Hi from Western Australia

@davidmcsweeney

Welcome to the forum.  I live on the east side of Australia and far from any city.  Apart from a xmas visit to Adelaide SA the covid restrictions have curtailed any long distance travel.  I got my Arduino and RPi and other electronic hardware from Jaycar and Altronics when visiting relatives in Adelaide. The only time I bought an item online was a PCA9685 16-channel 12-bit PWM module from Silicon Chip.
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/

Robot Gear in WA only seems to sell flimsy toy sized robotic parts and anyway I like to physically see and handle anything I buy.  Toys are great to experiment with or to educate young people in programming hardware but physically they are for the most part useless for any heavy duty practical applications.

It was the DB1 that took my interest in the forum but it soon became clear the cost and difficulty obtaining parts meant it would only be an educational read not an actual build. My avatar is of a experimental robot base made some years ago now that was controlled by a laptop.

Good luck with your water distillation project. A google search on the subject comes up with Arduino based alcohol distillation projects.

@robotbuilder

Hi RB,

Thanks for your email. I grew up over east. First in Sydney and then in Armidale NSW so I know the Eastern States very well. Are you anywhere near there? All my family live over that way as well.

Yes, I use Altronics and Jaycar as well. RobotGear (in Perth somewhere) have all the Actobotics gear on their website but most of it is out of stock. I'm a bit like you, I like to do business face-to-face as well so when a business has no physical presence (like RobotGear) I tend to look elsewhere. I also like to go with recommendations from others.

Anyway, the robot project will have to take a back seat to my water distillation project at the moment. This is somewhat of a priority for us along with a few other projects I am working on (Aquaponics, for example). We want to become as self-sufficient as possible as this year (and subsequently) is going to be very "interesting".

So lots to do.

All the best,

David

@codecage

Yes, that's it. I'd appreciate any feedback when you have time.

I'll have to figure out the power requirements for the whole system before I get the solar panel.

Thanks

@davidmcsweeney

I grew up over east. First in Sydney and then in Armidale NSW so I know the Eastern States very well. Are you anywhere near there? All my family live over that way as well.

No I live in the Mallee country near the Murry River with Adelaide the nearest city.

We want to become as self-sufficient as possible as this year (and subsequently) is going to be very "interesting".

And I would also say very satisfying. I looked at your project post and might make further comments there.

@robotbuilder

The Mallee country, eh? Nice part of the country.

Yes, becoming self-sufficient is very satisfying indeed.

I look forward to your comments on my project. 😎