A few days ag, this $18 miracle of modern technology arrived from China. The instructions are completely worthless as they cover everything except how to operate the device. Fortunately that wasn't too hard. The rightmost button switches this gizmo which is actually a GPS speedometer from KPH to MPH and back. The other buttons I'm not too sure about. It comes with cone kind of back projection screen that's supposed to allow the driver to have a head up display but that and the alleged (according to the instructions) counts of driving time, miles covered; the hourly "fatigue" warning and the "over speed" warning are all just examples of the useless faff that manufacturers like to cram into their gadgets in order to make using them unnecessarily complicated. I just don't understand that mentality!
In use, the speedometer is pretty darned good. I tried it today and yesterday. Once I'd figured out that the line of blinking dashes just meant it was hunting for a signal, it was fine. There's no indication as to whether you're in MPH or KPH. You just have to press the button until the speed numbers are smaller for MPH or bigger for .KP.H. As for the other "features", I've no interest in any of them and haven't wasted any time even trying to figure that nonsense out.
This is, of course, just a temporary fix for the bus. The aftermarket speedometer that has been installed is terrible and doesn't work anyway. That's coming off after I've completed my underbus wiring. The two wires dangling down from the transmission are a bit of a mystery so I'll just cap them, roll them up and secure the rolls. They are attached to the aftermarket speed sensor at the moment. I suspect that lifting the access panel over the transmission inside the bus will reveal where the wires go and might also allow access to the allinson speed sensor on the transmission.
The main speedo and the rev counter do work but their functioning is erratic. I'm not quite sure why that is but I have a theory. I rather suspect the hillbillies wanted a reversing horn and that in order to make it work when the bus was in reverse, they added the extra speed sensor. In doing so, they mucked about with the wiring, causing speedometer and rev counter issues. My attemp to get the reversing horn working will be very simple. I'll just wire it directly to a dashboard switch so I can switch it on or off at will. Thus I won't have a reversing horn going off at dead of night with nobody around.
Last weekend I worked a bit on the underbus wiring and strained a lot of muscles. This weekend I want to finish the underbus wiring and remove the aftermarket speedometer junk. I am well aware I also have a windscreen wiper to fix and a short to eradicate from the 120V system. Not just that but I decided I'm going to put a battery box underneath the bus.
My ventilation system works off a solar recharged 12v 4.5AH battery. That battery currently sits atop a paint can at the back of the bus. The plan is to move that battery underneath the bus. Possibly power from that battery could be used to operate my door lock in the future.
I've already bought an ammunition box. That could be used to house a battery bank made from rechargeable LiOn or NiMh batteries. The former is of higher capacity than my minuscule lead aside battery and the latter is non flammable as well as dirt cheap. There's nothing to say I can't have several ammunition boxes and just switch them over, either. First things first though and I'm already thinking of installing a freshwater inlet!
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