Frederic

14 hours ago, Nicolò said:

I'm running the same firmware version and had the squelch issue. It also seems they keep the same configuration of squelch levels even on newer/older firmware.

I applied the same “hack” on my UV5R and it works great. Mine suffered as well from a constant squelch pickup. 
 

Nicely documented article !

Congrats @Rafey Hashmi!!

Congrats @sohinik!!

Well deserved @DP1011 !!

An Introduction to Queen

It's not easy to explain the band Queen and what they have meant for countless bands that were later inspired by them, and for the millions of fans that found happiness and joy in their songs. 

From the early 70s, Queen emerged as a band that wasn't afraid to cross musical boundaries. Was it Glam Rock, Heavy Metal, Opera, Pop, Disco? Well to be honest, they did it all, and seamlessly wrote music that 50 years later is still relevant and being enjoyed by the next generations. The movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", released in 2018, was successful in creating a biopic of a band full of extremely talented band members, helmed by a FABOULUSY talented lead singer, Freddy Mercury.

Freddy, originally named Farrokh Bolsara, who came from Parsi Indian parents, born in Zanzibar, grew up in India, and ended up in the UK, was a shy sensitive kid behind the screens, but an enigmatic performer on stage. 

There was no Queen without Freddy, who carried flamboyance, style, but above all, a voice that could carry throughout a stadium and bring out emotions unlike any other performer that time. Throughout the years, the band and its members had their ups and downs, but the real magic was always to be found on stage. Their live performances were some of the most unique, and in the playlist for the Sonic Experience, a lot of them are incorporated to showcase how good they were live and how they got the audience to give them "a touch of the heavens".

Queen has played all over the globe, with 1985 being an iconic year, where they played for a mindboggling 350,000 people in Rio, and played the Live Aid concert, which had 80,000 people attending and 1.5 Billion people watching that night. All other artists who attended the concert later admitted that it was Queen who blew off the roof of the stadium. 

Unfortunately, Freddy Mercury became HIV positive in the eighties, and during that time not much was known about the disease, that eventually turned into AIDS, which was incurable. Freddy kept performing until August 1986, and a few more albums were made. Freddy sadly passed away on 24th November of 1991.

The legacy of Queen cannot be understated. Having sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, they are amongst the greatest bands that ever existed. Since Freddy's death, the remaining band members did not feel like they wanted to carry on or replace Freddy, but by coincidence stumbled upon Adam Lambert in 2011, who was the runner up of the 2009 American Idol contest. They ended up playing together and found a unique chemistry where they felt Adam could propel Queen back onto the world stage, and they have performed several world tours from 2014 until 2023. In his unique own way, Adam was able to bring honor to the band's original songs without being a Freddy Mercury clone. 

On the Sonic Desert Experience, the aim is to go mostly chronologically through their repertoire, with a mix of original video clips and live performances. I hope we can all sing together their most iconic songs and have a great evening out !

9 minutes ago, Pavel Pashkovskiy said:

Did you tune your engine and gearbox? If not, you will not be able to climb in 4H or 4L. Offroading it is hobby and even lifestyle. Doing it, keeping in mind what happen with warranty or what says your insurance, means limiting yourself in most interesting part of it. If you want proper Jeep you must tune it. Minimum requirements are adjusting cooling system, tunning engine, tunning gearbox for faster switching. Out of than the minimum requirements for the engine tuning are proper air intake and exhaust. All above means bye-bye warranty. Ready for it? Go for it, you will not regret. Not ready? You can keep discussing about 4H, 4L... Nothing will help. You will never go outside of "elementary school".

I’m happy to be an elementary school teacher and marshal based on your comments. You can comment all you like here on the forum but I would expect some common decency and respect for others instead of referring to stock Jeep drivers as elementary school.. 

A stock Jeep JL with 280hp can climb. Unless your reference benchmark is to go and climb Y60 hill or Moreeb from the front side, and in that case you’ll be going home with pink cheeks as when the locals arrive with their modified monsters, you’ll be realizing there is always someone bigger and better than you. Leave your ego behind and enjoy what you can do. 

Well deserved @Dan S !

Thanks for joining this morning @Naveen Raj@Alexanderrr@Jona@Mark B@Ashutosh Garg@Tareq Al Turq@AlexM@munkybizness@Sunil Mathew !

The aim of combining the technical areas with the more open bigger dunes seemed to have worked. I was having the time of my life in the first part just hopping from little bowl to little bowl. This is the area where we faced our pop-out, which was fixed quickly and allowed us to enjoy the magnificent weather this morning.

The second part, as we could call Sweihan North (close to Nahel) was glorious as well. We were able to pick up some speed and i hope the level was up to your expectations. My aim was to create a smooth flowing drive in that second part and you all drive fantastic, so i could just enjoy and look ahead

Great support by @Sunil Mathew who was sweeping us today, superb second lead @Naveen Raj, and @munkybizness who kept the neighborhood awake as well  

I might focus on the technical areas of Sweihan in a future separate installment. Stay tuned !

2 minutes ago, Gok Krish said:

@Fredericpls excuse me for signing out of the exciting drive ... Am reeling from cold and severe cough. Will not be able to focus properly .. best wishes everyone. 

It's the time of the year buddy, has a similar thing 2 weeks back. Take plenty of rest !

45 minutes ago, Zed said:

 

To cut the story short: Senior Marshal Fadi drives in 4Lo, and his convoy won the Desert Champions Trophy (I believe all in his convoy does the same; driving in 4Lo). That's 6 hours of non-stop driving in 4Lo and so yes you can get away with it.  His opinion on 4Lo here >> https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cm6VAp4q6lR/?igsh=ZnozYXVhbTNhZHNv

So I've re-geared 4x already and I've seen what's inside my transfer case + front & rear diffs. I would never drive 4Lo high speed in my Gear-Driven Transfer Case Land Cruiser, but I've driven a few times in 4Lo with my 5-speed Jeep with Chain-Driven Transfer Case... because Gear-Driven Transfer Case is only suitable for low-speed driving.  This is why there is No Generic Rule to 4LO: it primarily depends on the car and secondarily depends on the driver if he wishes to experiment with his car  

1) First front & rear to 4.88 gearing to cater for heavier tires on the Land Cruiser

2) Second opened my Transfer Case and re-geared the 4Lo gears to make 1:3 reduction in 4Lo only.

3) Third when installing ARB air lockers (carriers) I opened the front & rear differentials and notice the ring pattern signify that my differentials were not properly installed the first time. So I re-geared front & diff again, this time making sure proper break-in process is followed and triple-checking the backlash & preload of rings & pinions.

4) Finally I opened my Transfer Case again cos I was afraid same thing might happen to the Transfer Case as with the diffs. Then for fun & experiment I re-geared the 4Hi gearing in transfer case by simply changing 2 gears. This basically makes my 4Hi "spin more".

The 4.88 in front & rear diffs + the 10% underdrive in 4H gears Transfer Case = 5.3 final drive ratio so I don't need 4Lo for normal sand driving (even if my Transfer Case was Chain-Driven).

The whole Transfer Case system is just a GEAR REDUCTION mechanical device. And so a 1:4 Transfer Case Ratio for Rubicon just means the max speed in 4Lo is  1/4th of the max speed in 4Hi.  It's like driving slower than 1st Gear, but because there is no -1, -2, -3, -4  Shifter, the wizards invented Transfer Case to go Lower than Normal 1st Gear. Obviously there is no use of these lower gears in the asphalt / normal highway, but depending on car (should you wish to experiment), it may has some advantage in loose-traction areas like sand and slower-but-precision drives like rock-crawling.

 

So will 4Lo break your car? Judging by the simplicity of Gear Reduction concept, it probably won't. BUT older cars like my Land Cruiser have Gear-Driven Transfer Case whcih are not suitable for high-speed motion, so I agree with @Carnity Marshals here that you shouldn't drive in 4Lo with these kind of cars.  Newer cars with more transmission shifts and Chain-Driven Transfer Case have more flexibility... with the Chain TransferCase you can drive faster than with Noisy Gear-Driven TransferCase.  Most people who broke their transfer case in 4Lo most probably broke their Chain in the transfer case too, but for the adventurous who like to experiment with their cars, go ahead and drive in 4Lo... the theory has been laid out, and now it's time for practice 😁

 

Fantastic Fact-based explanation @Zed and this explains why from a club perspective we don't recommend driving in 4Lo it during the learning experience:

1. Every 4x4 is different, and it's hard to tell which 4x4 can survive constant driving in 4Lo and which not. So we keep it safe and advise people to read the manual of the vehicle.

2. During your initial learning experience (first 20-30 drives) it's much more important to learn the art of offroading in 4H and focus on enhancing the skills of reading the sand and lines to choose, and proper deflation. 

Once you reach a certain level where you are comfortable to start researching if 4LO is an option in your vehicle and you want to take the calculated risks/rewards, then it is solely your choice and not something that's enforced by a club.

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED

@Naveen Raj@Alexanderrr@Tareq Al Turq@Ashutosh Garg@Senthil Kumar@AlexM@Jona@munkybizness@Gok Krish@Sunil Mathew

Good morning guys ! Please find your convoy positions for tomorrow.

The plan is to have a drive which combines some technical areas with some high paced smooth rolling dunes, and keep away from the heavily scarred areas of Sweihan.

Be careful in case of fog on the way to your meeting point, as this also means the speed cameras will be set to lower limits, and take care of the lack of visibility.

We will be rolling on Channel 2 - 446.031 Mhz and might come across @JeromeFJhis convoy in the Nahel area.

See you all tomorrow morning !

SUPER DESERVED !!

And we should be so proud and thankful to have @JeromeFJ in our club ! You have been always up to any challenge and always carry the responsibility with a big smile and warm heart. Looking forward for many more drives together !

Well done @Mahesh_ !

Congrats @Vijay Cowlagi !

6 minutes ago, Marek_was003 said:

I love the energy! +12oC in the morning and nobody complained!

I took a few shots of your cars, I hope you don't mind if I pasted them here (the gallery is maxed out with compression making pictures look so flat).

@Abhilash Kottakkal in his Pajero Montero Sport (say what you want, we all know it's a Pajero underneath and that's why it looks so good on the dune!)

The quietest and the smoothest of them all - 407 horses of driving pleasure @essam ibrahim

@Frederic, I had to google to figure out the car you had... congrats on the rare piece of automotive legend!

@Julien Recan flooring to make it count!

My wife said it looked like an RC car from the distance. Awesome ride @Rafey Hashmi, congrats on your first popout on this car!

@Benjamin reaching the top of the peak:

The White Rhino: @Mike M.

And the mighty 392, doing it so effortlessly... @Gautam Banka

@Simon D I have a new profile picture for you

Thanks again for the drive! See you next time!

Great pics @Marek_was003 !

Yeah the green Kermit is rare, that's for sure  

12 hours ago, Simon D said:

Dear @Mahesh_, @Rafey Hashmi , @Gautam Banka, @essam ibrahim, @Julien Recan, @Abhilash Kottakkal, @Mike M., @Marek_was003,  @Benjamin.

Thank you for joining the Drive yesterday and i hope you have enjoyed it as much as i did. we have achieved our target of exiting from the big red side passing through pink rock .. 

we had a couple of refusals and stucks , but nothing serious that required us to get out the ropes or the shovels .💪

in between @Rafey Hashmi Jimny had a pop out , which i have to say was one of the easiest  and fastest pop up fixes we ever had to deal with .

I have to say  everyone drove really well, 💪🎉

thanks @Benjamin for the great support and @Mike M. for sweeping the convoy . 

and of course special  thanks to @Frederic for making this drive possible 

Looking forward to see you soon on the next drive 

below are the drive details

This was indeed a great drive @Simon D ! You took us from the easy warm-up dunes nearby the farms into the bowls closer to the 2nd december cafeteria, where the pace and intensity was taken up a notch. From there, crossing Pink Rock itself and heading towards Big Red we had a good run with only minimal refusals and a mini-pop out  

Thanks for the support @Mike M. and @Benjamin !

DRIVE DESCRIPTION

As the title says, in this installment we will go and search for the lesser-known areas of Sweihan, with the aim of finding pristine areas free of cross-tracks. Expect to cover quite a bit of distance on high pace.

We will take no prisoners !

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. 

MUST READ AND COMPLY

• Environmental Policy
• Offroad Flag Guideline
• Two Way Radio Guideline
• Off road Driving Etiquettes
• Emergency details for all off roaders
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities

DRIVE DETAILS

Level:  Intermediate and above
When: 20 Jan 2024, Saturday
Meeting time:  7AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions)
Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/1urKtMPmGr7fa6JW6
Approximate finish time: 10:30 AM
Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.
What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn.

RECOMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR:

• Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge
• Compressor (MANDATORY)
• Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY)
• Off-road flag (MANDATORY)
• Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles
• First-aid kit
• Fire extinguisher

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 9AM.
• If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list.
• RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list.
• Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions.
• Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others.
• Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.

PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Reviving this topic:

Partial further discussion was made in above topic.

I made a small overview below to show the existing different types, each with their own pros and cons.

20 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

I have seen the pedal commander in your Pajero. Can you disable that and then clear this code and drive to check if it re-appears?

@GauravSoni and @Simon D both using Pedal Commander, might add some more ways to fix it.

It's definitely Pedal Commander causing this (if you have it). This is the main reason why people throw it away. It's worthless.

2 hours ago, Hani Howeedy said:

Hi everyone glad to join the carniti community. @Davie Chase yeah my rsvp was too early for excitement glad to get the last spot. 
Details:

2015 Gmc sierra denali

no experience in the desert other than the master class with carnity as gaurav was my instructor

i have the flag now and still in search for the radio. 

to follow up yes i have rear and front tow hooks

Hi @Hani Howeedy welcome to Carnity !

You will find the radios in Dragon Mart, and if you prefer to order them online, you can use their online portal:

www.edragonmall.com

They deliver within 1-2 days.

DRIVE DESCRIPTION

From the smallish dunes at the start of the farm, but making our way into the bigger rolling dunes, with the plan to make it to the famous Big Red. @Simon Dwill lead and manage this drive with me.

MUST READ AND COMPLY

• Environmental Policy
• Offroad Flag Guideline
• Two Way Radio Guideline
• Off road Driving Etiquette's
• Emergency details for all off-roaders
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities

DRIVE DETAILS

Level:  Fewbie and above

When:  13 January 2024, Saturday

Meeting time:   07:00 am - Sharp (Without any exceptions)

Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8h8yf4zznDE4jQbJ6

Approximate finish time:  11:00 am

Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, Tow Rope, 2 Shackles and fire extinguisher.

 LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE

• This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM.
• Please withdraw your RSVP, if you find you are unable to join, so your spot can be taken by others in the waitlist.
• If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, if an RSVP attendee removes themselves, you will be moved from the waitlist to the RSVP list as an attendee.
• A convoy list will be sent out the day prior to the drive.
• Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions.
• Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions.
• Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.
   

PLEASE RSVP ON BELOW CALENDAR

1 hour ago, Josh S said:

@Frederic would the Rubicon put even more stress on the car in 4L when compared to the Sport/Sahara given the ratios?  Ie. More likely to damage with excessive speed. 

The Rubicon model with its specific gear ratio was made to excel in rock crawling. When it comes to damage to either the Sport/Sahara or the Rubicon trim because of the different ratio is hard to tell. 

49 minutes ago, Josh S said:

Hi All,

My brain is about to explode regarding the 4H and 4L debate. Two of the clubs I drive with (Carnity one of them) swear by 4H, and the other two swear by 4L. Specifically, the senior Marshalls (200+ drives)  on these other drives state that whilst 4H is absolutely fine for junior/newbie drives, once you get onto much more challenging dunes, 4H will struggle to get up the steep soft dunes, and the 4L extra torque is really important when you need to correct yourself, as you need instant torque. Ultimately, by all means drive in 4L but you may just keep having to re attempt obstacles. 

As it so happens I have a wrangler rubicon where the transfer case isn’t really geared right to get any speed, however I drove in 4L today and it was absolutely fine in 4-6th gear.

Why are there strong advocates for either. If one technique was right and the other one way was wrong, this argument would never exist. I’m an indecisive individual at the best of times so this really isn’t helping. 

Are there any Carnity drivers that swear by 4L?. Why wouldn’t you drive in 4L? It offers more torque to the wheels which is surely what you want…

@Josh S

From what i see you have now completed a handful of drives, and i understand that you might seem confused about this topic. From a Carnity Club perspective there is a couple of reasons why we advise everyone to drive in 4H:

1. We cater to all sorts of different 4x4's. When going through most of the vehicle manuals we noticed it's clearly mentioned you should not drive it in 4L beyond 30km/h. Take note: this depends on the vehicle. A Jeep Wrangler JL can drive in 4L at higher speeds, but we have experienced plenty of issues over the years from people driving low gear for extended periods and the damaged they sustained (drive-line, axles, transfer case). (not necessarily JL models, just 4x4's in general)

2. During your learning experience, driving in 4H will give you a much better driving feedback and smoother approach to off-roading. Your vehicle has MORE than enough power to easily go through all the levels in our club. Our leads also drive in 4H (at least the ones i know  )

3. There are other clubs who drive on extreme levels and probably of them drive in 4L with heavy modified vehicles. If you are keen to drive on that level eventually, be prepared to send off your Jeep to the workshop EVERY week, and every time something breaks, that 200+drives senior marshal will tell you to modify it even further.... further down the rabbit-hole. Our Intermediate level drives are fast and thrilling, but you will notice that most of our leads achieve this with stock 4x4's (or minor mods). At the end of the day we want to go home safely and in one piece (the car as well).

Pertaining to your specific case:

* Rubicon has the 4:1 transfer case, so if i am not mistaken you'd have to be in 7th or 8th gear in 4L. Limited to 70km/h in 8th gear i think. @Zed might have the gear calculator handy.

I would advise to stay in 4H for as long as you can and learn the art of offroading thoroughly first. After 50-60 drives you can start experimenting in various terrain and see if you find improvements. If you decide to drive on extreme/advance levels in the clubs where heavily modded cars with 4L are leading the pack, then you might gonna have to do the same. But in Carnity you'll never need it.

Queen (band) - Wikipedia

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

We will be playing a compilation of their best songs and live performances, projected on a screen inside the desert. Total playing time is around 85mins.

1. Meetup at 6.30PM at the following location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FrXMZdXGRVA5VGpU6

2. Deflate and drive to the desert (10min) where we will set up the audio and video.

3. Bring out the chairs, blankets, and enjoy the marvelous songs! no late arrivals, driving around, bright lights, or other distractions. Dancing is allowed and definitely encouraged  drinks and snacks as well of course! 

4. Camping afterwards is possible if anyone likes it. Free of choice. We will be nearby an exit track.

PS This is not an Offroad-Drive.

RSVP HERE BELOW

1 hour ago, Aser said:

Could you elaborate a bit as it will be my first time there and I also have a lifted car?

The dunes in Liwa are amongst the biggest you’ll ever see. If you are used to your car by now and how it handles, that’s fine, but if you changed your vehicle or just installed a lift kit, the way the car behaves will be different and you will need be extra careful by not overestimating what yourself or your car can do.