Rav4 Photo's.

[SMH13]

Hello,

Just joined !

A new owner of a Rav T180, took it to Germany at Christmas - what a fab car ! :D

[sywy]

My T180 with new wheels.

[anchorman]

I detect the use of a high quality telephoto lense there Simes.

[sywy]

LOL. Yes, I believe the close-up was taken with my 100-400mm lens. I was out photographing birds (feathered!!) at the time.

[anchorman]

I get dozens of Redpolls if you want to come for a brew.

[Bristim]

New to the forum, you were asking for pics of RAV's in the snow, here's mine taken early in the morning at the services on the way home on the M4 fairly recently. 2003 GX 5 door with many miles under its tyres - all mine since new.

[anchorman]

Nice one Bristim.

I think we have all been rather pleased at owning a RAV this winter - they have proven superb.

[Mike JD]

LOL. Yes, I believe the close-up was taken with my 100-400mm lens. I was out photographing birds (feathered!!) at the time.

#

Might that be the Canon one? Lovely bit of kit. Heavy though - it takes a real man to keep it up (if you will pardon the expression)

Mike D

Nice car, the RAV but no good in the streets where I have just been back to again. :D

http://mikedunse.fotopic.net/c1452974.html

[chatman]

Best optional extra...... B) B) B) B)

[sywy]

LOL. Yes, I believe the close-up was taken with my 100-400mm lens. I was out photographing birds (feathered!!) at the time.

#

Might that be the Canon one? Lovely bit of kit. Heavy though - it takes a real man to keep it up (if you will pardon the expression)

Mike D

Nice car, the RAV but no good in the streets where I have just been back to again. :D

http://mikedunse.fotopic.net/c1452974.html

Yep, the Canon 100-400mm L IS. Had it for a long time now. You get used tot he weight.

Nice shots. All beautifully taken. You can tell you have thought about the compositon on all of them.

[Mike JD]

Yep, the Canon 100-400mm L IS. Had it for a long time now. You get used tot he weight.

Nice shots. All beautifully taken. You can tell you have thought about the compositon on all of them.

Agreed re the lens. With one of their heavy bodies on it, it balances well and I suppose the weight does counteract shake a bit as well as the oh-so-helpful IS.

Thanks for the kind words re the photos.

Mike D

[anchorman]

Come on Simes don't be modest - where's that hippo?

[sywy]

Hippo? This one?

[anchorman]

Thats him - there's some crackers in that album!

[Mike JD]

And for the off-beat section of RAV photos (there isn't one? There is now :P )

Mike D

[BROX]

My first Rav4........a 1998 Freesport AWD to start with,to see if i like them :D

And my other cars.

V6 mondeo

And my favourite.....1995 16v Ford Probe (just done its 11th mot....2 front tyres only...great underated car,all Mazda parts)

[wardude]

heres my 06 T180.

[mick1020]

Very nice in red !!!!

[gcams]

Here's my baby.. not your average accessories :D :D Have I been watching too much of storm-chasers do you think? :D

7 metre pneumatic mast fully extended:

Setup for transit:

[Davrav]

Here's my baby.. not your average accessories :D :D Have I been watching too much of storm-chasers do you think? :D

7 metre pneumatic mast fully extended:

Setup for transit:

Great set up but seems a lot of trouble for 'Live Weather' - I just stick my head out the window

Joking apart, do you use the mast for photographic purposes too?

[shcm]

7 metre pneumatic mast fully extended:

gcams that's absolutely brilliant!

......and I thought I had to be careful watching out for low hanging stuff with my antennas!

It is wasted on weather measurements, you want a nice radio amateur HF beam on the top of that!

I'm curious though. Only 7 meters? I was under the impression was the standard anemometer height was 10 metres. Is 10 just too much to handle? Do you apply a compensation factor for the wind speed?

How is it attached? Let's see the rear!

Cheers

[gcams]

gcams that's absolutely brilliant!

......and I thought I had to be careful watching out for low hanging stuff with my antennas!

It is wasted on weather measurements, you want a nice radio amateur HF beam on the top of that!

I'm curious though. Only 7 meters? I was under the impression was the standard anemometer height was 10 metres. Is 10 just too much to handle? Do you apply a compensation factor for the wind speed?

How is it attached? Let's see the rear!

Cheers

Thanks for the comments Davrav and shcm.

Davrav, yes there is a "weathercam" (high resolution cam) that goes up near the top of the mast. The weather data gets overlaid onto the image and webcast on the internet. Here's a sample piccy from one of the events I covered last year:

The weathercam and associated overlay data updates every 15 seconds on the internet, when the lab is transmitting live. There's more info about it here if you're interested (attempting not to turn my first posts into a plug for my services mind you!!).

shcm, funny you should mention ham radio.. my father (who's a full-call HAM) said exactly the same thing! :) I've been meaning to get my foundation licence for the past year or two, but missed the last course at the local club thanks to work. Maybe this year though!

Regarding the mast height, you're absolutely correct, 10m is the WMO standard for wind-measurements, however I had to compromise for a few reasons... the collapsed height of the mast increases with total height, and for the 10m unit, too much would be protruding from the top of the vehicle when the mast is down. Also, the weather transmitter contains temp/humidity as well, so the higher the weather instruments, the further out my temp/humidity will be from the standard height. 7m was a good all-round compromise between getting good exposure for decent wind readings, not being too high for the temps, plus putting the expensive equipment at a height were passer bys can't fiddle with it. :D :D I don't attempt to apply any compensation for the wind readings at the lower-level. In reality, it's all about giving folk an idea of what the conditions are like "on the ground", as opposed to providing strict WMO standard wind readings (which would also mean I should only ever run the setup out in the middle of an open field too!) :D :D

Thanks for the interest guys.. I've got a '05 Prius and '98 Starlet too, so I've no idea why I didnt' join these forums sooner! :D

PS: Meant to say I'll post a pic of the inside of the rear shortly, which shows all the gadgetry and the mast mount.

[shcm]

It is certainly an interesting concept (and website) gcams and I wish you well with it.

I'd also be interested in how you get your net connection. 3G? sat? wifi? or trade secret?

I can't be too critical about the mast height. My anemometer is on a not very long pole off the garden shed. Still, yours looked quite a "professional" setup, hence my comment.

Perhaps they would take you on at JAE

Cheers

[gcams]

Thanks shcm, I appreciate your comments! So you're a ham AND a weather watcher! Outstanding!!

No trade secrets regarding connectivity. Your first guess was right, net connection is via dual-carrier 3G links (I can operate on any of the major UK networks).

As promised, a pic of the rear interior. There are a few extra bits of kit that have since been mounted but this pic shows a majority of the setup and the mast mount:

Thanks again everybody for your interest! These forums are a great resource, as I want to start doing maintenance myself (so far Mr. T has been looking after it).

Cheers,

Graham

[Smiler AS]

Better add the latest ones of the old girl...