POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you just say that in Jeremey Clarkson's voice? 

So before you get anything in a twist none of this is sponsored by or paid for by anyone - my names not Andy.... 

Now even before any solar node ever entered into my life i was always intrigued by solar power ( and wind actually )  It was the dream to move into our new house and have a solar / battery setup - running two electric cars it made perfect sense. So not being rich ( unlike Andy ) the accounts department ( the wife ) ran all the numbers to see if it was a viable option to add to our mortgage. In the end it was proved "useful" and we run solar - good job really as our energy bills were HUGE - damn kids.

So yes im a solar fan for sure - i also bought those nasty temu solar panels and strangely enjoyed charging power banks for free... i mean it only took two weeks to charge... but it was FREE ( i know i know whats the price of the little panel again )

 

When we did look for a partner to enter into the meshtastic world this was a factor, and yes i had to prove all the benefits to Neil as he can be very serious as he looks over his glasses with "that look" - ben on the other hand just wanted it to work up a mountain for a week  / Heltec left chat

Running the previous RAKwireless solar enclosure was great, i mean it looked cool and i only had to jump start it every couple of weeks - yes that panel was too small for the little sunshine we do have and it was behind glass in the car also of course.

Now the new "big boy" RAK solar enclosure is up and running and back in the car, and thus far that solar panel and bigger battery is doing just fine, truly holding its own. Well done RAK well done, i mean its just a bigger box right? The magic of course is in how little energy the actual meshtastic starter kit uses, we all know that. But in all our use case scenarios it makes a difference. Yes i like solar, a lot.

 

So that's the background done.

So often at night we have fallen into a routine of gaming / sorting mpowered247 business and then heading to YouTube, my YouTube history one day is going to get me arrested. This week alone has been, meshtasitc news, lora news then the rabbit hole stuff Trump assassination attempt conspiracy, e bikes and scooters the new call of duty coming, what the error code on the tumble dryer means and of course the max height i can fly at with my drone licence - hmm. That lot of course is just a sample, we tend to love technology off grid stuff and going fast, oh and boring "how to videos" amongst other things. - oh yeah im pretty much setup for my "wind node" video too - Neils going to hate this.

 

So again according to the wife im an advertisers dream, i see something geeky yet cool, research the hell out of it and then want it -even if it does mean selling one of the kids. Now i already have solar right, but you can never have enough, its like my meshtastic node fleet right? More panels, more storage more saving and i can watch that app in the picture "live"  Enter the YouTube rabbit hole and Eco Flow, i have seen a good few videos from these guys, solar panels, batteries and all that good stuff - if i had a camper van i would have already been all over this. But wait, they have a new product.. here comes trouble. A small mico inverter that connects to the house, some panels i can put on my shed and viola i have created a smaller version of what i already have, but this doesn't need expensive fitting and it will cover the "base load" of the houses power needs ( stuff like the fridge and router and all that stuff im paying for when half of the time im not even in!  So yes i bought one, ex display cheap solar panels are coming for the summer house roof and its a fun project that doesn't cost thousands but does have real savings... oh and i can watch another app. 

I mean i do have a use case here, i mean i have to or no way would the accounts department pass my spending.. again. In the summer house i might have a "small project" to grow fruit and veg using hydroponics, why? because i can. Then if i can power this and not take from my existing solar setup then ive got a tiny farm here that's completely independent and my house base load is covered. - well that's how i sold it to the wife. I mean this system was originally designed for apartments, hang the solar panels off the balcony plug in and whenever the suns up my electric bills down, and if and when i want to i can charge a portable battery too - that means charge during the day and use the power at night. 

I mean i can gauge if im making enough power there by plugging in a Heltec v3 right... jokes.  So the rest of the bits i need are on the way, i will do a video of course because said summer house is also going to have a meshtastic " super node" fitted too. Then an email drops.. not another legal threat? No, it kinda goes " hey your mark form mpowered247 the meshtasitc guys lets have a chat"

Ill let you know whats said ( more importantly ill try to get a discount on the other bits i need for my home setup - learnt that from Andy ) 

Apparently our attitude to off grid solutions from our communications solutions with RAK along side our ethos of honesty and respect to our community and our customers is being seen - that's namely thanks to you lot, not us.

Right now in the world we live in i personally think we all need to be "off grid ready" that's why we built the meshtasitc network spanning Blackpool before any of this monster arrived.

 

Feel free to vocally abuse me on this Friday night on the Live stream on YouTube...  im wating on Andy Kirbys RSVP on joining us live too, i think hes scared by the banter level to be honest.. that's southerners for you.

You didn't really read all that lot above did you? 

See you Friday night

 

Thanks again

Mark

xraymark

 

 

 

 

PPS  The jibes at Andy Kirby above are banter, they come from a personal understanding as Andy and i are friends, in fact hes a founder too.  I mean i don't have to like him to respect him < that's banter again, do i need to run a training program on this matter? /END