Running Bear's March 2026 Coffee Shop

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santafewillie said:
"hog-wire" fencing
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I used PVC pipe and made a frame, strung some netting and angled everything so that the cuke vine would grow and the fruit would hang in the lee. Sometimes would have to encourage the fruit to hang the correct way.

Hogwire fence would definitely be easier as I have to deconstruct everything at the end of the season to grow other stuff.

The problem that I have all the time with cukes is with white mildew. Have to keep the big old leaves pruned or they'd allow too much moisture to hang around. Once the mildew hit the main stem, it was all over.
 
Good evening folks, it is still 75F here after hitting 80F earlier. A gorgeous day made for driving with the windows down. Went to the spine Dr today, they have to order PT for me before the insurance will cover a MRI. Huh? Anyway it is only 5 minutes from the house, so I will do it. Hit BAM for RMC today and also picked up some clearance paint at Hobby Lobby. Finally got most of the final work done on the Rupturetrigger.d Duck, will post pics tomorrow once it finishes drying. Also got more paint on Battlemechs. Gonna be working tomorrow at the gunstore, will be working out a price on a sad S&W revolver that will be going straight to the gunsmith, as some gun-butcher has messed up the trigger. Anyway, you guys all have a good night.
 
troyphoto said:
Anker Solex C1000
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You getting PV panels for these? The C1000 can handle 60V maximum input. When it comes to solar charge controllers (built in or separate), voltage kills. They can throttle amperage, but not voltage.

PV panel ratings are set at 25C to standardize, which often means that they can put out more at colder temps.

When it comes to wiring, higher voltage, less amps, smaller wire. Amps and distance dictate wire size.

Beware of flexible panels. They say flexible, but once you hear that cracking sound, it's pretty much junk after that. Bouge RV CIGs panels can be rolled and I have seen tests where they work great in partial shading. Kinda pricy though. I don't know if there are others since I haven't looked in a while.
 


Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Saturday! The temperature is 48°F (9°C) and mostly cloudy. :cool:
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Have a great day!
;)

On another note, Good luck to anyone that has to get any past tax records from the IRS site. Be prepared for some hoop-jumping. I did it yesterday and though I was ultimately successful, it was a bit of a struggle. :eek:
 
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Kusojiji said:
You getting PV panels for these? The C1000 can handle 60V maximum input. When it comes to solar charge controllers (built in or separate), voltage kills. They can throttle amperage, but not voltage.

PV panel ratings are set at 25C to standardize, which often means that they can put out more at colder temps.

When it comes to wiring, higher voltage, less amps, smaller wire. Amps and distance dictate wire size.

Beware of flexible panels. They say flexible, but once you hear that cracking sound, it's pretty much junk after that. Bouge RV CIGs panels can be rolled and I have seen tests where they work great in partial shading. Kinda pricy though. I don't know if there are others since I haven't looked in a while.
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Here's the bundle I got for the solar panels:

Screenshot 2026-03-21 at 6.55.38 AM.png


I haven't broken the panels out yet, but probably will today.

Here's the only place I can put solar panels and not have the HOA after me immediately:

Patio.jpg


That fence faces south. Image was taken Mid April at 4:30ish PM... Either the condo or the garage (big brown detached building to the back-left) Shades that area. My wife keeps trying to grow veggies, and we've had to put her planter boxes on wheels so she can chase them around the patio following the sun.

If I want to mount panels to either the fence or the back of the garage, I'll have to get permission from the HOA due to restrictions on the Condo Agreements. That's the joy of living in a condo.

So the portable panels are my best use case and only when needed in grid down situations.
 
troyphoto said:
Here's the bundle I got for the solar panels:

View attachment 260912

I haven't broken the panels out yet, but probably will today.

Here's the only place I can put solar panels and not have the HOA after me immediately:

View attachment 260913

That fence faces south. Image was taken Mid April at 4:30ish PM... Either the condo or the garage (big brown detached building to the back-left) Shades that area. My wife keeps trying to grow veggies, and we've had to put her planter boxes on wheels so she can chase them around the patio following the sun.

If I want to mount panels to either the fence or the back of the garage, I'll have to get permission from the HOA due to restrictions on the Condo Agreements. That's the joy of living in a condo.

So the portable panels are my best use case and only when needed in grid down situations.
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I think that if you really needed to use the solar panels in an emergency, I wouldn't care what the HOA said. Ask them where they are with land value in that situation. If you have a 2nd floor window and some roofline, that'd be a good place for it on the south side. Out of reach of needy neighbors.

Nice deal they got going on that package. Remember with solar, more PV panels the better for cr@ppy days. I have a 360 watt panel and on cloudy, winter days, it doesn't get the battery up to full, and that's just running small dc pumps in a pond. A refer is going to drain the battery down way more than that.

I am contemplating another panel myself, but the first one took a lot of work. It's on my carport, so weight is an issue. I bought a flexible panel, but ringed it with an aluminum frame and then mounted it. It was a lot of work.

I'd place my 2nd panel on the west side of my car port so that it would be able to charge during the afternoon hours. I have diodes to keep one panel from working against the other when the other is not in sunlight.

For the veggies, can you hang them higher up on the fence so that they get more sunlight?
 


Well, howdy there internet peeps and those sleeping in

It's Troy again. I'm like Willie, in that I'm still getting up at 4:30am Standard time, but 5:30am Daylight time. I'd like to get that to 6:30 Daylight time, but the brain isn't cooperating.

I did watch some more Battlestar Galactica last night. Half-way through season 2 and hit a cliffhanger. This is about where my wife took over my DVDs 20 years ago and I stopped watching (she binges... I do one or two eps a night, a few nights a week). So I never finished the series.

Now I wished I had finished. Damn! That's good writing and plotting on this series. The main characters all have moral cores, and you see them grow during the course of the show. Not just "what happens this ep... now reset for the next ep"

BSG.jpg


An interesting bit of trivia, Tricia Helfer, the girl in the red dress with the platinum blonde hair, is a natural brunette. They bleached her hair for BSG. She'd die it back between seasons for other acting roles. And she'd have to have weekly bleach touch-ups while shooting. At least until her hair rebelled and fell out during the early part of season 2. The production had to overnight a wig... at $10K in 2004 US Dollars. Later in the run, when she comes out of the goo in the resurrection tank (how Cylons keep getting reborn), her expensive wig pulled loose from the netting underneath due to the goo she was rising out of. Yep... another wig was overnighted in. Cha-ching!

Now.... I've got the urge to build a model of the new ships... problem is, I can't find cheaper kits...

I did, however, find a source for STL files for the 3D Printer...

Screenshot 2026-03-21 at 6.47.26 AM.png


I just ordered a .2mm nozzle for the Bambu printer. It might take most of a week to print it, but it should be fun to assemble and add a light kit to it!

Even though it's a 1/4000 scale, it should look good flying over the Model RR. Maybe I can find some Cylon models to put with the zombies in the dystopian setting I'm planning.
 
Kusojiji said:
I think that if you really needed to use the solar panels in an emergency, I wouldn't care what the HOA said. Ask them where they are with land value in that situation. If you have a 2nd floor window and some roofline, that'd be a good place for it on the south side. Out of reach of needy neighbors.
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I would LOVE to add an AnkerSolex E10 whole home system, and put solar panels down the entire fence. AND on top of the garage. Our garage roof is exposed to sun for 3/4s of the day...

But, city permits, HOA... and the HOA would have a very legitimate gripe that will cost me a good $20-30K. Our garage is actually a converted carport. It has 6x6 posts on the corners, and one in the middle of three walls. Add a garage door and T11 siding, and it's a faux-garage.

The HOA and city are fine if we upgrade to a real garage. I'd have to pay for demolition of the old, removal of the asphalt pad, grading and trenching, pouring the concrete footers, and about 1/3rd of the actual garage construction. Might as well get the patio concrete redone while I'm at it.

Perhaps once MIL passes and wife gets her inheritance, we can direct some of the money to that.

The joy of condo living. We pay to upgrade, but we don't really *OWN* the improvements. Just a share of the improvements. Patio and garage count as "shared common space" that we get almost exclusive use of.
 
Yup, understand that. Portable is your only choice which can be deployed during times of real need, which at that time, HOA is not a concern unless they can provide power and water. I'm only concerned when SHTF.

Hmm, Galactica, eh? That's cool!
 
Good morning gang!

51° and sunny, heading to a high of 62°.

Sitting here at work for my half day duty. I got here an hour ago and washed the S-10, since it has been sidelined since December. Nothing is wrong with it, I just wont drive it when there is salt on the road. Now that the chance of snow is gone, and we've had lots of rain, It is time to play!
IMG_1606.jpg


Heading to HD after work to pick up new elements for the whole house water filter, then later I will be repairing the circuit for front garden lamp post that shorted out 2 weeks ago thanks to some critter chewing on a wire. We never did find a body, just chew marks on fried insulation right next to the house. This happy homeowner stuff is cutting into my train time! 😬

BBL
 
Hello from Wisconsin! 45f degrees now heading to 77, yeahhhhh…

I have to look at the Roomba robot vacuum today as it keeps getting hung up in the train room but when I check it out it’s in a spot that should not be a problem. 3 times this week I ran it and all 3 times it was in the same spot. It can’t it’s way back to home base. A few folks online recommended I re-map the route it follows. I been cutting 3/8 and 1/2” plywood in the train room this week but what little saw dust is getting to the floor should not be the issue.

Not sure what the plan if any Terry has for the day is. I only know we have the granddaughter at 10 till around 8. Her brother has 2 hockey games today for a team he wasn’t going to play for this Spring. He decided last second to try out and was selected as an alternate. Was told yesterday before practice he would be playing this weekend as a kid quit! Granddaughter is done with hockey she says and didn’t want to travel this morning the 50+ miles.

No OPS Session for me today as I didn’t sign up. Partly even though I’m not the driver 2.5 hours driving 1 way was getting to be too much. I’m thinking why travel when in less than an hour I can get to 3 magazine seen layouts in the last 5 years that run flawless and 2 also seen in the magazines in the last 2 years less than 30 minutes away. I never used to be bothered by traveling but this might be a sign of aging…

Enjoy your day
 
Well howdy there again...

Wife overruled her earlier suggestion of names for the emergency batteries. We now have Mr. Peabody, Mighty Mouse, and the soon to arrive Underdog. (An AnkerSolix C2000)

I've got Mr. Peabody running the basement fridge right now to see how long that unit will power it under normal (light) use. It's the Diet Dr. Pepper fridge, and looks to be from the era where the ice-maker in the freeze didn't even come with a water filter connection. Straight tap for your frozen H2O.

655286728_18563594869035711_6938780300039333119_n.jpg

Plugged it in at 8:50 according to the Anker app.
 


troyphoto said:
I would LOVE to add an AnkerSolex E10 whole home system, and put solar panels down the entire fence. AND on top of the garage. Our garage roof is exposed to sun for 3/4s of the day...

But, city permits, HOA... and the HOA would have a very legitimate gripe that will cost me a good $20-30K. Our garage is actually a converted carport. It has 6x6 posts on the corners, and one in the middle of three walls. Add a garage door and T11 siding, and it's a faux-garage.

The HOA and city are fine if we upgrade to a real garage. I'd have to pay for demolition of the old, removal of the asphalt pad, grading and trenching, pouring the concrete footers, and about 1/3rd of the actual garage construction. Might as well get the patio concrete redone while I'm at it.

Perhaps once MIL passes and wife gets her inheritance, we can direct some of the money to that.

The joy of condo living. We pay to upgrade, but we don't really *OWN* the improvements. Just a share of the improvements. Patio and garage count as "shared common space" that we get almost exclusive use of.
Click to expand...
Is it possible to mount the solar panels flat on the storage shed roof? Can anyone see them up there from a second floor window?
 
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