This has nothing to do with solar but I am a ham radio operator and I think it is a neat event.
EVE ! - Radio Amateurs bounce a signal off Venus
Radio Amateurs have achieved the very first reception of amateur signals bounced off the planet Venus, over 50 million km away - EVE (Earth-Venus-Earth)
Peter Guelzow DB2OS, President of AMSAT-DL has provided a description of this landmark achievement.
On March 25th, 2009 a team from the German space organisation AMSAT-DL reached another milestone on its way to an own interplanetary probe towards planet Mars.
The ground station at the Bochum observatory transmitted radio signals to Venus. After travelling almost 100 million kilometers and a round trip delay of about 5 minutes, they were clearly received as echoes from the surface of Venus.
Receiving these planetary echoes is a first for Germany and Europe. In addition, this is the farthest distance crossed by radio amateurs, over 100 times further than echoes from the moon (EME reflections).
For receiving the EVE signals, an FFT analysis with an integration time of 5 minutes was used. After integrating for 2 minutes only, the reflected signals were clearly visible in the display. Despite the bad weather, signals from Venus could be detected from 1038UT until the planet reached the local horizon.
The 2.4 GHz high power amplifier used for this achievement is described in the current AMSAT-DL journal.
This represented a crucial test for a final key component of the planned P5-A Mars mission. By receiving echoes from Venus, the ground and command station for the Mars probe has been cleared for operational use and the AMSAT team is now gearing up for building the P5-A space probe.
For financing the actual construction and launch, AMSAT-DL is currently
in negotiation with the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) amongst others, to obtain financial support for the remaining budget of 20 Mil Euros.
AMSAT-DL wants to show that low-cost interplanetary exploration is possible with its approach.
More information and the link to the official press release [in German]:
http://www.amsat-dl.org//index.php?o...=166&Itemid=97
The EVE experiment was repeated on Thursday, March 26th for several hours with good echoes from Venus. Morse code was used to transmit the well known “HI“ signature known from the AMSAT OSCAR satellites.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
LED clothing
Well not solar yet but I have seen this coming and soon a solar shirt :)
e-textile DIY - light up your clothing
Posted by eric
on March 28, 2009
e_textile_DIY_fur_scarve.jpgOur e-textile DIY project tip for this weekend has been around for more than a year on Instructables posted by Enlighted the company that is producing and selling a wide range of illuminated clothing and other fashion items.
There are two highly interesting aspects I found in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf‘ instruction: the use of color-changing RGB LEDs that have a built-in flashing or fading circuit and the use of buttons to support and place LEDs onto textiles.
The color-changing RGB LEDs are very interesting as they do not need any circuit to fade through the color spectrum, you can just put them in parallel, connect them to a battery between 3V and 9V and up you go.
No additional resistor or any circuit is needed! Sure it will go through the same light changing sequence without the option to change that but given the simplicity of getting color changing pattern is great, especially for a quick, simple prototyping project.
The other tip I find highly interesting is the use of conventional buttons as platform/holder for the LEDs but I can imagine this principle can be useful for other electronic components that need to be fixed on textiles.
e_textile_button_holder.jpg
Two great inspirational ideas ‘hidden’ in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf’ Instructables. Maybe because I am not a fan of this kind of scarf I have overlooked for so long the two highly interesting smart crafting tips.
e-textile DIY - light up your clothing
Posted by eric
on March 28, 2009
e_textile_DIY_fur_scarve.jpgOur e-textile DIY project tip for this weekend has been around for more than a year on Instructables posted by Enlighted the company that is producing and selling a wide range of illuminated clothing and other fashion items.
There are two highly interesting aspects I found in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf‘ instruction: the use of color-changing RGB LEDs that have a built-in flashing or fading circuit and the use of buttons to support and place LEDs onto textiles.
The color-changing RGB LEDs are very interesting as they do not need any circuit to fade through the color spectrum, you can just put them in parallel, connect them to a battery between 3V and 9V and up you go.
No additional resistor or any circuit is needed! Sure it will go through the same light changing sequence without the option to change that but given the simplicity of getting color changing pattern is great, especially for a quick, simple prototyping project.
The other tip I find highly interesting is the use of conventional buttons as platform/holder for the LEDs but I can imagine this principle can be useful for other electronic components that need to be fixed on textiles.
e_textile_button_holder.jpg
Two great inspirational ideas ‘hidden’ in the ‘Color-Changing Lighted Faux Fur Scarf’ Instructables. Maybe because I am not a fan of this kind of scarf I have overlooked for so long the two highly interesting smart crafting tips.
Monday, March 16, 2009
A nerdy hat
I dont sell these but it looks cool:
Solar Powered Fan Hat: Wearable Gadget Looks and Feels Cool
by Fashion Finds
Spring is in the air, and it's time to start shopping for those unique fashions to build your spring and summer wardrobe. A geeky new wearable gadget, the solar powered fan hat, is the perfect fashion accessory for spring or summer; with its trucker design, it both looks and feels cool.
here is the article link with the hat picture:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/solar_powered_fan_hat_wearable_gadget_looks_and_feels_cool_24822
Solar Powered Fan Hat: Wearable Gadget Looks and Feels Cool
by Fashion Finds
Spring is in the air, and it's time to start shopping for those unique fashions to build your spring and summer wardrobe. A geeky new wearable gadget, the solar powered fan hat, is the perfect fashion accessory for spring or summer; with its trucker design, it both looks and feels cool.
here is the article link with the hat picture:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/solar_powered_fan_hat_wearable_gadget_looks_and_feels_cool_24822
Sunday, March 15, 2009
a solar kit impressive installation
Recently we sold a solar kit and the owner installed it and said this:
Thank you for all your help. I am an Architect and building, even a simple, photo-voltaic system helps me understand how to design and specify these types of systems on my projects. See attached. It really turned out great! I was even able to wire in a standard-type wall switch so I could get all the lights to come on at once. My wife will really like this feature.
Sincerely,
Aaron
Thank you for all your help. I am an Architect and building, even a simple, photo-voltaic system helps me understand how to design and specify these types of systems on my projects. See attached. It really turned out great! I was even able to wire in a standard-type wall switch so I could get all the lights to come on at once. My wife will really like this feature.
Sincerely,
Aaron
Monday, March 9, 2009
The great change
This is a neat article to read. It touches how solar must be teh way!
Op-Ed Columnist
The Inflection Is Near?
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By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 7, 2009
Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I can’t resist quoting from it. Consider this faux article from June 2005 about America’s addiction to Chinese exports:
Skip to next paragraph
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman
Go to Columnist Page »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
* Read All Comments (485) »
FENGHUA, China — Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the “sheer amount of [garbage] Americans will buy. Often, when we’re assigned a new order for, say, ‘salad shooters,’ I will say to myself, ‘There’s no way that anyone will ever buy these.’ ... One month later, we will receive an order for the same product, but three times the quantity. How can anyone have a need for such useless [garbage]? I hear that Americans can buy anything they want, and I believe it, judging from the things I’ve made for them,” Chen said. “And I also hear that, when they no longer want an item, they simply throw it away. So wasteful and contemptible.”
Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”
We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ...
We can’t do this anymore.
“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.
“You can get this burst of wealth that we have created from this rapacious behavior,” added Romm. “But it has to collapse, unless adults stand up and say, ‘This is a Ponzi scheme. We have not generated real wealth, and we are destroying a livable climate ...’ Real wealth is something you can pass on in a way that others can enjoy.”
Over a billion people today suffer from water scarcity; deforestation in the tropics destroys an area the size of Greece every year — more than 25 million acres; more than half of the world’s fisheries are over-fished or fished at their limit.
“Just as a few lonely economists warned us we were living beyond our financial means and overdrawing our financial assets, scientists are warning us that we’re living beyond our ecological means and overdrawing our natural assets,” argues Glenn Prickett, senior vice president at Conservation International. But, he cautioned, as environmentalists have pointed out: “Mother Nature doesn’t do bailouts.”
One of those who has been warning me of this for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment — when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once — “The Great Disruption.”
“We are taking a system operating past its capacity and driving it faster and harder,” he wrote me. “No matter how wonderful the system is, the laws of physics and biology still apply.” We must have growth, but we must grow in a different way. For starters, economies need to transition to the concept of net-zero, whereby buildings, cars, factories and homes are designed not only to generate as much energy as they use but to be infinitely recyclable in as many parts as possible. Let’s grow by creating flows rather than plundering more stocks.
Gilding says he’s actually an optimist. So am I. People are already using this economic slowdown to retool and reorient economies. Germany, Britain, China and the U.S. have all used stimulus bills to make huge new investments in clean power. South Korea’s new national paradigm for development is called: “Low carbon, green growth.” Who knew? People are realizing we need more than incremental changes — and we’re seeing the first stirrings of growth in smarter, more efficient, more responsible ways.
In the meantime, says Gilding, take notes: “When we look back, 2008 will be a momentous year in human history. Our children and grandchildren will ask us, ‘What was it like? What were you doing when it started to fall apart? What did you think? What did you do?’ ” Often in the middle of something momentous, we can’t see its significance. But for me there is no doubt: 2008 will be the marker — the year when ‘The Great Disruption’ began.
Op-Ed Columnist
The Inflection Is Near?
* comments (485)
* Sign In to E-Mail
* ShareClose
o Linkedin
o Digg
o Facebook
o Mixx
o My Space
o Yahoo! Buzz
o Permalink
o
Article Tools Sponsored By
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 7, 2009
Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I can’t resist quoting from it. Consider this faux article from June 2005 about America’s addiction to Chinese exports:
Skip to next paragraph
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman
Go to Columnist Page »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
* Read All Comments (485) »
FENGHUA, China — Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the “sheer amount of [garbage] Americans will buy. Often, when we’re assigned a new order for, say, ‘salad shooters,’ I will say to myself, ‘There’s no way that anyone will ever buy these.’ ... One month later, we will receive an order for the same product, but three times the quantity. How can anyone have a need for such useless [garbage]? I hear that Americans can buy anything they want, and I believe it, judging from the things I’ve made for them,” Chen said. “And I also hear that, when they no longer want an item, they simply throw it away. So wasteful and contemptible.”
Let’s today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis and ask a radical question: What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”
We have created a system for growth that depended on our building more and more stores to sell more and more stuff made in more and more factories in China, powered by more and more coal that would cause more and more climate change but earn China more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills so America would have more and more money to build more and more stores and sell more and more stuff that would employ more and more Chinese ...
We can’t do this anymore.
“We created a way of raising standards of living that we can’t possibly pass on to our children,” said Joe Romm, a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org. We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks — water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land — and not by generating renewable flows.
“You can get this burst of wealth that we have created from this rapacious behavior,” added Romm. “But it has to collapse, unless adults stand up and say, ‘This is a Ponzi scheme. We have not generated real wealth, and we are destroying a livable climate ...’ Real wealth is something you can pass on in a way that others can enjoy.”
Over a billion people today suffer from water scarcity; deforestation in the tropics destroys an area the size of Greece every year — more than 25 million acres; more than half of the world’s fisheries are over-fished or fished at their limit.
“Just as a few lonely economists warned us we were living beyond our financial means and overdrawing our financial assets, scientists are warning us that we’re living beyond our ecological means and overdrawing our natural assets,” argues Glenn Prickett, senior vice president at Conservation International. But, he cautioned, as environmentalists have pointed out: “Mother Nature doesn’t do bailouts.”
One of those who has been warning me of this for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment — when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once — “The Great Disruption.”
“We are taking a system operating past its capacity and driving it faster and harder,” he wrote me. “No matter how wonderful the system is, the laws of physics and biology still apply.” We must have growth, but we must grow in a different way. For starters, economies need to transition to the concept of net-zero, whereby buildings, cars, factories and homes are designed not only to generate as much energy as they use but to be infinitely recyclable in as many parts as possible. Let’s grow by creating flows rather than plundering more stocks.
Gilding says he’s actually an optimist. So am I. People are already using this economic slowdown to retool and reorient economies. Germany, Britain, China and the U.S. have all used stimulus bills to make huge new investments in clean power. South Korea’s new national paradigm for development is called: “Low carbon, green growth.” Who knew? People are realizing we need more than incremental changes — and we’re seeing the first stirrings of growth in smarter, more efficient, more responsible ways.
In the meantime, says Gilding, take notes: “When we look back, 2008 will be a momentous year in human history. Our children and grandchildren will ask us, ‘What was it like? What were you doing when it started to fall apart? What did you think? What did you do?’ ” Often in the middle of something momentous, we can’t see its significance. But for me there is no doubt: 2008 will be the marker — the year when ‘The Great Disruption’ began.
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