shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 17, 2020 17:34:31 GMT 10
The score from the Practical Preppers is understandably low. They do not give David high marks on any of the categories and less surprisingly David is not moved by this. linkyHis scores Food 6 Water 8 Shelter 11 Security 8 X-factor 12
Possible numbers? Stored Food - 1 some packets of chips? Resupply Food - 5 points - He has extensive knowledge on edible and hunting foods. Food preservation - 0 Stored Water - 5 points - its all around him Water resupply - 3 points - rains a lot, streams Water purification - 0
Shelter Location - 4 points Shelter type - 0 points Shelter - Power generation - 0 points Shelter - Heating/cooling - 3 points - doesn't need either all year Shelter - Cooking - 1 points Shelter - Bug out location - 3 points
Security Training/experience - 5 points - apparantly was 6 years in Alaskan airborne rangers and international rescue [might be bull]. Security arms - 3 points - hunts, so probably weapons/ammo Security enhancements - 0 points Security - network/group - 0 points
Xfactor Medical - 1 point, probably some knowledge in natural medical cures as he has extensive knowledge of plants Xfactor Communication - 0 points Xfactor bug out vehicles - 3 points - paddles Xfactor barter - 4 points - skills in which he could keep people alive. Xfactor - 4 points - he's been living off grid for years already. Doesn't need anything or anyone to survive, the proof is that it's already his life.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 17, 2020 13:42:16 GMT 10
Southernprepper1 and Engineer774 [youtube] were the evaluators for the show doomsday preppers. I like to look over the recommendations from time to time to see where I am and help hone in on weaknesses. The video is here and I thought I'd write up the approximate points so people can do their own evaluations of where they live and potential bug out locations.
Stored Food - 10 points. 10 points if 12 months of 9200kj/person/day of varied food 9 points if 12 months of 9200kj/person/day of low variety, aka beans and rice
Resupply Food - 5 points - Garden/greenhouse, Orchard, Livestock, Fish 5 points if near self sustaining Enough Seeds? Fertilizer? Pest control?
Irrigation?
Skills?
Freezing - with sustainable power
Dehydrating - off grid
Smoking Canning - He says 100 jars/person, the chart below [Granny Miller] suggests 1530/family of 4. Extra lids/supplies for extended period Stored Water10 points - 360L/person - 90 days of water per person. Water resupply5 points - river, pond, lake, Spring, Well, Rain Catchment.
- Must be within a short walk.
Water purification 5 points - many methods, redundancy. 3 boiling and filter - boiling, pasteurizing, bleach/Pool shock, Ceramic filters
Shelter - Location 4 - isolation, not near highway, where in country, low pop density. 2-3 most
Shelter - Basement/Root Cellar/Safe room. 3 - underground bunker 1 - root cellar/basement
Shelter - Power generation/fuel 4 - more fuel/power available more points Solar, hydro, wind, gasification, steam, generator.
Shelter - Heating/cooling [if needed] 3 - wood/renewable - insulation/heating cooling as required.
Shelter - Cooking 3 points - wood stove, rocket stove, propane, outside campfire.
Shelter - Bug out location and plan 3 points - Some supplies and secured.
Security Training/experience
5 points - the higher the experience, the higher the points - military, law enforcement, personal protection training
Security - firearms 5 points Quality and Quantity Ammunition Accessories Improvised [low value]
Security - security enhancements 5 points - night vision - thermal
- alarm system - body armor
- NBC protection - fortification
Security - network/group 5 points for solid prepping group 1-2 points for quality friends
Xfactor Medical 4 points - Supplies, everyday, advanced equipment, blood pressure cuffs, IV solution etc. - Training - Doctor/nurse/Dentist/Vet/paramedics/ambulance
Xfactor Communication 4 points - ham, cb radio, field phones, intercom, training, numbers
Xfactor bug out vehicles 4 points - 4WD, Large cargo
Xfactor barter 4 points - stored every day items - shampoo, toilet paper etc.
- gold/silver - renewable source - eggs/wood/can grow things/orchid/build things - skills/items for trade.
Xfactor 4 points - what special item or skill the prepper has that makes them stand out and also gives them an edge. - doctor who's stored lots of medical equipment to help people - underground bunker that can hold 20 or 30 people - you can do anything? - you can build anything?
================== Stored Food - 10 points. Resupply Food - 5 points Food preservation - 5 points Stored Water - 10 points Water resupply - 5 points Water purification - 5 points Shelter Location - 4 points Shelter type - 3 points Shelter - Power generation - 4 points Shelter - Heating/cooling - 3 points Shelter - Cooking - 3 points Shelter - Bug out location - 3 points Security Training/experience - 5 points Security arms - 5 points Security enhancements - 5 points Security - network/group - 5 points Xfactor Medical - 4 points Xfactor Communication - 4 points Xfactor bug out vehicles - 4 points Xfactor barter - 4 points Xfactor - 4 points
How'd you go?
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 16, 2020 12:58:01 GMT 10
Yeah. It depends really. I've made thousands of projectiles via lead melting and decades of playing with electronics without any increases in lead levels in testing. Fans blowing fresh air and doing in well ventilated places as well as careful washing/gloves is normal. I'd be more worried about the acid and the lead oxide/sulfate sludge mess than the plates or various forms of solid lead which is easy to clean up. Most batteries [and a lot of scrap lead] has various levels of cadmium in it which is far more toxic in fumes and dust than lead.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 16, 2020 12:20:50 GMT 10
I'm keeping my old car batteries for no greater reason than they are free and it's a pain in the ass to get them recycled. Lost a lot of their storage capacity and definitely not for a proper battery bank, but they do work as a portable 12V supply. Eg: for my 12V compressor. Also on my 'to do' list is to see what I can run off them. I have a 100W inverter, so a laptop, phone chargers etc should be fine but not a fridge. Diminishing returns and as always better than nothing as long as you haven't got a shorted terminal, aka lower than 10V. In an Austere world I did look at remanufacturing led-acid batteries as they're pretty simple and it's where most recycled lead ends up anyhow, its just messy, toxic, horrible, dangerous. For instance, the reason a battery wears out is because the lead corrodes over time, leaving the mesh/fins of the battery built up and corroded away. This leaves deposits that short out cells and of course less surface area of the lead which means less current available. So if you were desperate enough [remember toxic, horrible, dangerous] you could remake the lead plates with silicone [add turps as a thinner] as a mold, or use other batteries that have some good plates. You'd also need lead oxide anyone who has melted lead for reloads knows about that at the top of the lead pot. There's also this which seems quite plausible [and easier], though it doesn't bring it back to it's current capacity, it will extend the life before it shorts out cells.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 15, 2020 23:20:04 GMT 10
I did one a while back out of concrete and some perlite to make it lighter/better insulated. I used cardboard tubes instead of plastic.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 15, 2020 23:11:21 GMT 10
Wouldn't powdered honey be crystallized/dehydrated honey that's ground down? Aka you could make it for free. I don't see the point, though I suppose it's the same as sugar in that form?
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 15, 2020 13:54:37 GMT 10
You could most likely narrow down the software for routers by having a look at what the providers give customers in the area. If it's rural you might not have too many choices and you could then narrow down what hardware is likely to be in the area. Yeah you can run the Ethernet cables for 100m via spec and probably longer in the real world with a drop in speed.
Soldering's not hard, essentially heat up metal area and put soldier on the tip and watch it pour/melt and attach to the metal. You could just open the router and twist wires around the connections and add tape.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 15, 2020 9:54:35 GMT 10
If you have enough data on the right people [aka someone with power] you can control them using their fears. Oh look you cheated on your wife.. oh look you look at ____ porn and it would be embarrassing if people found out. It's why agencies collect data. For the average joe blog it's meaningless.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 12, 2020 13:18:34 GMT 10
Doable, not easy, lots of potential problems you would want to have practiced solutions for or at least the right resources. - Range quite limited, would have to be close to router to have phone [10mw] pickup wifi [100mw] - phone stays near router to work
- Range of router to router has to be increased with the right antenna/location - do you know how to make them/can you put them up high/can you beam them to the next guy? Most routers have 1 antenna, newer ones have multiple [channels] which could be used to have different antennas for different purposes. You could put them outside up on a roof with a zip lock bag or just inside the roof would help do if not made of metal. The higher the antenna the better. Unless you have the right leads I wouldn't try to take the antenna off the unit.
- Setting up the mesh network would require knowledge of specific routers and/or firmware to upgrade the routers to be able to do that. Manuals of many routers and software [as well as a laptop with all of the info on it] would needed so that as many routers could be turned to this where possible. That alone to me is a big undertaking and would be essential.
- Comms limited - right software, potentially voice, text easy.
- Less secure - always transmitting on the same channel, anyone with a phone or laptop could see many wifi's when near. Even if network is hidden, plenty of tools to find hidden networks. Find hidden networks Same deal as above, if things were crap, then it's not that likely people would have software to find networks. Could be found with people doing fox hunts for radio, though you'd have to have equipment to do so. In the rural situation you have supplied, if farmers were supporting one another then it might not matter too much.
- Power supply - can you supply electricity to charge the car battery to keep it working? 150Wh/day+ approx would need a panel of about 75W+ to supply just it. 7-10 more watts for the phone. Car batteries have a useful about 650Wh of useful charge, so would work with the right charger. You could save some fuel and charge car batteries [think jumper leads] enough with a little fuel every 3 days. We've talked on this, power supply regulation for solar, and it's quite tricky unless you've got some knowledge on the topic. I've got decent knowledge in electronics and how circuits work and untested idea on how to make some rudimentary regulators from the regulators electronic equipment and I would need at least a decent soldering iron, solder and a multimeter. I would prefer to have a bunch of cheap electronic components like 14V zenner diodes [10c ea] and high current transistors [or derivatives] and a bunch of solar regulator diagrams as well. Do you have a means and/or knowledge of providing the right power to the router itself from 12V? It's pretty easy using plain diodes found in every power supply for electronic gear each drops the voltage by 0.6V. So if it needs 5V DC, you could use 12. Can you identify them and solder them? Normally they're not surface mount, though they may be in an IC, but they'll be there as you need to make what's called a bridge to take AC power to DC. This is a key area and only someone with the right knowledge could make this happen. Not saying someone has to be an electrical engineer or be a hobbyist since 10 like myself but knowing what bits do what in a circuit, what to pull out to charge the battery is important to make something happen.
Pretty straight forward for me, for most that's not easy.
----------------- I would start working on the knowledge. See below, this is a power/rectifier diode. It allows electrons [energy/electricity] to move in only one direction, it's importance for you is more about it's voltage drop of 0.6V. [there are many other ways, but this is simplest to do]. This will take 12-14V from the car battery to whatever lower voltage your router needs. If you look at your router the panel on the back should tell you the input voltage, if not the transformer you plug in the wall will. This is the voltage you need to get to from a car battery. Doesn't have to be 'perfect' but close to it is what you're aiming for. Work that out, how many diodes do you need for your own router?
Now if you unscrew the cover plate on some electronic device that takes '240V from wall' you can find the diodes. They usually look like above.
I can see 6 diodes. They all work much the same, bigger ones are typically good for higher current [amps], the silver end is the negative, point it to towards the negative of the battery.
This board has surface mount diodes, they look similar to the round ones above but they're square. They work much the same but are harder to solder/easier to kill with heat. Once you see one you'll see how the little letters give away where the rest of the diodes are. There's at least 4 diodes [probably 5, but I would have to see from another angle] there and 1 zenner diode. Can you find them? Learning how to solder isn't hard, though getting some tips from youtube would be a good idea.
With that small piece of information you ought to be able to get a car battery voltage to what you need for the router with some wire, soldier, soldiering iron and a multimeter [to check your voltage].
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 12, 2020 12:05:54 GMT 10
Here's a fun one, Trump in the polls and the postal votes get highjacked and obviously interfered with leading to the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi to become the next prez during the civil war that follows. Just to be sure the aliens lizardmen from mars take over.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 12, 2020 12:00:50 GMT 10
As stated elsewhere, I'm a fan of using 'standard' jars [think pasta sauce jar] for my canning as they have a silicone rim that's infinitely reusable. Been using them for a few years now without issue. You can also get vacuum pumps for mason jars. Personally I don't vacuum seal anything after I had a whole bunch of stuff not seal properly and instead I just use CO2 in buckets with o-rings.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 7, 2020 23:01:18 GMT 10
It's not too tricky after the initial learning curve and 240V electronic appliances [think TV/computer etc] have lower current voltage regulation circuits already in them that can be obtained. Knowing HOW to use them, where they are in the device [connected just after the transformer and rectifier bridge] how to potentially adjust them to the right voltage is another thing, though it's not impossible, understandings circuits and then drawing up a circuit for the device would allow you to see what to adjust. You 'might' be able to adjust computer power supply regulators, they're pretty abundant. Of course this is beyond most people. Excellent. I look forward to your thread on how to do this! Dream on. Maybe when the locals are getting rid of stuff on the side of the road I'll rip open a power supply and show.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 7, 2020 9:39:12 GMT 10
Batteries are best charged with a 'pulsing' wave form rather than a flatline DC. It may still work, but will reduce battery life. A good read on some of this.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 7, 2020 9:07:28 GMT 10
Yes, anyone can have lights then. Handy for comms too. Yes. Anyone can buy stuff and make this work. But the shops may be empty, destroyed or radioactive. What then? Use whatever is laying around somehow. Sure then you better learn some basic electronics and gather a bunch of electronic circuits for voltage regulation as well as understanding what components do. It's not too tricky after the initial learning curve and 240V electronic appliances [think TV/computer etc] have lower current voltage regulation circuits already in them that can be obtained. Knowing HOW to use them, where they are in the device [connected just after the transformer and rectifier bridge] how to potentially adjust them to the right voltage is another thing, though it's not impossible, understandings circuits and then drawing up a circuit for the device would allow you to see what to adjust. You 'might' be able to adjust computer power supply regulators, they're pretty abundant. Of course this is beyond most people. Oh and don't mess with 240V!!! A few weeks-months playing with electronics and you'd get the hang of it. News to me, I thought it was just DC with changing Voltage depending on light level? I don't own an oscilloscope, so I used youtube. Maybe I'm missing something? Bug's is on it re: panel price. Go for the blue ones about 17-23% efficient, not the red ones as the red ones are half the output. Older blue ones ought to be fine. Right, I got 3 to be sure. I was thinking about getting a few more though there's bigger problems than power, such as food supply.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 6, 2020 17:06:31 GMT 10
Ok, so you add on a radio [think CB] to your phone and instead of the cellular [also a type of radio btw] network it uses the frequencies you choose. All of your friends need the same add on. Probably illegal in this fined land. Twice the price of an actual cheap CB radio, no audio. ---- Since your target market is farms/farmers, some more remote places still have people with radios in their vehicles. Not like it was 20 years ago when many people had CB, though what's the situation like? Do you see people's 4WDs in the area with large antenna?
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 6, 2020 16:58:28 GMT 10
From what I'm reading here, re-purpose roof panels in an Austere situation for the local farmers, adding a couple of car batteries. Bug's nailed it, voltage regulation is a real issue with 0-40V for batteries [max is about 15V]. In terms of sitting on it, with pieces of cardboard to offer shade, you'd have to have a multimeter and eyes on it, car batteries are fairly robust but .... If I had no other choice, I can think of about 5 ways [depending on available parts] of making a circuit that would do the job to some degree from salvaged electronic equipment and even that would be trial and error without online reference material. A better one and probably about the cost of new parts is .. Simple solar regulators go for $7 ea. Easily handles a couple of panels. The way you could look at it is you offer a car battery charging service in an austere situation, bring in your battery, maybe swap it for a charged one. Car batteries won't like being drained to nothing many times, though they are plentiful.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 5, 2020 14:37:05 GMT 10
Theres a few things things a unimog can't do that this can: Plus: Extra style. I don't see any vehicle only beach towels.
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 5, 2020 14:30:20 GMT 10
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shinester
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China's white trash
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Post by shinester on Sept 5, 2020 14:11:46 GMT 10
Bug's on the money. I think I see what you're doing, take solar panel from roof and use it for backup power with batteries in an austere situation? Solar panels of roofs are usually in series [strings] with fairly high voltage [might be 400V if 10 panels] though that's not so important as you can rewire them into parallel and keep the 0-40V if you needed to. The watts 200-300W [as per bugs] give you an indication of their max output, typically summer at 12pm. A better way to think of them is they will generate 'about' 2.5x panel watts of power per day. So 200W panel will generate 500W/hr per day. This varies a lot depending on the time of year and the weather. What you'll need to use the panels on the cheap is a regulator/solar charger for 12V batteries, with MPPT [more efficient] or PVM [cheaper]. You can pick up crappy chinese ones for very little, I have 3 to be sure. Their ratings give you an idea of their capacity, 10Amp x voltage [12] give you a max output of 1200W. So if you were using 200W panels you could use up to 6. From there an inverter, preferably pure sine wave, though not essential You can get better equipment [much more expensive] that does both regulate and then invert [to 240V AC] with more features and a pretty panel that tells you things like how much charge you got from the sun etc. Taking a multimeter voltage check [see pic below] also works. Batteries If you have quality lead acid deep cycle/AGM batteries you can run them down to 50% of their rated power and get plenty of charge/discharge cycles. If you're hooking up car batteries, then keep it about 80% to keep the battery life. To work out the capacity of the battery you multiply voltage x amp/hr to give you the watt/hr. This is easier to figure out, your laptop might use 50W/hrs [electrical items have wattage ratings], so if you have a 12V AGM battery with 100amp/hrs. 12V x 100amp/hrs = 1200W/hrs. Since it's an AGM battery you have 600W of usable power, so 12hrs of using the laptop. Batteries are the weak link and most expensive part of solar power. You can get around this by using appliances when the sun is shining and the panels are charging the most and then have a small amount of power for say lights at night. Most houses use 18kwh+ of power each day, quite an investment in batteries. Personally my preps for power focused on charge torches/lights/radios/NV gear/water pumps. I consider radios critical so each has it's own small usb panel/spare batteries. A kit might look like this Two solar panels 250W, 500W total, 1250W/hr day. Battery bank - 4 x 12V 100Amp AGM batteries = 4800W/hr, 2400W/hr usable Regulator - 10Amp 12v - 2400W max [easy] Inverter - 10Amp 12v - 2400W max Multimeter Battery connection wire to join batteries, can use an aluminum bar from Bunnings [$5] with heatshrink tube [insulate it] Enough wire for the solar panels. Note that wire diameter might matter as we're working with lower voltages. --------------- If instead you're looking to have an inverter that you can use off-grid and/or charge batteries then you would want to get an electrician sort it all out.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
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Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Sept 3, 2020 11:35:13 GMT 10
Yeah, have driven a Unimog in places a mountain goat would avoid! Nah...
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