An article from theage.com.au warns motorists that thieves who steal a GPS unit from their vehicle can then use the device to find out where the car owner lives and rob their home as well.

This article rang true for me as I recalled about two months ago visiting a large camping store. We were looking at the many GPS units on display and while playing around, I entered my home address to see how quick the unit responded. After playing around for a short while, I went to walk off when my partner enquired as to whether our address would be stored on the unit. After quickly checking, I found our address along with probably 10-15 other addresses from customers who had done the exact same thing.

Needless to say, I deleted our details immediately!

This is a pretty cool video showing a conversion from a petrol run motorcycle to an electric one.

A Honda Rebel motorcycle is converted to a zero emissions electric chopper. Made the Gomi way, with mostly found and scavenged materials, we make a street legal commuter bike perfect for San Francisco.

For those of you in the market for a GPS unit or those just trying to decided what technologies are available, this guide might be of use.

10 things you should know about GPS units

Regular readers will know that we have been renovating a passenger bus to a home on wheels.

OurTime, (that’s the name of the bus) is still quite some time away from being completed but we have started to think more about our insurance requirements once we hit the road.

We came across a website that has some tips and articles on this very subject that you may find useful. As always, if you wish to recommend a site, feel free to contact us.

The website in question is http://www.insideyourrv.com/rv_tips/rv-insurance/rv-insurance.shtml

Termites, the word alone strikes fear into most home owners.

Destruction caused by these little guys is quite amazing mostly because it’s done silently and usually hidden to the naked eye. Simply scratching to surface however exposes their work. It really can be devastating and costly.

No doubt they are destructive but after a recent visit from my pest controller, my view of them changed completely. Pest Control man is quite an unusual bloke. On the one hand, he is employed to make sure termites aren’t infesting my home and he will kill them if found. However, when you speak to him about termites, it is pretty clear he has great respect for them. I learnt quite a few things that day and I’ve changed my view. That doesn’t mean that they can roam free in my home. On the contrary, any termite found in my home will be dealt with but I do have much respect.

A man who has great respect for nature, David Attenborough shows us just how creative termites can be.

When we come across sites that provide helpful information and advice on DIY and renovation projects, we will be sure to post them.

One site we can recommend is http://www.homesite.com.au/home. It is an Australian site but people across the world will still find it to be very useful.

If you have a site you would like to recommend, please let us know about it and we’ll add it to the list.

Water conservation is an increasingly important part of life.  

Conserving water is not only good for the environment but also saves you money. Low flow shower heads are an in-expensive, easy to install product that can reduce your home water consumption and energy cost of heating by as much as 50%.

There are two types of shower heads on the market, aerating and non-aerating.

Aerating shower heads mix air into the water.  They provide a full shower spray and are the most popular model on the market.  Water can be a bit cool though towards the bottom of the shower so you might feel it around your legs and feet.

Non-aerating shower heads do not mix water so a steady temperature is maintained.  The water flow is more of a pulsating flow so it’s like a massaging effect.

If you don’t currently have a low flow shower head, consider swapping over and do something for the environment and save some money at the same time!Here’s a video showing you how to install a shower head, enjoy!

tags technorati : low – flow shower heads water conservation water saving

Welcome to one of the many new features we will be running here at DIYOutBack.com.

Ecobuilding is all about featuring products that offer eco-friendly alternatives to some of the existing solutions on the market.

It is amazing how quickly home owners have embraced the need to design and build homes with the environment in mind. We, as consumers are now far more aware of the impact we have on the planet and it is great to see so many people willing to research new materials that do not impact the world quite so much.

So, let’s get right into it.

Concrete is probably one of the greatest inventions to come our way. It is used more than any other man-made material on the planet but concerns over the impact it has on the environment have resulted in alternatives coming onto the market.

One such product called ecobrick produced by Advanced Concrete Technologies in Perth, Western Australia has received quite alot of media interest of late.

The process used to make ecobrick uses between 60 and 80 less energy to produce when compared with a comparable clay brick, and furthermore, during the production process all off cuts or reject material are 100 recycled.

When used in the home they will effectively reduce the use of fossil fuel generated by electricity, which is a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions.

ecobrick’s are a brand of autoclaved concrete brick that contains unique closed air pockets, making them both lightweight and energy efficient. These air pockets act like insulation in your ceiling so rooms do not need extra heating or cooling.

For more information, visit www.ecobrick.com.au

We have had a great response to OurTime. It seems that there are quite a few DIY enthusiasts out there!

We have decided to take the plunge and get our very own domain name. DIYOutback.com will be up and running shortly and we plan on bringing you heaps of practical DIY advice for your home and those with wheels.

We will continue to keep you all updated on the OurTime bus so watch this space!

Welcome to our next How To series.

In this post we are going to show you how to cut out an area of your vehicle to create a space for an external oven. You can use these steps as a basic guide for cutting out any area, not just for something like an oven. This series will also show you how to make up a new door frame from a cut out and also provide steps on building a new inner frame of your vehicle if you have had to cut some of it out for any reason. The can include things like removal of oven or something like what we are covering here.

I’ve finally been able to continue work on the bus after knee surgery. The first job has been to make the opening and door frame for the oven.

We have decided not to have our oven in the bus as we have found in the past that the cooking smells can really stay around for quite some time. Also, if you cook stir fry meals as often as we do or burn meals, smoke from the wok can really make it an unpleasant night in your bus.

The plan is to cut an opening at the rear of the bus that will house an oven that slides out from inside the bus to the outside. A new door made from the cut out steel will provide access to the oven. We will have an awning made up that will give us a closed outdoor living space so the oven will be safe from the elements when cooking.

The oven will, when not in use, live under the bed frame and will be pulled out only when needed. This will also give us valuable space on the inside.

This project will require that an area be measured and cut to size. A new door frame will then be made to reinforce the cut out steel which will be bent to create a new door.

Because we are cutting out pre-existing parts of the bus’ frame, a new frame will need to be made up to ensure it is properly re-inforced.

Items required for this project include:

Part One – Prepartion and cutting out an area of a vehicle.

	The first step is to measure out the area. If you are going to be using this space for something like an oven, make sure you have it’s dimensions and figure that into your equasion. You will also need to allow for things like frame area and tracks. In this case, I will be using a slide track system so will need to allow for this. In this instance, the plan is to cut the back left hand corner to house the oven. It goes without saying that you need to think about where the oven is going to sit when stored on the inside. In our case, the oven will fit under the bed. The black piece you see is my builders square. You can see were i have marked up the inside with black lines. This is were I will be cutting with the angle grinder.
	In this picture you can see that I have put arrows showing you where I will be cutting it through from the out side to the inside. The top arrow is where I will drill one of two small holes from the inside. This will give me the starting point so I can mark the out side for where the opening for the oven door will be cut out to match those marks from the inside.
You can now start to cut out using an angle grinder and the black lines as your guide. These picture shows where I have cut back the bottom sheeting to expose the outer bus shell.
	With the inside of the frame now cut away, we turn our attention to the outer shell of the bus. Earlier, I described the arrow drawn on the interior showed where I would be drilling a small hole. This is used as a guide to know where to start marking out the area to be cut out.
	Using the drilled holes as your guide, you can mark out the area of your new oven. When you have drilled the two holes, you mark a line from hole to hole, and then you use a builders square to mark all of your vertical lines and horizontal lines. Note You do not use a level other than using it to draw a straight line.
And now the fun begins! Using your angle grinder, you can now cut out the area. When you have your cut out, put some where safe as this will soon be a new door.
	And now you should have a lovely cut out area.
	Here is a shot from the inside cut out. I will need to cut all of the frame so that we have an un-obstructed opening. A new square tube frame will need to be made to pick up all of the area cut out to give strength back to the bus framing.

In the next series, we will show you how to turn the cut out into a new door and make up a frame to replace what has been removed from the bus shell.

Thanks and see you next time!