We bought a small 16' Airstream last year. Of course, we considered the
same charge issues you are faced with. I carry the Icom 7300 for HF and
monitoring meteors while out camping, usually well away from any RF source,
cell phone coverage, no TV, few,if any amateur repeaters, so I want it RF
quiet! I bought an 80-watt deployable panel from Camping World for about
$250. It is a suit case panel and folds in half and includes the charge
controller. The ONLY problem I've had with RFI from the panel assembly was
when I, not thinking, looped my coax around the panel. The 7300 picked up
some razzle (yea, what a description!) noise when the controller was
pulsing to charge the camper battery. I immediately recognized my error in
dressing the coax. I rerouted the coax such that there was no longer a
loop around the panel assembly. Problem went away. I have used it since
then being cognizant not to loop the coax around the panel and have had
absolutely no further RFI. I'd recommend it to any ham who takes HF into
the boonies.
Our choice between the 80-watt panel and those larger was strictly weight.
Sure, I'd like a 200-watt panel, but the break point between the 80-watt
unit and those of higher ratings was weight. The 100-watt panel was
significantly heavier and I just didn't want that, so we came home with the
80-watt unit. You can find them less expensive than Camping World, but the
packaging of the solar cells, themselves, and quality of the charge
controller (relatively RF quiet) is rather compromised. It works for us,
although we are not heavy power users. I also installed a true sinewave
300-watt inverter so my wife can watch TV when its available over the air
and to keep the laptops happy. With our usage, including the Icom 7300,
the 80-watt panel is fully capable of keeping the camper battery charged
with 6 or so hours of full sun. I also 'track' the sun manually about
every three hours or so.
Dave - WØLEV
On Wed, Aug 14, 2019 at 4:58 PM Gary Smith <Gary@ka1j.com> wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I finally bought a camper & though I had
> no power issues (Brought a Honda EU2000i
> for 120V needs), I would like to take the
> K3 along and have a clean RFI environment
> when I do and use solar to charge the
> battery.
>
> Depending on the size/convenience of
> moving the solar equipment, I would like
> to use it to charge a 12V deep cycle
> battery I use in the shack during some
> contests.
>
> As I'll be buying this sight unseen from
> the web, any suggestions of an inexpensive
> controller and panel that is known to be
> essentially RFI clean & reliable?
>
> Thanks & 73,
>
> Gary
> KA1J
> _______________________________________________
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> RFI@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
>
--
*Dave - WØLEV*
*Just Let Darwin Work*
*Just Think*
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