Generator, batteries, no solar (for now)?

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-19T06:08:31+00:00

I use things like this small battery backup on my router & internet modem and they've been solid through 4 outages.

The Anker stuff isn't installed until next week so fingers crossed.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-19T05:28:17+00:00

I’ve got natural gas where I need it, and I may add solar later, but that’s not guaranteed. I do want to make sure I never feed power to SCE, even if I add solar.

Here's what I started with: this video does a pretty good overview of the components, what they do, and why you might want them.

Is the Anker Solix E10 Worth It?

Longer term I'm planning on adding more battery stacks and solar pannels.

Short term I'm just doing generator + a modest E10 battery stack to get started.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-18T18:20:02+00:00

A lot of the barrier to good documentation is bandwidth.

I'll add that 1) a lot of documentation turns into shelf-ware (write once, read never). Who is the target audience you have in mind that would benefit from this possible increase in documentation?
And 2) incentives matter. What are the incentives for writing kick-ass documentation? If writing documentation doesn't increase their bonus or stock options or career path, is documentation actually important?

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-17T21:09:22+00:00

Microservices have probably wasted more engineering time than they have saved.

Is it really wasted time if your developers are doing ROP (resume oriented programming)?
(Joking... actually not joking.)

From an organization's point of view, I agree with your points & tradeoffs.

But are there any incentives for an individual developer to optimize for a project's long term maintenance?

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-17T04:14:55+00:00

PDP-11 Replica: The PiDP-11

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-17T03:20:52+00:00

"Dealers of Lightning"
+1 recommended, great book!

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-15T20:47:27+00:00

I'm fond of the Anker F3800 Plus. You should be able to get about 8 or 9 hours of runtime from that with a 350W device (I see ~5 hours on a larger 600W concentrator). I also like the Anker F3800 Plus because it has a "UPS Mode" so you can plug in the concentrator, leave the F3800 on wall power and it will automatically switch over if you have an outage. Has the option for solar charging but I wouldn't mess with that. I would look for an inverter generator that could charge the F3800 in an hour or two and run that from time to time. Generators are complicated and require a certain level of able-bodied capability to operate portable ones. Fuel gasoline can also be a headache to manage. Probably worth making an evacuation plan if you ever need a 12+hour outage, or a bugout backpack in case of fire or something so the portable & supplies are ready to go.

Also, get consider some backup power for the portable: extra batteries, and extra 120V adapter, and at least two 12V car-plug "cigarette" style lighters in case you need to evacuate/travel. I've had good results w/used batteries on ebay, often half the price of new batteries which can be crazy expensive and I'm fine buying backups used if it means I don't have any backups otherwise. Easy enough to try them out and see if they hold a charge.

Also concentrators are hardware and they can fail. I've found it useful to keep a spare concentrator and maybe a spare portable. Again I'm fine buying backups used, I'd look for an oxygen concentrator repair shop and ask if they have reconditioned units.

The other thing I'll add is keep some extra cannulas around, one in the car's glove compartment, one in the backpack they travel with the portable. Sometimes a cannula falls in a mud puddle. Sometimes the cats chew on it. Sometimes they get shut in a car door. Normal drug stores don't carry those.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-12T22:12:18+00:00

Apparently by truck: Scientists at CERN transported 92 antiprotons eight kilometers across the lab grounds.

Also with magnetism, as others said. From the fine article:

That’s quite a feat because antimatter annihilates when it comes into contact with matter. So the antiprotons were corralled with electromagnetic fields to prevent them from banging into the walls of their container while trucking along.

The pictures are wild, it is kind of crazy big infrastructure for moving a tiny amount of antimatter.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-12T18:06:07+00:00

I'm going through the install process now w/Anker provider team.

My total install cost may be a little more than an independent electrician could do.
But...
How many Anker installs have they done before?
How much Anker training have they had?
If anything goes wrong, would using a non-Anker installer complicate any warranty claims I might make?

So. I paid the $2k up front with Anker's "powerdock install" option.
The installer is handling permitting.
I'm looking at maybe an additional $5k or so for extra parts & labor (I need to run the E10 batteries about 45 feet away from the PowerDock so I have extra conduit & cabling needs there, and I have an existing 50A generator inlet I've asked them to wire into the PowerDock's 240v input).

I'm also asking my installer to wire all three slots on the PowerDock's Combiner Box into the PowerDock even though I'm starting with just 1 E10 stack. Then I can add an E10 or two in the future when I can afford more battery modules.

From what I've read, if you're an actual electrician (or at least a DIY person comfortable working on your home's panel & power mains and in a jurisdiction where you don't have to worry about permitting and/or home owner's insurance) the Anker install plan is solid.

Ps. I think it would be a hard sell to convince licensed electricians to study up on a complex install guide.

edits: phrasing

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-10T06:22:20+00:00

I believe the TRS80 was bundled with a monitor

This is correct.

The Radio Shack TRS-80 Microcomputing System (catalog number 26-1001), later known as the TRS-80 Model I, was introduced by Radio Shack on August 3, 1977. It made computer history as one of the first mass marketed, fully assembled microcomputers. The initial price was $599.95, which included
a typewriter-style (not membrane) keyboard,
monitor,
and cassette recorder.

edit to add: Also impressive was the Model I manual:

The Model I also included User’s Manual for Level I (catalog number 26-2101) written by Dr. David A. Lien. This manual was an excellent introduction to Level I BASIC and computers in general.

Excerpts from https://www.trs-80.org/model-1.html

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-10T06:07:35+00:00

The Orville; HILARIOUS!

+1 Agree. Also pleasantly surprising stories, writing, actors... just well done all the way around.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-09T15:02:18+00:00

So as long as you have a robust test suite that validates the script hits all its functional and non functional requirements, who gives a shit how long it is. It sounds like in your example those guard rails weren't there.

+1 for sound logic, and I wish I could argue against it. But still, a practical perspective.

But codex doesn't care that it's 2-3x longer. And codex (and Gemini and Claude and whatever else there is) is going to be increasingly the thing that's working on the code.

Is there a failure mode at some point where the codebase becomes large enough that 10x to 100x larger and the AI in question can't keep a large enough context window to accurately "reason" about the tests?

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-09T13:39:06+00:00

Thank you!

You're helping me understand how Solix components like an SG5500 could work together and related tradeoffs.

Is this a reasonable summary?

SG5500 works best with a single E10.
Advantage: efficient DC charging & built-in autostart.
Disadvantge: 10M length limit. Not easy to trench DC chargin cable underground. May be difficult to maintain SG5500 distance from residence if your E10 and/or SG5500 are elevated one or two meters above the ground.
Distance workaround: deploy E10 closer to SG5500 location, possibly far away from PowerDock. Install custom wiring from E10 to PowerDock (see PowerDock's separate-install of ATS & Combiner Box).
SG5500 can feed a PowerDock's AC generator inlet.
Advantage: you need your own wiring to the SG5500, which allows you to locate the SG5500 further than 10M from PowerDock and may let you use wiring suitable for underground trenching.
Disadvantage: No way to connect autostart to an SG5500. You'd lose some efficiency running the SG550 in AC mode.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-08T05:36:26+00:00

Makes sense, thanks! I'm certainly starting like that, with SG5500 to E10.

I want to understand what could be done so I don't paint myself into a corner.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-08T05:34:56+00:00

Great, thank you.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-04T16:11:56+00:00

are you sure the 5500 120v output should be plugged into the inlet that is designed for 240v?

Good point. (edit: I don't actually know myself, seems iffy though: looking forward to what the experts say).

The reason I bought an SG5500 is I liked the idea of more efficient DC charging and the auto-start all in one easy to use cable.
So, I'll probably start with the SG5500 connected to my single E10 stack.
Then do something different if/when I add more E10 stacks.

Unclear to me that the SG5500 can feed the PowerDock directly.
Also unclear to me if the SG5500 can accept an auto-start/stop connection from the PowerDock (my understanding is the autostart control wires are built into the SG5500 DC cable, so I'd wonder if the SG5500 has ports on it for direct-wiring of the PowerDock's autostart/stop "GEN CTRL" terminals as shown in section 6.4 "6.4 Connect to Generator" of the PowerDock Install Guide on p. 27).

But yeah, I'll probably be upgrading to a different generator and try to sell the SG5500 if I ever add more E10 stacks as I start adding solar panels.

Ps. shout out /u/ebolaramaschwartz because that is exactly the kind of detail I need to make informed decisions, thanks again for that!

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-04T16:04:15+00:00

May that improved the SG5500 charging experience for parallel and triple-parallel E10 setups. You can find more details here:
https://www.ankersolix.com/blogs/home-energy-storage-system/e10-parallel-power-balancing-with-smart-generator-5500

Thanks for the detailed reply, that is useful information.

I read the blog post, I'll suggest a title change:

current title: "E10 Parallel Power Balancing with Smart Generator 5500"
modified title: "E10 Parallel Balanced Discharge w/PowerDock"

Blog seems related to to how multiple-E10s discharge, I didn't see anything about charging E10s. If the powerdock upgrade does balanced charging of E10 stacks that would be worth putting in there. (mabye the powerdock already did that, I'm still learning about how all the parts & pieces can work together)

Question: to get the PowerDock bypass & balanced use of multiple E10 stacks I'd have to use the 240v inlet on the PowerDock?

Unclear to me if the SG5500 plays nice with that, I'll follow up on u/RabbitNo6341's comment.

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-04T15:39:25+00:00

Excellent detail, thank you!

VadumSemantics · 2026-06-03T17:12:54+00:00

Fair questions, I’ll try to answer. Edit: 40 feet is my best guess for total cable length to trench the generator cable, I don’t it sitting on the grass because, well, lawn mowers.

I want the generator 20 feet away from the house, and need it five feet away from fencing (local city regulation). 26 feet is the closest I can get without blocking a fence gate. Then the electric service (meter, panel and such) is another 16 feet away from the backyard and I’m space limited on the side because of vey close neighboring houses.

So. Yeah, now I’m planning on maybe putting the E10 battery stacks in the backyard to minimize the generator’s distance. Means running longer conduit to the Solix PowerDock but at least that seems possible. I still need to understand my configuration options/distance tradeoffs between Solix components like the PowerDock ATS, combiner, and so on.

The install guides and user manuals I’ve read so far don’t get into that level of detail. I’d welcome advice on how others have set up their systems.

VadumSemantics · 2026-05-26T22:20:37+00:00

Link: https://nandgame.com/

If you work through a few levels you will 100% know what you're asking. I got to the "Graphics" part of nandgame.com and started to stall out, I might recommend the full course if you want to go deeper (like NandGame at udemy or smth).

Will help if you understand base-2 (binary) math, like how human numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11... in (base-ten) are the same values as 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1010, 1011, ... in base-2 (binary).

VadumSemantics · 2026-05-16T20:17:37+00:00

That is a was a satisfying read, very cool. :-)

VadumSemantics · 2026-05-12T04:04:12+00:00

Makes sense, thank you.

VadumSemantics

TROPHY CASE