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Hi Warren,
The Langstone looks like it will make an excellent rig/microwave exciter. Thanks for the link – I hadn’t considered using the harmonics of the Pluto for higher frequencies, and you definitely sent me down a series of link rabbit holes 😉
I know a lot of people use the FT817 as an IF rig, and that was going to be part of my plan for portable, but using an SDR like the Pluto can open up so many more possibilities.
Please post updates and pics as you make progress, and if you need someone on the other end of an air gap for a QSO, let me know. I have some 2.3GHz accessories (antenna/bandpass filter/LNA) and could cobble up a low power transceiver using the Pluto. QRP on the other bands you mentioned would just take a few mouse clicks 🙂
73,
Jay
Success!
Used the ADALM Pluto as an IF transmitter at 250MHz., LO for the mixer at 10.0GHz, output RF at 10.250GHz
LNB down converts 10.250GHz to 500MHz. Used my spectrum analyzer as an IF receiver at 500MHz.
Sent and received my callsign via NBFM modulated CW with the SDRangel software controlling the Pluto.
Reference links:
ADALM-Pluto SDR transceiver (can be modified in firmware to work down to about 70MHz)
SDRangel – SDR software for receive and transmit
Hi Tom
One salesperson did comment about an 18” clearance requirement at the peak for fire access – I think that rule is fairly new. I live in Merrimack – sounds like I should drop in and talk with the fire dept. to get their current take on solar.
Thanks!
Jay
Ryan: Thanks for the pointer to harei and your setup info. Do you operate HF?
Burns: Yes, ReVision still does lean towards the optimizers instead of micro inverters. It will be interesting to see what they propose. For string systems, optimizers (of some sort) are required now by code to provide a quick shutdown in the case of an emergency.
I’ve been poking around Bob Bruninga’s site and suspect some of what I’m reading is outdated (? I hope ?). i.e. “My 10 kW array generates modest RFI every XX Khz across the HF spectrum which sounds like a 60 Hz buzz. Fortunatly, I do not currently operate HF, and fortunately, my AC disconnect is right outside my kitchen door so if I needed to , I can kill all the inverters at once for daytime operation, or I can simply operate at night.”
–Jay
Great – Revision is one of the companies I’m talking with, and I had asked for a ham referral if they had one. Let’s see if your name comes up 🙂
Was part of you decision to use the Enphase micro inverter on each panel solution instead of a single string inverter with optimizers on each panel due to potential RFI / mitigation strategies? Or was it more due to the configuration of your system (i.e. lots of panels with various levels of shading)?
At first I thought the optimizers could be less of an RFI issue, but the more internet browsing I do has me going in the micro inverter direction.
Thanks for the info – besides making sure solar is cost effective for my situation, the next concern is that it doesn’t ruin my hobby.
–Jay
Thanks Burns. Can you say who you used for the install? So far the folks who have come out to my house didn’t seem to have experience with RFI mitigation (or… didn’t recall doing an install at a ham radio operator’s QTH).
–Jay
Some reference info:
http://ka7oei.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-solar-saga-part-1-avoiding.html
And, there’s a good article in the April 2016 issue of QST.
The big question is… are things better in 2021?
–Jay