Willis DXERS'CORNER // REMOTELY from the garden

Timers are set up in the shack to control the flow of electricity. Both clocks control the on and off times of the K9AY controller and the S3. They are coordinated with the automatic switch-on times of the NUC and with the scheduler of the SDR console.

The S3 draws 12-15 watts from the batteries when switched on, 10-15 watts less than the NUC consumes. At the same time, the S3 "heats up" internally for frequency stabilisation and because of the connected GPS module like a mini oven. In permanently connected mode, it would consume almost as much energy as a second NUC. The second timer therefore relieves the batteries and creates more leeway in the winter months when the sun is weak.

Other units are connected to one of the timers via the distributor in the middle.

Posted by Administrator

The situation: I operate a remote station in the garden with only 12 V as an MW DXer. Unattended recordings are the basic requirement for this. The station switches on or off in several time intervals. That was hardly a problem with the S2, but the S3 refused to work after the restart.

The NUC is put to sleep by means of the WOSB software and started from there. An example:

xx45h: the NUC is woken up, the SDR console starts or has already started
xx50h: the S3, which was previously de-energized, is supplied with energy by means of a timer
xx55h: the recording starts

After the end of the recording, the NUC is first put to sleep. Only then is the S3 disconnected from the power. After restarting at a different time, the S3 is switched on again and connects smoothly to the SDR console. If you stick to this guideline, nothing can really go wrong. And before I forget: only one USB3 port of the USB3 controller may be occupied by the S3. So check your controller.

Posted by Administrator