senior ham club goes solar - willamette viewsteve ford, wb8imy, [email protected] senior ham club...
TRANSCRIPT
Reprinted with permission from February 2017 QST ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio® www.arrl.org
Up FrontSteve Ford, WB8IMY, [email protected]
Senior Ham Club Goes Solar Dale Harris, [email protected]
When the predicted earthquake finally strikes the Pacific Northwest, the Willamette View Ham Club will be ready. We’ve just completed the installation of a solar charg-ing system to keep batteries charged when no ac current is available.
Willamette View is a continuing care retirement community located just south of Portland, Oregon. The community has about 450 members, and the ham club consists of 12 members. Our group has a dedicated station room at the facility with two 2-meter rigs and three HF transceivers. Our antennas are located on the roof of the eight-story Manor building.
The community has an emergency diesel generator, but we anticipate that a major disaster could cause a shortage of fuel. That prompted us to consider a solar alter-native.
Three 100 W panels have been installed on the roof, each with a different orienta-tion (east, south, and west). Number-eight wire runs in metal conduit from the pan-els and terminates in a large cutoff switch and a 20 A circuit breaker. The breaker box also features an LED digital voltmeter displaying input voltage.
At the station, the power buss runs in metal conduit around the perimeter of the room, with junction boxes under each of three benches. Each radio is powered by a heavy-duty battery (ob-tained surplus by a local ham). Five charge controllers are hooked up to the batteries. Three batteries power radios, while the other two serve as charging stations. Each battery is also equipped with a digital voltmeter to indicate charge status. A 500 W power inverter is also available.
The project was financed jointly by the ham club and the Willamette View administration. The conduit and heavy wiring was done by a licensed electri-cian, and the station wiring was done by Steve Jensen, KE7GXC, a member of a nearby ham club. Steve also served as the technical adviser for the project.
Photos by Dale Harris, KF7GNL, Carla Harris, and Willamette View staff.
The Manor building with the antennas on the roof.
Three 100 W solar panels oriented east, south, and west.Installing charge controllers and other hardware in the Willamette View station. From left to right: Dale Harris, KF7GNL; Steve Jensen, KE7GXC, and Ted Seble, W7EEI.
Willamette View amateurs gather on Field Day. From left to right: Hugh Haven, KF6AOK; Dale Harris, KF7GNL; Donna Krasnow, KG7GNS; Louise Evans, KE7LSF (SK); Arch Doty, W7ACD; Dave Shearer, KE7PPV; Jack Mills, KE7ZUK, and Ernie Zum Brunnen, W9UOM.