearly 600 km we drove yesterday, however...
Some of the team had a late night last night. Part of the team worked on the front surface - a hazy film appeared across the whole array and was killing the array power. It couldn't be rinsed off or washed off with soap and water. We eventually hit on the source of the problem, but alas we had nothing to clean it off. Fortunately, a satellite phone call to Dr. Wolfgang Honsberg provided the solution - vinegar! So, we were off to the nearest homestead to buy all the vinegar they had. Unfortunately, the shelves were empty, but the kind staff sold us what they had in the kitchen cupboard. In the end, it worked great! Can you figure out what was the white film and where it came from? If you'd like to guess, email to Ask Willie
The rest of us worked on the tracker problem from the day before and to fine tune the electrical connections of the solar array. When the sun came up this morning, the trackers played up again. This time, it was a completely different problem and half of the trackers had to be removed. It was a frantic rush to, first diagnose the problem, and then to rewire the array onto the remaining, working tracker... We did manage to get underway at 8:00 am, however.
We reached the Alice Springs media stop, about 5 minutes behind the next car - the KIT Golden Eagle.
Willy The Whale
Willy!
Mail Bag
If you have a question for the team, or would like to wish them well, write to our mail bag, care of Ask Willy. | | | |
