Revisiting an old topic. I don’t do a lot of antenna articles because there is already so much information in circulation I can’t see much ground left to cover, at least that’s what I thought until new Off Grid Ham reader Rick sent a nice email that inspired this article…. Read more »
Mother Nature flips the switch. Where I live in the upper Midwest USA, we were unusually lucky to have an extended warm Fall season. In early November we were still seeing highs over 70F (21C). I was raking leaves wearing shorts and a t-shirt! But ahhh yes, everyone knew the… Read more »
A moment of serendipity. Let’s face it, the internet can be a sewer. Yes, there’s quite a bit of useful information out there, but sometimes trying to find it is like sticking your hand in a toilet full of crap to fish out a hundred dollar bill. DATABASE Well, in… Read more »
After further review…. I’ve trash-talked “solar generators” before. Besides having a dumb marketing department name, solar generators are underpowered for what they cost. Furthermore, the claims made by some sellers of these devices are fantasy if not outright fraudulent. At least that’s how it used to be. Lately, after further… Read more »
A necessary spare tire. Off grid amateurs have a love-hate relationship with gas engine generators. Due to generators requiring constant refueling and ongoing maintenance, they are not a realistic long-term power solution. Most of them are noisy, many are poorly made, and all of them are dirty. Yet, they are… Read more »
Law school, continued. A while back we took a dive into Kirchoff’s Current Law. It’s just one of dozens of scientific principles that explain how and why electronic circuits work. Though one does not need to have deep knowledge of these principles to enjoy amateur radio, having a basic understanding makes… Read more »
We’re not special. Off grid amateurs spend a lot of time focusing on the power source for their equipment. While that’s understandable, we musn’t be distracted from the rest of the amateur radio chain. This time we’re going to look at the other end of the system: portable antennas. To… Read more »
More than just bling. Charging, discharging, watts in, watts out, current, voltage, and other values can tell you what your off grid system is doing. Having data helps you plan your power usage and forecast problems before being caught short. A DC power monitor addresses all these issues and is… Read more »
A very high bar. Prussian-German scientist Gustav Kirchoff (1824-1887) was a pretty impressive guy. His research led to a series of electrical principles collectively referred to as Kirchoff’s Laws. Those of us who endured electrical engineering school or technical college are very familiar with Kirchoff. Yet, he’s not particularly well… Read more »
A moral imperative. On two previous occasions (here and here) this blog published editorials calling for a shortwave radio broadcast “revival” to oppressed foreign countries with censored internet and no free speech protections. Since then, shortwave broadcasts have declined even more. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and other world… Read more »
Battery envy. I recently received a very nice email from Mike in Missouri where he described converting his home off grid system to lithium batteries, at a cost of over $7000.00 USD! My own home system is still on old school flooded batteries because I have not recached a point… Read more »
The frog in the soup pot. I believe the average Off Grid Ham reader has above-average intelligence. They also have a good grasp of what’s going on in the world. While this blog does not often delve into amateur radio politics (and even then we tread lightly), every now and… Read more »