Sorting Junk and getting closer

We finally have a start date for getting the new shed/shack built. Last week of April. Feels like a long time away, but then I've realised how much progress I'm not making the garage to facilitate the simple things like clearing off my workbench. 

It really is... slow. And it's not that big. There's just so much stuff. I've been making a point of trying to fill at least one shopping bag a day with stuff to throw out... not that you can tell. 

I've ordered a second 350w solar panel to see if I can better compare the performance I'm seeing with the one I've got. If they're similar we'll put it down to just a bad testing environment. If they're not, then it can go back. 

I did attempt to test the inverter out last night with a 500w load. My inverter is apparently rated at 1000w with a 2000w peak. My cabling will support about 60A.. as will the breakers, so my spud math tells me that my 500w drill press should draw 42A. It tries to turn. And the inverter is alarming. Interesting. 

Find another tool with a similar draw - same thing. Tries to work, but doesn't.

The battery has the juice for it. The inverter seems not to. 

Message sent to the seller to attempt to replace it. The very reason I went for such a high spec inverter was specifically for this reason.. I need something that is capable of dealing with me firing up the drill press.. or my 600w jigsaw.. and I didn't want something that was going to be hitting any kind of peak limit doing so. 

It does seem to at least cope with the 50w needed to charge my Ryobi batteries. 

Last night I printed a cover for the Victron battery protector. I disliked the idea that it had a pair of positive posts just sticking out on the solar wall. 

The solar controller requires earthing, which I'll do. The solar panels are negative earthed, so if my woeful electronics are correct.. panels will be on metal that will be touching the roof so their chassis will ground to the shed. The controller will go to earth. I guess that means logically I need to ground the whole shed. I'm actually fine with this anyway. I've got a spare earth stake and some seriously heavy duty earth cables. I also wouldn't mind a better earthing set up from the inverter. The inverter feeds 240v back to the breaker box where there is an RCD and there is earthing connected up in there.  If the shed is going to be negative ground, all the more reason for covering those posts. 

I'm still trying to work out the best way to mount my vertical around this shed given access to the narrow space between it and the fence won't be easy to access. Needs a lot more thought. 

On the radio subject... I was hearing a DX station on 28.490 - from memory it was a European station. Sadly a VK3 who wasn't hearing it just piled over the top, called CQ and started a QSO with an Indonesian station that was booming in. 

From memory that's the first time I've really heard DX on 10m. Interesting. Unfortunately I was able to listen for about a minute before the harmonics at the dinner table playing a kids version of Monopoly started having a dispute about rental payments and "Ms 11 going on 15", in possession of all properties on the board was demanding "Master 5 year old" to make payments despite having been bankrupted. The story of my life really. Money, lack of money. Kids fighting. LOL. 

I'd like some more radio time at the moment, but I'm struggling to find it. I'm nog even getting enough time into the garage to get it to a state where I can rip down the workbench. 

It's a strategic problem; there is no space left in the garage. The space I had is currently full of building materials for the shed. I can't even get them out of the shed until I move things around. At the same time, I need to have the workbench organised enough that I can easy transport its contents to the shed, move the bench itself and set it up. 

That'll give me enough space in the garage to work out moving the first of the shelving units out so I can have some storage in the shed. From there I might then finally be able to dig my way through to the second set of shelves.. and at some point I'll have condensed things enough that I can get to the second work bench so I can move it. 

You never realise how much crap you own until you need to move it.