Reflections about a remote mediumwave listeners station

Two new modules - all solar module units can be rotated - and a new 15 Ah charge controller now ensure that two batteries are charged in parallel. The total output of all modules amounts to 385 Wp. The capacities of the batteries remain unchanged at 120 Ah and 100 Ah. In winter, all modules can be switched to one battery. Another novelty: both batteries can now be selected with an I-0-II switch. So the fullest can be used without having to pull cables.

A new solar panel creates more energy, and a thankful discovery. During the installation of the 50 Wp panel, I discovered an unclean line connection at the 1st 100 Wp solar panel. It was the reason for more than a year accepted but insufficient charging situation. With the 2nd panel and the now clean wire, the current strength of about 0.7 A could be increased to an adequate 3.0+ A. In full sunshine this is a quadruple of the energy supply. The charging time of the batteries will be shortened by a few days. In addition, a large 4.7 Ah notebook can be operated almost lossless during the day.

The new panel in the middle of the picture, on the left a 15 Wp panel for a pond pump. Both panels are connected in parallel.

Also new is a 47 Ah car battery, which can serve as a reserve for the two 100 Ah liquid / gel batteries.

Running on the Trekstor Surftab Tablet SDR-Console V2 is the best I ever experienced. Close behind is Studio 1, followed by ELADs FDM-SW2. Current tests show that HDSDR Software could get up in my ranking because the recording scheduler allows daylie unattended recordings at different times. This opportunity is not foreseen in the commercial Studio 1 which is dissapointing. The ELAD can do this, but running on the Tablet the stutterfree Bandwidth is reduced to roundabout 700 kc. Console and Studio 1 do about 1500 kc Bandwidth which is enough for the whole MW. SDR-Console V2 recordings are not compatible to any other. All software recordings have to be started manually at least once, the same with the operation system. There is no BIOS entry allowing a timed start. Running on solar power in central Germany means that have to have enough power for continous operation. The Tablet including HD consumes between 20 and 30 Ah a day. So, less sun, less fun. That's why I am thinking of installing another 100 Ah battery additionally. During winter it is of course necessary to reload the battery at home once a week. So a second could be a standby. As you know I am running the station in a garden hut that has no WLAN, even not in the neighbourhood. The test with HDSDR Software was only short. Stuttering at 1536 kc bandwidth, so not useble for my Trekstor. If there is an improvement in one of the next updates of this software I will try again.

Welcome back to the blog!

Up from now there will be regular writing intervals again on the built-up of my remote garden station.

I used the HAM Radio Friedrichshafen to complete some gear which was missing. At the moment a couple of items wait for use in the station. A few changes in the antenna construction have been set due to mount problems.

Even without Power Bank possible

How does the tablet with mobile solar power? Connected was a RAV Power 15 W solar charger under the most favorable conditions: sunshine. There were used the ELAD FDM S2 / SW2 recorded files. The tablet ran under load with Wi-Fi, bluetooth and 100% display illumination. The test conditions showed that this use is quite possible for some hours. The solar charger provided through enough power to operate continuously.

As I wrote the other day, first tests with recordings on the ELAD FDM-S2 shows a limitation of the bandwidth to 2457.6 kHz. More is not stutterfree.

The picture shows another useful device to operate on the Tablet, a Logitech MX Master bluetooth mouse. The device can be programmed in many ways. It is, for Instance possible to change by keystroke between different types of modulation and to adjust the volume.