14th July 2010

Having had the brainwave last night to video this epic on a day-by-day basis, I broke out Big Camera and got everything tested to start shooting this morning. The weather forecast had said "fog and cold" over night, and "fog" here DOES mean proper London type pea-soupers, not the whispy, misty things you normally get in Australia (except for the freeway down to Wollongong I hasten to add!)

And so it was. Dead silence except for lots of brids sharing the neighbourhood gossip in the trees, and a rabbit that decided he would test his 50 metre sprint timedown the gravel track to the main road.

Sadly though, when I came to dump the images off the tape, it appears that the firewire port in the camera has gone to meet its maker. So I have some fabulous imagery, but no way of getting it off! Getting this fixed at this point in time is a financial no-way, so if anyone out there has an old DV camera they don't use anymore I can borrow or whatever, I'd be grateful.

So I have reverted to Plan B for the moment, and that means using an SD based Panasonic unit - an SDR-550 - to at least get this project going. As such, I'll have the first video showing the locale of The Shed and its surrounds by later this evening.

Moving forward ...

Apart from that dilemma, my next has involved television. Having travelled 18 months ago travelled through Europe, I have become addicted to the Tour de France. The problem is, I can only get SBS via digital TV, and while there is a signal here, for some reason yet to be ascertained, SBS seems to come and go at will. Last night, I could not get a signal on the Sony Bravia, but could through the Kaiser Baas USB unit. But here's the thing; ABC Digital is perfect on all channels and this is broadcast from the same mast!

I can live with it tonight as it is Gruen Transfer night, and I have recorded (using Windows Media Center) a show on ABC 2 that really should be on ABC 1 called The Street. If you haven't caught up with it yet, check out iView (www.abc.net.au/iview ) which is a hidden gem of the ABC.

Tomorrow I am headed to Perth for an overnight stop. The Monaro needs 3 new tyres and I still have some goodies stored at a friend's place I would like to have here. Being rural and do-it-yourself in many situations (such as re-sighting a TV antenna), I need my toolbox. Never thought I would say that!  Tools and me are a bad combination.

I could also do with my Dyson vacuum cleaner. One thing I never considered would be an issue is dust and mud and gravel. Live and learn! I also need to get the car cleaned in and out. There is no car wash or even a hand car wash here (or nearby Manjimup), and I dearly hate to have a filthy car and especially the interior.

Tonight is going to be 4 degrees and tomorow foggy again so hopefully I can reshoot this morning's stuff before I leave for Perth ( 3 1/2 hour drive away) and then edit it tomorrow night.

Oh one last thing. I did get a new toy today I will be testing tomorrow - also from Kaiser Baas. It is a gizmo that sticks on your windscreen called "Driving Recorder" - a "black box" for cars. When driving to the freight depot to actually pick it up, good ol' Farmer Brown with his 20 year old Landcruiser and trailer sailed merrily through a stop sign meaning I had to throw the anchors out big time in the Monaro. If the situation had been worse, then this would have been a useful gadget to give the data it creates to any insurance company methinks.

As I mentioned last night, please don't hesitate to make any comments or email me at david@auscamonline.com. If you are in PR or distribution and have any products you think might help in this project, please let me know! To summarize, anything that allows me to use tech to be more comfortable, productive, informed and connected while living at "The Shed in the Field" will be most welcome!

PS: I am no further with my internal network either. Plugging in the wireless router (with 4 port cabled ability) simply causes my only 'net connection via the Telstra USB 3G stick to get confused

PPS: Sony has released a version of the NEX camera system as a camcorder allowing interchangeable lenses - that release up soon!

By David Hague

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com, vbthedog@gmail.com via Twitter via @vbthedog. or