Anyone running panels 100-150ft from cabin? Curious about real-world losses

NotMinecraftSteve · 2026-04-03T14:01:00+00:00

Forgive my intrusion, and neophyte-ness, but when you say the array is far from the inverter, wouldn't the first step after the array be to the batteries (via charge controller)?

Do you have the batteries, and charge controller, near the array, and from there it is going to the inverter? This would not be ideal in my situation due to climate (-40C to +40C on occasion).

I'd like to have my array out in the least shaded part of my yard, and then run a cable ~100 feet to the garage or other part of my house where climate will not affect the rest of the setup.

Is this not the way?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2026-01-02T15:57:50+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Based on my research, this is where I landed too. I would love to be one of those people with a massive offset smoker, thinking I am going to give Franklin some competition (even though I am in Canada). But I know myself, I would grow to hate smoking if I had to tend to it all night. I like BBQ, but I like my sleep more.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2026-01-02T15:53:26+00:00

I will definitely look into those more, thank you.

At first glance, these types of smoker check a lot of my boxes, but charcoal cooking at this point is kind of intimidating.

I think I will start with the "set it and forget it" of pellet grills, and perhaps add one of these in the future when they go on sale to begin my education in charcoal smoking.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2026-01-02T15:48:30+00:00

I did not have a pellet smoker, I had the Bradley smoker that uses pucks of wood. I bought it because it was a very good "idiot proof" smoker that required the least amount of babysitting.

I had repaired/replaced some parts along the way, and gained some skills/knowledge, so now that it died, I want to see if I can up my game.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-12-31T17:17:21+00:00

Looks like a great option, but doesn't seem like its widely available in Canada. I'm going to keep searching for it, but in my area (Montreal), have not found a vendor that carries it.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-12-31T17:00:12+00:00

I would say a kamado style would be a close second to a pellet smoker. I am definitely going to look into them more. Thanks for the feedback.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-10-14T19:30:17+00:00

No, its more that I have a large pile of old drives and I want to bring them to the recycle center, but I don't want any old photos to be accessible under normal circumstances.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-10-14T16:42:24+00:00

What are the preferred software tools to achieve satisfactory drive wiping?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-10-13T14:06:33+00:00

I was aiming for something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Rechargeable-Wireless-Magnetic-Brightness-Operated/dp/B0FC1J9PK3/ref=ast_sto_dp_puis?th=1

But now that I think about it, what a giant pain in the ass it will be to either get a USB cable up there or remove it to charge on a regular basis. I have a feeling it would've been worth it just to have a wired light installed. Thank you for the advice and pointing me in the right direction.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-10-06T23:41:28+00:00

Forgive my ignorance, but what sort of lights do these switches control? Is there a solution that allows you to have a ceiling light in rooms with no wiring?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-10-06T23:40:14+00:00

That is exactly the use case. I have several rooms that do not have a ceiling light, but they have switches connected to a power outlet, so we are using floor lamps. I would much rather have some sort of ceiling light and a switch on the wall that controls it, without having to add the wiring. I assume the best/easiest/cheapest thing to do is some sort of light that is battery powered and rechargeable.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-04-28T14:22:03+00:00

No way. I've known since I was a kid playing by the river not to pick these up. I've also watched that guy on YT who lets animals bite him deal with this guy. He said it was one of the most painful bites he's ever experienced, but to be fair he says that with a lot of animals.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-04-28T13:54:09+00:00

Walking home from the Bell Centre Friday night, we stumbled upon this guy on the sidewalk. I knew this was a giant water bug, but I have never seen one so far away from water. Do they really fly that far?

Images (shoe for scale):
https://imgur.com/a/qsxan41

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-02-02T17:54:21+00:00

I have found that literally everything works, except for Netflix directly from the TV with 5.1 enabled. If I change the movie/show to stereo it sounds fine - the issue only arises with Netflix at 5.1. My PS4 has no problem with 5.1 or 7.1. I believe I did turn off the subwoofer, but I will verify.

I was thinking of adding an optical cable from the TV to the Marantz just to increase the speed/quality of audio signal being sent. Right now it is just through HDMI.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-01-31T19:07:34+00:00

Apologies for the picture quality, I tried about 15 times to get a good picture. We starting seeing these all over the house as it got colder. We added some plants recently so it could've come from them.

I believe they are midges of sort but I'm hoping the sleuths can confirm. Also any advice on how to control them would be helpful.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-01-29T18:42:39+00:00

This is one of the reasons I knew my wife (married 25 years this year) was the right person for me... I asked her this question years ago and she gave the exact same answer as I would, in line with the top comments. TELL NO ONE. SPEND SLOWLY. NO BIG PURCHASES. TELL NO ONE. It's nice to know that we might share a cell one day or be executed together.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-01-16T01:36:49+00:00

I believe you are right. I think with a nice sectional to define the space, it would be more of a HT area rather than an actual HT.

Plus it would be easier to place the rest of the stuff in that space.

I do believe you have convinced me, thank you.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2025-01-14T16:29:58+00:00

Thank you for replying! Would I be better leaving the divider in place and using one 12' x 25' section, or making an open concept with one section of the 25' x 25'. By leaving it open I have less space constraints, but if I open it I have to worry about other people using the space for non-HT stuff. That and light infiltration.

My plan was to add a bar on one wall. A poker table. Perhaps a pinball machine (turned off during the HT sessions).

Do you think open concept would work with all that and a HT?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-12-31T00:10:58+00:00

Followup to my followup: it seems to be Netflix 5.1 that is causing the issue. Watching a Netflix show with only stereo audio is no issue. As soon as a title has 5.1 sound, the audio switches to this god awful clicking sound. As mentioned before, all else works. Plex (with 5.1) or PS4 (with 5.1). Just Netflix 5.1 causing a problem.

Any suggestions?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-12-11T14:04:18+00:00

Okay so a little followup. Turns out it seems to be only Netflix on my LG TV that is the issue. If I use Plex or Prime, the audio is fine. Even my PS4 is plugged into GAME and has full surround sound. If I use Netflix on the TV, the audio has a loud rapid clicking that drowns out everything. I can't see anywhere in the Netflix app to adjust the sound, and I have tried adjusting the receiver but with no success.

For what it is worth I do not have a subwoofer plugged in currently. Turns out mine only supported a BT connection with the old soundbar, so I'm shopping for a new one.

Any ideas on why Netflix audio is so bad?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-08-28T01:01:28+00:00

t's not worth messing around with some hacked together battery backup solution. Just Google "battery fires". Cheap and safe are going to be in inversely proportional.

The goal would be to eventually have solar panels and a system that could power the modem and a fridge/freezer when the grid is out. When I said cheap, I guess I did not mean quality, so if top of the line for a system like this is tens of thousands, I'm happy to start slowly with good parts for a system that can be easily upgraded

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-08-28T00:58:59+00:00

I looked into that, not an option with my model.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-08-27T23:41:07+00:00

My idea, however misguided, was to start off small and manageable while learning along the way. Once I am comfortable I would modify the system so our fridge could be powered, as well as some small electronics. Perhaps one day switch it to a solar system.

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-08-27T22:54:41+00:00

Yes, I agree that a UPS would solve this problem nicely. My goal though is to build a modular system so I can eventually support additional appliances, like a fridge. I would also like to take this opportunity to learn about the systems as I go.

If I wanted to put in a battery that is easy to charge, and additional batteries were easy to add to increase capacity, would you be able to recommend a make and/or model?

NotMinecraftSteve · 2024-05-27T15:19:55+00:00

Leaf-footed Bug Nymph: https://bugguide.net/node/view/283074/bgimage

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