More panels!

[ajaffa1]

Very good advice about staying away from these towers. I remember a group called Fathers for Justice in the UK, they protested against injustices in the divorce courts. One group climbed one of these towers to put up a banner, unfortunately they were unaware of the dangers and can no longer father anymore children.

Bob

[ajaffa1]

Hey BruceM, fortunately for me the local electrician is very knowledgeable and a campaigner against all kinds of pollution. They have recently put up another of these towers in the middle of the local village where he and his wife live. I`ll take a photo when I go to the market on Sunday.

I have purchased all  the new switch gear I need to redo the main distribution board on the house and I have already fitted two new earthing stakes. The energy company renewed the incoming overhead cable only last year.

I`ll check out Merv Loftness and work out what needs to be done to reduce the risks.

Bob

[BruceM]

 Marv Loftness wrote a book about power line EMI and how to locate and correct it.  He was a wonderful man and helped me greatly.  The ARRL also has articles on locating power line arcing. 
http://www.arrl.org/power-line-noise

The arcing happens at power voltage peaks, when current is strongest so induced voltages in hardware near the lines are greatest.  There's a spark and the resulting broad spectrum burst at 120 or 60 Hz.  Older/poor tuner AM radios are best for detecting this, as the 120 hz buzz is distinct and characteristic. A tuner which has static (white) noise between stations is what you want.  Because it's broad spectrum, the frequencies fall off with distance, so while detectable in the standard AM radio band up to 2 miles away, the Air Band AM radio will only pick up the source if you are within a few poles, typically.  I modified an Air Band radio to add an external cut down UHF yagi, with shielding of the radio. It can reliably and quickly locate the specific pole.  Spectrum analyzers DONT WORK for locating this type of low frequency pulsed broadband source, because of the way their swept tuning system works.

Someone could make a good living finding power line sources by using these simple tools and a modified MB300D like mine for the search vehicle.  I can put a whip Air Band antenna on my roof and drive the power line, since my alternator is disconnected and so are all other car sources of EMI.  Alas, I get a very bad MS flare up and headache/depression from spending time along power lines. (Or in typical home EMF levels.)

[BruceM]

To have a totally clean DC harness on the 1985 and earlier MB diesel sedans, I disconnect radio, motorized antenna control, environmental control unit, tachometer, cruise control and crankshaft TDC sensor.  The solenoids are clean resistive DC loads unless there is a dirty connector with arcing which shits the bed.  I've done some rewiring and plumbing changes to get my down the road DC load to 1 amp. (The stock 85 300D has a 2 amp solenoid energized all the time to NOT have heat.) The aftermarket alternator I modified for a filtered output and NOT using the alternator body as ground has no measurable stray field when off, though the MB stock one did. 

I use a PV panel in roof with my own linear charge regulator.  I can't drive at night anyway. A former Los Alamos physicist friend with ES converted his 1984 MB 300D headlights to LEDs w/ linear regulator, and added second larger battery in the trunk so he can drive for a quite a few hours at night now.  He does contract research now, as he can't be in a typical office (WIFI, etc) all day.

[ajaffa1]

Thanks BruceM for the link, that`s quite a lot of information to assimilate in one go. Being a bear of little brain, it could take me a while to digest it all. Then there is the issue of trying to implement/apply what I have learned. I think this is going to be one long weekend, especially with having to adjust frequencies from 60 Hz in the US to 50 Hz in Australia and the associated radio interference. I like a challenge, I`ll let you know how I go and no doubt ask a sh1t load more questions.

Bob

[ajaffa1]

Further to my previous post, I had a friend who lived in the Soviet Union before it`s collapse. He was being paid a western salary while there so he lived like a king. He decided to have his apartment redecorated, he was very surprised to find that wall paper came with it`s own built in Faraday cage to prevent the Stasi from bugging your home. I wonder if anyone is still selling such a product.

Bob

[BruceM]

Yes, there are many specialty shielding products, however, none will perform as well as good old aluminum foil.  Aluminum foil can be applied to smooth painted drywall with cornstarch paste rolled on the wall, the aluminum unrolled down the wall, and pressed down with a plastic wallpaper smoothing blade to squeegee out the excess cornstarch. Faster than wallpapering and cheaper.  The seams are foil taped.  When there are no gaps, good old household foil will provide better than -90 dBm of shielding. (Decibels of milliwatts of transmitted power.) A typical 5 bar (full signal strength)  cellular situation is -50 dBm of power.  A typical building with WIFI will be -30 dBm.  0dBm (1 milliwatt) is utterly insane, from my perspective, and is only present in close proximity to transmitters. Bob's situation is likely in the 0 dBm range.  In close proximity to transmitters it will go to the +dBm range (over 1 milliwatt).  I prefer to work and can only think in dBm because a huge range of power can be intelligibly represented with 2 digits and a sign.  I have a chart for conversions to/from other units.

Shielding is almost entirely limited by cracks and gaps in the shield; windows, doors, etc. No point in sheilding a wall if there will be big cracks and gaps. You are unlikely to get more than -7dBm of shielding by metalizing a single wall facing the source, and that is often not enough shielding to be worth the effort and expense.  You get no points for effort or cost, only for the degree of measured improvement.

[ajaffa1]

Thanks BruceM, a little investigation shows that the entire building is wrapped in an aluminium foil type insulation/vapour barrier. The property has a tin roof which might provide some protection. The trouble is there is a large picture window facing the tower, it has a glass fibre fly mesh on the outside, wonder if someone does an aluminium fly mesh?

Doesn`t help when I`m gardening or working in my shed.

Bob

[BruceM]

While the foil backed insulation will be helpful, cracks and gaps will abound (like at every outlet and light box and the base of the wall) so I would use regular aluminium screens over that big window which will provide about -22 dBm of shielding. You won't get more than that because of the gaps. etc.  Low E glass in an aluminum frame also provides about -20 dBm for cellular signals. I'm not sure 20dB will be enough in your situation, Bob.  Will know more when you can get a reading.

Another issue is that without metal siding or a foil faced sheathing board under vinyl or wood siding, all your home wiring is directly exposed.  Since you likely have corded lamps on the inside of the foil  to act as radiators, that can reduce your effective shielding by the foil to nearly nothing.  When testing ideas for low budget, lower performance shielding, I encourage testing with temporary, cheap materials such as foil faced building paper or just foil and foil tape, or a foil-plastic material such as radient guard or even space blankets. I'd put something over that window to see what you'll get with your "free" foil faced vapor barrier before blowing the dough on a screen and frame.  20dB is not a lot of shielding, but I'd take it for cheap every time.  Less than that, I wouldn't bother.



You really can't tell by looking, depends on how much power that transmitter has and whether you are centered in the beam of the antenna element covering your direction.  Readings will be highest with activity in your direction;  I don't know how rural this is and intermittent the transmissions in your direction might be.

[ajaffa1]

Hey Bruce, I tracked down the guy with the emissions testing equipment. He works as a park ranger and one of his jobs involves keeping an eye on what the Telcos are up to. I`ve invited him around and will let you know the results soon.

Back on the subject of battery storage, I have been looking into building a simple Edison battery, commercially available cells cost around $600 each . These only produce around 1.2 volts so a stack of 20 would be require to power a 24 volt inverter at a cost of $12,000. Space is not an issue where I live so I am thinking to get some 2" galvanised water pipe, cut it into 4 foot lengths and then cut a bsp thread on both ends. I will cap both ends with 2" bsp plactic pipe caps. I will then fill this with KOH which should strip the galvanising off the inside. This will become the cathode (-ve) part of my cell.

I will then drill a hole in the top plastic cap and insert a 4 foot length of 3/4 inch rebar. to increase the surface area of said rebar, I intend to place a permanent magnet on one end before rolling the rebar in iron fillings. This will then be cleaned in KOH before being nickel plated to provide the anode. Should cost less than $50 each.

If I ever get round to this particular pipe dream (bad pun  ), I`ll post some photos and data.

All advice greatly appreciated,

Bob

[BruceM]

A nickel iron battery needs a nickel oxide-hydroxide cathode. Edison used an etching process to get more surface area on the nickel cathode, for modern nicad batteries a mechanical pocket forming method was used instead. 

The prices for NIFE batteries are not even close to competitive in most situations and the US manufacturer in Colorado hasn't brought prices down a bit and is now offering lithium batteries. 

[ajaffa1]

Thanks for the reply BruceM, I was aware that nickel oxide hydroxide was the preferred coating for the cathode and that it cycles between nickel 2 oxide hydroxide and nickel3 oxide hydroxide as the cell charges and discharges. I don`t suppose you know how Edison etched his nickel cathodes?

The approach I was aiming for was to produce a lot of cheap long lasting cells rather than a few expensive high tech items. I do not expect them to have the charging density of modern Nickel/Iron batteries.

Bob

[ajaffa1]

Hey Glort, I feel your pain. My solar has also dropped off a cliff. We at least have a wood burning stove to heat the place and 20 acres of woodland to provide the fuel.

I think people in Australia are afraid of insulating their properties after the pink insulation debacle. In the UK the specifications are so much higher: cavity walls with 100mm of insulation, roofs with 300mm of insulation, double or triple glazed everything. I installed a wood burning stove in my last UK home, my Wife and I would sit in our living room in shorts and tee shirts watching the snow fall outside.

I understand the idea that Australia is generally too hot, rather than too cold but insulation keeps heat out just as well as it keeps it in. If I had the time, money and strength I would be building the most heavily insulated home I could. It would have a ducted, reverse air conditioning system with heat recovery on the incoming fresh air supply.

Kingspan make a high density fibre glass reinforced insulation sheet which can easily be cut and formed into a very efficient ducting system, the addition of zoning gates (electric flap valves) ensures that you only heat/cool the areas you require.

Try to stay warm without allowing the greedy rich to get richer,

Bob.

[ajaffa1]

Hey Glort, seeing as you have almost unlimited access to waste veggie oil ( cruise liners and etc.), have you looked into the type of furnaces commonly used in the US? They are cheap, reliable and should be very easy to adapted to burn any type of hydrocarbon, simply by changing the size of burner nozzle. The only problem I can see is the spark ignition system they use to ignite the fuel. I doubt that would work with WVO but the addition of something more flammable (Kero, Diesel or RUG)should cure that. Alternatively it shouldn`t be too difficult to set up a small LPG pilot light to initiate combustion.

Bob

[BruceM]

Bob, you probably know more about NIFE chemistry than I do. Edison had a patent on his etching process you should be able to find but patents typically don't give you all the needed details. It was chemically etched is all I can recall; my memory is shot.

Glort, I agree with Bob- if pouring 4KW of electric heat into the house does little, more insulation is clearly in order. I wonder what you have in your walls and attic?  Is the slab/stemwall concrete exposed outside?  7 doors and vast glass alone will certainly be a bugger for heating.

 You can imagine how in new designs, good design and insulation would save a fortune in heating/cooling system size and energy use.  For retrofit, walls can be blown, as can more insulation in the attic.  If the walls are already full then adding foam board on the inside or out is the next step. I had a 2200 SF home in Gilbert AZ (low desert- Phoenix Metro area) with 2" of foam over 6" wall with fiberglass insulation.   It cost me just under half what I'd been paying for AC for my previous 1100 SF home just a few miles away. (1/4 the energy per SF). Thermal bridging of wood framing is a lot more of an issue than people think, a couple inches of foam is worth more than just the added R value.

Super insulated home walls are typically R40 via 12" of fiberglass or the equivalent in foam and fiberglass or other.  R80 attic and at least R24 for stem wall and slab depending on soil temps. The minimum standards for new construction insulation are a farce in today's world, and should be changed to much higher levels.  Another thing that would help is to shoot the architects who design in sweeping expanses of glass for more extreme climates without some sort of insulating panels or shutters outside.  Each layer of glass is R1, roughly, so a double is R2 and triple pane is R3.  That is a thermal disaster.  Lots of doors - much the same problem, and not from leakage.  An insulated door might be R3.  I have the outside door to an airlock/coat and jacket/storage area that I only partially heat. 

One of my pet peeves is that instead of handing free money to big banks. a government low/no interest loan program to homeowners to add insulation, solar hot water, etc. should be done.  Conservation is the best payback you can ever get.  This creates jobs and would save a great deal of energy use, and could cost nothing to taxpayers. Better to spend a little more to have it well run with regionally appropriate insulation/energy upgrades with energy use data collection and publicly available so that people don't pay for white elephants. Likewise, interest free or very low interest insulation upgrades for new construction make sense.

In the winter I stuff my windows with a Reflectrix type aluminized double bubble layer material, which is worth about R8 facing the interior.  It cuts my night time loss in half.  If we have a heat wave over 100F and wildfires so I can't cool off at night passively, I stuff 1/2 of my windows during the day. I still have solar tubes for lighting and leave some of the N. windows unstuffed for light.  I also use the Reflectrix stuck to the inside of my security screen door via velcro in the winter.  It then acts as an insulated storm door and noticeably keeps the "insulated" door less frosty.  Our winter nightime temps are typically 15F but can be as low as -12F.

Pardon the rambling, please.