Emergency response Scamp Ham Shack

[redbarron55]

You are correct, Ed. They were doing a background check on volunteers before they put them in place.
It seems that the worst is over and they are shutting down some operations as cell and WiFi are getting back in service.
They were looking for hams who could deploy for 7 days with supplies etc and perhaps they have the people that they need now.
I have been intending to get my Scamp set up anyway so it is no problem for me.
As to immediate ability to respond for me I think I need to back out if called as my XYL had surgery to remove a cancerous growth on her lip that involved more cutting than we had assumed and I need to look after her. Emergencies at home first, I guess.
As to the digital modes I am working on getting set up for that and learning the systems.
I have an ICOM IC7000 and I need to get whatever sound card is best for that.
I have looked at the SignalLink USB and the MFJ 1024, but I have no idea what would be best.
I have moved my trolling motor battery (as a coincidence a NAPA 8301 just like already installed in the Scamp) into the space designed for the second battery when I built the trailer interior. Later when I get a round tuit I will switch out to two 6 volt golf cart batteries. The two paralleled 8301s should give a rating of about 200 AH or 100 AH usable.

[ehoepner]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

You are correct, Ed. They were doing a background check on volunteers before they put them in place.
It seems that the worst is over and they are shutting down some operations as cell and WiFi are getting back in service.
They were looking for hams who could deploy for 7 days with supplies etc and perhaps they have the people that they need now.
I have been intending to get my Scamp set up anyway so it is no problem for me.
As to immediate ability to respond for me I think I need to back out if called as my XYL had surgery to remove a cancerous growth on her lip that involved more cutting than we had assumed and I need to look after her. Emergencies at home first, I guess.
As to the digital modes I am working on getting set up for that and learning the systems.
I have an ICOM IC7000 and I need to get whatever sound card is best for that.
I have looked at the SignalLink USB and the MFJ 1024, but I have no idea what would be best.
I have moved my trolling motor battery (as a coincidence a NAPA 8301 just like already installed in the Scamp) into the space designed for the second battery when I built the trailer interior. Later when I get a round tuit I will switch out to two 6 volt golf cart batteries. The two paralleled 8301s should give a rating of about 200 AH or 100 AH usable.

Sorry to hear about your wife's medical issues, Family always should have a higher priority.
We are using the Signalink. In the radio room we have One connected to a Yaesu 897, and one connected to a Kenwood TS 2000. In the com truck we have one connected to an ICOM 706 and one connected to a Kenwood TS 2000. The state has started using Winlink Express so we are having to move from FLdigi to Winklink Express. Our tests with Winklink express were very good, now we need to train everyone in the organization.

[Dan-NS27]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

I have looked at the SignalLink USB and the MFJ 1024, but I have no idea what would be best.

I haven't seen the MFJ unit but I have the SignaLink and really like it. I also have an SCS modem for WL2K and enjoy using that one too. Expensive unit but robust.

[redbarron55]

I think that the interface for the IC706 will work with the IC7000 as well and I assume that you would recommend the SignalLink USB?
I think I c an download Winlink Express along with Winmor and use the SignalLink USB to interface with the IC7000.
Last year I tried the trial copy of Ham Radio Deluxe with the C-IV usb serial cable, but did not have the setup right and found it a little confusing as well.
As an old time ham starting with a Heathkit DX-100 and a Hallicrafter S40 working through a Collins S line I have experience with tubes and wires etc, and Computers as well, but not together.

[Dan-NS27]

I think the interface would work the same. I have 706, and also used it with an IC-718. Same wiring. I do have the USB one.

[Dan-NS27]

This showed up for me in random images.



Interesting setup.
Album: Fiberglass RV - Carlynda's Album: Amatuer Radio - Scamp

[Ed Harris]

I could easily run this from an egg
Just a drive on plate and Penninger Tipper and masts stacked to height.

This is my repeater trailer set up supporting an event

Works great and sets up fast!

[ntsqd]

Seems to me that if you're operating out of a trailer that some of the field guys/gals are going to be looking to you for charge when they're off-shift.



The RoT that I've seen is that you should have matched battery capacity to solar watts. So 300 watts of solar should be connected to 300 aHrs of battery bank. Short of the cost of the battery(ies) and the cost of hauling them around I don't think you can have too much battery for a use like this.

[court50]

Glad you survived Micheal,
Love your setup, my Scamp is strictly for travel, but as a ham also I can see the possibilities.
I know Naverre a bit, spent all together about a month there working on a job at Hurlbert AFB, with some work at Eglin which hear got slammed.
Nice area, ate (and drank)at the Front Porch often.
Court W1CGS

[redbarron55]

Eglin is more or less OK, but Tyndall was almost completely destroyed. 95% of the buildings severed amazed or total loss.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by ntsqd

Seems to me that if you're operating out of a trailer that some of the field guys/gals are going to be looking to you for charge when they're off-shift.



The RoT that I've seen is that you should have matched battery capacity to solar watts. So 300 watts of solar should be connected to 300 aHrs of battery bank. Short of the cost of the battery(ies) and the cost of hauling them around I don't think you can have too much battery for a use like this.

I'm sorry but that's simply sales nonsense.



The correct size of solar is related to usage not battery size. Solar power size has nothing to do with battery amp hour rating.


I can give you a personnel example. I have 74 amp hour battery that will run my trailer for 4 or 5 days depending on furnace usage. A nice small 65 watt solar panel will recharge to batter to full capacity in 4 or 5 hours every 4 or 5 days. I don't recharge daily.



I also have another 74 amp hour battery that I use to run my portable ham station that's 148 amp hours total. I use the same 65 watt panel to recharge my ham radio battery. According to your myth I would need almost 150 watts of solar. That's a big waste.

[redbarron55]

I have the three 100 watt panels and two 105 AH 12 volt batteries for about 100 usable amp hours.
With the demands of the radio and the (electric 12 / 120 volt Norcold 704DE) fans etc I doubt that the expense of having spent a little more on solar panels and batteries will matter as long as the system keeps up with demands during emergencies.
The 300 watts need to better than average operate the radios and domestic equipment and recharge the batteries as well.
Not only that if the weather is bad and there is little sunlight there needs to be reserve for carry through until conditions improve.
As a belt and suspenders kind of guy I also have an inverter generator, but gasoline is a scarce commodity in these things as well.
I hope to be able to operate a power inverter for brief use of the microwave etc. as well.
Loss of power and you might as well not have bothered with the whole thing.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

... I have 74 amp hour battery that will run my trailer for 4 or 5 days depending on furnace usage. A nice small 65 watt solar panel will recharge to batter to full capacity in 4 or 5 hours every 4 or 5 days. I don't recharge daily. ...

How do you know the sun will be shining for 4-5 hours every 4th of 5th day? And since battery life is dictated in part by depth of discharge along with frequency of discharge, why not use the solar every day to limit the depth of discharge? That would also have the side benefit of giving you a greater power reserve if needed for any of many unforeseen reasons. I would hate to be on the end of my 4 or 5 days, with a battery needing to be recharged, and not be able to recharge because the weather did not cooperate or for some other reason.

Now if it is just too much trouble to bring the panels out or you are worried about theft, etc.. then I get that. But outside of those types of objections, I see no downside, and often an advantage, to keeping the battery topped off most of the time.

As for the RoT (rule of thumb).. I'm not sure why you call it nonsense.. the rule is to match solar generating to battery capacity. Your 64 watt panel is very close to your 74 AH battery.. so in fact you follow that rule. If you object to the 300 watts then I say YMMV. If you are happy with 74 AH then good.. If you need 300 then fine. But in either case, the RoT is that once you figure out how much battery capactity you need (based on power draw, available sunlight, etc), then match the solar panels to that number.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by gordon2

How do you know the sun will be shining for 4-5 hours every 4th of 5th day? And since battery life is dictated in part by depth of discharge along with frequency of discharge, why not use the solar every day to limit the depth of discharge? That would also have the side benefit of giving you a greater power reserve if needed for any of many unforeseen reasons. I would hate to be on the end of my 4 or 5 days, with a battery needing to be recharged, and not be able to recharge because the weather did not cooperate or for some other reason.

Now if it is just too much trouble to bring the panels out or you are worried about theft, etc.. then I get that. But outside of those types of objections, I see no downside, and often an advantage, to keeping the battery topped off most of the time.

As for the RoT (rule of thumb).. I'm not sure why you call it nonsense.. the rule is to match solar generating to battery capacity. Your 64 watt panel is very close to your 74 AH battery.. so in fact you follow that rule. If you object to the 300 watts then I say YMMV. If you are happy with 74 AH then good.. If you need 300 then fine. But in either case, the RoT is that once you figure out how much battery capactity you need (based on power draw, available sunlight, etc), then match the solar panels to that number.

I don't but that 3 or 4 day is with a 2 day safety margin. The worst that would happen is would not be able to run the furnace. The lingts(the only other thing that runs on battery) the battery doesn't know they're there at about .02 amps.

There's still the myth of how much solar you need vs battery ah. No correlation. Now it's up to prove the correlation. I expect numbers not just hearsay.

[ntsqd]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I'm sorry but that's simply sales nonsense.



The correct size of solar is related to usage not battery size. Solar power size has nothing to do with battery amp hour rating.

You'll have to agree to disagree. The RoT is designed to offset things like low sun angle (i.e. less than perfect panel to sun alignment) and partially cloudy days. By very definition these are not hard and fast rules, they're guidelines. My own system lacks enough solar watts and it works. Not great, could be better as it would need about 16 hours of good sunlight to top off from a 50% SoC, but that's for the next camper.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by ntsqd

You'll have to agree to disagree. The RoT is designed to offset things like low sun angle (i.e. less than perfect panel to sun alignment) and partially cloudy days. By very definition these are not hard and fast rules, they're guidelines. My own system lacks enough solar watts and it works. Not great, could be better as it would need about 16 hours of good sunlight to top off from a 50% SoC, but that's for the next camper.

Unfortunately there's a lot of people that believe myths. They don't seem to have the knowledge or reasoning to come up with a better answer so somebody appears to be an authoritative figure for them to believe. This is true though much of the world and civilization. Since we live in a free society you're certainly free to believe any thing you would like. I on the other hand am free to use my training and knowledge to believe what I want. Therefore if you wish to disagree with me that's OK.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I'm sorry but that's simply sales nonsense.



The correct size of solar is related to usage not battery size. Solar power size has nothing to do with battery amp hour rating.
.

I have 200AH of battery capacity, which to mean, really means 100AH usable. I would like my solar to be able to recharge that full usage in one sunny day.

I have a 160W system, which probably puts out 80-100W at best over the mid day period of max sunshine, because its flat and not aimed at the sun. 100AH at 12V is 1200 watt*hour. 80 watts for 8 hours is only 640 watts, not actually enough, I'd ideally like a larger system.

now, in reality, 200AH of battery is far more than I have needed so far as I've very careful with my power usage when I'm dry camping for a week or whatever (and it seems like we're rarely in the same place for more than 5 days).

[ntsqd]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Unfortunately there's a lot of people that believe myths. They don't seem to have the knowledge or reasoning to come up with a better answer so somebody appears to be an authoritative figure for them to believe. This is true though much of the world and civilization. Since we live in a free society you're certainly free to believe any thing you would like. I on the other hand am free to use my training and knowledge to believe what I want. Therefore if you wish to disagree with me that's OK.

Since when is a suggested "Rule of Thumb" automatically a myth or based on one? I stated what it was based on and why. No myth behind it at all. I also stated that it wasn't hard and fast, just a general guide, yet you continue to be insulting. You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, and you damned sure don't get to be that authoritative figure that you claim people need.


Done here.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Unfortunately there's a lot of people that believe myths. They don't seem to have the knowledge or reasoning to come up with a better answer so somebody appears to be an authoritative figure for them to believe. ...

On the other hand there will always be someone around will more knowledge and experience and it would be ill-advised to not take advantage of their knowledge and experience. Often they are engineers and have the evidence and data you asked for.

Of course if their experience has little correlation to your own situation then all the knowledge they have will be less helpful.

For example, many people want to watch a little TV or video, charge cell phones, and be warmer than others. On the other hand, you only use about one amp-hour a day and can recharge every 4-6 days in only 2 or three hours. And that is because you forgo these electrical creature comforts and don't like television. I appreciate anyone who can live comfortably off grid (or mostly off grid). Its a lost skill that still has value. But if that is just not the way that someone lives and the way they use their camper, then your minimal system just wont work for them.

But as to the rule of thumb, with your background and experience in electronics you came up with a system that in fact does follow the rule of thumb to match solar generating capacity in watts to battery storage capacity in AHs (64 watts, 74 AH). I'll bet that if your power needs increased (say you needed a CPAP for example), you would still more or less follow this rule of thumb after running your calculations. Still, as was said above, this a guideline - a starting point for designing a system. In the Pacific North-West one might need more solar power than someone in Arizona. So it is not a hard and fast rule and should be adjusted as needed.

[redbarron55]

Personally I didn't buy Solar panels and batteries to skimp on usage in emergency conditions.
When you need it and would pay the couple of extra hundred dollars it will NOT be available at any cost.
Emergency applications can deserve a reserve capability.
Personally I will add more panels if I can find a way to fit them in.
Since these are mounted on the roof for portability and will not be properly aimed there is a loss of efficiency there.
I currently have a cheaper PWM controller and as soon a I have a chance I am going to look for an MPPT and panels in series to gain a little more efficiency there as well.
At the current time I have a single marine deep cycle 105 AH battery but I tried hooking up my twin trolling motor battery for fit and function.
I am planning on changing to two Golf Cart batteries with an added draw out compartment and hatch on the side for easier access for watering etc.
If this is overkill it is better for my application than underkill.