Heyho,
Stuff happens! Especially this project getting out of hand. :)
Inspiration struck yesterday. I had some spare time before sunset. Which I used to have a walk across the airfield, looking for a suitable place for the beacon. I knew that there are old, unused (wooden) fenceposts all over the field. The initial idea was to install the antenna pole and solar module on one of those. Outside the used field-area. It's a bit problematic. I need a post which isn't inside the used area. But it must not be too close to the edge of the field. There's a small road around it which is frequently used by people for (dog-) walks because the area around is also some sort of park.
It was a good thing that had a look before sunset. I knew that a small part of the airfeld is used to keep sheeps. But there's two more fields (with fences around) by now. More sheeps. And cattle. That could have ended not nice... me stumbling into cattle in the middle of night. It almost made me abandon the field idea. Most of the area isn't usable anymore and I won't dare to install the setup in the used sections.
I kept walking around and my patience got rewarded. I found the perfect spot. It's a larger group of young and older trees which happens to be fenced itself. I dunno why. Maybe to keep the sheeps from eating the young trees. But this section of the field looks like it isn't used at all. The fenced area doesn't stick to the trees but expands a bit on one side. No idea why. I've to examine that. The trees itself are on the side towards the edge and form a rough half circle. It'll shield my setup perfectly against looks from the road. The other side is open and offers enough space for the antenna. Also, the open side of the half circle faces the south side. Excellent for the PV modules.
So, what's new?
- A friend of mine gave me 3x 100W PV modules (friends can be great, can't they?)
- I'm gonna construct a carrier for 2-3 PV modules.
- The antenna post gets expanded by additional 1,5 meters, with antenna at 5,5m above the ground.
- Got used UPS batteries 6x 4.5Ah with approx 3Ah remaining. That's 18Ah and enough.
- Since I have a PI Zero flying around unused (50mA from 12V) I'm pondering to have the beacon also sending temperature and humidity information. I cooooould go with RTTY instead of CW, but not too sure about it yet.
- Since I have so much PV power at hand (wayyyyy too much during summertime, but still hardly enough for winter) I ponder to have the beacon operate at two power modi. Like, 8W with enough charge and 2W in 'energy saving' mode.
Kind greetings,
Zazzle