SBARC-list

sbarc-list@lists.netlojix.com

2 participants
2691 discussions

WB6RDV's car and solar...
by Jay Hennigan 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

http://www.west.net/~jay/images/voltsolar.jpg Wow! I didn't expect that much interest. Gory details... The car: Chevrolet Volt, 2011 model. Made in Detroit, USA. Lithium-ion battery, 16 kWh capacity, of which it uses about 10. The reason they don't use it all is to prolong battery life and to keep enough juice to spin up the gasoline engine as the battery is depleted. About 35-45 miles electric range, depends on how heavy your foot is and the climate. Best range in stop-and-go city driving. Worst on the freeway when it's very cold. If I baby it I can go from Goleta to Carpinteria and back all-electric. 100 MPH top speed. No, Loren, I haven't verified this - yet. When the battery is depleted, there's a gasoline engine that primarily acts as a generator to power the electric motor. Wheels are driven by electricity under almost all circumstances. When the battery is depleted and speeds are over 70 MPH the gas engine is coupled to the wheels as well as the electric motor. At higher speeds with no battery left this is more efficient. If you never exceed electric range before recharging you theoretically never will need to buy gas. However the engine is programmed to run briefly every couple of months to circulate the oil and burn off stale fuel. On the other hand if you want to go cross-country you can do so and just fill it up like a regular car. Charging is via J-1772 SAE standard connector. "Charger" equipment is essentially a smart extension cord that delivers 120 VAC or 240 VAC to the car along with a PWM pilot signal to tell the car the maximum charge rate to pull without tripping the breaker. GFCI and handshake keeps the output pins dead until car is connected, communicating, and requesting to charge. A "proximity" pin disables the drive electronics while the connector is plugged in to prevent you from driving off and dragging he charger behind you. There are a few free public charging stations around town but most of them are the old style inductive coupling paddle. The Nissan dealer has the new ones, and Costco is supposedly going to upgrade theirs. Rabobank in Goleta has one too. Charging time is four hours from 240 volts, ten hours on 120 volts if the battery is fully depleted. The car is smart enough to charge based on departure time for off-peak rates. In other words, if I plug it in at 6 pm and have programmed it that my morning drive never starts before 6 am, it will start charging at 2:00 am if the battery is fully drained, later if not. One minor annoyance... You have to set the clock! What's up with that? This car has TWO extremely accurate sources of time built in; a GPS receiver and a CDMA cellular phone (OnStar). The GPS can even update the time zone on the fly based on your location. Yet they make an inaccurate human set the clock! Really fun to drive, standard equipment includes all the bells and whistles. Totally blows the doors off of a new Prius when the light turns green. Don't ask me how I know this, but the guy really gave me "the look"... There's a waiting list unless you want to pay way over sticker. (I didn't). Graham Chevrolet just didn't have their act together in three separate visits and numerous phone calls starting in July 2010. This may have changed. Sunset in Lompoc was awesome to deal with. I had a GM order number in hand within 20 minutes of walking in the door, no markup over sticker, no dealer tricks. Chevy and GM are really in touch with anyone buying this car. They have a "Volt Advisor" team that assists with questions, order tracking, charging equipment, etc. I took delivery on January 5. Tank holds 9.3 gallons, dealer filled it up and charged the battery before delivery. I bought gas for the first time last Friday, February 25. It took six gallons, 1356 miles on the odometer. Not bad. The solar: 18 modules, each rated 230 watts peak output. Maximum net measured from the array so far is about 3600 watts after inverter losses, etc. I use Enphase inverters, made in USA. This system is kind of different from the typical grid-tied arrangement. Typically, the panels are connected in a string for about 600 VDC which goes into a big inverter that converts it to AC where it connects to the electrical panel. Enphase uses one inverter per solar module (panel). This means no HV DC to deal with, no extra DC safety disconnect, and also means that bird droppings on one panel don't pull down a whole string. It also makes things much more scalable as you can add a single panel to an array. The inverters are totally weatherproof potted assemblies that mount under each panel. Another advantage is that each inverter and thus each panel can be individually monitored to show performance and alert to any problems. For example... http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/zyRu12037 If you view the animation you can see that there's low output from the lower right panel until about 10:00 in the morning. That's due to the shadow of a Ku-band FTA satellite dish. Not a big deal and I'll move it eventually. I'm kind of curious to see if it's an issue in the summer when the track of the sun moves farther north. Overcast days and clouds passing overhead are very clear on the graphs and take a big hit on power produced. The panels are REC Solar, made in Norway. I was going to go US made here as well, SolarWorld in Chatsworth makes nice panels but they're on backorder. Edison will pay you for your excess electricity as well as a large chunk of the cost of the system including installation. I just got the smart meter about a month ago. This month I've sold Edison 505 kWh and bought 493 kWh. The cool thing is that you can go on a time-of-use metering plan. This means that you're selling electricity in the afternoon at high rates when the sun is shining. Then you buy it back (to charge your car) at super off-peak rates between midnight and 6 am. This system has no batteries and will automatically shut down in a power failure, so don't depend on this type of arrangement as a backup. A small generator makes more sense from a cost perspective for backup power. You would need enough battery to power your house (and optionally car) in the event of three or four cloudy days if you really want to go off-grid. Not practical. The inverters shut down if utility power fails as a safety mechanism. You don't want to risk back-feeding the utility lines and endangering Edison workers who would think that the load side of a fault is dead. Utility power has to be present within voltage and frequency limits for five minutes before the inverters will turn on. With tax and Edison rebates the net cost is about 40% of the quoted price to just buy it outright. I saved additional money by doing the electrical wiring and some of the physical labor but wanted to use a licensed contractor for the roof penetrations (scary for me) and to deal with the permit process. Payback should be about four years. [Feel free to borrow any or all of this for Key-Klix if you like.] -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

1 0

HVAC recommendation
by ke6dcj＠sbarc.org 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Hey guys & gals. We need to get a new furnace (70,000 BTU, 80% efficiency, upstairs furnace closet) for our Santa Barbara home. Any recommendations for a honest HVAC company that won't gouge me ? We're still in Florida, so we need someone we can trust. Also any caveats, tips, etc. ? Permits ? How much should we budget ? Thanks, :-) neil KE6DCJ

1 0

Unrest in Libya Boosts Crude Oil to two-year high...
by Jay Hennigan 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

On that news, I wish to extend a very special greeting to all my good friends at OPEC... http://www.west.net/~jay/images/voltsolar.jpg -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

1 0

CONSTRUCTION NIGHT at the Club Station, Thursday March 3 from 7:30pm to 9:30pm...
by rod＠sbatv.org 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

NOTE: View or print the attached file for text AND pictures. - Rod CONSTRUCTION NIGHT Last Updated on February 29, 2011 CONSTRUCTION NIGHT is held every Thursday at the Club Station from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Work on your project or learn as others work on theirs! Visit this site often to see what's planned and what the status is on current projects. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO Construction Coordinator wb9kmo(a)sbarc.org PLANS FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Last Updated on February 29, 2011 Tell me in advance what you want to work on, so we can have resources available. FOR SALE: ATV equipment will be for sale on a first come, first served basis. If you have questions, contact me at wb9kmo(a)sbarc.org. AGENDA - This is what we plan to do on this CONSTRUCTION NIGHT. 1. TECHNICAL ELMERING NET - Check in and monitor the net; describe what we're doing 2. TOOLS AND TEST EQUIPMENT - Describe the construction resources at the Club Station and elsewhere 3. ATV SHOPPING GUIDE - Describe what is recommended to receive and transmit ATV in the Santa Barbara area 4. 2.4 GHZ TX/RX TESTING - Test WaveCom Jr/Sr ATV transmitters and receivers (some are for sale) 5. 2.4 GHZ TX/RX MODS - Describe improvements; help attendees install the mods (parts are for sale) 6. PLAN NEXT WEEK - Discuss what attendees need; plan what to work on next time "Make it happen!" Rod Fritz, WB9KMO wb9kmo(a)sbarc.org

1 0

6-Meter Roundtable
by Michael＠NO6O.com 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Monthly 6-Meter Roundtable (First Tuesday of Each Month) ----------------------------- Tuesday, 8:00 pm 50.125 MHz USB (*) Come join the monthly 6-meter roundtable discussion. (*) After about 15 minutes, the roundtable is moved from the 50.125 calling frequency to 50.135 MHz. ---Michael, NO6O

1 0

Balloon Video - RE: WB8ELK 20 meter HF balloon landing site has been received from CA
by rod＠sbatv.org 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Hello Doug and Bill, Well done. Thanks for sending your excellent video my way. I'm passing this on to our local Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club list server. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO P.S. Good luck with WhiteStarBalloon (see www.whitestarballoon.org). -----Original Message----- From: Douglas Crandall [mailto:dmcrandall@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 1:33 PM To: wb8elk(a)aol.com Cc: Undisclosed Recipients... Subject: Re: WB8ELK 20 meter HF balloon landing site has been received from CA Here's a link to a clip of the video stream I made http://tinyurl.com/4e4kvay On Sat, Feb 26, 2011 at 10:35 PM, <wb8elk(a)aol.com> wrote: > > Beautiful day to fly....clear skies, 65 degrees and light surface winds. > Thanks to all who tuned into the streaming video of the launch and to all > those who listened on 20 meters for the balloon signals. It was tough for my > half-watt balloon transmitter to compete with all the kilowatt RTTY contest > stations but several of us in the Huntsville and the southeast had good > reception out to 180 miles or more. We all lost the signal after it > parachuted below our radio horizon in eastern Georgia at about 20,000 feet. > > I received reception reports from AL, NC and partial reports from W0RPK in > Iowa and KB9ZWL in WI. I was able to copy some partial reports via the Grand > Junction, Colorado GlobalTuner radio as well. > > I just received a reception report with a complete telemetry frame about 45 > minutes AFTER it landed in east Georgia from Kamal KA6MAL in CA. He copied > the signal at 00:03 UTC and thanks to his report from across the country we > now know that it landed near Carnesville, GA not far from the SC border just > north of I-85. > > Here's the final landing site telemetry frame as received in CA: > > $WB8ELK2,242,00:03:00,3426.16,-08312.74,245,06,8.38,24,000* > > <callsign,sequence#,UTCtime,lat(ddmm.mm),lon(dddmm.mm),altitude(m),satellite s,battery > voltage,internal temperature (C),spare field which will be used on the > WhiteStar flight> > > which translates to a landing spot of: 34 deg 26.16 min 83 deg 12.74 > min > > The altitude of 245m works out to 803 feet...the topo map shows 740 feet > there so looks like it's 60 feet up in a tree. > > It's great fun to fly HF for balloons as the last few HF flights I've > received reports of the landing spot from a thousand miles away or more. > It's also great to include the whole country (and World) in a balloon flight > in this manner. > > I plan more HF balloon flights and the White Star Balloon trans-Atlantic > balloon will be flying soon on 40 meters as well (7.102 MHz USB). > > The flight track for today's flight is still up for viewing at: > http://spacenear.us/tracker > > For those who asked...there was no APRS transmitter on this flight....just > the Multi-Mode HF Transmitter sending out DominoEX16, RTTY, Hellscreiber and > CW and plotting on the Spacenear website. > > 600 gram eBay special balloon....3 foot Spherachutes parachute, Payload > weight of 11 ounces, 20m dipole antenna was 2 ounces.....total flight train > weight: 1 lb 4 oz...balloon nozzle lift of 2 lb 11 oz. > > I also tested my new latex balloon vent valve. It did not include the servo > to open it...I just flew it to see if it leaked during the flight....I > haven't calculated the ascent profile to see if it leaked any but it did > make it to 97,782 feet which is not bad for a $20 eBay surplus 600 gram > balloon. > > 73s de Bill WB8ELK > > http://www.wb8elk.com > > P.S. No paper airplane drop this flight....the Makers Local 256 club are > adding some features to their paper airplane payload so it will fly in > March. >

1 0

SBARC Anacapa Trip Saturday April 23
by Ken Owen 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Hi folks: Please check out the attached flyer regarding our upcoming SBARC trip to Anacapa Island. We had a spectacular time last year. We were treated to a wonderful boat ride, amazing views and Anacapa is a GREAT place to take a radio! This is a fundraiser for the club station, so you will be helping out the club while having a great time. Last year we raised $400, and we hope to repeat that this year! If you would like to join us, please contact Michael Taylor, WA6RQV, at mst56(a)juno.com for detailed information. The cost of the trip is $75. If you would like to sign up, please send a check, made out to Michael Taylor, to P.O. Box 951, Goleta, CA 93116. We will use all this money to pay for the boat and for the club station. I hope to see you on Anacapa! Ken Owen N6KTH

1 0

ATV NEWS and CONSTRUCTION NIGHT, February 28, 2011...
by rod＠sbatv.org 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

Hello SBARC Members and friends of SBARC ATVSIG, There is now an ATV NEWS button on the front page of our website, www.sbarc.org. ATV NEWS will contain frequent updates on what's happening with ATV in Santa Barbara. I hope you check it out daily to see what's going on. Coming soon. Watch for our CONSTRUCTION NIGHT button, which will describe what we'll be doing at the Club Station on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9:30. If you have a project you want us to help you with (anything ham radio-related), we'll round up appropriate elmers for you. This Thursday, I'll introduce you to some of the ATV equipment we use and recommend. Some is for sale now, as long as supplies last. Watch for our ATV SHOPPING LIST, which will be published shortly. This document lists equipment, where you can buy it and prices. Here's a sample of what's in ATV NEWS today. - Rod Fritz, WB9KMO ATV NEWS Last Updated on February 28, 2011 RodneyScottFritzWe hope you'll visit this site every day to see what's happening with ATV in Santa Barbara. Thank you for your interest and participation. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO ATVSIG Committee Chair WATCH THE AMATEUR TELEVISION NETWORK Last Updated on February 28, 2011 atn_247x68With great effort and perseverance, we have finally linked Oat Mountain to Oxnard with a P5 picture and Oxnard to Santa Barbara with a P2 picture. A 5.8 GHz preamp is being built. When installed, we expect a P5 picture. Please have patience as we fine-tune this important addition to our system. This link allows us to watch the Amateur Television Network, interconnecting seven ATV Repeaters in southern California with dozens of active members. The Amateur Television Network provides. . ATN Net - Every Tuesday night at 7:30pm . SBARC ATV Net - Every Tuesday night at 8:30pm . San Bernardino Microwave Meetings - The first Thursday of the month at 7:00pm . Spanish-English Net - Every Saturday at 9:00am, 12:00pm or 4:00pm . Sunday Morning Net - Every Sunday Morning at 9:00am . Live, real-time video contacts between members - Anytime, but primarily evenings and on weekends . A world-class ATN website at www.atn-tv.org . An ATN Calendar of events at http://atn-tv.org/calendar.php The best way to watch is to directly receive the WB9KMO ATV Repeater on 1277.25 MHz. If you don't have an ATV receiver yet, you can view the WB9KMO video stream at www.batc.tv > ATV Repeaters > WB9KMO-ATN or the ATN video stream at www.batc.tv > ATV Repeaters > W6ATN. Several SBARC members generously offered their time and skills to make this happen. Thank you. SBARC ATVSIG ROADMAP - 2011 Last Updated on February 28, 2011 NewRptr 006The roadmap is a list of our projects and priorities. This is what we're working on now. 1. 5.8 GHz Link from Oxnard (Won't it be great to get solid video from L.A.?) - P2 picture achieved, preamp expected to give us P5 2. 2.4 GHz Audio Level Adjustment (This will allow you to hear me and the new Club Station TX) - Adjusted and ready to test 3. Club Station 2.4 GHz Signal Optimization (Ensure a high-quality video signal into the repeater) - Need to install an antenna bracket 4. 2.4 GHz Link to Santiago Peak (Won't it be great to send solid video to L.A.?) - Need to layout components in the outdoor cabinet 5. Activate the SBARC ATVSIG Committee (Increase ATV activity and use ATV regularly in SBARC operations) - Planning to set up a meeting shortly 6. 2.4/5 GHz WiFi (This offers incredible flexibility; you may want to try hitting this from your house.) - Conducting a site survey 7. Computer Installation (This will allow all sorts of exciting new features, including WiFi high-definition pix and video) - Configuring a laptop and a rack-mount PC 8. Camera installation (SB, Goleta and ocean views from the mountain whenever you want) - Replacing cables on two existing cameras 9. Sell a double-wide outdoor rack ($50), a lawn mower ($30) and a weed-whacker ($30) (tidying up a bit to be good citizens) - For sale 10. Other SBARC ATVSIG projects. . LCD TV - Installed at the Club Station . Hardline to Tower - Need to acquire and install . ATV and WiFi in Rover - Need to make a funding proposal . SBARC Video Library - Need volunteers to copy disks and manage the library . Video Recording and Streaming - Need volunteers for cameras and streaming at events . ATVSIG Members List - Need a volunteer to maintain this list 11. Other ATV Repeater projects. . 146 MHz Remote Base (ATV Talkback and SSTV) - Complete priority projects first . 1.2 GHz Remote Base (ATN Talkback and Control) - Complete priority projects first . Link ATV Repeater to AllStarNet or EchoLink - Complete priority projects first . Link ATV to Other Locations - Complete priority projects first What do you want to help with? Let me know at <mailto:wb9kmo@sbarc.org> wb9kmo(a)sbarc.org and let's make this happen. Rod Fritz, WB9KMO

1 0

Streaming video on BATC for the upcoming WB8ELK HF balloon flight this Saturday
by rod＠sbatv.org 25 Feb '11

25 Feb '11

If you're interested in 20-meters or Ham Radio Balloons, check out this email I received from my friend in Alabama, Bill Brown WB8ELK. - Rod From: wb8elk(a)aol.com [mailto:wb8elk@aol.com] Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 2:50 PM To: Undisclosed Recipients. Subject: Streaming video on BATC for the upcoming WB8ELK HF balloon flight this Saturday Forgot to mention: Streaming video for this Saturday afternoon's launch will be on the BATC: www.batc.tv - Click on Member's Streams then select WB8ELK and hit VIEW. Starting around 1 pm CST Sat. Feb. 26th Launch around 1:30 pm CST from the NSSTC building in Huntsville AL (34.73, -86.64) CW, DominoEX16, 110 baud ASCII RTTY and Hellscreiber on 14.102 MHz USB (1700 hz audio center). - Bill WB8ELK

1 0

Technical Elmering Net
by Michael＠NO6O.com 24 Feb '11

24 Feb '11

Come Join the Technical Elmering Net ------------------------------------ Thursday, 7:30pm until 9:30pm On the following repeaters: 146.79 MHz (La Vigia Hill) 223.92 MHz (Santa Cruz Island) 224.08 MHz (La Cumbre Peak) Minus offset, PL 131.8 Hosted by Dave Milton, K6HWN All Amateur Radio-related topics are welcome. Bring your questions, experiences, and/or expertise. ---Michael, NO6O

1 0

Jump to page:

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

SBARC-list