[Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor Freight Bargain

[W4AWM at aol.com]

CFLs are a total crock!  Not only do they cause all kinds of QRM on  nearly 
all frequencies but the guarantee on them is a total scam.  The  
manufacturers never expect anyone to save all the sales slips along with dates  of 
purchase and specific manufacturer in order to get warranty replacement. My  
feeling is that Uncle Sam is trying to pull another one on the public while  
giving more money to the Chinese economy.
 
73,
 
John,  W4AWM
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 2/25/2011 9:35:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
gordon.beattie at att.net writes:

Ron,
Interesting observation about the CFLs.  I just haven't  used them enough to
have them actually fail!

Thanks &  73,
Gordon Beattie, W2TTT
201.314.6964

-----Original  Message-----
From:  boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net]  On Behalf Of Ron Trepka
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 1:13 PM
To:  boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor  Freight Bargain

Comments about the HF solar Panels

The charge  controller works well where it gets off the battery when it has
reached  it's limit.
The little voltage display is real nice and turning it off is a  great idea
too.
The CFLs are junk.  They use a instant start  ballast with a rapid start 
lamp
so it eats the filaments away during start  and life was very short.

It would be hard to beat the $50 each price  for the three solar panels so
it's a bargan at the $159  price.
---
Ron



--- On Fri, 2/25/11, J. Gordon Beattie,  Jr., W2TTT <gordon.beattie at att.net>
wrote:

From: J. Gordon  Beattie, Jr., W2TTT <gordon.beattie at att.net>
Subject: RE:  [Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor Freight Bargain
To: "'Ron Trepka'"  <w8ron at sbcglobal.net>, "'John Flood'"  
<kb1fqg at yahoo.com>,
boatanchors at mailman.qth.net,  r-390 at mailman.qth.net, "'Bob Peters'"
<rwpeters at swbell.net>
Date:  Friday, February 25, 2011, 12:08 AM

Ron, John, Bob et al,

I have  two of these kits and they work really well!  In a fully sunny  day,
you get the rated output, but there are times when you won't.   This is to 
be
expected.  The charge controller is very good with  several output voltages
less than 12V including a USB charger port.   It has no capability to 
prevent
the overcharge of your battery bank, so if  you are not going to be keeping 
a
close eye on the charge level of the  battery bank, you will need to get
another charge controller.   

What we do is use two sets in parallel to charge a 155AH deep cycle  12V
battery while in camp.  This keeps the battery topped up during a  weekend 
or
during a week or two at summer camp.  At the National Boy  Scout Jamboree
last summer we had to keep a pile of phones, four laptops  and an Amateur
Radio Station going.  We did have one day when we had  to be wise about our
power budget, but it all worked out fine by the next  day, and all essential
items received a full charge.  We even ran a  few of the included 5W 12V CFL
lamps in our gateway entrance area for  safety and site identification.  We
located the two 4x4 ft mounts on  wooden shelving to keep the supplied metal
frames in alignment and placed  them into spots within our gateway where 
they
could get light and be out of  the way.  

We are going to redo the frames using aluminum angle  stock from a local 
home
center and eliminate the cheap steel originally  provided.  

One other improvement that we are working on is to  replace the very light
gauge, high-resistance wiring with some number 12  wire and Anderson
PowerPole connectors.  Given our use, I'm not sure  if we are going to
replace the charge controller, but time will  tell.

Thanks & 73,
Gordon Beattie,  W2TTT
201.314.6964


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