Hello Operators
This is a hard video to share, but it needs to be. Honestly I have no horse in this race, but I always do my best to inspire people to build their own Solar Power Systems. What you’re going to see in this video, is exactly the reason I think we should be designing, building, and repairing these systems ourselves. If we are relying on commercially available solar generators, and what happens in this video happens in a grid down scenario, how is it going to be repaired!? An even better question is, “How can we rely on these types of systems for grid down Communications, if we can’t even rely on them sitting on a desk in our homes!?
Short follow-up video
Now we already know Goal Zero is garbage for radio communications. Low current ports, massive RFi noise, … it’s probably great for bloggers, vloggers, .. I had hoped the Apex and/or Kodiak would have been generators for those who couldn’t build themselves. It looks like they still need a bit of work to do before they get an endorsement. I’ll keep an eye on this
DIY Solar Battery
At the time I wrote this post, my diy solar generator has powered my ham shack lights, field computer, and communications gear continuously for more than 58 days. When I’m not using the solar battery in the ham Shack, I’m using it out in the field.
I have disassembled it to make updates or upgrades, or simply to make sure everything is fine. As a ham radio operator, this is what I’m expected to do. Self-reliance is a huge part of amateur radio.
Certainly there are some complex Electronics we can’t repair at home, but I don’t think a battery should be one of them. A solar generator or solar storage system, even when it has an inverter, is just a battery or a battery with inverter. It shouldn’t be so complicated!
73
Julian oh8stn
