Chewiegranola said...
Hey ZA! That looks like a cool set up. You wouldnt have a parts list for this contraption would you? Thanks!
Howdy CG
Parts list for Power Supply Box:
One 8 AA battery holder.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062251
One 4 AA Battery Holder
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062239
2 Heavy Duty 9V Battery Connectors (works for the above battery holders)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062218
Project Enclosure Box
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062285
12 V DC Power Outlet
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062272&numProdsPerPage=60&retainProdsInSession=1
12V DC Power Plug
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062263
12, 1.2V NiMh Batteries to give you 14.4 V DC (shop around for the best deals)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2437557
1 Wire Nut or other wire connector.
I was able to use the wire that was with the above equipment to make it as shown. You will need a diode as well to prevent the batteries from discharging at night. My folding panel has one so I didn’t install one.
Here is the 12 watt folding solar panel:
http://www.21st-century-goods.com/page/21st/PROD/GSE12
Let me know if you need instructions on how to hook it all up.
BTW great Blog!
Later,
Zombie Axe
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Ramblings on six eggs a day!
Howdy Folks,
All my hens are a laying now. I have been getting 6 eggs a day for the last 3 days so does not look like I have any lazy ladies in the bunker!
6 eggs a day!!! That is 6 eggs I do not have to buy or worry about 'what has been DONE to them'!
Produce your own food! It is definately something that will get you through!
Thanks for reading!
Later,
ZA
All my hens are a laying now. I have been getting 6 eggs a day for the last 3 days so does not look like I have any lazy ladies in the bunker!
6 eggs a day!!! That is 6 eggs I do not have to buy or worry about 'what has been DONE to them'!
Produce your own food! It is definately something that will get you through!
Thanks for reading!
Later,
ZA
Monday, July 20, 2009
Ramblings on why you test out your gear before you have to depend on it...
Howdy Folks,
This is not a review of that nifty little solar panel I received as a "ATTA BOY" from work but rather what I found out when testing it and the solutions I came up with.
I have always wanted a folding solar panel and when that was one of my choices for 'wowing" them at work, I knew that was what I was gonna pick.
My Primary use was going to be used to charge my iPhone and ham radio HT on backpacking trips into the wild. So needless to say when I got the package in the mail I was excited.
When I finally got around to testing it, I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in my iPhone and heard that cool sounding 'chirp'. I even got ONE pic of it actually charging.
Then a strange thing happened. I got an error message on the iPhone the next time I plugged it in, saying, "This accessory is not compatible with the iPhone".
I checked the voltage with my handy dandy voltage meter and it read 15V DC. A little HOT but should be able to charge the iPhone.
As a precaution I hooked up my charge controller and dropped the voltage to 13V DC.
I noticed that sometimes the panel would allow the iPhone to charge and other times it wouldn't (as a cloud was passing in front of the sun).
It then dawned on me that although the meter was reading the same VOLTAGE, it was not providing the same AMPERAGE!
Thus the iPhone was wondering, "What kind of crappy power is this???" and refused to continue to allow its use.
I needed someway to stabilize the voltage, and who really want to leave their iPhone in camp as the go hiking away in the wild???
The easiest way was to construct a simple battery pack. So after a trip to the local Radio Shack (their motto should read, "You got questions??? So do WE!!!"). I finally found enough 'parts' to come up with a working prototype (still need an on/off switch).
As a side note, is it not funny how you can go into a Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or Radio Shack and they NEVER have exactly what you need and you have to figure out a little different way to do the same thing with other items???
Well that is what happened at Radio Shack. I wanted to use NiMh D cells but they did not have 12, so I had to go with AA's.
I purchased an 8 cell battery stick/magazine as well as a 4 cell battery stick/magazine for AA's. In series, the 12 AA batteries give me 14.4V DC. Add a 12V lighter socket,plug and project box and you have yourself a nice little power source that will power almost any 12V DC gizmo for a time (think cellphones, DVD players, ham radio walkie talkies, etc.)
After I put it all together I now have a power supply that will store that solar energy that my panel harvests and be able to use it when I need it. I can even use it for other purposes for when I need a small 12V DC power source.
The point of this whole blog entry tonight is that had I assumed that my nifty little solar panel would charge my iPhone in the remote wilderness and found out that it performed as I just told you, I could have been in a world of hurt.
Remember... If you don't test it, you don't know it will work and thus should not count on it until it lives up to your expectations! Test... Test and ReTest.
No one should EVER find themselves with their tail on the line with a piece of unproven gear that has failed!!!
*EDITED TO ADD ON 7-21-2009* Al asked me a technical question about including a blocking diode (to prevent the battery from being drained at night if left hooked to the solar panel) which I probably should have mentioned that the solar panel has a 'built in blocking diode' that prevents this. Great question and no, I did not include one as the panel takes care of this for me. Still it will not hurt to add one in the future. SO MAKE SURE that your panel has a built in blocking diode to prevent that energy from leaving your battery if you leave it plugged in overnight!!!
Thanks for reading!
Later,
ZA
This is not a review of that nifty little solar panel I received as a "ATTA BOY" from work but rather what I found out when testing it and the solutions I came up with.
I have always wanted a folding solar panel and when that was one of my choices for 'wowing" them at work, I knew that was what I was gonna pick.
My Primary use was going to be used to charge my iPhone and ham radio HT on backpacking trips into the wild. So needless to say when I got the package in the mail I was excited.
When I finally got around to testing it, I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in my iPhone and heard that cool sounding 'chirp'. I even got ONE pic of it actually charging.
Then a strange thing happened. I got an error message on the iPhone the next time I plugged it in, saying, "This accessory is not compatible with the iPhone".
I checked the voltage with my handy dandy voltage meter and it read 15V DC. A little HOT but should be able to charge the iPhone.
As a precaution I hooked up my charge controller and dropped the voltage to 13V DC.
I noticed that sometimes the panel would allow the iPhone to charge and other times it wouldn't (as a cloud was passing in front of the sun).
It then dawned on me that although the meter was reading the same VOLTAGE, it was not providing the same AMPERAGE!
Thus the iPhone was wondering, "What kind of crappy power is this???" and refused to continue to allow its use.
I needed someway to stabilize the voltage, and who really want to leave their iPhone in camp as the go hiking away in the wild???
The easiest way was to construct a simple battery pack. So after a trip to the local Radio Shack (their motto should read, "You got questions??? So do WE!!!"). I finally found enough 'parts' to come up with a working prototype (still need an on/off switch).
As a side note, is it not funny how you can go into a Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or Radio Shack and they NEVER have exactly what you need and you have to figure out a little different way to do the same thing with other items???
Well that is what happened at Radio Shack. I wanted to use NiMh D cells but they did not have 12, so I had to go with AA's.
I purchased an 8 cell battery stick/magazine as well as a 4 cell battery stick/magazine for AA's. In series, the 12 AA batteries give me 14.4V DC. Add a 12V lighter socket,plug and project box and you have yourself a nice little power source that will power almost any 12V DC gizmo for a time (think cellphones, DVD players, ham radio walkie talkies, etc.)
After I put it all together I now have a power supply that will store that solar energy that my panel harvests and be able to use it when I need it. I can even use it for other purposes for when I need a small 12V DC power source.
The point of this whole blog entry tonight is that had I assumed that my nifty little solar panel would charge my iPhone in the remote wilderness and found out that it performed as I just told you, I could have been in a world of hurt.
Remember... If you don't test it, you don't know it will work and thus should not count on it until it lives up to your expectations! Test... Test and ReTest.
No one should EVER find themselves with their tail on the line with a piece of unproven gear that has failed!!!
*EDITED TO ADD ON 7-21-2009* Al asked me a technical question about including a blocking diode (to prevent the battery from being drained at night if left hooked to the solar panel) which I probably should have mentioned that the solar panel has a 'built in blocking diode' that prevents this. Great question and no, I did not include one as the panel takes care of this for me. Still it will not hurt to add one in the future. SO MAKE SURE that your panel has a built in blocking diode to prevent that energy from leaving your battery if you leave it plugged in overnight!!!
Thanks for reading!
Later,
ZA
Friday, July 17, 2009
Ramblings... Chicken Update!
Howdy Folks,
I have been extremely busy but have been working on my preps and other things.
I also wanted to publically thank Jack Spirko of "The Survival Podcast" for reading my 'Green Rant' on Episode 237 on his podcast. If you don't listen, then you should! If you do listen consider joining the members support brigade as it is worth it with lots of extras for members.
The chickens are laying 5 eggs almost every day so far, but I am wondering if I should be getting six or maybe all six are laying with one taking a break... Dunno but I am happy for the 5 a day I ususally get.
I plan on getting 6 more and possibly a rooster in the spring to ramp up production.
5 eggs works for now, but if I am going to feed my family and dogs, it will not provide for our needs if we need to provide MORE of our own food!
For those of you who 'Twitter' I am ZombieAxe and for those who use AOL AIM I am ZombieAxe there as well...
This weekend I hope to have up that solar panel test that I have been working on. I had it ready to go, but it did not work out as planned during testing so I had to build a battery pack to stabilize the voltage to charge an iPhone as it would not do it directly.
As for the iPhone, I am now able to do more online and even access Blogger whereas I couldn't with my BlackJack II. Gotta love that puppy :)
Hope you have a great evening and a great weekend!
This is Radio Free Zombie Axe sigining off... for now!
I have been extremely busy but have been working on my preps and other things.
I also wanted to publically thank Jack Spirko of "The Survival Podcast" for reading my 'Green Rant' on Episode 237 on his podcast. If you don't listen, then you should! If you do listen consider joining the members support brigade as it is worth it with lots of extras for members.
The chickens are laying 5 eggs almost every day so far, but I am wondering if I should be getting six or maybe all six are laying with one taking a break... Dunno but I am happy for the 5 a day I ususally get.
I plan on getting 6 more and possibly a rooster in the spring to ramp up production.
5 eggs works for now, but if I am going to feed my family and dogs, it will not provide for our needs if we need to provide MORE of our own food!
For those of you who 'Twitter' I am ZombieAxe and for those who use AOL AIM I am ZombieAxe there as well...
This weekend I hope to have up that solar panel test that I have been working on. I had it ready to go, but it did not work out as planned during testing so I had to build a battery pack to stabilize the voltage to charge an iPhone as it would not do it directly.
As for the iPhone, I am now able to do more online and even access Blogger whereas I couldn't with my BlackJack II. Gotta love that puppy :)
Hope you have a great evening and a great weekend!
This is Radio Free Zombie Axe sigining off... for now!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Ramblings on being 'GREEN'...
First of all I am just not buying the whole "Man is causing climate change" debate. I do believe that the Earth warms and cools through NATURAL cycles that have nothing to do with if man drives an SUV or not.
I do believe in the conservation of resources and to be wasteful is counterproductive, however I do not feel that ANYONE should force their beliefs on ANYONE else. Pollution of our water and air IS a bad thing, but not every time a cow farts in Argentina or a deer takes a whiz in a stream is that bad.
There are a ton of environmentalists/green movements that would love to go back to living like a bunch of vegetarians in the Stone Age... and they want YOU to do the same... You know the old adage, "Misery Loves Company" ???
I am FOR alternative energy, lessening our dependence on other nations' resources, but also for USING what we have. You really think the Chinese, if given the chance, would really give a crap about pumping crude just off of our shores. I still want my gas guzzler truck for big chores but I also want my compact car for commuting to work. I want an electric car that goes 120 miles between charges that has a reasonable price to change out the battery packs, but I don't want that to be my only choice! Why, because I want to save the sea urchins or New York from flooding??? NO because I want to save MY MONEY!!!
I am also for those ugly little compact fluorescent bulbs as they save a BUNCH of POWER but I prefer incandescent for certain lighting. I also like turning off lights when not in use, but not because it saves the polar bears (as Jack Spirko often says), but because I want to save on my power bill!
I want to install solar panels on my home, maybe a windmill too... but I don't want to sell it to the power company, I want to use it ALL for myself!!!
I conserve water not because I am trying to save the salamanders, but because I am on a well. If I use too much water during a drought, I have to pay to dig a NEW well ($3-5K in my area) so I don't waste water! I don't waste my water on keeping a green lawn, but I do water my garden to provide my family with food that is not imported from 3,000 miles away.
I recycle aluminum cans not because it makes me feel good, but because the guy at the scrap yard pays me by the pound. Someone is making some money off recycling why not YOU???
Does it make me an environmentalist or not that I chose to save money instead of supposedly saving the humpback whales?
You feel good saving the California Condor, I feel good saving money by making my own natural pesticides... Are you superior to me or not?
I chose to do these things because they make sense to me in an economic sense... If they really do save the spotted owl then great, but like Jerry Maguire says, "Show me the money!"
I really think if the environmental folks spoke of the great benefits to ones wallet instead of forcing everyone to comply with what they claim 'Mother Earth' told them to say, more people would be green...
For the record, ZA is green, green with saved money!
Thanks for reading!
later,
ZA
I do believe in the conservation of resources and to be wasteful is counterproductive, however I do not feel that ANYONE should force their beliefs on ANYONE else. Pollution of our water and air IS a bad thing, but not every time a cow farts in Argentina or a deer takes a whiz in a stream is that bad.
There are a ton of environmentalists/green movements that would love to go back to living like a bunch of vegetarians in the Stone Age... and they want YOU to do the same... You know the old adage, "Misery Loves Company" ???
I am FOR alternative energy, lessening our dependence on other nations' resources, but also for USING what we have. You really think the Chinese, if given the chance, would really give a crap about pumping crude just off of our shores. I still want my gas guzzler truck for big chores but I also want my compact car for commuting to work. I want an electric car that goes 120 miles between charges that has a reasonable price to change out the battery packs, but I don't want that to be my only choice! Why, because I want to save the sea urchins or New York from flooding??? NO because I want to save MY MONEY!!!
I am also for those ugly little compact fluorescent bulbs as they save a BUNCH of POWER but I prefer incandescent for certain lighting. I also like turning off lights when not in use, but not because it saves the polar bears (as Jack Spirko often says), but because I want to save on my power bill!
I want to install solar panels on my home, maybe a windmill too... but I don't want to sell it to the power company, I want to use it ALL for myself!!!
I conserve water not because I am trying to save the salamanders, but because I am on a well. If I use too much water during a drought, I have to pay to dig a NEW well ($3-5K in my area) so I don't waste water! I don't waste my water on keeping a green lawn, but I do water my garden to provide my family with food that is not imported from 3,000 miles away.
I recycle aluminum cans not because it makes me feel good, but because the guy at the scrap yard pays me by the pound. Someone is making some money off recycling why not YOU???
Does it make me an environmentalist or not that I chose to save money instead of supposedly saving the humpback whales?
You feel good saving the California Condor, I feel good saving money by making my own natural pesticides... Are you superior to me or not?
I chose to do these things because they make sense to me in an economic sense... If they really do save the spotted owl then great, but like Jerry Maguire says, "Show me the money!"
I really think if the environmental folks spoke of the great benefits to ones wallet instead of forcing everyone to comply with what they claim 'Mother Earth' told them to say, more people would be green...
For the record, ZA is green, green with saved money!
Thanks for reading!
later,
ZA
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