2-15-2023
Progress on My Mini Solar Power System:
This is my portable emergency mini-solar power and backup lighting system, so far. I designed this system using 2 x 3 Samsung 30-Q Lithium Ion cells in series. My plan was to charge it to a maximum of 12 volts, using 2 x 10 watt solar panels and a 12 volt voltage regulator. Although the solar panels easily put out a total of 16 watts at 12 volts, the regulator refuses to pass more than about 6 watts. On the output side, I get enough power to charge a cellphone or USB power bank, and power various lights. However, The 2 x 3 Samsung 30-Q cells are insufficient to provide enough voltage for a 65 watt laptop auto charger.
Updates For The Future:
1. I plan to make a high power DC-DC output module, that will be powerful enough to power a laptop auto charger.
2. I plan to make a better charge control circuit to replace the voltage regulator in most cases.
3. I could replace the Samsung 30-Q cells with my 10 AH LIFEPO4 battery. This would have the advantages of increased capacity, lifespan, and output voltage, but it will take up a bit more space and will require my improved charge control circuit that I have yet to make.
4. Another option is to increase the number of cells in series from 3 to 4. That would have the benefit of utilizing the charging power of the solar panels more efficiently. However, the 12 volt voltage regulator module will then be completely useless. But that's okay because I was going to replace that module with something else since it only puts out 0.5 amps rather than 1.5 amps as the spec sheet claims it should.
2-15-2023
Update:
I have developed a design for a voltage reduction circuit which uses two power capacitors, a power mosfet, a power diode, a power resistor, a comparator circuit, a P-channel mosfet, a negative 5 volt regulator, and a resistor network! Some other components might be required, but I should be able to build the circuit once I receive my negative 5 volt voltage regulator! This voltage reduction circuit design will be very close to an optimal design when used to charge 4 cells in series or a LIFEPO battery, and a custom buck convertor would not be much better!
Welcome to my New Home Page
11-30-2022
GOOD NEWS!!!
I wanted to briefly say that there is good news! You see, most people on YouTube are now saying that there is going to be a big recession, collapse, or even SHTF... Well I know for a fact that most people tell the exact opposite of the truth at all times! So, that means that most likely, SHTF is not going to happen!
You have to understand something. I know that "Doomsday Prepping" is not real! I know that "prepping" is really just a combination of a mental video game and a science fair experiment! In fact, "prepping" is mostly bogus, but we do it for fun and science! Prepping is bogus because the fact is that no one can live very long in a bubble, unless they have tens of millions of dollars to build a fortified underground bunker and stock it with supplies!
Sadly, I just started doing a little bit of "doomsday prepping", and I am already significantly over-budget, I have less than half the survival capability I would have expected, and I am having to borrow money from family just to pay for my over-buying! And the fact is, that I was buying discount items only for the most part. That means no prefab $800 "powerbanks" nor any $200 water filters, nor any propane heaters, nor a gasoline powered generator, and not even a tent or a sleeping bag! Fact is, even if you buy things at a discount, all of the little items add up 5 times faster than you would expect!
What is your fantasy? Do you think you could survive a nuclear war and a nuclear winter and not be attacked for your food, and not eventually be taken away to a slave labor camp? FAT CHANCE!
Prepping for total societal destruction is not going to work unless you have tens of millions of dollars at least! What you have to do, is analyze what this society is doing against you, and determine how you can achieve the end game scenario that is the least bad for you!
I know almost exactly what this society is doing! Here is a brief list:
1. They have deemed all real knowledge to be worthless and only value fake-knowledge based college sheepskins that cost over 100k!
2. They are drastically increasing the minimum amount of money to afford even basic housing and food! They are using their cops to attack people who try to live "off the grid".
3. They are passing laws to take away people's rights and prevent tens of millions of people from ever having decent jobs. If they can't work as a manual labor slave for peanuts, they will become homeless and/or be sent to a prison camp!
4. They are taking away economic freedoms to make it impossible to earn any money on your own or by selling things on eBay! If a big corporation (which mostly does fake things) won't hire you, then you might end up starving!
5. They have already fully brainwashed the population to never, ever listen to any reasonable arguments and to strongly prefer lies, fabrications, and many fake things!
Now that we know that surviving complete societal destruction won't work, and that such destruction is increasingly unlikely, we need to formulate the best response to the above list of things that American society is doing to try to destroy us!
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Written 11-1-2022
MY SURVIVALIST INVENTIONS:
Makeshift Tin Can Heater:
Problem: How do you heat a can of food, using a minimal amount of electrical energy and no bulky stoves or other heavy apparatus?
Solution: Remove the paper label from the can. Wrap the bare can with approximately 60 to 70 feet of 24 AWG Magnet Wire. Space out the windings along most of the length of the can, and do not bunch them up in one place. (beforehand, you should remove the insulation coating from the ends of the wire, using steel wool. Connect copper hookup wire of at least 18 gauge thickness to the ends and cover any bare copper with insulating tape.) Connect to 12V battery safely, using heavy duty clamps or clips. Recommend either 35AH AGM battery or 10AH LIFEPO4 Battery minimum. Preferably, use magnet wire rated for 200C. Its also a very good idea to use a 10A fast blow fuse. This setup uses approximately 7 amps of power and produces about 80 watts of heat. It will take 10 to 20 minutes to fully heat the can. The wire only weighs a couple ounces, but you need to be careful not to tangle it when taking it off the can. Also, when heating the can you may wrap a scarf around the outside to prevent heat loss. Make sure not to wrap the upper 1 inch or so of the can with wire, because you will want to open it right away as soon as it is heated, to prevent wasted energy.
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EPCESS - Electrically Powered Cold Environment Survival System:
Problem: How do you stay comfortable when you are sleeping in a sub-freezing environment.
Solution:
Cover yourself with plenty of blankets. Then use the EPCESS system to heat and humidify the air that you breath. The heart of the EPCESS system is an opaque box, which has insulation on the outside. Inside the box, you will want to run between one and three 10 watt long life 12 volt Zenon bulbs. You may want to put some black heat fins in the box to absorb light energy and conduct it to the air as heat. If the inside of the box itself is not made of reflective aluminum, then you may want to either cover the inside with reflective aluminum foil and/or put foil and good insulation over the outside of the box to keep the heat in. There should also be a container of water with some cloth as a wick inside the box to humidify the air. A small 12 volt fan will push some air out of the box and out through a tube. Put the end of the tube near your nose and cover your head with blankets to sleep.
The second part of the EPCESS system, consists of something to warm your sensitive ears using electrical energy. Use two large flashlight reflectors, each with a 5 watt Zenon bulb, to heat your ears as needed. (Most of the energy from a Zenon incandescent bulb is Infrared.)
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Geothermal Battery Warmer:
Problem: In the Winter, it can get to temperatures that are significantly below freezing. However, at cold temperatures, the capacity of Lead-Acid batteries is reduced, and you must not charge Lithium batteries when they are below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Normally, severe cold would render your batteries completely unusable. You need a way to keep them warm.
Solution: If you dig below the frost line, you can get some geothermal energy which will keep your batteries above freezing. Depending on how cold the winters are, you will usually need to dig a hole between 3 and 10 feet deep. If you have a basement, ideally, the hole would be located near an outside corner of your foundation and at least 10 feet away from it. Put approximately 200 feet of 1/2 inch PEX tubing into the hole, and fill it back in. Insulate any portions of the tube which are above the frost line. Use a pump, to circulate water through the tube and into your battery warming chamber. If the tube is filled with water, you will need to keep the pump running, or run it every couple minutes, to prevent the water from freezing during cold temperatures. You may also consider using some kind of antifreeze.
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EMP Protection Pouches and Boxes:
Problem: If an EMP or Electromagnetic Pulse is strong enough, it may damage or destroy any electronics which use MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) technology. All modern computer and control chips use MOS technology, and may be vulnerable.
Solution: Fabricate some aluminum foil covered bubble pouches. Aluminum foil is a very good conductor of electricity, and so it would make a very good Faraday Cage. I have tried using an all metal box, and I have even tried using a copper wire to connect the lid to the base. However, Almost every metal box or toolbox will fail the AM radio test, even if you try to electrically join the lid to the base. The only reasonably priced solution, is to construct bubble pouches or boxes which are fully covered in aluminum foil. I recommend using 4 complete layers of foil. In order for this to work, each layer has to fully cover the pouch or box with a single contiguous piece of aluminum foil. I recommend heavy duty aluminum foil which is 18 or 24 inches wide. The ends and the opening must be folded over at least twice, to block any EMP energies.