Aloha from a Solar Newbie in Hawaii

[sdold]

I am the only traffic handler in the entire state of Hawaii. Just because there are other ham radio stations here does not mean they are willing or even capable of being a traffic station.

Makes sense now, thanks. I understand the difficulty of getting hams to volunteer for things like this. At California OES we have ham employees and in-house and mobile HF stations ready to go, but these hams are paid and the equipment is purchased by the state, so it's a little different. Does Hawaii have anything like that? Agree with Ampster BTW ^^^

[Ampster]

........
Its all part of being a good neighbor and citizen that ham radio operators take very seriously

We are lucky to have people like you.

[WH6FQE]

Ease up there, been a ham 46 years and professionally in public safety radio and emcomm for over 40, and I had the same question as azdave. With hundreds if not thousands of HF stations in Hawaii, it's reasonable to wonder (and question) why your station is the ONLY STATION in the state of Hawaii able to provide communications in a large-scale disaster (your words) and why that important function is relegated to one individual with modest means and technical ability.

Well, to answer your question, apparently no one else in the state of Hawaii is interested in handling message traffic. I am the only traffic handler in the entire state of Hawaii. Just because there are other ham radio stations here does not mean they are willing or even capable of being a traffic station.

I am responsible for routing and delivery of all message traffic through the Radio Relay International and National Traffic System's Digital Traffic Network for Hawaii and the Pacific Region from French Polynesia to the Philippines. I also route messages bound for Oceania down to my counterpart in Australia for delivery down there in their area.

I wish other hams here would help out and handle some of the message traffic that comes through Hawaii, it would take a huge load off of me, but so far, not a single one has stepped forward.

[WH6FQE]

Thanks for justifying HAM radio, that these amateurs should be allowed to keep their precious
frequency allocations, and even do things like erect antennas. My image is that they can get
things working when nothing is working (where the heck is SUNKING?). That means more than
appliance operators, some numbers and hands on hardware.

The phone sys might be tougher than you think. Yes cells and the outlying antenna installs may
fade, but I have monitored land line central offices that never dropped a call through NJ floods,
CA earthquakes, Y2K, and a few other things. Bruce Roe

Remember, we are in Hawaii, with an undersea cable between us and the mainland US. It can easily be taken out in a major disaster. Even in minor disasters we have already had multiple situations where the phone system was completely useless because it was overloaded with everyone and their brother trying to call 911 that no one could get through.

Even satellite phones do not work in a large-scale disaster as they recently found out the hard way in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The satellites can only handle a very limited number of calls at a time, and are easily overloaded.

[sdold]

azdave,

I can tell from that comment that you clearly are not a ham radio operator and do not understand how amateur radio is used in emergency communications in disasters when there is no other form of traditional communications.

Ease up there, been a ham 46 years and professionally in public safety radio and emcomm for over 40, and I had the same question as azdave. With hundreds if not thousands of HF stations in Hawaii, it's reasonable to wonder (and question) why your station is the ONLY STATION in the state of Hawaii able to provide communications in a large-scale disaster (your words) and why that important function is relegated to one individual with modest means and technical ability.

[bcroe]

Thanks for justifying HAM radio, that these amateurs should be allowed to keep their precious
frequency allocations, and even do things like erect antennas. My image is that they can get
things working when nothing is working (where the heck is SUNKING?). That means more than
appliance operators, some numbers and hands on hardware.

The phone sys might be tougher than you think. Yes cells and the outlying antenna installs may
fade, but I have monitored land line central offices that never dropped a call through NJ floods,
CA earthquakes, Y2K, and a few other things. Bruce Roe

[WH6FQE]

WalMart would not ship the dual-fuel generators to Hawaii, they canceled my order. I also ordered them through Amazon which the order was also canceled on me. I was able to order them from Home Depot. Let's see if they will actually deliver them or not.

[WH6FQE]

azdave,

I can tell from that comment that you clearly are not a ham radio operator and do not understand how amateur radio is used in emergency communications in disasters when there is no other form of traditional communications.

Landline telephones, the internet, cellular, the police/fire/ems radio systems all rely on a delicate infrastructure that is commonly destroyed and unusable in a disaster. Ham radios are how communications are carried out for the initial phase of disaster recovery while the government attempts to restore those infrastructures to get traditional communications methods back online.

That essential radio communications depends on "individual homeowners" as you say, who are licensed amateur radio operators who volunteer our time and equipment to assist our commmunities in their time of need. ARES & RACES take care of local communications for the city, state, and federal government agencies over VHF & UHF frequencies to coordinate rescue and recovery operations, and organizations like RRI and NTS handle the long-range communications needs over HF radio frequencies.

Its all part of being a good neighbor and citizen that ham radio operators take very seriously

[J.P.M.]

I said BURY the propane tank so it is not visible and takes no lawn.

You have not answered the question about how power is consumed or if you can reduce it. You
do not find room for a generator setup, and do not have space or $ for a sufficiently large off grid
panel/battery system, so you cannot solve your problem until you at least move.
good luck,
Bruce Roe

I would think if the OP didn't have room for an above ground tank, an underground tank would also be out.

Besides, an underground tank for storage of pressurized petroleum products may be very difficult to pull off for a lot of reasons, beginning with municipal codes that recognize such necessary design requirements that are different and more involved than those of above ground storage tanks. It can be done - I've done it - it ain't your mother's storage tank - and I doubt anyone would want to pay for it.

Too bad, as propane may be part of the solution.

I do agree with you that it seems the OP hasn't done, or at least not identified here, the 1st and essential step, that is, to identify and quantify/estimate the duty (loads and duration) for the application, and the essential, that is, minimum load required to get by in an emergency.

I would offer that the 1,000 kWh/month suggested in the OP's opening post would require an off grid PV system that's a lot larger than the OP's apparently limited real estate will allow. A 400W WECS won't add much or get very far in meeting that demand either.

I'd respectfully suggest to the OP: Rather than stumble through this as you have stated, if you first figure out how to trim your loads to a bare minimum to accomplish your goals, and then get informed about the real possibilities, and equally importantly, the real and practical limitations of alternate energy you may see that your situation may be better met with less reliance on things you have limited knowledge of.

[azdave]

Keeping this station operable in a disaster is a matter of life and death as it is the only station in the state of Hawaii with the intercontinental HF data links which would be our only means of communications in a large-scale disaster.

If that is true, why is an individual homeowner taking on such a critical responsibility for the entire state of Hawaii? Seems like if it were that important they would be approving what it takes to build the backup system and providing the funding too.

[bcroe]

1958, that is when I was studying for the Morse Code portion of the test. Got distracted by high school and never took the test. My cousin did and his call sign was WA6.....We did get a tour of Don Wallace's shack (W6AM). He lived nearby and my mother knew his daughter. What a set up.

A lot of war surplus around then, some still in my attic. I could never do much with the code, but upgraded
to Extra when it was dropped a dozen years ago. Bruce

[Ampster]

...... Bruce Roe K9MQG since 1958

1958, that is when I was studying for the Morse Code portion of the test. Got distracted by high school and never took the test. My cousin did and his call sign was WA6.....We did get a tour of Don Wallace's shack (W6AM). He lived nearby and my mother knew his daughter. What a set up.

[bcroe]

Yes city HAMs have had zoning issues with antennas, but lately the Fed is stepping in to minimize that.

Any big energy setup is likely to have RFI issues, but most can be cured by a dedicated HAM.
A bit of knowledge of shielding and filtering may contain it. The gen spark plug may be shielded,
just like aircraft or mil gens. I did as much on my V8. An MPPT controller is a DC-DC converter,
a shielded box with input and output filters will contain the noise. Do not use a PWM controller,
because the switching current extends out to the panels which then become antennas. Also do
not use micro inverters or optimizers, which would require shielding/filtering at every panel.

I did not expect the military to give you fuel, but they probably have communication services. I
said BURY the propane tank so it is not visible and takes no lawn.

You have not answered the question about how power is consumed or if you can reduce it. You
do not find room for a generator setup, and do not have space or $ for a sufficiently large off grid
panel/battery system, so you cannot solve your problem until you at least move.
good luck,
Bruce Roe

[Mike90250]

....... I have no idea what kind of RF noise this generator is going to create. I do know that ALL generators create some RF interference, which will possibly prevent me from operating my radio station. I did try a small generator from Costco last year and it was completely useless as the RF interference from it completely wiped out my radios, I couldnt hear anything on the HF bands. I hope this one is better than that piece of crap was, I ended up giving that one away because I couldn't use it......

Then you are in trouble.
PWM solar charge controllers make hash 30 - 10 KHZ switching noise
MPPT controllers make more hash 5-30 MHZ switching noise
Inverters make hash too.
Most 60hZ alternators make very little noise, it's likely an unshielded/unsuppressed spark plug causing the noise.

[WH6FQE]

jflorey2
It took me over a year of fighting with the HOA before they allowed my antennas, and it wasn't until the Antenna Parity Act started making its way through congress before they finally gave in and allowed them. I also filed suit over their infringement of my first amendment protected rights since they are acting as a "quasi-governmental organization". The suit more than likely wouldn't have gone anywhere, but I had enough backing from the homeowners which refused to allow them to use their homeowner dues to fight a lengthy battle in court, so they gave in.

I also have the heads of both the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency as neighbors which also intervened on my behalf because I handle long-distance emergency communications for their agencies.

I still have strict limits on my antennas, but they are working with me on them now. We are also working with other HOA's on the island to teach them about the importance of amateur radio operators and their need for antennas to try to get other HOA's to loosen up antenna restrictions here, which we are starting to have some success with several of them.

RC
WH6FQE