A Bit of Solar and Battery Activity, Restarted.

 Days are getting longer and that means more sunlight to convert into electric activities.

So, after the winter doldrums I restarted battery activities. Weather is too cold for outdoor activities, so indoor it is.

I restarted getting the Gel batteries up and running.

I have a set of 18-20Ah batteries that have been brought up nicely to about 14V with a total of 150mA current draw at 14.2V. Those should provide about 20Ah/240Wh of energy storage, and work nicely with a total panel peak power of about 100W, easily being charged, even on a non-sunny day at this time of the year In the winter season that will be a bit more tricky. For those I have been using a small switch mor´de power supply.

The next battery connected to the solar power system i the lab. The battery of the lab power system has a capacity of about 60Ah max. effectively and running with 2x 100W panels. I am using a current limit of about 500mA, and this should easily run the recharge of the 8Ah (or so) battery, without  heating the battery up too much.

I have one more battery with about 6-8Ah, that one seems to have a decent voltage, so it will have to wait.

The smallest of the batteries (4Ah) is currently running off a linear power supply with about 200mA current limit.

The smaller (4 - 10Ah) batteries are intended to run from small solar panels and charge controllers for smaller projects, such as monitor systems and maybe a small outdoor mounted (in the summer half of the year) small thest transmitter, used for e.g. range tests on the microwave bands, maybe even a very low powered QRSS or WSPR transmitter. Maybe also for some portable  operation, until I get some small LiFePO4 batteries up and running.

Then there are the LiFePO4 batteries:

For the shack solar power system I have been using 2x 12V, 100Ah batteries in parallel, and a charge controller for 20A (MPPT), connected to 2x 130W solar panels. This system could only power the IC705 during the deep of winter, especially Dec/Jan, so it needs improvements.

From the 100Ah LiFePO4 cells I have built a 12V/200AH system, and the intention is adding this to the shack power battery, giving me a total of 400Ah capacity. When full, the charge of this should last several days even with extremely low charging current. For the deep winter months this is still insufficient when longer periods of very low solar powermay only provide maybe 2Ah of charge. So the solar panel system needs to be considerably improved.

The current panel system is simply insufficient, so here is the general idea:

- Mounting a set of panels with 200W on the South facing side of the wall. This should provide maximum power in the deep of winter when the sun is down to a maximum of 12-13 deg above the horizon. This system should use its own charge controller.

- Getting two sets of 300W (total) panels mounted at an angle suitable for summer conditions. Even when there is very limited (or long duration cloudy weather) sunlight this should provide some additional charge, 

However, even with this system I expect to need the use of mains power at the lowest point, to keep the battery charge at a decent level. This can be done when the electricity price is really low.

Some of the LiFePO4 cells can be made into a better battery (effectively 100Ah for the upstairs lab solar power system, so I can retire (or re-purpose) the old Gel batteries.

The LiFePO4 battery, 12V - 50Ah could be added to the lab power system, or be used when going out in the field with the car. As that is an EV, the 12V battery has very limited capacity, so a "real" battery is needed for portable/mobile operation. There is no reason to use the much heavier Pb (Gel) batteries in the field, especially if they need to be carried around - up to a hilltop.

Finally, I still have 16 LiFePO4 cells left.

I am thinking of making myself a 24V - 200Ah (5kWh) battery which can be used with a 230V (pure) sine inverter, and a sufficiently large solar panel/charge controller system. This could likely be used in the summer season (when I drive more than in the winter) to charge the EV, especially when the sun is shining, a´with the battery as a buffer.  This is further into the future, the first priority is getting the shack system improved, and there is a lot of radio/antenna building in the planning this year. In any case, this can be a neat experiment, and if it is not useful for EV charging it can be used for the house, like the entertainment system.

Es on 10m, 6m and 4m.

 The sporadic E season seemed to start a bit slow this year.

OK, I was away for a week around 3. June, so I have probably missed several openings.

Now I am back, and the activity has got going again.

In my 5W challenge I have worked a few dozen QSOs on 10 and 6m. The QSOs worked in the challenge just passed 200, so I am fully on track. On 4m I worked a single station with 25W, and could probably have done more with more activity.

The solar activity has been a bit lower after the quite strong activity we have had in April and May. The SFI just dropped below 100 for a few days, but now it is coming up again. There was one spotless day (the first this year, I think). The geomagnetic field has been rather quiet, as there have been no significant flares or coronal holes to send any substantial solar wind in the direction of Earth.

The solar power for the shack is still insufficient for the use of all the radios I want to make use of in this time when propagation monitoring is quite interesting for the high HF bands and the VHF bands. More battery capacity as well as solar panels need to be connected, and some low power monitor receiving equipment is also needed.

There are now 8  LiFePO4 cells ready to build a battery for the lab I have upstairs. All have been charged and balanced with the small solar power system for the lab, and I still have 20 cells to prepare for more energy storage.

What I need for making a good, solid battery (12V - 200Ah) will be some bus bars (heavy duty copper connections between the cells) Right now I will test the system with a somewhat lower load, and therefore I *can* use some heavy duty wire for the connections, but I will have to locate or make some of the bus bars if I want to use the battery efficiently for powering the main part of the lab. 

When ready the lab solar power system should be able to deliver/store 12V - 200Ah and shared with the 12V system, an added 12V -> 24V for use with soldering iron and computer. I also have a 100W inverter, so it should be possible to power the spectrum analyzer and the TRX test set, plus other 230V test equipment for limited periods. This system should also be used for the charging/balancing of the remaining LiFePO4 cells.

Also, I noticed a substantial amount of switching noise from my primitive switch mode charger for the single cells, so I will have to limit the charging/balancing of the remaining cell to the night time, then get some EMI filtering connected as soon as possible.

Update of "Shack Corner". Mostly Operational Again.

First stage of the "shack corner" update is done. 

I can now slide the desktop plate in and out, so I can get better access to radios and cables behind the radios. The plate itself is 200x60cm, but part of it slides between shelves, so I have about 140x60cm of desktop available.

The shack computer, a Raspberry Pi 4 (8GB RAM) is set up with a 1080p monitor, so I have the log program running again. The log program is, at the moment, storing all (digitally entered) logs, with the exception of the log for QO-100. The log program cannot yet handle that.

There will be more computing there, I want to get some FT8 monitoring up and running again, on different bands. Some more Raspberry Pi's are available for this, and I expect (long term) to be running those remote controlled from the main computer/screen (if the Raspi4/8GB can handle the load).

The QO-100 setup is up and running again, including a manipulator keyer connected to the radio, so I can run SSB/CW on the satellite.

Newly built: Long ago I had made my own memory keyer, capable of being programmed from a straight key. It had several switching arrangements, but it is 40 years old, so I pulled out the electronics of it and just connected a few of the toggle switches. The switch box can now handle 4 radios - one at a time, using 3 toggle switches. In addition, the switch box has 2 inputs in parallel, one for the memory keyer, and one for a straight key. I have a Swedish Key that works very nicely for hand keying.

I got some cables made, and 4 radios are connected:

- IC-7600 connected to the 6m part of my 6/2/70 vertical (V-2000) and my R-6000 for 10/12/15/17/20m.

- IC-7300 connected to my low hanging multi-dipole, runnnig 80/40/20/15/10/6/4m. Not very good on 6 and 4, but a poor antenna is better than none.

- IC-7100 connected to a power amplifier and the 2m Big Wheel antenna.

- IC-703 connected to a 10m vertical.

The HF PA is up on the shelves again, but still needs to be connected - I am still considering which radio to connect ...

Receive antennas and receivers still need to be connected, but it is good to be able to operate again, and to have the soldering iron in use again.

Update (2) Reorganization of Equipment.

Quick update the 19th:

I tested if the desk plate can be fitted in between existing shelves, and it is (just) possible.

The 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 is now connected and in working order, so the logbook program can be started. With the narrow shelf it is possible to do some operation on VHF, HF and the QO-100.

Things in the reorganization now go a bit slower, so other necessary activities can be done.

Quick update the 15th:

This is a lot of work, even with some decent planning.

The shelf arrangement as such is essentially in place, and some radios initially connected to power and antenna. I can listen to some HF, VHF and the QO-100 satellite.

An initial narrow shelf has been placed, so a bit of operation can be done. 

The evening was used for transferring some radio stuff from storage boxes to the shelves, initially just up on the shelves, but for later positioning and connection when more antennas and signal distribution is available. Before the end of this week I need to decide on the next project build. Antenna maintenance, a new 25MHz frequency reference for the QO-100 receiver or ... ?

The satellite system does run, but the receive sensitivity, or at least the system gain seems to be lower than before the reorganization started. This will have to be looked into, but that is for later.  The local 2m multimode radio is fully running, one HF/6m radio is connected to the R6000 antenna and to the 50MHz part of the V-2000 antenna (with a triplexer). The IC-7300 is connected to the multiband dipole, and can run 80/40/20/15/10/6/4m, though not with any impressive signals. 

The full desk top plate (60x200cm) will have to wait until the correct antenna cabling from the radios to the accessible side of the arrangement has been done. Power cables and power supply units need to be arranged, also with respect to the cables.

A bit of HF listening and SSB work can be done on HF/6/4m, and with the vertical V2000 on 2m.

Laters...

Reorganization of the Radio Equipment.

 Finally, I got started with a major reorganization of the equipment.

The radio corner downstairs, where the main operation activity is going on, had been more and more disorganized, and moving some of the heavier stuff, like PAs, for improved ease of operation is needed.

Most of the equipment is now removed from the shelves (the living room is now full of radio stuff everywhere), and the remaining radios will be removed and re-placed on other shelves this week. The build-up will take a while, but I plan to get the most essential equipment moved, so the down time can be minimized.

Because I am doing this on my own, it is more time consuming than with assistance. I do prefer doing most things myself, but heavy lifting (HF PA) will require some assistance (no problem with that).

When the new "shack" is ready, the operation should be a good deal easier.

At the same time, there is some necessary antenna work to be done this (remaining) summer and in the autumn/fall.

When that is (more or less) done, the lab upstairs is due for some tidying.

Desk With Test Equipment.

Finally, I did a bit of tidying in the upstairs shack.
The shack has two desks, one should be dedicated to test equipment, the other should be used for some radio and computer equipment.

I almost cleared the upstairs desk for the test equipment. At least, the desk can now be used for more extensive testing than with the rudimentary set of test equipment at the ground floor radio (shack) desk.
Test equipment available for use at the desk:
- HP DC voltmeter
- HP AC voltmeter
- HP432 bolometer w/10GHz probe
- spectrum analyzer 10 - 1700 MHz w/tracking
- Marconi transceiver tester
- Tektronic 2 channel oscilloscope, 60MHz
- Velleman frequency counter
- modulation meter
- handheld multimeter, V/A/Ohm
- old Trio AF signal generator
- Fluke V/A/ohm, not functional, will need check and repair, if applicable
- Of course, (Velleman) soldering iron w/ power supply and multimeter
- a diode power meter built by a friend. can do 10GHz/max 100mW

There is more to come, e.g. a bit of test equipment/accessories for microwave and other measurements, such as:

- low frequency function generator and mini (cheap Chinese LF) oscilloscope kit

- modified satellite or MMDS down converters for converting microwave signals down to the range of the spectrum analyzer or frequency counter(s)

- VNAs (mini or Nano) for circuit/antenna testing (gain/frequency characteristics, SWR etc)

- directional couplers for 1.3, 2.4 and 10GHz

- Accessory mini frequency counters

- reference frequency generator ( TCXO, OCXO, Rubidium or GPS controlled)

- crystal tester(s)

- and more, to be described later

Receiving OSCAR 100, Stage 2: External Reference.

A few days ago I made the simplest possible modification for external reference of a LNB. The LNB was a Twin type with two independent outputs. It was purchased with a local low cost dealer, and turned out to be a PLL type, suitable for modification. They also have a single PLL LNB, of which I purchased a few, just for experimentation (I said they were cheap).
The 2 port LNB modification is done by sacrificing one of the outputs for use as a reference frequency input. This eliminates some SMD soldering. Here is the process:
1) The crystal was removed after looking with an oscilloscope which side was the reference input for the PLL IC.
2) The port nearest the input was disconnected from the output circuits by cutting the PCB tracks
3) The input of the PLL IC had a connection to ground with a capacitor. PCB track to that one was cut, too.
4) A relatively large (1006) SMD capacitor of 220pF or so was soldered directly from the (now) input terminal to the soldering pad for the crystal. Not very pretty, but it works nicely.

That's it ! (pictures will follow.)

Testing this with a signal generator from a transceiver test set failed miserably. I could not find the signal in SSB mode, so initially I thought I had destroyed the LNB.

Testing the signal generator with a SSB receiver on 25MHZ revealed the problem: The 25MHz signal had audible small frequency variations, sounding like something between a warble and a rumble. Multiplied by about 400 this made the SSB signal extremely hard to find, but with the receiver in wideband FM mode, I found it. The LNB was OK.

Now for building, in the simplest possible way, a 25MHz oscillator stable enough to receive signals. I found in my drawers a canned crystal oscillator marked 25.000 00 MHz, and soldered the circuit, including a 7805 voltage regulator and some decoupling capacitors (ceramic and electrolytic), all mouned in an old (used) die cast box with BNC connector and a feed-through capacitor, used for reference frequency output and supply voltage, respectively.

Everything connected, and voila! Test signal received.

Getting the LNB out to the dish, and - here we go. After settling in for a few hours, the OSCAR 100 beacon was about 15 kHz high on my receiver, corresponding to the 25MHz oscillator being about 40Hz too low, but with a clear tone, if drifting a bit. It settled quite nicely in the evening. What a relief having a more stable reception. Stable SSB signals were readable without re-tuning for longer than 5 minutes.

The result is quite satisfying, and should be quite useable for normal SSB/CW contacts via the satellite.

Opening the window next morning got the reference drifting down 5-10Hz, moving the LNB output signals a few kHz upwards.

I decided that it was foam insulation time. I found a piece with a cut-out almost fitting the die cast box I use. I had to make a small cut-out of a 1cm wall and for the cables (power ans 25MHz out), and a piece of flat foam to make contact. Simply taped them together with - yes, you probably guessed - duct tape. The frequency slowly settling, interesting to see where it ends up. 

The oscillator frequency was slowly drifting upwards, even with the window open, bringing the reference closer to the wanted frequency of 25 000.000kHz.

There seems to be just a bit of heat generated in the box, and I hope it would stabilize.

I will wait a few hours to see how it settles.

The LO seemed to settle around 8 - 9kHz too low on 10GHz.

This morning the offset had increased a bit, to just above 9kHz. Opening the window appears to increase that to about 10kHz. Much better than without the insulation.

I think I will try with some resistive heating inside the box, to see if I can bring the frequency closer to the wanted one. A bit of experimentation is probably necessary.

Very usable, but I will probably try to mount a, say 220ohm, heating resistor to see if I can get closer to the wanted LO.

Could be fun to get within 1 - 2kHz of the wanted frequency most of the time.

Long term I will have to make a better reference frequency generator (probably GPS disciplined or a Rubidium standard), but this will have to do for now.

Time to think about up-link transmit capability. Probably from 432/439MHz, because it is easier to filter out the image frequency. I have some of the stuff, and more is on the way from China.

More Shack Reorganisation

A bit more connected
Low band (160 - 30m) antenna connected to the 7600.
It looks like there is a loose connection in the connector/cable, and the cable is a bit short for proper reach. A repair or replacement of the connector is in order, but not today, as the soldering iron and other tools are not yet back in place.

The cable for the 6m/2m/70cm vertical is now shorter, with less connectors/junctions. As of now a single 25m run of CFD(LMR)400 with N-connector for the radio. This gave a clearly detectable improvement of the signals on 2m and 70cm. The cable was previously routed through an entry in the attic, as I started having the shack up there, and moved it down later. A cable is still routed that way, and can be used for some non-critical antenna, maybe as an antenna for a cross-band repeater (2,m/70cm) not to far from here.

The brilliant 2m tropo conditions of the last few days seems to have evaporated to a degree that I have difficulty working 2m DX, but may return, in different directions, in the week end. That is the prediction, at least.

Rearranging the Shack Corner.

I recently started rearranging the corner of my living room holding my shack.
I needed a bit more space and a more convenient operation space for my transceivers and the new PA.
I have now started reconnecting radios/antennas/power supplies, and will get to the computers running the ham software soon. First things first ;).
Now, this time I am trying to arrange cables more neatly, so things take a little longer. Having enjoyed visitors does not speed up the process, but in any case, I will get there.
Most tricky part is monitors for the computers which take up a lot of the shelf space, vertically and horizontally, because they should also be readable from the operating position.

- and possibly, if the weather allows, a bit of antenna work should be tested as well.