Emergency Communications Power Setup

[Lord Timelord]

Hello!

As an Amateur Radio Operator with 22 Years Experience, I recommend the following emergency power setup below. This is about the cheapest you can go for reliable equipment that will help you in any temporary power outage, or total grid down scenario.

With the Solar Panel and 12 Volt Charge Controller, the system will work perfectly without any A/C Grid Power. A 10 Watt Solar panel is plenty big for a battery of this size for radio handheld usage. If you're going to be charging cell phones, tablets, and other 12 volt devices off of the various connectors (i.e. very heavy usage) I linked below, I suggest that you up the Solar Panel Wattage to the 30watt - 40watt range. You also might find a better deal purchasing the solar panel and charge controller separately. The "Best" Solar Charge Controllers use MPPT (Multi Point Power Tracking), which will have the best efficiency (and higher purchase cost).

I linked the Waterproof Battery Tender A/C Charger as I use that for my Motorcycle Battery and other gear in the garage. It's only six bucks more for the waterproof version over the non-waterproof one, which means you can use it outdoors without fear of it shorting out if getting wet. There are portable and foldable solar panels that can output 12v and higher, but they are much more expensive than fixed panels. I suggest purchasing a fixed panel first for home usage, then later on a portable one that could be brought with the setup into the field for remote communications.

As far as carrying the stuff around, good inexpensive plastic ammunition cases works great. They are less than $20, and are waterproof to protect your electronics. Various Plastic Toolboxes will also work great. Cruise the aisles at your local hardware stores for something that has a layout that you like, and is on sale. Your local sporting goods store will have the plastic waterproof ammo cans.

1. 12 volt 18 Ah Rechargeable Battery - $34.95
http://tinyurl.com/prcho2f

2. Battery Tender Ring Terminal Harness with Black Fused 2-Pin Quick Disconnect Plug - $5.99
http://tinyurl.com/nt7q6yu

3. Battery Tender Female Cigarette Adaptor for Quick Disconnect - $8.27
http://tinyurl.com/kwadane

4. Battery Tender Black Quick Disconnect Plug with USB Charger - $11.82
http://tinyurl.com/oybm72n

5. Battery Tender Waterproof 800ma 12v Charger - $32.98
http://tinyurl.com/lxzvnys

6. Instapark® 10W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel with 12V Solar Charge Controller - $46.95
http://tinyurl.com/ly5j2vb

7. Instapark® 30W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel With a 12V solar charge controller - $89.90
http://tinyurl.com/q5pfug5

This system would be an excellent emergency system to assemble. It has the components to keep the battery charged when there is Grid Power, and the Battery Tender Waterproof Charger will come in handy for any 12v batteries that need to be maintained or topped off. The Solar Panel and charge controller will work when the Grid is down, and will also work if setup in a shed away from a house where there isn't any utility power outlets. It will also work perfectly in the field for remote communications.

If you want to lean more do searches on YouTube for the following EXCELLENT Channels.

engineer775 Practical Preppers - https://www.youtube.com/user/engineer775

Commsprepper - https://www.youtube.com/user/Commsprepper

GUERRILLACOMM - https://www.youtube.com/user/GUERRILLAGEEK

OBXSOLWIND - https://www.youtube.com/user/OBXSOLWIND

Solarcabin - https://www.youtube.com/user/solarcabin

I hope that you find this information helpful!

[masterswimmer]

Nice write up for something I know nothing about

[Lord Timelord]

That setup will work for any 12 volt devices, and 5 volt USB devices. In an extended grid down situation like Ice Storm, Blizzard, Flooding, Tornado, Hurricane, etc., a setup like this would allow you to keep your Cellphone, Tablet, GPS, Rechargable Batteries charged up. Communications is important in an emergency (both voice comms and passive comms like AM/FM/Shortwave Radio) to stay up to date with important information.

A larger version of that above setup with multiple outputs, 100 watt solar panel, and larger capacity batteries (say two 100 amp hour batteries) would cover about 90% of all major emergencies. An even larger setup with 400+ watts of solar with a larger battery bank of 4-8 batteries could run almost everything in a house.

When I move out of state and get my new home built, I'll eventually be running 1.5 Kilowatts of Solar Power/Heat, a Wind Turbine, and a good sized Battery Bank. The entire setup will be grid tied with reverse metering of power possible to sell power back to the grid. I'll also have a backup generator that can run on multiple fuels. All lighting in the house and garage will be LED.

My Concrete Dome Home will be super insulated and will require only 25% of the normal cost to heat and cool it. My refrigerator will be a super insulated model that uses only 10% of the power of a standard frige/freezer, and can keep items completely cold for 72 hours after loosing power (if it was fully cooled before power outage). The Frige/Freezer can also run on 12 volt power, so it can run off of the solar setup with ease, since it only draws a maximum 12v 1.5Amp Surge Load with 1 Amps continuous power draw when the compressor is running.

I will have as close as humanly possible to a $0.00 electric bill (other than the base monthly connection charge). All the excess electricity will be sold back to the grid for a little extra income per month. If the grid goes down, I could still run the entire home/garage off of my planned setup (including power tools).

My current electrical bill averages $38-52/Month. I have been planning my new home for the past three years, and have been making updates to the setup as new information presents itself. My new home itself will not be a 'large' home. The living space will be under 1,000 square feet. The Garage will be much larger than the house, as stuff that most people store in the house will be in my garage. Since most of the stuff is 'outdoors' related. It makes more sense to have it all next to the vehicles when the time comes to load them up for a trip. ;-)

[usmcveteran]

Great write up and thanks for sharing it in a well laid out way.

[Cgrutt]

Nice! Thanks for posting. This is exactly the type of info we need a lot more of...

[Lord Timelord]

Thanks Guys! I have plenty of information that I would like to post on here. I just need the time to GitRDone! LOL

[usmcveteran]

Does anybody else here have their Amateur Radio License? If people are interested I can put together a post with all the info you need to get it. The great thing too is the license is free and free to renew as well (some places charge up to $15 I think to take the test).

Having these radios are great for SHTF scenarios but also good in natural disasters. If you have an HF radio as well and run it off a set up like posted above you can easily get a hold of someone who can relay information to first responders for you or even contact loved ones for you to let them know you are ok.

I highly recommend you all at least look into it or check out a local club.

Hey C, would you mind posting pictures or something about the one you built? That thing looked sweet.

[Guest]

My friend living in the heart of catskills has a plaque on the wall for helping 9/11 first responders when everything was down that day or so with his HAM.

[usmcveteran]

That's awesome! It really is a lot of fun talking on the radio. My longest contact so far was QRP (low power) at 5 watts SSB (talking not using morse code or anything). I managed to talk to another QRP person on top of a Mountain in Colorado for a few minutes before we weren't making it anymore. Its really a lot of fun when you can make those contacts.

[thughes]

Does anybody else here have their Amateur Radio License? If people are interested I can put together a post with all the info you need to get it. The great thing too is the license is free and free to renew as well (some places charge up to $15 I think to take the test).

Having these radios are great for SHTF scenarios but also good in natural disasters. If you have an HF radio as well and run it off a set up like posted above you can easily get a hold of someone who can relay information to first responders for you or even contact loved ones for you to let them know you are ok.

In!

I've got a couple Baofeng's that I'd like to start using, school me on getting a license....

[usmcveteran]

I'll set up a thread, also the tests here in rochester are free at least they were the other year when I got mine.

[Guest]

I'll set up a thread, also the tests here in rochester are free at least they were the other year when I got mine.

Is it an online kinda thing or actually gotta be in Rochester?

[usmcveteran]

Its a in person test that they have all over. If you check out this thread there is a link to find a test near you http://www.nyshenaniguns.com/forum/p...se-ham-license .

[Norm DeGuerre]

Any progress here ??
was just PMing my Drake equipment