Exponential market growth! Lithium battery technology has made exponential market penetration in the last decade or so. Once an exotic and expensive platform, today nearly every battery-powered device uses lithium. Along with increased market acceptance comes attention, both good and bad. Most of the bad news circulating about lithium batteries… Read more »
The “holy grail” of solar energy? It’s been over six years since Off Grid Ham first covered perovskite solar. For the unfamiliar, perovskite solar is a new type of photovoltaic technology that is based on perovskite-structure crystals. There are several advantages. First, is efficiency. Perovskite solar is far more efficient… Read more »
Wish list. Most off grid hams are off grid only for portable operations. Many of them would like a larger, permanent home system but don’t know where to start or what such a project involves. If having an off grid home solar power system has been a longtime wish, this… Read more »
Graduation time. A lot of if not most off grid hams have only one battery in their system. Connecting a single battery is more or less self-explanatory. What should you do when you expand your system to include multiple batteries? Should they be in series? In parallel? Is one way… Read more »
It cannot be avoided… Batteries are arguably the weakest link in the off grid radio chain. Solar panels, controllers, connecting cables, and almost everything else can last years, even decades. But batteries are a consumable product and no matter how good yours are, it’s almost certain they will not last… Read more »
Let the dead rest. Now several weeks out from being the #1 ham radio news story, the Yaesu FT-818/817 product sunset has faded from attention. Anyone not already on the Yaesu platform will have to seek QRP alternatives. Most hams were surprised, some were disappointed, and some were strangely…glad? One… 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 »
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 »
It’s not magic, it’s science. Few hams who use solar panels know how their panels work, or how they are made. Of course, it’s not necessary to know any of this in order to use them. Still, having a basic knowledge of solar panels makes one a more well rounded,… 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 »