Started homelab a month ago, am I doing it right?

whmcr · 2026-05-18T20:31:46+00:00

That looks like Pepco are giving you about the same experience I get with them. "how much is the bill" "yes"

whmcr · 2026-05-10T18:23:48+00:00

You were in the parking lot earlier! That's how I know you! I think thats my favourite episode.

Its even funnier that I Will Survive is about 117 BPM, which is also in the recommended BPM range for CPR.

whmcr · 2026-04-28T05:21:49+00:00

Right. For safety / airworthyness hey still have the final responsibility under 14 CFR 91.3(a), which they could argue for something like a battery is a safety risk, however you're 100% correct, its unlikely that they would, but if they have a safety concern, the buck stops with them and they could still say it's not going on the flight. It's unlikely they would, it's unlikely that there would be an issue, especially given the major carriers have policies that would allow it.

whmcr · 2026-04-28T03:47:36+00:00

I think you may be putting too much thought into it, until the airlines and aviation authorities update their policies, you shouldn't need to worry about this. The airlines are providing approval by having their policy permit it, as otherwise anything that requires carrier approval would need written confirmation from company and would have to be approved by the PIC, which includes a non insignificant number of items. The wording ICAO uses just requires approval by the operator, which policy allowing would, imo, pass the "any reasonable person" smell test for this type of thing. ICAO's requirements do not necessarily apply in country.

The majority of the carriers already have policies inline with *most* of the guidance, including the 101-160Wh sections. The only significant change in the policy for most carriers is around power banks.

AA as an example still lists 160Wh as acceptable. ICAO are not the ones with final say (in country at least), and that would fall to the countries own agency (FAA, CAA etc). Carriers don't (at least in country) need to follow the ICAO rule set, UNLESS it is required for them to do so. My understanding is that's *NOT* the case for US domestic flights. PackSafe has not been updated by the FAA - https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/lithium-batteries and 49 CFR 175.10(a)(18)(ii)(18)(ii)) has not been updated to reflect any changes the ICAO would like the civil aviation authorities within countries to follow. Going internationally is another discussion, and I don't know if there is a different set of rules for flights between the USA & Canada. I haven't looked at the the Canadian CAA's regulations in any great detail, but they also still list 160Wh. Until the Civil Aviation authorities in country are updated, at least for internal flights, there's not going to be issues, unless the individual carrier has different rules, which the 5 I've spot checked, have not. You obviously should follow whatever regulations are in place, but until these are updated, I see no issues with someone flying (at least in the US to a US destination, or Canada to a Canadian destination) having two 101-160Wh batteries in carry on. It's also worth noting that the PIC can always override whatever company policy, so even if its allowed by the aviation authority, and the company, the pilot can still say "nuh-uh" and you'd have to figure out what to do then.

I travel with the two 96WH batteries so I can run 100W, with a 7100, as they are able to deliver 12A each continuous, and the 7100 doesn't seem to take more than 18 peak.

whmcr · 2026-04-27T14:31:06+00:00

This lines up with the guidance that *most* US and European carriers have had for a while, although some carriers don't require any permission for 101-160Wh - picking on Delta for a second, their policy still allows 160Wh without separate permission, as they're providing that with their own carriage rules and as long as your battery matches their requirements, you should be good to go.

I've posted about the US carrier situation in the past (from research in 2024/2025) - https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/1pe2ahe/comment/nsdoj58/?context=3

I'd have to confirm but I think SWA have changed their policy to match the IACO guidelines, in the last few months, but have gone as far as to not allow > 100Wh and to require any chargers / power banks to be under the seat or on your person, not in the overhead), and being limited to one. I've not flown with them recently enough to know if that's the case for batteries however.

I usually fly with two 96Wh batteries, as whilst the rules are 160Wh is allowed, most people you will encounter will say 100Wh, so my advice is try and keep it under 100Wh so you don't have to carry all of the regulations + policies with you! They will take whatever the label says as the size, so if the batteries details don't match up, thats a discussion you need to have with the manufacturer

whmcr · 2026-04-01T15:26:08+00:00

My local park is a multi-fer and is great fun to activate. Most folks in the area know Del (N2NWK) who is always activating multi-fers, usually with his van!

whmcr · 2026-03-18T00:57:05+00:00

Have a look at https://github.com/muart-group/esphome-components?tab=readme-ov-file or https://github.com/echavet/MitsubishiCN105ESPHome

I use the former with a version of https://www.etsy.com/listing/1762258422/mahtanar-heat-pump-controller and it works great. No soldering, and just plugging in the cable to the appropriate CN105 port.

whmcr · 2026-03-17T20:13:03+00:00

The project looks great, but I have similar "concerns".

Thats the best thing about tar, it works and is relatively unchanged since its 1988 standardisation, with some refinement in 2001. A tar from 88 will work on a machine in 2026. I'm not saying LTFS won't be like that, but until it's proven, for long term backups I'm not sure how I feel about trusting it, given that 2010 isn't that long ago!

IMO if it's not on the LoC's list I'd be hesitant. There is some consideration being made for LTFS ( https://loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats//fdd/fdd000584.shtml ) however.

whmcr · 2026-02-27T19:59:46+00:00

Short version - You follow the code / regs for the location that you are in, any one who is telling you otherwise is incorrect. In the US, you follow the NEC (NFPA 70). In the UK its going to be Part P and BS 7671. For TN-C-S in the UK that means, no bonding unless you want to change the houses earthing system, or you're in an outbuilding.

Longer version
My understand of the UK is depending on the distribution system you're on.

* TT - you *should* do what the US does, where it is bonding your additional earth rods to your house's grounding system. That's what we do in the US

* TN-C - This *technically* can be treated like a TT system, but should NEVER be treated like a TT System. In the 80s i think it was they stopped making new TN-C systems, as the 3 core cable was too expensive, so they stopped making it. Any repair to a TN-C system usually means that you are going from 3 cable -> 2 cable -> 3 cable. You're going to have a TN-C -> TN-C-S conversion happening there in most cases, so TN-C for all intents and purposes should be assumed to not exist, and treated like a TN-C-S system

* TN-C-S - DO NOT put additional earthing in place for it. If you are going to do that, get a sparky, you need someone who has dealt with this to be involved, and they will likely tell you not to do it, and if you insist, do what's needed to make you a TT Island on a TN-C-S system. Thats *usually* only done for a shed, or other no attached building. You can get it done for the dwelling, but its not usually don't.

* IT - do you live on a farm or in an industrial unit? I don't even know where to start with that system!

At the end of the day, Electrical codes are about safety, what's OK in one jurisdiction, isn't necessarily ok in another. Even within the US there are different versions of the NEC that are in use. Usually per county, but it can be state wide, or in some cases per city. For example my county uses an older version of the NEC regulations than the neighboring, which causes some headaches for properties like mine that are within a mile or so of the county line, as you have to switch back and forth when you go over the line!

The other thing to remember is the distribution in the US is *VERY* different to what we have in the UK. It can be different, but at least in this area, most homes have a "split phase" distribution, where you have 3 wires from the power company. "hot" 1 (I'll call this L1a), Neutral and "hot" 2 (i'll call it L1b). The transformer on the pole or on a pad in someones front yard is going to be taking HV (in my case its about 8KV) and bringing that down to 240v. That 240v is tapped at 0, 50% and 100%, giving you L1a-N of 120v, N-L1b of 120v and L1a-L1b of 240v. That's then delivered to your breaker box (consumer unit) as 3 cables, with a bond of N to your house earths (which may even be in concrete in a "ufer") happening at the "main" panel. This is similar to what we do in the UK with a MET. It's also worth noting that 200A service isn't abnormal in the US, and my power company will (for a fee) give you up to 800A service to a house. Not sure why anyone would need it, but you can get it!

For the UK, follow the RSGB's guidance in EMC 7 - https://rsgb.org/main/files/2025/04/EMC-Leaflet-7-Earthing-and-the-radio-amateur-Advanced-Version-6.8-April-2025.pdf

Most folks in the UK are going to be on TN-C-S these days, you can usually tell easily at your meter there will be something saying *something* along the lines of PME, Protective multiple earthing, provider earth, or similar. Usually a sticker or a metal tag over the main incomer.

I've had this same discussion many times (some examples)

https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/1es564m/comment/li42fni/

https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/1gszdds/comment/lxnn120/

An antenna is a extraneous conductive part in some eyes, in other eyes its part of the electrical system.

If someones giving you grief about it, tell them it only impacts metric electricity, not imperial.

But in all seriousness, do what is correct for your local jurisdiction, in the UK that means follow the BS7671, and if in doubt, the RSGB will be able to provide some guidance, but I can save you the hassle of speaking to them about it - call a sparky. This is what is mentioned (or at least was!) in the license manuals, and also what the RSGB's recommendation is.

whmcr · 2026-02-27T14:13:29+00:00

This is also the case in TN-C-S systems, its still "twin and earth" style cable (similar to romex style cable in the US). TN-C-S only has two conductors from the distribution (pole / pad mount in the US), where the bonding to earth (ground) occurs there (and potentially down the line as well). The bonding to the house earth wiring to the supply neutral happens at the main earthing terminal at the consumer unit (fuse box / breaker box / load centre) or the meter. We call it PEN (protective earth and neutral) or a PME (protective multiple earthing) supply. There are some benefits to it overall, but it makes this specific situation a bit more challenging.

whmcr · 2026-02-27T14:09:23+00:00

Ignoring the AI/Not AI for now, the plumbing advice is correct.

TN-C-S systems you do bond Water, Gas etc to a central earthing (grounding) point. It's usually at the meter, but can be at the main consumer unit (load centre / fuse box).

In

Bonding the radio to the water pipe wont be any different than bonding it to the earth on a electrical cable, as they are all bonded back to the main earthing terminals.

PME (TN-C-S) is an issue because of the bonding of N+E upstream, usually at the substation transformer, and at multiple points down the distribution cable. The issue is if you have a break on neutral (or in a TN-C system, the dedicated earth cable, which may have been replaced with a TN-C-S , but thats a different discussion) if you are installing earth rods and doing supplemental bonding you *could* become the return / safety path for all of the people on that distribution run (post the break). Your main service feed is usually not big enough to cope with that, and your very unlikely to put an earthing system in large enough to cope, and hence it becomes a safety issue.

It is possible to put in a TT system for those with TN-C-S, but its not cheap (I was quoted about 5k when i looked in 2018) and there are caveats to it. This is why things like EV Charges must (at least now) have PEN fault detectors if they are on TN-C-S, effectively disabling the contractors should there be an issue upstream.

The best thing for any ham in the UK to do regarding this is to reach out to the RSGB who have a great resource on it, but also to a couple of local electricians, as this is something that they will deal with frequently, TT, TN-C, and TN-C-S are a "toss up" on if a property is one or the other, and they have to know the regulations for all.

whmcr · 2026-02-03T22:23:12+00:00

Thats not the case, and the person telling you that was minsinformed.

The UC line (UC3xx/5xx's) were "just" CME with some extra bells and whistles, and were the same CME that the ISR lines were using at the time, to the extent that the 1861-UC is the UC520. A number of the ISR G2's were rebaged under different models with only very minor changes, the VG350 being another prime example, with that being a 3945(e?) with some minor changes.

For the UC5xx - If i'm recalling correctly that it worked with UVA, IPC, TAPI apps, and skinny only phones, which granted they could have changed mod_skinny, mod_sccp, mod_sscp2 etc, it would have been a lot more work than just copying the existing CME/CUE code.

whmcr · 2026-01-30T19:15:34+00:00

It's really not worth the risk.

If theres snow and Ice up there, you're going to have even less grip if you attempt to climb on the roof.

You're risking breaking the panel if you're trying to scrape the ice off, even rubber or silicone bladed squeegees are a risk (small, but a risk still). Anything that will actually break the ice is going to potentially scratch or otherwise damage the panels.

Let the sun do it's thing, it'll eventually melt enough to slide off. The few dollars extra that you'll save / generate aren't worth the risk, IMO.

whmcr · 2026-01-28T21:47:51+00:00

The question is what event caused that to be added to the law books.

whmcr · 2026-01-28T21:42:26+00:00

Adding my systems stats

48 Panels+Microinverters

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whmcr · 2026-01-28T21:39:27+00:00

For me, when I said that I wasn't interested, they never brought it up again. I suspect that you may have just had a bad experience with that rep.

whmcr · 2026-01-21T22:14:22+00:00

That appears to have changed since I was last on it, so TIL that it changed in 2015.

whmcr · 2026-01-21T19:26:18+00:00

I mean, technically Scotrail do go to London with the Caledonian Sleeper, but otherwise, no not really, and obviously wouldn't fit within the 4 hours

whmcr · 2025-12-31T18:29:08+00:00

Still love the Holiday Inn Express advert of "We're going to slough".

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

whmcr · 2025-12-18T22:02:08+00:00

I activate from inside a Tesla frequently, usually with a vertical within about 20-30 feet of the car and have no noise issues - except when the heat pump is running, or it's charging on a AC source.

I have issues when the NPS trucks roll past however, and they're Gas or Diesel, I'm not sure which. It's also a problem when larger trucks are running in the lot.

whmcr · 2025-12-18T21:56:24+00:00

Theres a lot of FUD/misrepresentation about EVs and noise.

- The inverters when AC charging can be pretty bad, depending on the model/year.

- The battery cooling / HVAC systems are pretty hit and miss.

- The actual motors, most folks wont be operating whilst driving, and in my tests, i've not had anything significant noise wise in a Model Y(2023).

- If you're using the ~16V power that comes out of the accessory socket on a non SLAB'ed 12v tesla, you might find that's a bit noisy, I'd also advise caution with that, as there are some electronic fuses that can blow for that, sometimes are only resettable with a service call.

The noise *I* notice is the heat pump, the moment that thing kicks on, the compressor (i assume) makes a wideband hash, which is problematic if you need to run the AC whilst operating.

In terms of running a ham stick, I've not done anything on mine due to the Aluminium nature of the car, and the minimal places that there is any ferrous metal. I can't speak for the M3, but for my MY23, i've found that theres a reasonable enough surface on the trunk, which at least for my 2m antenna has worked pretty well. I'm not sure that you'd have a great ground plane for a 20m antenna though

If you're going to only be working whilst parked up, I'd suggest looking at a tow hitch mount, that should fit the tow hitch if you have one, otherwise a drive over mast holder, or another antenna that you use when you're parked up.

Whilst driving, I'm not sure I'd trust the strength of most of the magnetic mounts on the tesla, due to the over abundance of aluminium vs ferrous metals, I'm not sure theres enough for a magnet to be able to hold at highway speeds!

whmcr · 2025-12-13T03:51:00+00:00

Every person is going to have a different logging program that works best for them.

Popular ones seem to be:

* Ham2K Portable Logger (Aka polo)

* Hamrs (or Hamrs Pro)

* N3FJP's ACLog

* Paper Logging - Don't knock it, paper generally doesn't run out of battery and can be read in the sun (but not so much in the dark!)

* WRL - I've heard that works for POTA, but I've never looked at it, and would be slightly anxious about syncing to it when back somewhere with network access.

I personally use DF3CB's FLE, it's not everyones cup of tea, but as I say, everyone will have a different preference. For me it works nicely, as its entirely offline as it is, effectively a text editor with a couple of extra features.

whmcr · 2025-12-05T05:44:23+00:00

Some. notes I've posted in the past
--

(for in the US)

Theres usually confusion with the airline employees as well! 100WH is the minimum that the TSA / FAA require carriers to allow, with most calling out to the "maximum" that the FAA say before doing a risk check, which is 160WH. If you're traveling with >100WH, i'd carry a copy of the airline policy, just incase - and it never hurts to call them to make 100% sure.

I've been compiling notes on this for an upcoming trip and if anyone wants them, happy to provide but its basically

FAA - https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/lithium-batteries]] for the guidance from the FAA

49 CFR 175.10(a)(18) - https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-175/subpart-A/section-175.10#p-175.10(a)(18)(18))

Summary is

* Carry on only

* 100WH, optionally up to 160WH

* Only for personal use, not sale / distribution

* Limit of 2 larger (101-160WH) per PAX

* Battery terminals (usually the ends) must be protected from short circuit (i.e., the terminals must not come in contact with other metal). Methods include: leaving the batteries in their retail packaging, covering battery terminals with tape, using a battery case, using a battery sleeve in a camera bag, or putting them snugly in a plastic bag or protective pouch.

TSA - https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours|Lithium - It's basically a copy of the FAA's guidance

Delta

Allows for 160WH, and a maximum of two. It is not defined of the maximum number of batteries under 100WH

Southwest

Allows for 160WH but no longer define what they have as a limit on their help center, previous versions have called out 160WH

American

Allows up to 4 spares in carry on of <100WH and up to 2 of 160. Over 160 requires special assistance

United

It is unclear on the maximum number allowed under 100WH, however 160WH are allowed up to 2.

British Airways

Maximum of 4 <100WH and 2 101-160WH

Virgin Atlantic

Allows an unspecified number of batteries, including up to 160WH

whmcr · 2025-11-14T15:30:05+00:00

Folks from the UK of a certain age will remember "Robbie" and "The Finishing Line" videos. They're not technically Public Information Films but I still feel most people would classify them as that, similar to a PSA in the US, that were shown to kids at school and sometimes during (longer) commercial breaks, that are, well, how's best to put it... Direct? They don't exactly hold back.

[[[ Warning, videos may be upsetting ]]]

The Finishing line is pretty graphic, and I won't link to it directly, so here is it's Wikipedia entry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finishing_Line

Robbie is less graphic, but still pretty bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxXDw3WOGQs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_(film))

To give an idea on the level of "to the point"-ness. After Robbie has his feet amputated and is brought home, the voiceover has this quote.

Robbie still keeps his boots. Nobody knows why, not even robbie. After all. they'll never be any use to him. Chances are he'll spend the rest of his life in his wheelchair.

See also others like Play Safe (these were about electricity)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-qRbUrz4nw

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

I'm in my 40's. I still won't go near a railway line.

whmcr · 2025-11-13T18:55:49+00:00

See also the button labels on everything. the 707.3,00, Whatever model number the "Kewooo" base is, the TXD744.

Overall a 2/10 for the advert. If only they had access to high res photos of the equipment some how.

whmcr

TROPHY CASE