STEPHENSON MOUNTAIN REPEATER SITE
SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION
In the past several years the repeater at Stephenson has
had less than desirable performance during the winter. Batteries were not able
to stay charged due to the charge ability of the panel and of course the
available sunshine. So 2 new solar panels were purchased with help from the
Region 7 Hospital grants. And in early fall, Mike Smith AD7GC, Jeff Moore
KE7ACY, John Cherry KE7GYB and Max Vaughan KF7MAX headed up to the top, and with
almost a full day spent, managed to take out the old system, install some more
batteries, take down the old panel and put up two brand new ones, with all new
wiring and conduit to the repeater building. Since then the repeater has
performed better than expected and will be a valuable and dependable asset for
future activities and emergency service. .......
KF7MAX.... Pics coming soon!!
The lone solar panel that we replaced. Did a decent job in the
summer, but when winter rolled around. It just could not keep the batteries up.
Home for the Fire lookout most of the fire season. You can just
see him in the second window from the right. Always kept a close eye on us and
our activities. In case you think he is British, not so, the flag is a copy of
the Pre-Revolutionary War prior to the stars and stripes.
View from the Top looking about North East. Towards the JohnDay
River Valley where the North Fork meets the JD River.
John KE7GYB and Jeff KE7ACY taking in the view to the northeast, before starting work. Come on guys burning daylight!!
Left to right...Max KF7MAX getting parts for Mike AD7GC who is manning the screw driver and John KE7GYB supervising.
Max and Mike. "You are going to have to squeeze that a bit harder if you expect it to be secure!"
While the wiring was being done, the panels are shielded from the sun so the workers don't have any unexpected sparking action.
Panels online and charging away. The tilt angle favors the winter sun angle more than the summer angle.
Most installs would be in the middle of the two angles. We added a few degrees to the south in order to insure that the shorter days would be maximized with what ever sun was available at that time.
Our charge controller at work, just before it was buttoned up. When we get back up there in the late spring, we will be able to download some charge history from the controller to see its performance. Being able to do this remotely during the winter is a goal that we hope have in place by winter 2011.