I wasn’t planning a “part 2”. learning from off grid mistakes Last May’s article about off grid mistakes received a surprising amount of attention. Many months later, it’s still a very popular piece. As a follow up, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the issue and… Read more »
Hams are on their own. confined space ham radio For better or worse, amateur radio is a hobby that typically requires a lot of outdoor space. Golfers can tee up on a golf course, and soccer junkies can use public athletic fields, but hams have so such dedicated public facilities…. Read more »
Cold weather changes everything. It’s December, and for most of the USA we are heading into seriously cold weather. Cold has a lot of negative effects on off grid power and amateur radio gear. If you have not properly accounted for cold weather, then your equipment will let you down… Read more »
Revisiting a classic. It’s been three years since I presented an article about the DIY portable DC power pack. It’s still one of the most popular articles here on Off Grid Ham. Almost every radio amateur has some version of this gizmo. Over the winter I had the itch to… Read more »
That day will come. Those who depend on large storage batteries for their off grid needs dread the day they need to be replaced. It’s expensive, time consuming, and potentially dangerous. Common deep cycle flooded storage batteries bought at retailers will last about 2-3 years if used daily and maintained… Read more »
Over on the Off Grid Ham affiliate Google Groups.io forum a reader asked a question about how to properly maintain flooded batteries, also referred to as wet cell batteries. We have addressed this topic before but as a result of recent interest it’s a good time for a flooded batteries refresher course…. Read more »
In a recent article we did a deep dive into assembling a portable off grid radio station that was light and minimalist enough to be carried a fairly long distance by one person, but still had enough functionality to be an effective communications tool. That goal necessarily required using QRP… Read more »
It’s always some variation of “How big of a battery do I need to run my (fill in the blank) radio?” It comes up a lot, not just in my email but also on the various forums and blogs I visit. The question is too open ended and comes with… Read more »
Considered obscure & expensive technology less than a decade ago, lithium batteries are are all grown up now and can be found in pretty much everything. Even the cheap $29.00 off brand handheld radios come standard with lithium batteries. Often forgotten in the mix is absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries…. Read more »
Storage batteries are the “gas tank” of any off grid power system. When the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, batteries make up for the deficit. The only real alternative to storage batteries is a mechanical generator, which of course needs fuel. Since constantly running a generator isn’t… Read more »
There are not too many options for radio amateurs who want portable DC power beyond the batteries in their devices. The Off Grid Ham 100 Watts For $300 Solar Power Plant is one alternative, but that can be too much for the ham who only needs to run a handheld/QRP… Read more »
In Part 1 we started with some conceptual topics, then moved on to the physical hardware that is the cause of inefficiency. In Part 2 we’ll address batteries, then go step by step through a typical system and identify where solar efficiency is compromised. Batteries: The great unknown. Calculating battery… Read more »