Frederic

DRIVE RSVP IS NOW CLOSED 1) Frederic Pajero SWB Blue - Crew 2) Lakshmi Narasimhan - Pajero LWB - Intermediate 3) Savio Fernandes - Nissan Patrol Y62 - Newbie 4) Farook Veettil - Toyota Landcruiser - Newbie 5) Munkybizness - Nissan Patrol Y61 - Fewbie 6) Rizwanm2 - Xterra - Support Team We will be using Channel 2: 446.031 Mhz Please be ready to go (deflated, flag, etc) by 8PM so we can cover some nice terrain. NO FLAG OR RADIO = NO DRIVE PS We will be exiting by 11PM sharp, as some of us are attending the Lens Lovers Club event and we need to reach there in time. Thanks for your understanding. See you guys tonight !

Goodmorning @Javid_DXB and welcome to Carnity ! If you have not drive with the club, you will first need to attend an Absolute Newbie drive first before signing up for Newbie level drives. We have an Absolute Newbie drive tomorrow morning. After that you can signup for any Newbie drive. I will remove your RSVP from this night drive. Thanks !

Congrats @Nafiz !

Well done @S Jacob !

Congrats Buddy !

Ooh sorry to hear that buddy !

Hi @Vanne a good and cheap workshop is like a unicorn i am afraid. You will find tons of workshops in Sharjah near BMW road and some of them will specialize in AC, but i do not have names of specific shops unfortunately. I would advise to visit the area and have a chat with them first to explain your issue and see what they come up with as a solution. Based on their detailed feedback and your first impression of them, you can give them a try and let them agree to investigate the issue first and inform you about the potential cost before starting to throw parts at the problem without knowing what they are doing.

This underpass has opened again. I've used it a few times already when we went to @Gaurav his Pink Rock Drive 2 weeks back.

This is for any UAE resident, many of us Dubai residents are attending drives in Abu Dhabi. You will need to get a PCR test max. 48hrs prior to crossing the border, and the result should show up in your Al Hosn app.

Hi @salah2u, you have registered correctly. If you click on the event itself, you will see your name icon "S" in the going list. Kindly introduce yourself with the following information below, that will help the marshal @Wrangeld in preparing his convoy: 1) Which 4x4 are you driving ? 2) Any prior offroading Experience ? If so where and when ? 3) Does your vehicle have towpoints in the front and back and are they in good condition ? Thanks !

Welcome to the club @salah2u ! If this is your first drive with us, you will need to first join the Absolute Newbie driving coming Friday. We use this drive to introduce all our new members to the club. You will find that drive here:

@Gaurav@Zed @munkybizness@Ashok chaturvedi @Savio Fernandes @Paul Zeitoun @samamara@Niki @AbdullaB @BipinM @Humayun Ghias@Zabi Khan @Joseph Sebastian @Alexander Alcala @varunmehndiratta Thanks for the massive signup and i hope we can make it a joyful session where we can relax and learn from each-other ! A few pointers to make this session go smooth: 1) Upon arrival, please park your vehicle on the designated parking ONLY : https://goo.gl/maps/gofwLBvNe6ihknJs9 If you want to cross the bridge and take photos near the trees, i would like to ask you to take out your gear and walk for that small distance. We will be having 15 cars so let's keep it safe for everyone. 2) People will be setting up their cameras, and we want to keep the area as dark as possible, so please avoid switching on your headlights of your cars during the session or driving around. Carry a small headlight (red light is perfect). 3) Make sure to keep your mask during the session. Same COVID19 guidelines as we do on our Offroad Drives. 4) Bring your Walkie Talkie and tune in to Channel 1: 446.006 Mhz. This way if you need help from someone, you can radio in for assistance. It will be pitch dark in the area so it will also ensure that we know where everyone is. As myself and some other members will be having an off-road drive earlier the same night, we will try to reach the meeting point before midnight. In case we are delayed, do not wait for us but you can start the session. The area is large and open and you can take your time to setup your camera either on the pier, bridge, or near the trees. Please do not cross the bridge with your car, as the sand looks quite hard but i don't want to see cars getting stuck in the muddy patch near the water's edge ! If you have any questions in setting up your camera, please use this discussion topic so we can try to help you out. There is also very useful information on the subject in below post:

Good point @Rizwanm2 but this also depends on the rim width a little bit. If i remember correctly, the 16inch Pajero rims are 7.5 Inch width, so according to below table they are suitable for 265 and 275 tires. So yes in theory the 275 would work as well, and on an Xterra the power loss from a slightly heavier tire will be minimal, but on a Pajero we need to try to preserve every horse

@Zabi Khan @Humayun Ghias @Joseph Sebastian @Alexander Alcala @varunmehndiratta I have added you all to the session as we will be extending the RSVP limit. Please do confirm if you can make it or not.

Hi @Zabi Khan welcome to Carnity ! For now the RSVP is already full and we have 4-5 more members waitlisted, but i hope we can extend the RSVP and accomodate everyone. Which camera and equipment are you bringing ? Do you have prior experience?

Thanks for informing @JeromeFJ see you next time ! @BipinM i have added you to the session. Kindly inform if you will be able to make it.

275 would also make it more heavy and prone to rubbing the fender, so i would advise to go for the 265/70/16 AT. Wider tyres are not necessarily better in offroading.

Below you can the typical Camera Settings as preparation for Astrophotography. Nicely summed up by @Mikhail Lukichev and will serve as a good reminder before starting any night photography session. select RAW mode decrease brightness of the screen to minimum disable long exposure noise reduction disable high ISO noise reduction select manual focus mode turn on live-view zoom in the picture in the live view mode select manual shooting mode (M) disable auto ISO set ISO to 3200 set shutter speed to 15sec set aperture to minimum (f1.8 - F3.5) set manual white balance to 3200-3500K Take a shot, and then play with the ISO and Shutter speed timings to obtain the best possible result. Both have their pros and cons. If your ISO setting is too high you will start getting to much noise in your image. If your shutter speed is too long you will start having "trailing star" issues due to the movement of the earth. Hence the 3200ISO and 15seconds is a good starting point. Equipment List 1) tripod suitable for your camera. There is no need to have an expensive tripod, however, if your camera and lens is heavy, sturdy tripod would be handy. 2) DSLR or mirrorless camera able to shoot in raw with exposure time up to 20 seconds. If you do not have one, you can try to shoot with a simple point and shoot camera or phone, but lack of settings could be an issue. If you have a camera but not sure if it is suitable or not, feel free to ask here! 3) wide angle lens. (14,24,28,35mm would be great) Actually, any kit lens should work fine. Do not bring your telephoto lens or a portrait lens this time, we will not use it. Again, if your are not sure what to bring with you, feel free to ask! 4) a bit of adhesive tape would be handy but not mandatory. This is to keep your manual zoom in place. 5) fully charged battery for your camera. 6) red light headlamp. Red light helps a lot operating your camera and not overstressing your eyes

Brilliant advice @samamara thanks for that. I love the fact that you applied some light to the dune, i would never have thought about that. @Joseph Sebastian to get your image sharp during astrophotography, you will need to use the manual focus and point your lens at the brightest star you can find. Switch on your live-view screen and start turning the lens until the star "white dot" is at its smallest, that would mean it's a the sharpest point. Then you can apply some tape to the lens to keep it at that setting, otherwise you might risk bumping into it and losing focus. Of course, a tripod is needed for this kind of shots, and while a remote shutter is helpful, you can instead use the timer setting, so from the moment you push the release it will start beeping for a few seconds and then take the shot. This will ensure you are not accidentally touching the camera or shaking it. When it comes to lenses, try to use the lens you have in your arsenal with the fastest aperture (F2.8 or less). This will simply make sure you can capture more light. A wide angle lens works great for this kind of photography, so anything from 11-24mm will give a very nice result, but if you do not have a wide angle lens, you can even experiment with a nifty-fifty 50mm lens which will give you a nice fast aperture of 1.8. ISO setting is something you will need to experiment with, and will depend on your camera and lens. You can perhaps start at 1200 ISO and keep increasing but it's best no go too high. You will find that 3200 usually works well. Shutter speed will again depend on the lens you are using and ISO setting. It will probably be around 8-15 seconds but could be higher if needed, but you want to avoid star trailing. The 500 rule or NPF rule will give you a good indication. https://petapixel.com/2017/04/07/npf-rule-formula-sharp-star-photos-every-time/ night-sky-cheat-sheet-new (4).pdf

This is @samamara her shot !

That's a fantastic shot, and i guess the Mk4's sensor allows you to boost your ISO a bit more safely ? I tend to keep it below 3200 on my Mk2, knowing that noise would start to creep in.

Waitlist as per 8 August 2021 1) BipinM 2) Humayun Ghias 3) Joseph Sebastian 4) Alexander Alcala 5) Varunmehndiratta

Hi @varunmehndiratta yes the waitlist is long Let's see if there will be signouts the coming days and if we can slip you in.

Hi @samamara there are a few reasons why i am more a fan of the 3.8 Pajero, but the biggest one is "bang for the buck". Let me explain: - A Jeep Wrangler TJ 4.0 is a fantastic beast in the desert. Plenty of power, but does not have much comfort and is not made for long trips. You might find a clean one for around 25kAED. - A Jeep Wrangler JK with the first series on 3.8 engines is not bad, but this was not a refined engine and many issue were being reported. These models can be found cheaper, and unfortunately many were being abused in the desert and will come with a list of issues. - A Jeep Wrangler JK with the 3.6 Pentastar is an amazing offroader. No doubt about that. If you try to find a clean SWB 3.8 Pajero, most of them will have limited to no off-roading history. That's already a good point. The 3.8 MIVEC engine with 240hp is plenty powerful for a short wheel base 4x4 and they are super reliable and cheap to fix. Pricewise you will find one from 25kAED onwards (2010 model). Having a SWB Pajero now, and also having a LWB Pajero as our family vehicle, i have come to know their strong and weak points, and fell in love with their simplicity yet sophisticated and capable 4x4 system. (4WD Select). So am i biased ? Yes definitely i am, and if i had the budget for a nice 3.6 SWB Rubicon i would definitely go for it. But after having had an FJ Cruiser in the past that still remains my top choice. The back doors are called suicide doors and swing open differently. If you take adult passengers regularly they wont like the claustrophobic feeling due to the small windows. But then you better opt for a Prado which has the same 4.0 Engine, and much more space in the back.