bob mcree is back online!

[bobmcree]

hello friends we finally got the wild blue satellite internet link up and running and now have 1.5 mb downloads instead of the 19k (max!) we have been putting up with on the phone lines here in our little valley in central oregon. i tried to read some posts but at 19k it is pretty hopeless.

i see i missed a lot by not reading this forum for a couple of months. i'm glad i stocked up on NiMH a few months ago...i will not say any more about randy leaving than has been said; everybody knows my feelings on that.

we are leveling horse pens, laying irrigation lines, fencing, generally doing the country thing. this is a great place to ride my bikes; there is a good 300-400' climb up out of the valley for the first couple of miles then about 12 more miles into Madras, along 2 lane country road where i rarely meet up with any traffic, and the few cars i do see are friendly. The fields are full of carrots, bluegrass, and other seed crops, acres of purple and yellow wildflowers to plant along Colorado highways.

if i keep the speed down below 25 mph i can easily make the round trip 28 miles with my 48v 19 Ah NiMH batteries using about 15 Ah on the cruzbike with just a little pedaling when i feel like it. I would like to be able to blast into town full speed all the way sometimes and charge in town in an hour, and the A123 cells i am starting to play with should give me the fast charge capacity i need for that.

i'll spend some time catching up on what others are doing with the A123s. I am starting out by running 20s for 67v with a 12A current limit. The 20s pack will give me 5 miles at 30+and i have enough cells for 6p, the 120 cells should fit in the Pelican cases that now hold the NiMH on the Cruzbike for 30+ miles at full speed.

 

[sean]

Didn't realize you were in Oregon also Bob, good to know you are back, your Cruzbike has a hub motor is that correct?

 

[bobmcree]

we just moved to oregon a couple of months ago, just getting settled.

i have the Ethinkar geared hub motor that adjusts from 200-700w input power with an adjustable current limiter for stealth and range, and a USPD/BMC setup with a specially made thread on adapter that has a lot more power for better climbing and higher speed. i'll get photos of that up soon on bobmcree.com. The thread-on system is much better than the spoke adapter type USPD units and the heavy aluminum plate replaces the stamped thin steel unit. sorry, these are the LAST of these parts i know of unless we can get some more made.

 

[Jozzer]

Welcome back Bob
Playing with ome A123's myself next week

 

[xyster]

Welcome to Oregon, Bob. My home state too. For you east-coasters, that's pronounced OR-i-gin (hard g), not ORY-gahn.

 

[mi7d1]

A big hello from Portland, ORYgun and welcome back.

 

[bobmcree]

thanks to my oregon friends for the webfoot welcome, guys.

as has come up before oregon law is a bit different from some others and requires that an operator of a power assist bike be "eligible to receive a drivers license". i think they did this so folks who had a suspension for a dui or other criminal reason could not soften the blow by riding ebikes, but it did present a problem for me, since california says i cannot drive if i take the narcotic pain meds i need to control pain from an old back injury.

in california there is no such requirement that an ebike operator be eligible to get a drivers license, and as long as i am sober and in control there is not an issue of me operating my bike under the influence of prescription meds if nobody gets hurt. after taking narcotic pain meds for years the daily dose i take would kill several large animals

in moving from cal to oregon i am required to get the dmv's of the two states in sync, especially if i ever want to get a drivers license again. i am content at present to ride my bike everywhere and let my wife drive the 4x4 when needed, but i may want to go fishing later this year solo and need to get my license back, but in the meantime i want to satisfy oregon law.

it is such a pleasure to go to the store and buy something for $99 and get change back from $100 !!! no sales tax rules !!!

i believe i have satisfied the oregon requirements by having my doctor write the dmv a letter stating there is no medical reason i could not qualify to get a drivers license if i wanted one. the main reason i do not drive (other than the political statement of not driving a car) is that if i were in an accident and they found the narcotics in my system they could say i was dui. i hope it never comes up, but i am prepared to show that i am "eligible for a drivers license" if the issue arises, and i can show that the level of narcotics in my system are manageable by someone who has been taking them for years...

i am considering further surgery or implanting of electrodes into my spine to control the pain or implanting a morphine pump if the docs think it will work. more surgery would probably involve access to my spine through my chest, and i'm not quite ready for that...

i am hoping to get off the addictive pain meds eventually, but they are a huge benefit when there is nothing else. i have tried surgery and physical therapy, and they have helped enough to get me this far, but after 20 years of constant pain i am ready for any new ideas... n't have it.

PLEASE SUPPORT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE!!!! my insurance went up so i could no longer pay after i broke my back. You could be next!!!!!!!!!!!

-bob

 

[fechter]

Nice to see you back Bob.

Webfoot? Work on harnessing rain power

Back problems suck. I'm doing research at the Med Center on nerve root decompression. Tricky stuff. I can't go into details due to patent consideratons, but I came up with a pretty cool tool for surgeons to check the health of nerve roots during surgery. Not for human use yet.