Solar Panels mounted on the Deck

Another of my hobbies that aligns with Amateur Radio is Solar Power. I just installed 2 x Sharp NE-80EJEA solar panels on the railing of my deck. These complement the 2 that are on the shingles of my garden shed (can't show a pic because the are buried in the 4" on snow that we received last night & today)

Yes, all of those white specs are the snow that is still falling!

These panels have several ratings that are important:
Maximum Power (PMax) = 80.0W
Open-Circuit Voltage (VOC) = 21.6V
Short-Circuit Current (ISC) = 5.15A
Operating Voltage (VPMAX) = 17.3V
Current at VPMAX = 4.63A
Maximum System Voltage = 600V
Maximum Series Fuse = 10A

I've wired the 2 panels in series to deliver 24VDC to my charge controller which is a MorningStar SS-20L-24V

Installing the Kenwood TM-D710G

Well I chose today (Halloween) to install my Kenwood TM-D710G Dual Bank APRS Radio into my vehicle. The weather was nice for the kids out halloween'ing, and comfortable to be working on the vehicle.

I'll include some pics later to show the wiring from my battery, as well as the mounting of the head unit and the transceiver under the seat.

Car Antenna Setup

Well, I tried the TRAM 1181 several weeks ago when I was still using my Yaesu handheld and the coverage was less that that of my Larsen 5/8 wave. So I have stayed with the Larsen:

I drive a Hyundai Accent (Which I will never buy again, I have had the worst service from the Calgary dealer and absolutely no support from Hyundai Canada!!!)

With the new vehicles, the gap between the hood & fender of trunk & fender is very narrow. So I went with a Comet CP-5NMO Trunk Lip Mount which uses 18" of RG-174 at the mount to allow clearance for the cable to enter the vehicle, and then converts back to 17' of RG-58 to reach your radio.

This arrangement is working out well for me.

Looking for a mobile antenna

I'm shopping for a new 2m/70cm mobile antenna, and it looks like the most economical route is a TRAM 1181

Jerry, VE6-AB has had good luck with his, so I'm interested to see how it performs on my mobile.

Been away for awhile...

Well, I've been away from the Amateur Radio world for a number of years, but a couple of factors have "encouraged" me to get re-involved.....

First, I work at SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) and they have an Amateur Radio Club. Membership has been dwindling and so I'm one a few hams that still access the shack. Also, CARA (Calgary Amateur Radio Association) has a VHF and UHF Repeater here on campus and so they need access to be able to service their gear.

Secondly, I have a friend who has been involved for may years, Jerry Clement, VE6AB and he has been sharing with me the advances they have made in APRS and other VHF digital technology. So I think it's time for me to check out how I can merge my interest in Amateur Radio with my interest in Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers.

Office Raspberry Pi

Here is a photo of my office Raspberry Pi (normally I've got the meter hooked up to measure the current flow to the Raspi). The power is quite intermittent here in the office, so it's not unusual to corrupt the SD card and right now I've got it in my PC to reflash.

I've learned the hard way to ensure I backup the SD card on a weekly basis.

I'm designing an uninterruptable power supply for my Raspi and will post it once I have it completed.

Jumbled Mess

This jumbled mess is my primary temperature logger (raspi15) with a LAMP stack that logs all of the data to the mysql database. Raspi16 is turned on three times a day to receive backup files & data and then shut down so that if I ever have a power outage, I’m hoping that raspi16 won’t be on and I will be able to use the data to restore my original. So far… So good…..