Category Archives: yard

Nov 11 1 comments
Electrical, Environment, Solar Energy, yard

Installing our Photovoltaic Solar System, Part I

I have had a pretty good year with the solar business thus far.  Therefore, I decided to roll some of this year’s profits into our own Photovoltaic (PV) system.  This idea has been batted about before, including as a battery back up for the sump pumps, however, a few things have developed since then.

First of all, as technology often does, newer things are available these days that make a solar system in the North East a better proposition.  Secondly, the solar business has done better than I expected.  As a result, I don’t often have much time to work on household projects.  That means that this years “capital improvement” budget has gone unspent for the most part.  Finally, I would like to offset some of the extra income tax from the profits.  What better way than to invest in the technology myself.  The Federal Government offers a 30% income tax incentive and the NY State government offers a 25% tax income incentive up to $5,000.00.  This will cut the overall cost of the installed system by almost 50%.

There are a number of considerations:

  1. How large of a system should be installed.  I decided that I wanted to offset 70-80% of my annual electrical use.  In this climate and environment, that equates to about 4.1 KW DC PV system.  This leaves a little downward room in case I decide to replace the electric stove with a gas unit.
  2. Where can it be installed.  Since the south facing roof has the solar hot water system, the PV system needs to be mounted on a sun shade type structure in the yard.
  3. What type of technology.  I was initially looking at a grid tied with battery back up, however, after I looked into the newest type of inverter, the Enphase microverter, I decided that this was the way to go.  A battery backup can be added at a later date.

The Enphase microverters are really cool.  The way this system works is every solar panel has its own small inverter instead of one large inverter for many panels.   The advantages of this type of system are thus:  In conventional system, shading of one panel can cause the entire solar array to turn off, making it ineffective.  With the microverters, the shaded panel may turn off, but the rest of the unshaded panels still put out full power.  In the Northeast, trees grow everywhere, it is nearly impossible to have a completely shade free site, nor should home owner’s be expected to clear cut their lots to accommodate a PV system.  The Enphase microverters mitigate some of those concerns.

Also, multiple inverters create redundancy.  Any one inverter can fail, leaving the other nineteen still operational.  There is automatic web monitoring for a small annual fee, or the modules can be monitored manually.  I may write a small web based program to monitor and post my energy output here.  The inverters themselves carry a 15 year warranty, whereas most other inverters carry a 5 year warranty.

Finally, there are no DC voltage losses to account for, making the entire system operate much more efficiently.

In anycase, the order has been signed, checks have been written and the excavator has been reserved for this weekend.  The first step is to dig and poor the footings for the sun shade.

More to follow.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Jul 15 4 comments
Garden, Healthy Eating, Landscaping, yard

Edible landscaping

We have spent some amount of time fixing up the yard.  I think the worst of it was removing all the asphalt around the back of the house.  What a terrible way to make a patio.

As a part of our long term goals for the house, landscaping is somewhere in the middle of the list.  The parts that we can work on now, such as removing over grown shrubs, trimming back trees, and general clean up items have been nearly completed.

One of my goals is to make things as low maintenance as possible.  The other is to make things producing.  Planting fruit trees is the easiest way to create an edible landscape.  Most fruit trees bloom in the spring and thus make attractive ornamental tree.  In the fall, those flowers turn to fruit which can be picked and eaten right off the tree.

Only problem I have run into is bees.  In the fall, many bees, hornets, yellow jackets, and wasps like to eat the fallen fruit.  The good thing is the deer and the bears (and an occasional coyote) clean up the fruit almost every night.

When we moved here we had two pear trees and a peach tree.  The first pear tree was growing up under an oak tree.  It also had heart rot, so we had to take it down.  The peach tree was also suffering from some sort of blight and was planted in the wrong spot, so I took that one down as well.  Finally, I have been trying to rehabilitate the second pear tree, with some success.  However, this tree may be getting old and it may also be in the way of our solar system.

two year old peach tree, about 8 feet tall

two year old peach tree, about 8 feet tall

To replace the trees I cut down, I planted a new peach tree in the front yard.  This is a much better spot as it gets full sun almost all day long.  It has grown remarkably this year and I expect to get some fruit next year.

I also planted an apple tree, but the deer have nearly killed it.  It is still struggling but the issue is in doubt.  I will plant another apple tree in the front yard and fence it.

bunches of white table grapes on trellis

bunches of white table grapes on trellis

I also planted four grape vines.  I ordered these on line and they were relatively inexpensive.  This is their third year and three of the four vines are thriving.  The forth is not too happy and I don’t know why.  Two of the vines are Concorde grapes.  There is a variety of white table grapes too, but I cannot remember the name.

The other parts of the edible landscaping are the vegetable garden and herb garden, both are well documented elsewhere.

Some other local edibles include a whole forest of blueberries.  Last Sunday the family went blue berry picking and came back with several containers full (not to mention our stomachs).  These are the small to medium sized wild blue berries that are so good on cereal, ice cream and in yogurt.

We also have many many nut trees on our property.  Pin oak and white oak produce many acorns.  Shag bark hickory nuts litter the ground in the fall and across the street there is a large stand of black walnuts.  The black walnuts do not taste like their English Walnut cousins, they are a little more bitter but very good to eat.  Husking the nuts turns your hands black for several weeks, however.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Jun 08 3 comments
General, yard

Erecting a Short Wave Listening Antenna

I may have alluded to this in a previous post, I occasionally listen to the short wave radio, both the international broadcast band and non-broadcast services.  When I was younger I was bitten by the radio bug and never quite seemed to get over it.   There are some things that can be learned from international broadcasting that are not reported on elsewhere.  There are also a fair number of communists, conspiracy theorists, paranoids, hucksters, UFO people and other crack pots which can be quite entertaining in their own right, so long as you can separate the wheat from the chaff.

As far as the “utility” stations go, there is some excellent software that allows one to use a standard computer for decoding non-encryped digital signals, which for a former military communicator, contains a certain fun and nostalgic aspect that cannot be found anywhere else.

Of course, all of this requires some equipment, such as a good HF receiver and antenna system.  In the HF receiver department, I have a Drake R8A, which is highly thought of and works exceptionally well for utility station and weak signal work.  For listening to shortwave broadcasters I tend use a Kenwood R-2000 which is not the best technically performing receiver, however, it is the best all around sounding radio I have ever used.

For an antenna, I have been using a small disc-cone type scanner antenna.  For my purpose, this is a poor choice of antenna.  Many or most short wave broadcasters are government sponsored and most have had their budgets cut over the last decade or so.  That means lower transmitter powers or transmitter sites that are located far away from the US.  Often signals are weak and or full of static or other interference.  What is needed for HF (HF=High Frequency aka short wave) and MF (MF=Medium Frequency aka AM broadcast stations) work is some type of receiving loop.  Loop antennas have good directionality and noise canceling properties that are important for AM and USB work especially in today’s electrically noisy environment.  To that end, I discovered a terminated loop antenna that looks perfect.   In keeping with the amateur radio tradition of naming antennas with there inventor’s call sign, this is a K9AY.  You can get the full skinny on the K9AY loop antenna from this site.

k8ay loop antenna supported by a tree

k8ay loop antenna supported by a tree

Its a little hard to see, but this is two loop antenna supported by a tree.  They are oriented SE/NW (loop 1) and SW/NE (loop 2).

First off, let me say that almost everything that I used to make this antenna is either left over or reused parts.  Here is a list of materials:

  1. Two 85 foot lengths of #14 stranded wire.  Left over from a work project 2 years ago.
  2. Eight insulators made from 1 1/4 inch Schedule 40 PVC conduit.  Left over scraps from a solar PV installation.
  3. Mounting bracket for tree.  Left over 2 x 6 from deck project.
  4. Mounting pole for relay box.  Left over 2 inch schedule 40 PVC conduit, ready mix cement and re-bar left over from deck project.
  5. 120 feet 1/2 inch 50 ohm rigid transmission line.  Salvaged from last years tower project in Florida.
  6. 9:1 Matching transformer, made that myself from a toroid removed from a dead switching power supply and #24 copper telephone wire.  45 turns on the primary, 15 turns on the secondary.
  7. 75 feet of 1 1/4 inch PVC conduit, left over from a solar PV installation.
  8. Ground rod, counterpoise.  Left over 3/4 inch copper pipe from re-working the plumbing system in our house.
  9. Plastic NEMA 4 enclosure.  Purchased new.
  10. Relays, control box, power supply and other misc parts.  Stuff that was laying around.
  11. LDR (Perkin-Elmer Vactrol VTL5C2). Purchased new.

This antenna design is a terminated loop, that is to say the antenna has a termination resistor in the circuit to better match the transmission line.  The original design calls for a fixed termination resistor that is a compromise for what ever set of frequencies the user prefers.  A much better option is some type of variable resistor.  Even better still is a variable resistor that can be remote controlled.  A LDR (light determined resistor) is a solid state device that uses uses a LED and a to vary resistance according to how much current the device is being fed.  This gives the maximum front to back null on the loop antenna (in the direction away from the termination).  It works great for canceling out co-channel interference on the AM broadcast and shortwave broadcast bands.

The rest of the antenna consists of two loops of wire with a relay switching device that allows a user to remotely control the direction the antenna is receiving from.  Below the antenna should be a good RF ground.  The antenna itself is about 25 feet tall and should be supported with a non-conducting structure.  For my purposes, a very tall ash tree is perfect.  I started by cleaning out a 15 foot radius around the tree.

Next, I fabricated a support arm and hung the center insulator from it.  For the center insulator I used some left over PVC conduit.  And non conducting material can be used.  The wire loops are 85 feet of stranded #14 wire.  The sides of the loop are pulled out from the support and staked down to the ground using UV resistant rope.

switching relays, matching transformer and LDR terminator mounted in box

switching relays, matching transformer and LDR terminator mounted in box

The relay box is a NEMA 4X enclosure (we get a lot of snow around here).  It contains the relays, 9:1 current matching transformer, and LDR termination resistor.  For control of the system, a #14 wires are run back to the control point in the house.  Lighter gauge wire can be used, I had the 14  gauge wire around decided to use it instead of buying more wire.  The transmission line is 1/2 inch 50 ohm hard line, again left over.

The ground system consists of a 3/4 inch copper pipe driven 4 feet into the ground and 3 inch copper strap under each of the loop wires.  This is an RF round not en electrical safety ground and there is a substantial difference.  The purpose of an RF ground is to improve the ground conductivity as seen by the antenna, thus improving the antenna performance.

This afternoon a dragged the R-2000 out to the base with an extension cord.  I was not disappointed.  The little 500 watt class D  (WHVW 950 khz) AM station 30 miles away came in like it was next door.  Switching the relays around, I found a good 20-30 dBµ front to back null.

I just need to get a trench dug (18 inches deep, 75 feet long) and put the transmission line into the house and I’ll be all set.  I was contemplating digging it by hand, but no, I think I will rent a ditch witch instead.

I may even get one of those computer/remote control receivers and connect it up to the internet so others can enjoy listening.

Now, I will always feel like I am in the loop, so to speak.

Popularity: 2% [?]

May 02 2 comments
Blogging, General, Out door power equipment, yard

First planting, Lawnmower, New clothes line, blog videos

I would post more often but we just are not working on the house right now.  I have been very busy working two jobs…  The second job (solar business) is doing well.  It is still difficult, in this economy, to sell high end alternative energy gear but not impossible.

I have managed to do a few things around the house:

radishes poking up through the ground

radishes poking up through the ground

A few weeks ago we put in the cold weather crops, peas, carrots, lettuce, radishes, and spinach.  All are coming up, I think we will have radishes in about a week or so.  I plan on planting the rest of the garden around the middle of May.  That will include tomatoes, beans, squash, peppers, broccoli and onions.  More posts/pictures as the time gets closer.

strawberries about to flower

strawberries about to flower

buds breaking on the grape vine

buds breaking on the grape vine

I did the annual lawn mower maintenance including sharpening the blade.  I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to find several large dings in the blade.  Funny, I don’t really remember hitting any rocks or anything last year.  Anyway, I sharpened the blade on the bench grinder.  Nothing worse than a dull lawn mower blade to maul the ends of the grass blades off.

new clothes line

new clothes line

I also replaced the clothes line posts.  We had a really niffty hydraulic post hole digger for one day in mid April.  I managed to drill several 3-4 foot deep holes around the yard for various purposes including enlarging the garden fence.  I replaced the clothes line because we seem to have a lot of laundry and the old one seemed a little light duty.  Plus, we had a really niffty hydraulic post hole digger.  I cannot recommend this unit enough.

Going to town with the Earth Auger

Going to town with the Earth Auger

I apologize to my regulars (if there are any left) for the lack of posts over the last few months.  When it comes to this blog, I decided that I would rather have quality over quantity.  Staying more or less on topic seems to improve my search results and nets me more Adsense revenue.  To that end, I went through and deleted many of the old off topic posts that were not very popular.

Speaking of adsense, say goodbye to the home improvement videos.  Google, in there infinite wisdom, decided to discontinue the Adsense video service.  I made a fair amount from those videos, but I must have been the only one.  I am going to start moving away from Google and selling ad space on the blog myself this year.  I have had many people tell me that they have greatly increased there revenue by doing this.

Otherwise, stay tuned for some up comming projects this summer.

Popularity: 3% [?]

May 21 26 comments
Out door power equipment, Tools, yard

New Cub Cadet CC4175 String Trimmer

Happy Birthday to me! With my Home Depot gift certificate from Aunt Barbra and Uncle Jim, I purchased a new string trimmer to replace the old one which met its demise earlier this spring. She’s a bute! There are several nice things about this unit; first, it has a 4 cycle engine. No more mixing oil and gas and hoping that I don’t foul a spark plug. Plus, it always seems that each tool, e.g. chain saw, string trimmer, hedge trimmer, used a different fuel to oil ratio, making life difficult. Second, it has several different attachment head accessories that can be bought, so not only is it a string trimmer, it can be a pole chain saw, hedge trimmer, brush cutter, mini rototiller, edger and so on.

cub cadet cc4175 4 cycle gas trimmer

There were two units to choose from, the less expensive, less versatile curved shaft unit, or the straight shaft unit. I like the straight shaft units better because it seems to be a better design; less friction, less wear and tear on the power transfer cable, etc. Perhaps I am just imagining it, but it seems to be much more sturdy that the old Pouland string trimmer.

Since it has a 4 cycle engine, it requires crank case oil and there are all sorts of warnings and stickers to that effect. Guessing they may have had problems with that in the past. Anyway, a 3.04 ounce bottle of SAE 30 HD motor oil is provided. I am going to keep the little bottle to measure out oil changes when needed in the future. I also noted that it is about 1 to 2 pounds heavier than the old string trimmer. It seems to have more power than the old unit, and no smoky exhaust to breath while trimming up the yard.

Some assembly required.

I am looking forward to finishing up the trimming over the weekend.

Popularity: 16% [?]