From Keith, W1KES

Last month, we repainted our bonus room, A.K.A. dad’s shack after 17 years. Additionally, we added new furniture and shelves. I have spent the last several weeks organizing and optimizing the space. My shack also serves as my home office, which has received more use this past week than the previous year. With kids out of school until mid-May, I plan to spend many hours working and “hamming” in my recently renovated space.

Before

After

From the Land of Magic! a high tech solar panel load controller, built for son Pete. You can see that the latest components and construction methods are employed.

There’s a differential amp that drives an Ebay PWM speed controller ($11) to load the panels to their max power voltage, regardless of the insolaton* level. A sample of the panel voltage is compared to a Zener reference to generate the control signal to the PWM unit.The load is a 4500W water heater element in a tank in front of his regular water heater. There are three 235W panels with 29.4 V max power voltage.

I had a great talk with a dealer recently. It seems that PV power is now cheaper than heating water directly with wet panels. Cheaper panels and good inverters seem to have made a big difference.

Wilson, W4BOH

insolation* – No that’s not a mispillin’  Insolation‘ is the solar radiation (power/Unit Area) that reaches the earth’s surface, which average high sun is close to 1KW/square meter.

Controller Schematic

Well I’m quite familar snap! with the Victor mouse trap after a recent bout of mice invading the garage and building nice little nests in the heater air intakes of not just one but two cars.. little buggers!

But, Ken AC4RD’s use of said device plus a couple Fender guitar picks and a wine bottle cork brings a whole new meaning to home brew! Always thought those wine bottle corks had another great use.

Thanks, Ken!

[c] [y] photo by Ken AC4RD, OCRA Inc

and want to stay in touch with your ham friends?

Show your friends your latest pride and joy project or any field of interest you would like to share with your ham friends.

How? Send an email to orange.county.radio.amateurs@gmail.com with attached photos, or a link to the photos you wish to share,  a brief description and I’ll post it on the OCRA website.

Face to face OCRA Club, Volunteer Exam Sessions & Board Meetings are cancelled until further notice due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

However, On-the-Air meetings and videoconferencing meetings will be used as an alternative. Stay “tuned” to OCRA-DFMA Joint Email List

Dan, KR4UB