2026... I've been a licenced Radio Amateur for some 57 years, operating mostly on the VHF/UHF bands and some HF. In 2021 I returned exclusively to the 28MHz (10M) band to take advantage of Solar Maximum.
Just before Christmas 2023 my very best friend and XYL Diane (for some 46 years) passed away. Cause, Interstitial Lung Disease and the end was traumatic to say the very least. I'm still reeling...
So, I've had to make some big changes at a time when my own health is not good.
I decided to move my station into our large kitchen area, a room that I tend to use the most. You can see pictured above my current setup, a Yaesu FT-710 SDR transceiver. This is connected to an Antron 99 vertical antenna kindly donated by Don G0RQL via an earthed patch panel for safety.
My antenna mast is also very well earthed with heavy conductors because we live in an area where lightning strikes are common.
I had planned to try 70MHz (4M) band and carried out the required software update on my FT-710. Unfortunately the first antenna that I tried a simple halo was useless. Since then I have aquired a simple two element yagi which will be aimed in an easterly direction but not yet installed.
You can see that I've been experimenting with solar power and different manufacturers equipment. Panels are very cheap these days and 130Ah sealed lead acid batteries keenly priced too. Because my operating is currently somewhat intermittent, I have decided upon using two window stick on panels trickle charging two 130Ah batteries. This arrangement works really well even through winter. During summer peak sunlight hours to prevent overcharging I simply switch on my radio, it's sufficient loading then prevents over voltage. A crude arrangement but it works!
Outdoors I have four panels, two flexible ETFE 50W and two standard Monocrystalline 25W, all are connected in parallel. External connections mostly using MC4 type. These feed an inexpensive MPPT controller, nominal 12.5V circuit charging four 130Ah batteries all connected in parallel. A 2000W continuous rated (4000W peak) pure sine wave inverter delivering 220V AC is used to run some of my kitchen equipment, lighting and computer during mains power outages and through some good solar days.
Many of these Chinese origin inverters do not have easily accessible fuses, so I installed a 'Mega Fuse' 150A inline onto the battery positive terminal. This setup has worked well during recent storms and during National Grid planned works. It has also reduced to a certain degree my household electricy bill!
73 Derek G4CQM
g4cqm(at)qsl.net
