Hi, Great post, it really helped.
My budget is small. But I have been
slowly buying more Radio Shack 6 volt
50 mA solar cells - one every couple
of weeks - that sort of thing.
I have 7 cells now. I'll just keep buying
more here and there until this project
starts to go somewhere.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, MICRO1690/1700
I forgot to mention- thanks Carl for the
info!
Bruce, MICRO1690/1700
I have 8 solar cells now. Each one
50 mA at 6 volts.
Bruce, MICRO1690/1700
I'm not up on solar cell pricing but recently I saw something interesting in a Jameco Electronics email. They have a 30 watt solar cell kit listed at $179. It puts out 6 vdc at 5 amps.
The kit includes the individual cells, each about 4" x 5", a molded enclosure, connecting foil, flux pen and solder. Everything needed to put it together.
The email had a link to instructional videos on YouTube which detail the construction.
Here is a LINK TO THE JAMECO PAGE about the kit.
Here is a LINK TO THE YOUTUBE VIDEO showing how to build the pannel.
Hi! It's Bob - right?
Thank you for the info. I will look at that.
Best Wishes, MICRO1700
A back-burner interest, second to part 15 radio, is the dream of dabbling in home power generation. I have a web page about the subject, but it is so inactive I won't bother to link it.
What has kept me back from starting anything is an uncertainty about what companies to trust for reasonably priced quality products. The reading I've done has contributed to a sense of caution, for example when I read that there were some inefficient solar panels on the market, hard to distinguish from quality panels.
But the panel at Jameco looks like it might be a safe place to begin, as that company has a respected reputation.
Also, I see outdoor small collectors on some public poles with air-raid sirens or street lights, but who makes those?
Some examples of solar powered equipment out there are:
Lighting fixtures in bus stop shelters
Natural gasline monitoring equipment
Roadway vehicle counters
Traffic warning beacon signals
Malibu lighting sets
I've seen these around the area in northern Ohio where the winters are very much overcast most of the time.
Here is A DIY SOLAR INFO company.
"I also believe that Ken, whose Part 15 station is on
a boat, did a remote from a local restaurant. He had
some kind of remote system he used to get from the
restaurant to his Part 15 AM station. However, it
may have been something like a Barix Extremer. (I
sure wouldn't mind having one of those!)"
The TX is on my boat, the studio is in a business park, the "other" remote is a netbook. Everything uses computers (none are new), CLEAR wireless modems and services, the Internet as STL, and LogMeIn for remote control.
I can broadcast from almost anywhere in the U.S. ... but services ain't cheap. I wish I had a Barix too, although the old G3 iBook on the boat has been a good old little soldier, still runs 24/7. Sending the iTunes audio stream to the TX is all it does.
It is so interesting to think of so many ways to distribute signals. There is a question I have about the Barix, and maybe someone knows.
I'm aware there are two devices, a Barix stream sender and a stream receiver, which work over an IP connection.
But can the Barix receiver also be set to receive signal from a computer stream like Shoutcast or Icecast?
Thank you very much for all of your
responses!
Carl, I think the Barix is not compatible
with something like Shoutcast or Icecast,
but somebody else will REALLY know the
answer.
Bruce,
MICRO1690/1700
Hi Bruce,
I'm a new member not to far from you in WH-CT. I've been reading your postings and they intrigue me. I am somewhat of a 2-way radio enthusiast too. I've been thinking of some cheap solutions to your problems.
First let me explore with you some gadgets that will help your visual acuity. What type of vision problem do you have? If you suffer from scotopia, I suggest getting one of those toy night-vision goggles from Walmart or Toys-R-Us called EyeClops (50' range in total darkness). They really allow more ambient light into your eyes from the built-in tv monitor. They cost about $50 or even less at some thrift stores that happen to get some in. You could also experiment with night-vision CCTV and a TV monitor. They are available (cheap) at Harbor Freight (HF) in Berlin CT. If your vision problems are something else give me a chance to explore some other options.
Regarding your solar cell situation: Go to HF in Berlin and check out their line of inexpensive complete solar cell systems. They have some that will supply you all the power you need in one sturdy portable unit. No more paying Radio Shacks expensive prices.
Now you need a reliable remote audio-link from one fixed spot to another? May I suggest free-space laser link? You can make one yourself from junk parts in your garage. All you need is a small solar cell (any size will do) soldered into a audio amplifier or directly linked to your transmitter's mic input. Put it inside a black can to keep out ambient sunlight.
Next you need a .99 cent toy laser from the dollar store (the more the merrier if you blow them out routinely). You need a audio isolation transformer (xmfr) from Radio Shack (under $5). You wire the laser's power supply in series with one side of the xmfr. Then you solder in an another audio amplifier (or your amplified sound source) to the other side of the xmfr. Apply power to the laser via alligator clips and aim the laser at the solar cell across a huge parking lot.
You will hear a crystal clear signal out of the solar cell as it has high audio bandwidth. The range at night can be up to a 1/4 mile or more if you aim it properly. Of course fog, rain, snow, and other random obstacles can block the laser signal. The range during the day is problematic due to the sun, but not totally impossible. Try using a bicycle reflector on the solar cell black-can as a long range aiming device. Also if you put the laser on a telescope or binocular eyepiece it may increase your range.
Definitely a two man job on aiming such a narrow beam. A better wide beam solution is using a multi-LED flashlight or work-lamp (Walmart and Ocean State Job Lot) the same way and using a Fresnel lens (senior citizen clear plastic reader page?). The focal point is about 12" so using a blacked-out cardboard box can help. The solar cell still remains the light receiver but putting a Fresnel lens in a black-cardboard box in front of it too will help. The range with this scenario becomes ASTRONOMICAL even during the day. And obstacles are not that critical. The light will be a pale blue versus the red laser pointer.
I've been following these optical experts on the Internet dabble with this LED idea and they have achieved ranges up to HUNDREDS of miles between mountain peaks. Here's their website ( http://www.modulatedlight.org/optical_comms/optical_index.html ).
Feel free to ask me questions about high-tech stuff. I like making my brain work harder as it is so lazy these days (LOL)
Spooky
BTW - I just purchased a pair of those 900Mhz Spread Spectrum handie-talkies due to your posting about them. I had no idea they even existed. Probably due to a lazy brain again (LOL).
"Definitely a two man job on aiming such a narrow beam. A better wide beam solution is using a multi-LED flashlight or work-lamp"
A wide beam means less concentrated light in turn means less light intensity as it travels away from the source..all the while continuing to go wider the further away the beam travels, thus making the beam weaker and more prone to airborne elements such as dust/dirt, fog, rain, snow, smoke, pollution etc.
Fresnel lens or no..light, just like a radio wave, weakens the further the distance it must travel. And just like a radio wave emitting from an antenna, the beam not only gets weaker, but disperses away from where you want it to be.
Ask microwave dish installers and how long it takes to align a signal coming off 7 foot dishes where the beam itself is 7 feet wide from the transmitting antenna at an ERP of around a megawatt or so, and how weak that signal is by the time it reaches 20 miles and how difficult it is to get that aligned.
Yes definitely a two person job, and if done right the light link works really well. Just keep an eye on the weather reports and hopefully someone doesn't plant a tree or throw up a building in the path!
RFB
Good post RFB! What you're talking about is the "inverse-square law". So any way you shake it "diverging" a coherent beam of light like a laser pointer would be pointless (pun intended) 😉
What I was referring to is something like this 42-LED flashlight from Sears ( http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03412336000P?mv=rr ). Walmart has a 12v foldable high intensity LED work light too. You can buy the individual high-power LED's from Radio Shack too. How it would be hooked up is positioning it 12" back from a Fresnel lens in a blacked-out cardboard or wooden box. It then resembles a searchlight of sorts. It is not a coherent beam of light but is collimated a bit allowing more light to be placed on the distant target than normal.
Of course the inverse-square law still applies here. But by putting a similar Fresnel lens configuration on the receiving solar-cell you would be optimizing the free-space optical (FSO) visible light link. Here is a YouTube of some guys who achieved a 111 km (69 mile) LED FSO visible light link (
). They only used Fresnel lens from stationary or book store - no telescopes in the beam. The audio is not so good as it's almost 70 miles away! Like from Bruce's house in West Hartford CT to Bridgeport CT! They are also using weaker RED light and not the more powerful bright blue LED's.
* More Youtube examples
Now I don't know how far Bruce want's to propagate his audio link but if he just wants to shoot it up to Talcott Mtn from his backyard it should not be impossible or even that hard. He's probably not that far from the mountain and this LED light link would not have a very narrow beam-width like a laser pointer would making aiming much easier and less problematic.
I think with help from his son he could set his FM broadcast transmitter up in a clearing on the mountain up in a tree with the power-supply solar cell pointing south for constant sunlight. Of course it would need a small 12 volt gell-cell battery to operate at night (after 4:30 PM right now). The solar-cell audio-link receiver requires no external power as Bruce would be shining the audio-link LED transmitter up from his house on his house's power. The audio from the solar-cell receiver needs no amplification other then the microphone circuit in his FM broadcaster. The solar-cell produces its own audio voltage from the remote LED transmitter shining on it.
I like the 900 mHz audio link but those transmitters will only give him about a 300-500 foot range. The 900 mHz spread spectrum walkie-talkies will only give him about 1/4 to 1 mile range with poor audio bandwidth (i.e. hissy). I've seen the new 5.8 gHz video/audio transceivers available from Hong Kong but they are under $100 bucks and only give about 500-1,000 foot range (variable). This FSO light link could give him several MILES range L.O.S. (line of sight). And no license is required. The audio bandwidth is huge. He could even send video over the LED's and solar-cell with the right video amplifier equipment.
Using IR (infrared) light helps combat bad weather like rain and fog. However, it is invisible to human eyes making aiming a problem. Blue (or blue/green) light is very good for water-based precipitation too. Most LED flashlights are near blue in color.
Spooky
*
*
P.S. - On 2nd thought I have to say that the Inverse-Square Law may not impact coherent (laser) and collimated - or almost parallel - (Fresnel Lens) light as much as ambient light. The principle is the same as both will diverge over several thousands of feet to miles, however not by the same equation attached to the I.S. Law which says the signal strength is reduced the distance squared. This equation is NOT true for lasers and Fresnel Lens. That's why you get so much more range with them than ordinary ambient (omnidirectional) light or radio waves.
Wow. I was surprised to see this thread come up
again.
You guys have some WONDERFUL ideas.
Right now it would be hard for me to try some
of this stuff because of health problems in my
family.
HOWEVER, there will always be some time in the
future.
Spooky, since we live so close together, we'll have
to figure out some way to talk. Right now I'm very
busy, but things should calm down eventually.
I will probably have some other comments after I
can sit down and really think about this stuff.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2