Date (YYYY, YYYYmm, YYYYmmDD), #hashtag, fragment, word, or phrase:     



This is an image from a gallery of photos and art. Sorry.
Tuesday, October 20th, 2015
Use the following link to share or bookmark this specific image ⇨  ⚓Permlink

Solar Stand Back

I'm putting together a small trailer containing radio gear that is powered by its own small solar system. This is the portable stand (just built, will be painted next) that allows me to take the solar panel with me into the field, and then deploy the panel in the general direction of the sun.

When taken down, the stand folds flat and the support slips hinge-end first into the U-shaped receptacle on the panel side of the stand, leaving the assembly 5.5" thick, folded. I used piano hinges for the from edge, and for the base of the support. You just lift the top a little, fold down the support, and then the top folds flat on top of it and it can be packed away again for travel.

The angle is set by our latitude; the sun is generally pretty low in the sky here compared to a more southern placement. The panel itself remains in the stand and is protected by the surrounding bezel of 2x4s.

The panel is 100 watts, and feeds a smart charging system with a bank of 12.6 VDC lead-acid batteries. Inside the trailer, I use 12.6 VDC LED bulbs which provide very bright light with only 1.5 amps draw, or about 18 watts total (for three bulbs.)

The radios use a couple hundred watts on transmit, and what with all the computers and SDR gear, I pull about 50 watts during receive including the lights, so I get about 50 watts of charge constantly as long as the sun is out.

Because I don't transmit anywhere near as much as I listen, this setup goes all (sunny) day without any breaks at all. I've run it as long as 8 hours in the dark and still had power, too.

It's a fun way to get away from all the RFI in populated areas. I just find a place with no power lines, telephone poles, houses, etc., park and deploy. Takes about five minutes, and I'm good to go.

#mobile

EXIF:

Width: 2048
Height: 1366
Company:  Canon
Camera:  Canon EOS 6D
Shot On:  2015:10:20 13:38:44
Lens Model:  EF50mm ƒ/1.4 USM
Aperture:  ƒ/8.0
Focal Length:  50.0mm
Metering Mode:  Spot
Exposure Mode:  Auto
Flash:  Did Not Fire
Exposure Time:  1/40th second
Exposure Program:  Aperture Priority
ISO:  100

Image Collections:

1:1250 Ships - Amiga - Animations - Aquarium - Arcade - Art - Astro - Audio - Aurora - B&W - Ben - Cars - Cathouses - Cats - Clouds - Comics - Comets - Crepuscular - Dollhouses - Deb - Deer - Designs - DTank - Eclipses - Family - Fireworks - Florida - Fog - Food - Friends - Gear - Ham Radio - Horses - Humor - Infrared - IROC - iToolBox - James Blish - Judy - Library - Meezers - Milford - Minerals - Models - Montana - Moon - Morphing - Motorcycles - Music - OSX - Pareidolia - Pickles - Pinups - Pizza - Portraits - Radios - Rainbows - Recipes - ReFlex - Restorations - Science Fiction - SdrDx - Shortwave - Spaghetti - Stained Glass - Storms - Sunbeams - Sunrises - Sunsets - Superstition - 跆拳道 - Tee Shirts - Trains - Uc&F - Virginia Kidd - Watches - Windows - WinImages

Image and commentary Copyright ©2015 fyngyrz
Gallery software Copyright ©2023...2024 fyngyrz