Diary April, 2007
4-29-07; We're buttoning up the next
episode of "This Old Shack" for
Associated Content, which should be available of
on demand viewing this coming week. Right now, I'm
in the middle of an actual serious news story
involving a major university here in the United
States that will probably have a lot of legal
ramifications and get a lot of attention - I have
been planning on going to the shack to shoot the
next exciting episode of "This Old
Shack" on the weekend of May 4th, but it may
have to be put on hold. Just kidding, I'm going
hell or high water; they can call me on my cell
phone.
4-23-07; Sunny and warm. Our second trip
of the season to the cabin went well. The large
bank, which we left at the cabin, was at float
voltage when we got there - the Harbor Freight
panels are still working well after a full year
installed outside. The next project is to remove
the panels, rewire the factory wiring (it's like
they used cheapo
speaker wire on the things) and moving the panels to a
sunnier location. Now that we're moving into
the second phase of the solar powered cabin, a new
addition will be a product review page which
should be up an running in a week or two.
4-17-07; Well, the battery got here as
promised on Monday (4-16-07). With great fanfare
and taping for the next episode of "This Old
Shack" we got the thing, all 90 pounds of it,
in the garage. Opening it on camera I noticed once
I got it out of the box that there was a crack in
the case. Well. Hooking up the meter, the battery
was putting out 1 volt. Dead, broken no good. I
contacted the vendor and they sent out a
replacement on the spot. We probably won't get the
testing in on the next show but it'll be in the
third Associated Content episode.
4-15-07; I'm trying to
get more traffic for "This Old Shack",
that's why the banner at the top of the page is
there. The new battery is scheduled for
delivery on Monday! If you recall, I've always
wondered about purchasing a very high quality (and
expensive) pure deep cycle battery used. That is,
one taken out of service by a telecom, railroad or
other system. Well, I found a company that sells
quality surplus items and ordered a Marathon AGM
90 amp hour 12 volt battery. The thing weighs 90
pounds, so it doesn't lend itself to portability.
Once it gets here, episode 3 of "This Old
Shack" will revolve around testing this thing
out to see what's what.
4-12-07; The new battery
has shipped. Just in time for production on the
next exciting episode of "This Old
Shack", so you'll see it as it arrives, is
unboxed and tested for the very first time.
|