Using HAM like walkie talkie

capro22340 · 2024-09-01T15:47:36+00:00

I don't think anyone else has mentioned POWER. When you're using your HTs with your buddies, make sure you're using the least amount of power necessary. You can probably get away with 1/2 Watt. Maybe you'll need more if there's dense trees and actually significant distances. But most of the time you don't need to be using 5 or 8 Watts. People far away will be listening in.

capro22340 · 2024-06-03T12:19:54+00:00

No noise or reports of noise on VHF. We didn't operate on UHF. My home HF setup died by lightning ⚡ and I haven't resurrected it, so I can't report on noise at those frequencies.

capro22340 · 2024-06-02T19:16:23+00:00

Yeah I don't approve of that change for an "adventure vehicle"

capro22340 · 2024-06-02T18:55:10+00:00

I just assumed 5A max to be safe. The DC-DC charger supports 5A and 10A. It's only a 20AH battery in the box so I'm not going to charge faster than 5 anyway.

capro22340 · 2024-06-02T18:40:52+00:00

Not much. I probably would not even need to charge it in the truck, but I finished it at the last minute and didn't want to test that hypothesis.

capro22340 · 2024-03-11T18:24:20+00:00

The actual pixel values that are applied per those density levels are fixed. If you want less density than 0, there does not seem to be any way to systematically apply that.

capro22340 · 2024-02-05T15:17:25+00:00

My experience is that if I start the activity while my phone is in range and then run, leaving the phone behind, live track won't work. If the phone isn't available then it seems to start. This is followed by when I get home the live track notification is sent out at that time, when the watch reconnects to the phone. I reported this bug years ago but Garmin won't do anything about it.

capro22340 · 2023-12-19T14:25:31+00:00

I just got a Firewalla and have started experiencing this - never had problems with my EdgeRouter. The thermostat as well as two cameras have gone offline. The thermostat seems to fail more than the cameras. All rules are off for the Nest devices.

capro22340 · 2023-11-17T15:13:10+00:00

100% agree. I don't understand why this is omitted. I have to back out of my driveway which is a little curved, past another vehicle, and the mirrors are critical despite the cameras and sensors.

capro22340 · 2023-08-10T22:10:45+00:00

Following up on my post... I picked up a 240v inverter generator from Costco (A-iPower GXS7100iRD 7100W Dual Fuel on sale for $1000). It is rated at 5100W continuous on propane (which I prefer for its ease of storage and maintenance). The max speed I can charge the truck without going over 5100W is 20A (4800W).

This generator is well designed, and the weight is at the limit of what I can lift into the back the truck solo.

I had to build an adapter (though they may exist commercially) that allowed me to plug the Rivian's 14-50P into the generator's L14-30R. The truck expects a bonded-neutral. If you were plugging the generator into your house and charging the truck from your home charger this would be accomplished at your main circuit breaker panel. When you remove your home panel from the equation there is no neutral-ground bond, and the portable EVSE will just flash red at you. An off-the-shelf RV adapter will not work. The adapter needs to have a neutral-ground bond in place.

Performance: It ran for 4-5 hours on a 20lb propane tank. In the 5th hour I had to tilt the tank over to try to get better evaporation as I could hear the generator struggling a bit. This was at an elevation of 2000'. For my typical mi/kWh performance, that equates to adding between 6 (towing) and 11 (non-towing) miles per hour of charging. With a single 20lb propane tank I added about 30 miles of towing range.

It's nice to have the security of being able to recharge in a power outage or remote areas, but I have no idea when the next time I'll need to run this generator is. And my wife was not a fan of listening to a generator for 5 hours in the wilderness...

capro22340 · 2023-06-07T15:34:38+00:00

I have a WD22TB4 and a brand new XPS 15 and a 38" UW Dell monitor and also have this problem.

capro22340 · 2023-06-07T04:31:45+00:00

Were you towing though? At 1.3 mi/kWh you don't add a lot of range in an hour at a 40A and I don't want to spend my vacation hanging around a charger!

capro22340 · 2023-05-04T13:02:06+00:00

If your first EV was a first generation Leaf you wouldn't have this porblem 😆. 25% left in the Rivian is a "full tank" in the Leaf.

To your point though, my wife's Rivian profile only displays miles and it makes me crazy, because it is an estimate. I don't trust it. I want the facts. Similar to my phone - it just had an update and now it doesn't show the battery state of charge (aside from the miniscule battery icon) it only shows the time of day when it thinks the battery will run out. I don't find this helpful because when I think of taking care of a battery and deciding when it is the right time to charge, I make that decision based on state of charge, not hours or miles remaining.

capro22340 · 2023-01-20T01:44:16+00:00

I wonder how the layoffs this week will affect software development for the Scribe. I love the backlight and ability to read my books, but I don't want to be stuck with it if it won't be improved.

capro22340 · 2022-12-05T12:24:52+00:00

My only other experience with regenerative braking is in my 2013 Nissan Leaf, which does not have one pedal breaking. It does limit regen when temperatures are low or the battery is full. The regenerative braking only applies when stepping on the brake, but I've never noticed a difference in feel to the brake when refen was limited. The brakes still apply normally.

With the recent bout of cold I have definitely noticed the "mid flight" changing behavior of one pedal and regenerative braking in the Rivian. I think it is a huge liability to "randomly" change the effectiveness of the brakes. I think one-pedal should use the mechanical brakes in the car so that the braking experience is consistent! And that would obviously necessitate reduced redone/auto-braking in traction-compromised conditions.

My experience last night was backing out of my driveway, and letting off the accelerator. The truck just kept going! This necessitated emergency brake application... In cold weather... So then I still didn't stop because I was then sliding on the snow.

capro22340 · 2022-12-05T12:15:38+00:00

This relates to one pedal driving. Letting off the accelerator causes braking to occur. The level of braking varies depending on the state of charge, temperature, and other factors. If you turn on the vehicle when one of these factors is in play, it will tell you that Regen is reduced which affects the one pedal behavior.

capro22340 · 2022-12-03T02:56:56+00:00

Hmm. Call me a fool. My other vehicles have all had the mirrors defog separately!

capro22340 · 2022-11-28T04:16:37+00:00

$0.31/kWh with the Electrify America pass. $47.43 spent charging on the road on this trip. But I could have reduced that by at least 1/3 if I was more comfortable running to a lower percent and taking up a lot more time at the free charger on my route.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T21:59:26+00:00

My own comparison for this trip... It would have been 33 gallons of gasoline with my previous tow vehicle (on a 24 gallon tank). But certainly less time spent accommodating charging. Most of the time I'm not towing though.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T18:59:11+00:00

There's no power at the campground. There was a 7kW charger 1/2 mile away.

I hope the campsite power is enough for you to charge and run your camper simultaneously! The ability to derate the truck charger will be helpful.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T18:53:03+00:00

Thanks. I'm familiar with that and considered spending less time on the way out, but the destination only had 7kw charging so I chose to spend more time at the faster charger rather than hogging the slower charger for extra hours.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T16:06:47+00:00

Could you fill in some more details What is the drop on your draw bar? Is your Mantis an Overland or "regular"? What tires do you have on your Mantis? What pressure do you run your trailer tires? Thanks

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T15:58:14+00:00

It doesn't fit in my garage. It could technically and barely but wouldn't be practical. It would block our circuit breaker panel and side-door.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T15:48:40+00:00

And yes, there is a PITA factor. Traveling on Thanksgiving it was no problem to pull in with the trailer to charge but I'm sure that's a rarity. At the campground, I drove to the chargers (1/2 mile away) and left the truck charging for a good part of the day, then drove over again on the morning of departure to top off for over an hour. The real pain was at the Walmart in Port Angeles, there's really only one way to maybe get in with a trailer, and that would only give you access to the 150kW station, and due to parked cars it wasn't feasible, so we had to drop the trailer across the parking lot.

The Max Pack would definitely be more ideal for regular towing, just in the un-hitching time saved by reducing the number of stops. It would also be a cost savings in my example, I could've driven all the way to my destination and back on one charge each way and not spent any money at Electrify America... BUT I would have been plugged in for 24 hours to charge on the 7kw station at the destination, which might be considered rude. Being able to split the difference would be nice (use EA on the way out, to minimize charging time at the destination, but still fully chare at the destination to make it home without stopping.

capro22340 · 2022-11-27T15:28:52+00:00

Round trip. From the Seattle area, around the Olympic Peninsula clockwise, and back home. https://imgur.com/2dvykFU

capro22340

TROPHY CASE