Search Results for: photo power inverter

Every time I pass a cabin in the wilderness

Lately every time I pass a small hunting cabin up in the woods on a trail I have to stop briefly to observe it and reflect about my future in the wilderness. A simple time, one where I can enjoy the adventures of a more natural life in a place of my own free of all the distractions and tackiness of modern living. It often spurs me to see if I can somehow find more money to save and invest.

I really enjoy working with 12 volt power on my truck and would welcome the challenge of wiring a house with a simple 12 volt system. I could use boost and buck converters to power everything from my laptop to USB power ports through out. Maybe use an inverter to power a refrigerator but I want to avoid working with potentially much more dangerous 120 volts as possible. My focus would be on minimizing my consumption of power and energy as much as possible. I could build a custom highly efficient lighting system controlled by Bluetooth using common Chinese components you can order from the internet.

What I like about the hunting cabins is they are small and simple to clean. Muddy boots aren’t a problem. No hideous carpet. I’d rather have a floor you can shovel our like a barn – but maybe a gutter track is a step too far. Gawd I hate cleaning unless of course it involves hauling stuff out back and burning it. Plan to do that with a lot of junk when I have land. Everything is always dirty and needing cleaning in my apartment. I much rather have simple things to clean and a small space.

I would want to make sure that I had a well insulated building though, and an efficient modern wood stove. I like building fires and heating with wood give me such a chance. I also would want to have hot water primarily for showers but also for dishes. Got to be able to get cleaned and washed up. Paper plates are fine but hot water really helps with pots and pans. Instant on hot water heaters that run on propane are becoming common so that’s not a big deal. Having a good water supply is important as hauling water is a lot of work, but there are many ways to collect, pump purify water.

I’m totally fine with outhouses or a composting toilet system, they work fine as long as you keep them separate from water. I can always use a bucket shitter inside during the winter and dump it out in the outhouse in the morning. Shit doesn’t scare me.

I’d have a big fire pit out back for summer evenings out back enjoying the stars and so I could burn my own trash. It would be great to sit out back all summer long with starry skies. I’d crush and save up the tin cans and beer cans for recycling, maybe get a few bucks at the scrap yard and only take a small load maybe once a year to the transfer station. I hate landfills, this way I could have no part of them and get to play with fire to boot. As a single guy who doesn’t buy much in packaging it’s not like there would be that much to burn at any rate.

I can’t imagine I would ever have internet at home but I would most certainly have a smartphone for the necessary purposes and for updating my blog. I could always use a public library to connect to the internet to upload videos after work. And no I doubt I’d ever own a television as I hate staring at a screen watching a mindless program.

Cat Mountain Cabin to be demolished by DEC

Twenty two years ago on this September 11th 🇺🇸

Hard to believe it was 22 years ago that I was a freshman in college at Hudson Valley Community College on that day with the bright blue skies, listening to Amy Goodman and seeing those terrorist attacks on television at my college statistics class before college adjourned for the day and I spent it just walking along High Point Road in Berne, looking up and noticing the skies without airplanes above.

Good morning! Rain showers and 69 degrees in Delmar. ☔ Calm wind. The dew point is 65 degrees. The skies will clear Wednesday around 11 pm.

Catching the earlier express bus 🚍 downtown so I walk 🚶 in the Plaza before work as it’s really not a particularly nice day. Kind of a dreary autumn day, though at least not so hot. Certainly not the crisp, clear day of 22 years ago. I don’t want to go back to those days with all trials and tribulations ahead of me as I started in college, 🎓 it’s kind of nice to be in the midlife even if things aren’t perfect every day. That was quite a time, when so much possibility ahead existed, when I was learning so much and changing so quickly. I was bad yesterday, didn’t get my steps in, 👣 but this morning I plan to do the stairs maybe twice at work, and walk the Plaza in an attempt to get in 10,000 steps for the day.

Twenty two years is a long time ⏳ even if in the grand scheme of things it’s not. 14 ½ years from now my mom was pointing out I will be 55 years old and if I’m still working for the state at that point I’ll have in close to 30 years and can collect my Tier 4 pension if I decide to do alternative things. 💵 Maybe move out west, have that off-grid homestead property I want. By then I’m hoping to have $1.5 million in assets put away though some I won’t be able to tap until 59 1/2 (IRA) but it’s still young enough that if I stay healthy and continue to improve my physical shape there is a lot of possibilities at that age. September 11th in 2001 seems like just yesterday but it was a long time ago now. 🏙

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 71 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 67 at 1pm. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 74 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1931.

Listening to Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning while doing my morning walk 🚶 around the Plaza. I’m actually surprised there is less of a police 👮 presence as there was in years past on the anniversary. I guess September 11th has been forgotten but then again it was more than a generation ago now – and I’m sure the threat analysis by terrorism center kept the color code green or blue. I remember that day so well, listening to the attacks live with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, followed by that somewhat old lady troublemaker sounding Rezsin Adams who read 📖 from the Nation Magazine like she did every morning after Democracy Now on WRPI. It’s been decades now since she was kicked off the radio, 📻 and going on three years since her passing. It’s good I got to know her when I was at her house folding the Save the Pine Bush newsletter.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 52° from the due south horizon (-18.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:38 pm with the sun in the west (271°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (277°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:15 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 7:41 pm, which is one minute and 46 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:17 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 70 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 44 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday, after a few hours of cussing including on Facebook 🤬 and playing around with controls on my bike and some internet research, I got the bicycle shifting smoothly again. ⚙ 🚲 I think what happened is a snagged the front derailleur cable on some bushes when I was riding at the back country at Thacher Park, plus over the past 750 miles or so of riding, cables have stretched. I think it’s good enough for now, though come the end of the year, I’ll take Blackie to the shop for a full tune up — the gears professionally adjusted for smooth shifting along with the wheels trued again. 🚵‍♀️ If I have continued problems with noisy operation or rough shifting, I will just take it back to Steiner Sports to get tuned up and maybe that cable replaced in the front. Sucks I have to put more money into the bike already, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not going to cost that much, even in these inflationary times. The gear adjusting is actually pretty simple to do, I can’t imagine they would charge a small fortune for 5 minutes on the bike stand to index the gears.

I also glued back together the lid on my mini food processor/chopped 👨‍🍳 and it’s working fine after shattering yesterday, but I got looking at getting a full-sized food processor with a dough blade and a big enough motor to knead dough. I would then “retire” my mini-food to my camping supplies, as it works well enough now glued together but I really want something for more power for at home, especially if want to use it to help automate the bread and dough making processor, make chickpea and red lentil flower, larger batches of hummus, etc. 🍞 🍌 I don’t mind kneading dough, but it sure would be convenient to dump the ingredients in, have things kneaded for me without a full bread machine. Looking at $60 model at Wally World, which is not a super high-end but should do that trick with enough power, assuming my dough aren’t so sticky and far more powerful then the 70 watt mini processor.  Truth be told I don’t need the mini-food processor for camping, but I sure like the sauces it makes, and how it mills the oatmeal perfectly for oatmeal-banana pancakes, and perfectly scrambled eggs. And it really has minimal current draw on the inverter.

I am a little worried about money, 🤑 but this week is a pay week and my credit card bill gets retired on Friday automatically, so that will help restore my credit limit. It’s funny but when you do the Autopay, it does it the date the bill is due, so it really covers the cost of summer vacation now. Plus I’ve had more costs with inflation, high food and gas prices ⛽ and a lot more summer travel over the past few months — to say nothing of getting more spices and kitchen supplies for doing more cooking. 🥘 But it’s good as eating healthier is an investment in my future. And it most of my concerns are short-term, if I have to move money around for a few days from a rainy day fund, it’s not the end of the world.

Tonight will be scattered showers, mainly before 7pm. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 61 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 19th. Maximum dew point of 66 at 6pm. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1875.

I think I might have a bladder infection 🚽 as I am going to the doctor’s this afternoon to get checked out. For a while I was chocking going to the bathroom at night and having to stop so much when traveling to just eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables with farm stand season underway, especially all those aciditic tomatoes and peaches, 🍑 🍅 but I was talking to my parents this weekend, and I think it’s best to get it checked out, especially before it could spread to my kidneys. Turns out it’s a simple test, and then antibotics if necessary. And then relief from pissing all of the time. It’s kind of bad that I can’t go anywhere these days without needing a pee break every hour or so, especially in the morning. Maybe I need to cut back on the coffee but I think I might also have an issue — and I’ve noticed some soreness since Friday.

Cool almost autumn like weekend ahead. 🍂 Maybe the North Country will have it’s first hints of autumn this weekend. I thought about heading north, but I think I’d rather wait for more color. It will be refreshing after all the heat and humidity of late. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Maximum dew point of 53 at 12pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Maximum dew point of 58 at 12pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 75 degrees. 😀

This weekend I would like to head out of town. ⛺ Maybe Rennselearville State Forest or hammock camping at Cole Hill State Forest is an inexpensive option, I know mom wants me to go apple 🍏 picking with dad come Sunday. Not totally sure, the sunsets are so much earlier this time of year. If I want to head north, it’s best to take off Friday and just leave early that day to get north. That said, I think I’d rather wait until there is more color for a trip up north. 🍂 I wouldn’t mind a couple of quiet nights in the woods, even though the nights are much longer now, and some trail riding.

Looking ahead but not forward, next Monday is 7 PM Sunset 🌆 with dusk at 7:28 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain and temperatures between 80 and 62 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 74 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1891.

Tree on Bank of Lake Ontario

Rural electricifican

The other day driving past the hunting camps and rural homes up on the dirt roads around Gas Springs NY, I was a bit surprised how far the electric lines extended into this area to very remote farms and camps on dirt roads. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised – rural electricifican has extended to nearly all corners of our country – but it seems like in an era of solar power, batteries and inverters, to be incredibly expensive and wasteful to have run lines all that way out there.

Power Lines

While rural electricifican efforts got underway in the 1930s, many of the more remote farms and homes didn’t get electricity until the 1950s or even 1960s. It seems hard to imagine a modern dairy without electricity to run the pumps or coolers but many other farms certainly did. They had all kinds of belt driven equipment that often ran off of Blackstone and other primitive motors. The modern tractor PTO had yet to be standardized.

December 17, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy Thursday after the Snow Storm. 🌨 Thanks to the Corona there are no more snow days but also no more buses to tromp through 👢 in the snow Next Thursday is Christmas Eve 🎅. Snow and 17 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ There is a north breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 4. Things will start to thaw out at Sunday around noontime. 🌡️Long cold period ahead but my apartment is eaem

Honestly I am not impacted by the storm 🌨, as I don’t have to go anywhere today as I’ll work from home. 🏡 I do dig out my truck. I did knock the snow off my truck and later on today I’ll pull off the tarp and shovel off the truck. 🚚 This evening I’ll probably go out for my walk once the sidewalks are plowed. It’s a lot of snow but so be it. The Adirondacks didn’t get a lot snow although more than expected but I don’t think I’ll get up there for camping 🏕 at least not until Christmas Day. 🎄🎅🏻❄

Work has been busy the past few days 📝, but I’ve been getting good at moving files 📂 between my phone and laptop. I actually prefer using my phone over the computer because I can carry it around in my hand 🖐🏻 and I’m not forced to be chained to a desk. 🔗 Next week I have to renew my phone 📱 plan and I’m going to month to month and I will then have 20 gb of Hotspot data for things I can’t do through my phone. 📶 I expect another busy day, I have an afternoon meeting and more plans to review.

Today will snow, mainly before noon. The snow could be heavy at times. 🌨 High of 23 degrees at 12pm. 12 degrees below normal. North wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 30 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1984. 11.1 inches of snow fell back in 1970.❄

Going to be cold the next few days. ❄ But except for digging out my truck and my morning and evening walks 🚶🏻 I don’t have to leave home. My heat is working well this year, and that little heater I bought the other day quickly takes the chill off the room and when used occasionally it doesn’t cost that much to operate – according to my Kill-a-Watt meter. Obviously it wouldn’t work with my inverter or solar power but when I have my own land I’ll have a woodstove for heat. ♨

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:53 am with sun having an altitude of 24° from the due south horizon (-46.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (230°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (238°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 4:55 pm, which is 20 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the south-southwest (210°) at an altitude of 20° from the horizon, 238,365 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:32 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 22 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 18 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 11 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 3 at 5am; North wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2019, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 14 degrees. The record low of -9 occurred back in 1919.

I am continuing to experiment with the 3D mapping 🗺 feature of QGIS. I’m thinking about doing some snow ❄ depth maps. Among other things that I can do with the technology. I kind of wish I had regular internet at home for WMS streams 🌐 so I could do more renderings using aerial photos

The other day I downloaded the first volume of the Foxfire Book 📙 and have been reading it on my phone. I actually like reading books on my phone – the pages flip like a book but my phone is lightweight and fits in a single hand.

Today in 1777 during the American Revolution, France formally recognizes the United States. 🍟 Now we celebrate 🎉 with freedom fries in PFOA lined containers although not for much longer.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 28. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Sunday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

As previously noted, next Thursday is Christmas Eve 🎅 when the sun will be setting at 4:26 pm with dusk at 4:58 pm. On that day in 2019, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2015.

Even on a gray day, hiking the farm tower is nice

July 1, 2020 Night

Good evening! Clear and 69 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌃 Calm wind. The dew point is 64 degrees. A bit sticky but that’s to be expected for the first day of July.

Weather wise I wouldn’t call it a banner day for starting off July alrgoufgt it is clear now but it was raining on and off all day. ☔ It even started to rain when I went down to the library to work on the park bench. 💻 I think it was fine to sit in the bench, it was outside and there was nobody too close. I miss walking 🚶 down to the library after work. I also went for my evening walk. It’s a pretty nice evening. Been watching some of the Traplines and Inlines YouTube channel out back. 🎦

Working down at the library Monday and Tuesday with the laptop and fan plugged in 🔌 and forgetting about the inverter being left on meant my battery bank 🔋 is a bit worn down although there was some sun to charge it today but not a lot. I’m hoping tomorrow with the sun plus driving I’ll get my battery bank fully charged.

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers before 11pm. Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 61 degrees at 4am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around July 3rd. Maximum dew point of 64 at 10pm. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 40 occurred back in 1978.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon with 89% illuminated. At 10 PM, the moon was in the south (176°) at an altitude of 29° from the horizon, some 229,354 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by December 22nd. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The Buck 🦌 Moon is on Saturday, July 4. The darkest hour is at 1:00 am, followed by dawn at 4:48 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:22 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Sunrise is 32 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:05 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 45 minutes of darkness, an increase of 41 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Mostly sunny and hot 🌞, with a high of 90 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 12pm. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 84 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1966.

So tomorrow is going to be a hot one. 😰 I have a big project for work and I’ll probably work down at the library for a while then down to the Henry Hudson Park and sit down by the river. I want to get some Sparklers ✨ at Walmart and a few other supplies, especially Bluetooth headphones.

Friday is a holiday at work and I’m thinking of doing some hiking assuming it’s not too stormy. 🚶 Saturday is Independence Day and I’m thinking that looks like a good day to spend out fishing and then maybe going out to see the folks house. 🎣Then Sunday, I’m thinking about heading out to Vermont and camping and working from there until the heat wave breaks 🌊 sometime in the future. Nothing is set in stone but it seems like a good plan.

I like the idea of Vermont 💡as I can set up camp and work from there all week. Once concern I do have is that I might not be real close to a general store for ice and that’s important with it being so hot. I guess I can avoid things that have to be cool but I want cold drinks when camping. Plus the sites with the best solar power are going to be less nice in the sun. ☀ Maybe the whole idea isn’t set in marble yet.

In four weeks on July 29 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (296°) at 8:18 pm,🌄 which is 18 minutes and 15 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 92 and 67 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 82 and 62 degrees. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1894.

Tanker Ship Coming Down The Hudson

June 18, 2020 Night

Good evening! Mostly clear and 66 degrees at Mason Lake. 🌃 Calm wind. The dew point is 59 degrees.

Not right on the lake like last time I camped up here but so be it. ⛺ This campsite has decent sunshine and okay cell service so I’m hoping to work all day here tomorrow but it will depend on if I need high speed internet for work and how hot it gets and how much I want to go to Spectulator Beach for a swim. 🏊

Kept camp simple for the night 🌃 as I just wanted to hang out and relax and I wanted to avoid draining the battery bank 🔋 so I have plenty of energy ⚡ for work tomorrow. The truth is the propane lantern 🏮 in the screen tent plus the ordinary 12 volt lamp in the truck cap is plenty.

Gathering wood for the fire 🔥 I think I wandered into a patch of poison ivy. 🌿Not sure if I got any of the urushol on my legs but I washed them down with water 💦 and soap and changed my socks. I also washed my hands. ✋ Hoping I won’t break out later in the weekend. I knew about the poison ivy in the area and I spotted several three leaf plants near the campsite but most of them where black berry. The poison ivy was down the road from camp.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, partly cloudy , with a low of 58 degrees at 5am. Typical for tonight. Maximum dew point of 59 at 11pm. Calm wind. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was humid. It got down to 66 degrees. The record low of 38 occurred back in 1950.

Tired 😴 and it was relatively late by the time I got up here as I worked from home and had a few loose ends so I didn’t get to leave right at five. Plus this area is a bit longer drive than Piseco Powley Road which not only is closed on the south end but lacks the essential cell service I need for work. 📝

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 5% illuminated. Really good for observing 🔭 the stars tonight – quite clear. The Buck 🦌 Moon is on Thursday, July 2. The darkest hour is at 1:00 am, followed by dawn at 4:41 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:17 am in the northeast (56°) and last for 3 minutes and 32 seconds. Sunrise is 7 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (63°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 34 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 9 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have isolated showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny , with a high of 80 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 22nd. Maximum dew point of 61 at 7am. ☀ Light south wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 1995.

So at the meeting today we were told we had to work a half day on Saturday 💻 and to plan on working late Monday and Tuesday. That said, I’ll probably just work from camp. Going to have to change sites on Sunday but I have a plan. If I can’t get the site I want I might head home Sunday night. Otherwise I’ll stay up until Wednesday – and the who knows. I was thinking I could head up north of Tupper Lake or even up to Saint Lawrence County or maybe the places in the Tug Hill where I have good reception 📶. From the meeting this morning it sounds like our physical office 🏢 won’t be reopening anytime soon. I just hope the bus service is back up and running before then. 🚍

Big Red drives nice with the new ball joints and tie rod ends. 🚘 It wasn’t cheap and while if I was a mechanic I could have saved a bucket of money 🔧 I shouldn’t have to worry about either failing in the life of the vehicle at this point. I can cringe at the cost but I knew it would be necessary after a number of years with the lift kit – which has been on the truck for five and a half years now. I’m much more able to get in and out of tight turns and it rides quieter and steers a hell of a lot better. Hopefully the uneven tire wear will be arrested too. I had budgeted for it when I bought the lift kit and it’s not like I’ve not destroyed them on every other car I’ve owned with the shitty roads I drive. Price the shop quoted me was basically the same price as when I had a similar job quoted on my old truck years ago.

My truck may be pissing a lot of money away 💸 but having a fun car at least once when you are young is worth it if only for the lifetime of memories. I’ve learned so much about batteries 🔋, electricity and solar power and its lead to many nights in the wilderness. 🐺 Could I have given the money away to feed needy children 🚸 or invested it?💰 Sure but it was luxury I could afford and I go without plenty of things like air conditioning, or high speed internet at home. I don’t take expensive vacations, I’m happier wilderness camping ⛺.

The fan I bought yesterday 💨seems to be quite powerful and when the motor heats up uses a little under 35 watts and a bit more when cold. It’s alternating current so there will be greater inverter and reactance loses than my DC fan I use in my truck cap but it’s a lot easier to run 120 volt AC line back to the screen tent 🎪 especially if I’m also charging my laptop and phone 📱 for work.

In four weeks on July 16 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:35 pm,🌄 which is 6 minutes and 4 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had hot, humid, partly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 92 and 60 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1900.

Settles Hill

The truth is …. 60 Hz Alternating Current Kind of Sucks

The truth is …. 60 Hz Alternating Current Kind of Sucks

Power Lines

In North America, 60 Hz is the standard of alternating current. It was a rather nasty compromise between frequencies, chosen as a “sweet spot” between:

  1. Line losses due to high-frequency currents – The higher the frequency of AC the greater loses due to impedance caused by the voltage and current becoming out of sync due to the induction created by the line (time it takes for the magnetic field to appear and collapse on the wire). It’s not practical to send 400 Hz over any length of wire due to losses.
  2. Size of the transformer needed to step and step down voltage – The higher the frequency of AC, the smaller the transformer needs to be. The magnetic energy in alternating current “exists” in the alternating voltage, so if the voltage is alternating faster, a small transformer can move more power.  Smaller transformers use less copper, they’re cheaper to build, and they’re generally more efficient.
  3. The ability to power light bulbs with minimal smoothing. Incandescent bulbs can be powered directly from 60 Hz alternating current, as it takes more then 1/60th of a second for an incandescent bulb to cool down enough to notice the crossing of zero point. Additionally, with 60 Hz power, a relatively small capacitor can be used to smooth out rectified power to drive an LED light, for fixtures that use a large number of LEDs in series.
  4. The ability to power low-power AC motors. 60 Hz alternating current can and does drive many AC motors, but it does require relatively large motors compared to motors operating at 400 Hz. Not only do 60 Hz alternating current motors require much larger coils then 400 Hz motors, they are less efficient.

Airplanes traditionally use to 400 Hz power, as it saves quite a bit on weight for their electrical motors and transformers. Likewise, traditional automotive alternators generate power in the 400 Hz range, before going through a bridge rectifier and a series of capacitors to smooth out the voltage to direct current. But transferring 400 Hz power, or for that matter boosting and bucking high-current DC can be difficult and prone to electronic failure compared to traditional mains frequency transformers.

But increasingly, we are seeing more uses of high frequency alternating current and direct current, especially in consumer devices. Most modern electronics are powered by switch-mode power supplies, which use high-frequency transformers (as high as 1,000,000 Hz) to safely step down voltage in an isolated fashion. More motors today are driven using inverters, which similarly create a higher-frequency current to provide more power with loss copper and less losses. Controlling the frequency of the current, allows motors to be precisely controlled in their speed, it’s more efficient and accurate then simply chopping off part of the sine wave using thyristor as was done in the olden days to control motor speed.