[aprssig] Backup Remote Power cord ops

Thu Dec 2 15:42:34 EST 2021

Once the safety enforcers get over the bare wire look they might have fun
with the fact that if the insulation is even rated at all it is only rated
for 30volts.....

On Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 3:55 PM Stephen H Smith via aprssig <
aprssig at lists.tapr.org> wrote:

> On 12/1/2021 4:59 PM, Robert Bruninga wrote:
>
> When preparing for winter APRS (and other) backup power I found it
> possible to fit up to 175' of power cord on the  Home Depot power cord
> reel.
>
> Just pull off the 20' of #14 power cord  and rewind with up to 175' of #18
> Zip cord..  Rated at 10 Amps the reel can still carry plenty of power the
> distance if precautions are followed and it can still fit under the car
> seat if
> needed.
>
> I did this about a decade ago!   Used a generic orange cord reel from
> Harbor Freight that had 30 feet of 16-3 cord on it.  Took it apart, removed
> the cable, and replaced it with 200 feet of Monoprice premium "oxygen-free"
> (an affectation in the audiophile community) speaker cable.  This stuff is
> two-conductor 14-2 zip cord in a clear PVC jacket. One conductor is
> stranded natural copper color; the other is silver (tinned copper) (so you
> can tell the polarity for stereo speaker hook ups.  If you are really
> serious about polarizing 2-conductor AC cords, the two colors are a lot
> easier to see than the almost invisible ridges on one side of AC zip cord.
>
>
> At swap meets, Field Day, etc, the safety-enforcers always freak out when
> they think they are seeing bare wires on the ground!
>
> ___________________________________________
>
> *** COOL NEW GADGET! ***
>
> For power in the field, I just took the plunge and invested in a Jackery
> "portable power station".,   This is a 25-lb 10x10x12 inch box with a 1
> kilowatt-hour lithium battery inside. The battery is surrounded by TWO
> DC-DC converters and ONE DC-AC inverter:  One outputs 5 VDC to two USB-A
> jacks and two USB-C jacks.   One outputs to a 10 AMP 12 VDC car lighter
> jack,  The inverter outputs 110 VAC pure sinewave to  THREE 110 VAC
> three-prong AC outlets.  The AC inverter can output up to 1 KILOWATT!
> I've tried it - it really can power a 3/4-horse table saw or a small
> microwave oven, a coffee maker, or my 800-watt electric weed whacker..
>
> On the input end, it has charging jacks for a normal 12-VDC car power jack
> (a.k.a "cigarette lighte jacr"). It CAN ACCEPT 10 TO 30 volts input, so the
> power station can be charged on large trucks or military vehicles with 28
> VDC systems.  It can also be connected to  a provided 250-watt  100-250
> VAC-input power brick.    Finally, it has a built-in solar charge
> controller that can be connected to "bare" solar panels - no external
> charge controller needed.    The device comes with a Y-shaped cable with an
> mystery junction box in the center that allows you to connect two similar
> 12-18 volt solar panels in parallel to the single port.
>
> The front panel has a nice LCD display that shows:
>
>    A bar-graph battery level "gas gauge"
>
>    The number of watts coming in from all charge sources
>
>    The number of watts going out to loads on all ports.
>
> I have used this device several times now at ham events including swap
> meets, and a presentation on APRS that I gave to the Traverse City,
> Michigan ham club last week.  I call the Jackery my "cordless extension
> cord".  Sure beats chasing around unfamiliar venues looking for AC outlets
> and stringing vast lengths of extension cords!
>
> Now that the winter season has arrived, the swap meets around here
> (Michigan) are all indoors at auditoriums, union halls, high school gyms,
> etc. There is always a mad scramble at these events for sellers' spaces
> near the wall,  to get access to the scarce AC outlets.  Now, with the
> Jackery, I can take any table in the middle of the room, and  plunk the
> power station down under the table.    I then plug in everything  AC or DC
> into the one power supply:  Phone and tablet chargers, 12 VDC transceivers,
> AC supplies for 100-watt class HF transceivers, laptops, desktop PCs,
> computer monitors, my drone charger, and even my Acer 1080-HD video
> projector.   The Jackery has had no problems powering all this stuff for
> the typical 5 hours of the average swap meet.
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Stephen H. Smith    wa8lmf (at) aol.com
> Skype:        WA8LMF
> EchoLink:  Node #  14400  [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
> Home Page:          http://wa8lmf.net
>
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> <http://wa8lmf.net//FLdigiAPRS/index.htm>
>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
>
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