Start the clock..

The countdown begins. 3 months 'til the next trip and quite a lot to do to get ready. As usual I've been putting off some of the spannering as the winter weather doesn't encourage it. Cold metal, cold fingers; but I'm going to have to get on with it as I'm working away from home for most of March. So in effect I've only got 8 weeks left to get it all done, not the 12 that you'd think. This shouldn't be a problem but since everything has to come by mail it adds to the time everything takes and needs a lot more forward planning. For instance, it's not like I can just run around the corner to get a gasket or a special washer if I find that I haven't got one lying about when I get to that point in a job. Everything has to stop until the next week 'cos it takes at least 4 days for bits to arrive and if there's a weekend in between, which there usually is, then you can add another 2 days. The temptation is to "make do" with something else, which is OK for a Field Fix but not really an option at home.

Alternatively, I could go to the local Landrover dealer. They might as well have this stuck on the door...

...and they generally have "to make it a special order" as they don't keep anything useful in stock. That's 3 days and 4 times the on-line price. If I'm lucky.

Sitting in the back and sheltering from the gales last weekend I had a think about sorting out some of the limited storage. The area under the gas bottle and "flight boxes" can't be accessed very easily and is just a long tunnel.

That's where the warning triangles and wheel changing kit lives, together with other stuff that's long and thin. It's on a pull out board but this always jams as the stuff on it doesn't stay put. Time to make that a bit more user-friendly. After all, if I'm going to need it I'll probably be in a hurry, it'll be dark and cold and Really Useful Things  - like the wheel nut key -  will probably finish up falling into the water/mud/sand/snow and being lost.

A few bits of plastic along the sides help to keep everything in the right place and the "tool board" can be made up so that everything holds everything else in place.

Here's the table support with the wheel brace and extension lever/tube inside it. Fitted to the other side are 2 tyre levers, and the all-important wheel nut key is on a bolt passed through the board and there's a wing nut to keep it there. Maybe I should try to get a spare one - losing it would be a potential problem as I doubt that anything I could "bodge" would easily undo a wheel nut. Given that we rarely leave the vehicle anywhere unsafe, we could be better off not using them at all.

The 2 warning triangles sit snugly between....

...and the rest of the stuff interlocks - scrubbing brush, dust brush, hammer and the lock for the back door.

It all slides in and out perfectly without anything jamming or falling out into the road. Lovely.

Do I need to get a life?

The wiring to the work light on the driver's side is sorted after I reconnected the wires to the right part of the switch, and the correct parts to connect the CB co-ax to the antenna have arrived. I tried to set the system up last weekend - while I was hiding from the wind - but all the readings on the SWR meter were in the red, which suggested a short circuit somewhere. Since the only part of the system that I'd interfered with was the antenna connection, it was going to be the likely culprit. In other words, if it's electric and I've done anything to it, it'll be me that broke it.

I sent a photo of my attempt at a connection to Jan at Norfolk CB Radio and after he'd stopped laughing pointed out that I'd put the connector on upside down...The new bits cost a fiver and are idiot-proof. Just as well.

A bit of soldering and everything ought to work a bit better. While kit like this might be useful in an emergency - which is why I want it to work properly - we've never really felt the need for a CB except for the Trail-of-Ducks trip we did in the Alps in 2014. The commercial guide/leader/organiser insisted we have one but two of the participant crews couldn't get their's to work on the frequency everyone else was using but could still chat to each other. Strange, and I know enough (despite what you've already read) about radios to know it made no sense. Halfway through the trip I had a thought and retuned our CB to the equivalent European channel to the UK one that we were all supposed to be on, to hear the two "silent" crews having a lively discussion about some of the rest of us, and it wasn't flattering. To us nor them. I switched back to the proper channel and kept quiet....for a day or two. Another thought - the authorities in Morocco aren't keen on CB radios and similar kit, so the whole lot has to be disconnected before we get to Tangier-Med....in theory, anyway.