The countdown to the 2026 Camp Quality esCarpade is well and truly on... with just under 3 weeks to go, Damian really needed the long weekend Monday public holiday to help find time to install the new amber strobes (donated by Minecorp Australia) and reinstall the rooftop pod!
The very small instructions for the amber strobes - turns out they aren't just LED lights, but have their own onboard controller to set the flash pattern!
Four of them... great!
Regular blog readers would remember that Damian had previously replaced the old strobes with some eBay specials on custom brackets... these would be going (but the brackets will stay)!
The new strobes need holes in slightly different spots, so a bit of drill-based adjustment was in order!
Yep, those are holes!
Voila! One ultra-bright emergency-grade LED strobe installed...
So... turns out the fancy new LED strobes will not work with the existing strobe controller that Damian has in Bluey... time to rewire the whole set - disconnect the old strobes (and cut off/seal the old wires - too much effort to remove them completely at this point) then rewire the new strobes.
Wrapping new wires.
One strobe installed with wires wrapped, ready to attach.
Damian was so busy wrapping and running wires to all the strobes, that he neglected to take any further photos... After all four strobes had been installed the roof was washed so it was marginally cleaner before installing the rooftop pod.
Sitting the pod in place ready to tighten up the clamps.
Clamps installed and the rooftop pod is ready to rock and roll!
Wires reconnected on both sides (for the amber rotator, rear facing white light and external speakers).
Looking tidy...
And it's done!
Damian took a quick video of the strobes and rotator working...
20L of spare fuel (2 x 10L containers) are an event requirement... safely stashed in the rooftop pod!
Minecorp Australia also donated a flash new LED light bar... Out with the old...
Of course, the wires were down behind the grille, so out came the plastic cover again. New standard connector attached for the LED light bar, so if in future it is switched out, it should be a simple plug and pray!
Of course, the new light bar didn't quite line up where required, so Damian cobbled together some custom brackets (that also came from Minecorp Australia - out of a box of random crap that Jordan brought home).
Woot! Fancy blue light bar...
Alright, the blue protective tape was removed... and the light bar works like a bought one!
Big Red at the gate sticky-beaking at Bluey...
And the amber rotator on top also works (not to mention the fancy LED safety flag - also courtesy of Minecorp Australia)!
So Bluey is pretty close to ready... a bit of paperwork and getting the air-conditioning regassed and Bluey will be ready for esCarpade 2026!
Oh, and Damian still needs to locate and pack the various tools and spares that are required!
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