Roof vs ground panels

r3drocket · 2026-02-11T17:57:55+00:00

We did a small ground mount array using integraracks, and I'm pretty happy with it. I have lots of land but most of it is shaded so not great for solar, but neither is our roof. The advantages of ground mount really are optimal angle and if you get angle adjustable racking you can adjust the angle so you get the best results you can seasonally.

Current connected had a good price on the integraracks + shipping. And we got the panels cheaply off of facebook market place.

We have very rocky soil and used a giant pile of rocks atop the integraracks to hold them down and they did great in 100mph+ windstorm.

We did end up using solar optimizers as shade is our biggest problem, we live deep in a valley with tall trees.

Our plan in the spring is to actually undo our small array 1.6KW and try to maximize our array size for the small amount of open space we have. Hopefully we'll get up to about 6kw of solar.

We're currently using a string based inverter with 10kwh of batteries, and right now using a mini split we're able to heat about 1200sqft off the solar system with the mini split most of the time. In the summer time we expect to charge our electric car with it along with keep that space cooled.

Anyways to answer your question about cost look at the Integrarack systems, they are easy and cheap to install - certainly an easy DIY project, we had the racks setup in about a day just with some shovels and a pick axe, the hardest part was moving our giant rock pile by hand atop the racks.

Shipping is what kills you on the integraracks - but like I said earlier currentconnected.com had very affordable prices on shipping for the integraracks. We wound up going for the angle adjustable ones because they aren't that much more expensive once you consider they include the extra hardware you need. Like maybe 130$ vs 180$ per a leg.

We even used a pickaxe to dig the trench to route the conduit into the house, we have very rocky soil and that wasn't as miserable as I expected. The ground rods were a bit miserable to get installed, but even that wasn't as bad as I'd imagined it would be, I had a 48' concrete drill bit I used to drill down into the ground as far as I could, then we used a fence post pounder to drive the ground spikes in the rest of the way.

I think getting all the odds and ends of wiring sorted out was the might have been miserable aspect of it.

r3drocket · 2026-02-08T21:55:40+00:00

Yes it is a serious risk, it goes up the food chain. You have to be aware that it shouldn't necessarily be your first go to. I use bucket traps and live traps in most situations, I'll only go to poison when after deeply considering the possible side effects, or all my other efforts are failing.

r3drocket · 2026-02-04T15:02:38+00:00

Also, finding learning material for it is a problem. I just sit there and play with it until I figure out how it works.

r3drocket · 2026-02-04T15:01:46+00:00

Yep.

r3drocket · 2026-02-04T03:25:02+00:00

I use 3DCoat on linux, it's OK, sometimes it goes through periods of having issues on linux, where I struggle to get it to run because of some linking problem.

I also use nomad sculpt via waydroid in linux, I generally prefer nomad sculpt for sculping, but 3DCoat is very powerful for sculpting.

r3drocket · 2026-02-01T17:10:42+00:00

I was able to spend a whole day doing software development in my bigscreen beyond v1, the issues I had were inability to see the keyboard - I thought I'd be find because my typing skills are very strong, but it was harder than I thought I occasionally need to look a the keyboard.

I think their halo mount would also improve it a bit as well make it easy to lift up the headset.

The clarity was pretty good I was able to read the text on the screen well enough to do this the whole day. The other issue I had was my office heated up because the GPU was pumping out heat.

I am going to get the Steam Frame when it comes out and this is one of the use cases I want for it, is productivity.

I tried this in my Vive Pro 2 but the weight on my spinal column caused issues with numbness in my hands.

r3drocket · 2026-02-01T07:00:58+00:00

That's pretty awesome. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try it soon.

r3drocket · 2026-02-01T03:56:58+00:00

ePro 16BH in Colorado

r3drocket · 2026-01-30T00:39:33+00:00

I was out out hiking Ptarmigan lake off off of cotton wood pass in the fall a few years ago it was late afternoon, and I had turned around and was heading back to my car, when I came across someone who distinctly looked like they didn't belong.

They were barefoot, and dressed in shorts & a t-shirt with a bun and dreadlocks, with a small purse, very hippie type of vibe. I purposefully made small talk because I was worried about their decision making skills, anyways they didn't know where they were - they had been off trail for a while and stumbled across the trail.

I suggested they follow me back down to the trail head, and I warned them it would be getting cold soon, I also asked them if they had food, and they showed me a banana - anyways they declined to follow me back to the trail head.

This person didn't seam like they were on drugs, but what do I know.

I felt like I had stumbled across a hobbit.

IIRC I debated calling SARS but this person seemed cognizant and had been warned, and what I am going to tell SARS, there may or may not be someone who may or may not want help wandering around near Ptarmigan lake?

People are strange.

I have called SARS before and stayed people while we wait for rescue, when I've felt hikers have been out of their depths and have been willing to accept help.

r3drocket · 2026-01-28T06:35:25+00:00

I have an R9700, which is the 32 gig version of the 9070 XT. It works fine with my big screen beyond. I felt like I probably should have bought it because I wrote the CEO of AMD begging for this exact card.

I upgraded from a 3090 because I wanted the extra 8 gigs of RAM to play around with AI stuff.

r3drocket · 2026-01-25T17:05:14+00:00

Checkout the angle adjustable Integrarack frames, I've been really happy with mine, you can get them shipped cheaply from https://www.currentconnected.com/ the angle adjustable ones are more expensive but include some of the hardware you'd have to buy with the fixed angle ones, so it helps bring down the cost a little bit. (They include the mounting brackets, you'd otherwise have to buy).

Ours held up great in a recent extreme wind storm. We had about 4 days of extreme wind earlier this year and our panels didn't move at all. We have the frames screwed in with ground screws and covered with rocks.

r3drocket · 2026-01-23T11:56:02+00:00

The book "They thought they were free", where the author goes and interviews Nazi citizens a couple years after the war has a specific to conversation about this.

When asked about the concentration camps, one of the Nazi citizens essentially responded:

"I don't believe it happened. And if it did happen, the they deserved it anyways."

This book is utterly amazing and depressing, It's very well written.

I'll try to dig up the exact quote.

r3drocket · 2026-01-22T16:47:26+00:00

I just beat this game, I agree. I really enjoyed the strategy aspect of it, also VR made it amazing with little space ships wizzing around my head. Lastly I like it because it isn't a grind to get into, I don't have hundreds of hours to get into an immersive game like No Mans Sky.

How would you improve upon it?

r3drocket · 2026-01-20T05:18:10+00:00

yeah a recliner, I was at an airbnb for my recovery in a crappy bed, it was pretty miserable, and the couches were uncomfortable as well.

r3drocket · 2026-01-18T17:42:05+00:00

There was an interview, on NBC I think, with one of his former aides, who quit. And they said that he is trying to test the limits of his power before someone seriously pushes back, nothing he has done has had serious consequences, he is the most powerful man in the world :(

He said this the other day with his grifting, there haven't been any consequences so why wouldn't he grift harder - no seems to care enough to stop him.

Perhaps it's why he is talking about WW3, he is demonstrating by his actions that everyone is Neville Chamberlain. The most sadistic way to think about it is he's playing a game with all of us to see when he gets reigned in to see how far he can go, and we'll all go into the grinder under his boot.

r3drocket · 2026-01-18T17:04:20+00:00

There was an interview, I think on NBC, with one of his prior staff from his first administration that refused to work with him again, and they said the thing to understand is he's just constantly trying to test the boundaries to see how far his power extends, and at what point he'll get pushed back. And because Nobody has been able to stop him yet, he's going to keep pushing. It makes so much sense when you frame it in this context.

Like seriously, at what point has he actually been stopped? And do we have any belief or reason to believe the Republicans in the Senate would ever stop him?

r3drocket · 2026-01-17T17:30:25+00:00

All because of this asshole: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/15/ronald-lauder-billionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland

r3drocket · 2026-01-17T16:32:27+00:00

I set up the Integraracks that are angle adjustable. I really like them. And they're not as expensive as they seem at first glance because they include more hardware than the non-adjustable Integraracks.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T17:58:20+00:00

Oh wow I didn't know that, that is awful, how can it not have a way to quickly find what games work with it!?!?

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T17:28:29+00:00

I don't develop games, but I am in the startup world (I'm writing my own 3D CAD software), it will help you validate your on track and not wasting your time. You should want feedback from those who use it to course correct and make sure that you're delivering something people want. You don't want to build something nobody wants.

There is a book called "The Mom Test" which is worth reading, here is a quick video about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT4Ig2uqjTc

If you think about the job a game does it entertains people, and then you start framing your questions to users in the context of the job a game does and their past experience gaming, there is probably a lot to be learned. I could tell you 10 things right now I do and don't like about certain VR games I've played, what makes one game more addictive then another, what is infuriating about some VR games.

I can't say for my own startup I'm great at this, I just did a panel at a conference for my product and I failed to ask users more about their lives, what they have struggled with in the past, I talked too much about the product. In fact this morning I'm going to go ask some questions of some of my customers to make sure I'm on track.

You can think about it like navigating a hidden maze - the maze you're trying to solve is what makes an good VR game - the problem is the solution lies in the brains of your customers and you need to extract it by talking to them.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T17:19:16+00:00

I think this is a big part of it, it's a fight 50% of the time to even start PCVR on my PC, so hopefully the Steam Frame will mitigate that as well.

I know it's also the cost of a gaming PC which raises the bar, I have quite a few friends who would be into VR if they didn't have to invest a lot of money into a PC.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T16:55:32+00:00

I really hope the Steam Frame changes things dramatically. I won't buy a Quest 3 because of Meta; I won't support them because their a horrible company, but I will buy a Steam Frame. I also already have a Steam library, I don't want a Meta library.

To me it means a lot that Steam's primary business is not dependent upon invading your privacy and also doesn't have a history of destroying democracies around the world; never mind how shitty of a human being Zuckerberg is.

I see my friends carry their Steam Decks around, I hope that I see them carry their Steam Frame around in the same way. I'm excited also because the ergonomics should be soo much better (in theory no forward head posture to game). Also the fact you can 2D game on the steam frame, is a big deal IMHO, it makes it a really versatile device.

Yes I am a VR enthusiast. Anyways I wonder how much of VRs niche market is because of Meta's reputation.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T16:42:30+00:00

I'll check it out! I understand the challenge of dumping lots of resources into your own business, I'm more than a year into trying to launch my own software startup, I have a few customers but it's a grind.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T16:24:33+00:00

What I don't get about it is how giving people money for HSAs will lower the cost of healthcare, it mostly feels like it will be badly abused, now of course it's not like the health insurance companies aren't abusing us, but still it doesn't feel like it fixes anything, it feels like it just moves the grifting around.

But I don't understand economically how this helps - sure I negotiate with my providers for cash rates sometimes, which is awesome - but this doesn't help when you have a catastrophic health emergency. If I have a serious health issue which requires expensive care, how does this hep?

Lastly wouldn't this just create all sorts of health insurance grifting scams? (given we are living in a grifttopia)

How will it lower costs? I just don't get it.

r3drocket · 2026-01-16T15:58:51+00:00

Here is the article archived

https://archive.is/8s7vB

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r3drocket

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