[00:11.600 --> 00:16.480] Welcome to my DEF CON Ham Radio Village talk on my rover van. [00:16.680 --> 00:21.740] My name is Pete Koback and my call sign is Kilo Zero. Bravo Alpha Kilo. [00:21.800 --> 00:27.760] I want to say first that I'm really happy to be here at DEF CON, even virtually, [00:27.760 --> 00:31.480] because I spent 17 years in web application security, [00:31.480 --> 00:35.280] and although I attended quite a few security conferences in that time, [00:35.280 --> 00:40.460] I never did get to DEF CON, so I'm glad I'm here now, and I'm glad you're here with me. [00:43.720 --> 00:47.060] I first got licensed relatively recently, [00:47.060 --> 00:52.820] after waiting 40 years when I first had an interest in ham radio as a teenager, [00:52.820 --> 00:57.040] but didn't have money, and then didn't have time with a family and career. [00:57.200 --> 01:03.200] And I had been fascinated by reading about the activity of roving, [01:03.760 --> 01:10.760] either activating counties and state QSO parties, or grids and VHF contests. [01:11.540 --> 01:16.900] And my first effort was in 2014 in the Pennsylvania QSO party, my home state, [01:16.900 --> 01:21.020] and I won the category, mostly because there wasn't much competition in the category, [01:21.020 --> 01:25.760] but still, I had a lot of fun doing it, and it wasn't bad to win either. [01:25.760 --> 01:34.560] So, a kind of a career was started there in roving and contests. [01:38.350 --> 01:41.170] When I first started, I used the family minivan, [01:41.170 --> 01:47.450] and on the left here you can see four low VHF bands on a rotator in the back of the van. [01:47.450 --> 01:53.650] And here is the HF antenna I started with, which was an elevated ground plane. [01:53.690 --> 01:56.130] I since replaced that with a screwdriver antenna, [01:56.130 --> 01:59.690] because although this antenna works well, it takes too long to set up. [02:03.950 --> 02:06.510] Although I had fun operating the family minivan, [02:06.510 --> 02:11.850] it was a pain in the neck to have to tear it down each time after I'm done, [02:11.850 --> 02:13.470] and then build it out the next time. [02:13.470 --> 02:16.050] Also, I couldn't drill holes, so I was thinking, [02:16.050 --> 02:18.930] gee, it sure would be nice to have a dedicated vehicle. [02:22.940 --> 02:26.620] The ultimate such vehicle would be electronic news gathering. [02:26.920 --> 02:30.360] It would have a pneumatic mask, power, and racks, [02:30.360 --> 02:33.480] and it would be a perfect base for a VHF ham rover. [02:33.480 --> 02:38.140] I looked every so often, not really very seriously. [02:38.140 --> 02:40.380] They always seemed to be offered far away, [02:40.380 --> 02:45.280] and I wasn't really looking in any kind of systematic way. [02:50.010 --> 02:55.590] However, in the summer of 2016, my buddy Rob found the TV van that was only two hours away. [02:55.630 --> 02:57.150] So we went up there. [02:58.070 --> 03:02.330] Since he's a gearhead, he gave it a mechanical thumbs up. [03:02.350 --> 03:04.790] We saw that the generated pneumatic mask worked, [03:04.790 --> 03:08.250] and after going away for a couple weeks and thinking about it, [03:08.250 --> 03:13.290] I purchased it and paid for it, in effect, by delaying my retirement. [03:18.120 --> 03:20.320] Here's a list of the features in the van. [03:20.320 --> 03:26.320] I won't go through these step-by-step, but a pneumatic mask, power generators, [03:27.840 --> 03:31.840] a powerful engine because it's quite a heavy vehicle, [03:32.460 --> 03:34.640] and a flat roof with a ladder. [03:34.640 --> 03:36.240] That was meant for TV reporting. [03:36.240 --> 03:41.520] That would make it easier to climb up there and install antennas that I needed. [03:44.990 --> 03:47.910] Here's what the van looked like when it was on offer at the dealer. [03:47.910 --> 03:51.870] You can see some pretty heavy antennas on the roof of the van [03:51.870 --> 03:56.330] that would have to be removed for my own antennas to be installed. [03:58.910 --> 04:02.570] And here's a look at the interior production area, [04:02.570 --> 04:07.090] where you can see that they removed all their expensive equipment and left the cables behind. [04:10.520 --> 04:14.200] I bought the van at the end of October of 2016, [04:14.700 --> 04:17.300] registered it, replaced the batteries, [04:17.300 --> 04:21.420] and something I didn't even think about was garaging it. [04:21.420 --> 04:24.240] So I didn't have a garage tall enough for it, [04:24.240 --> 04:27.340] so I threw a tarp over it, which didn't work all that well, [04:27.340 --> 04:29.280] then certainly didn't look very good, [04:29.280 --> 04:32.860] and didn't have any build progress that winter. [04:34.300 --> 04:39.220] In the spring, I took down the antennas I could by disassembling it [04:39.220 --> 04:42.580] and walking the antennas down the ladder, [04:42.580 --> 04:46.240] but the front antenna for satellite was too heavy, [04:46.240 --> 04:52.340] and another buddy of mine from a VHF club, Phil K3TOF, [04:52.340 --> 04:58.920] helped me by taking it off with a pulley at his pole barn. [05:03.620 --> 05:08.740] Ironically, the first radio that I had installed in the van was not a ham radio, [05:08.740 --> 05:16.620] but was a combination radio, backup camera, and navigation device. [05:16.620 --> 05:19.420] Also, I had a Bluetooth player for long drives, [05:19.420 --> 05:23.160] which is not a small thing when you're doing a long drive by yourself. [05:27.090 --> 05:32.250] One of my first bad surprises was in the spring after I bought it, [05:32.250 --> 05:36.410] I found that the generator, the motor part started right up, [05:36.410 --> 05:39.010] which is good, but there was no voltage I could find. [05:39.810 --> 05:42.730] I was surprised by this, because we saw the meters on at the dealer, [05:42.730 --> 05:45.290] and it ran the pneumatic mass, at least I thought so. [05:45.290 --> 05:51.470] I finally discovered that the AC we saw at the dealer had come from the van engine, [05:51.470 --> 05:55.110] and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know it had that feature. [05:55.110 --> 05:58.730] I guess it's good to have the feature, but bad that I didn't know about it. [05:58.730 --> 06:05.290] So, the generator part of that gasoline gen set had to be rebuilt expensively, and it took quite a while. [06:09.270 --> 06:13.570] At the same time, 2017 is my first year of retirement, [06:13.570 --> 06:17.450] and I did a lot of operating because I had the freedom to do so, [06:17.450 --> 06:21.770] and because I was operating, I didn't make much progress on the van. [06:21.770 --> 06:25.470] Finally, at near the end of the year, I deconstructed the minivan Rover [06:25.470 --> 06:30.030] in the hopes that I would have more time, or force myself at least to have more time, [06:30.030 --> 06:33.910] to outfit the TV van. [06:37.760 --> 06:42.260] The next winter, I found a garage for it that was relatively new, [06:42.800 --> 06:45.680] and the problem was it was one hour drive each way, [06:45.680 --> 06:47.820] but at least I had a place to keep it over the winter, [06:47.820 --> 06:51.500] and could do some work inside during the winter months. [06:55.710 --> 07:00.930] The first big project in the winter was to remove the cables that were left behind. [07:00.930 --> 07:04.870] I did so by not cutting them, but removing them and putting them aside, [07:04.870 --> 07:09.030] or wrapping them up here on the side and cleaning the whole van, [07:09.030 --> 07:14.090] which had not seen much cleaning since it was built in 2001. [07:17.280 --> 07:21.280] The first thing I ever built for the van was a shore power connection. [07:21.280 --> 07:27.100] Here's a little cable with an adapter that was kind of unusual. [07:27.100 --> 07:30.080] You would have thought it would be standard in the RV world. [07:30.080 --> 07:33.820] It was not, so it was hard to find and surprisingly expensive, [07:33.820 --> 07:36.940] but at least my first build was successful. [07:37.000 --> 07:41.240] The first of many things I built for the van down the years. [07:45.480 --> 07:48.540] Now in 2018, unfortunately, most progress halted [07:48.540 --> 07:53.060] because of a major series of basement floods we had at home. [07:53.060 --> 07:57.100] It took out my home station and forced me to spend a lot of time [07:57.100 --> 08:01.780] fixing it up or preparing it to be fixed up and renewed again. [08:01.820 --> 08:05.900] So very little progress was made on the TV van because of that. [08:11.650 --> 08:15.930] 2019, though, had quite a bit of progress in the van. [08:15.930 --> 08:20.010] I won't go through this entire list, but one of the big features of that year [08:20.010 --> 08:23.950] was operating in the Canadian National Parks on the Air program, [08:23.950 --> 08:30.690] installing radios, the power systems I used during that operation, [08:30.690 --> 08:33.750] and a microwave power shelf. [08:33.750 --> 08:39.650] So in contrast to the previous year, I did make a lot of progress two years ago. [08:40.210 --> 08:44.450] In this calendar year, though, the major theme, [08:44.450 --> 08:47.710] including the very end of last year, [08:47.710 --> 08:51.690] was mechanical problems with the engine, [08:51.690 --> 08:55.390] in particular the serpentine belt in the engine. [08:55.390 --> 09:00.050] So the van was out of commission for many weeks in two different events, [09:00.050 --> 09:04.750] not allowing me to make progress in building or operating the van. [09:04.750 --> 09:07.150] In between the events, I did go on what I called [09:07.150 --> 09:10.070] Corona Roads to local parks and operated from parks, [09:10.070 --> 09:16.390] since I could still be isolated from other people while operating inside the van. [09:17.650 --> 09:20.390] And right at the moment, the station is down for upgrades, [09:20.390 --> 09:23.530] but that's a good thing, and it'll be back on the air shortly. [09:27.360 --> 09:31.600] Now I'd like to talk about power, which was most of my effort [09:31.600 --> 09:35.680] of building the interior of the van so far. [09:37.520 --> 09:42.600] So I started with surveying the [09:43.320 --> 09:46.620] capabilities of the van as is. The van has three [09:46.620 --> 09:50.880] 5 kilowatt AC sources, a generator set that I talked about, [09:50.880 --> 09:55.460] an origin that was power from the vehicle, [09:55.460 --> 09:58.860] and the plug-in shore power. So the problem [09:58.860 --> 10:02.820] with the generator set was that it was very loud [10:02.820 --> 10:07.420] inside. Audio-wise, it was really loud and shaky, [10:07.420 --> 10:10.540] and not only was it loud inside the van, if I was [10:10.540 --> 10:14.660] anywhere where the public would be, like a park, [10:14.660 --> 10:18.960] it would be really distracting and not a nice thing to subject [10:18.960 --> 10:23.300] other people to. The origin is relatively quiet [10:23.300 --> 10:27.080] because just the van engine is running, but RF-wise, it was [10:27.080 --> 10:30.300] horribly, horribly noisy, so that was out. [10:31.160 --> 10:35.000] Lastly, there's RF noise just from the van engine [10:35.000 --> 10:39.120] even when the origin system wasn't on, so my overall conclusion [10:39.120 --> 10:43.120] was that I needed batteries for doing weak signal radio. I couldn't [10:43.120 --> 10:46.080] rely on any of the internal generating sources. [10:48.120 --> 10:52.500] The DC power system included two [10:54.300 --> 10:56.540] batteries wired in parallel [10:56.540 --> 11:00.480] permanently, which was a shame because [11:00.480 --> 11:04.480] it would have been nice if the auxiliary battery was switched in. [11:04.480 --> 11:08.180] I noticed there was no protection for high current circuits, which [11:08.180 --> 11:12.480] made some additions to the DC power system dangerous. [11:13.780 --> 11:16.180] I did have available 320 amp [11:16.180 --> 11:20.100] radio DC circuits, but that's really not enough [11:20.100 --> 11:24.360] power to even have barefoot power, no less [11:24.360 --> 11:28.200] amplifiers. The battery charger that they left behind that I [11:28.200 --> 11:32.400] started trying to use was actually burned out, which is probably why they left it behind. [11:33.000 --> 11:36.400] So my overall conclusion was that I also [11:36.400 --> 11:40.260] needed a separate radio station DC power system. I couldn't take [11:40.260 --> 11:44.520] much advantage of anything that was existing in the van for DC power. [11:49.450 --> 11:53.390] So what were my power assumptions when I started? [11:54.690 --> 11:56.390] I was going to use my [11:56.390 --> 12:00.390] home station Flex 5000 SDR. [12:00.890 --> 12:04.690] The thing about that series of Flex radios was that [12:04.690 --> 12:08.430] the radio processing was done on a PC via [12:08.430 --> 12:12.070] firewire. The laptop was out of the question because of [12:12.550 --> 12:16.810] using less reliable connections. So I needed to use a rock-mounted [12:16.810 --> 12:20.010] desktop class PC, and that meant [12:20.010 --> 12:24.670] I needed AC power for that PC. So going through [12:24.670 --> 12:28.610] this line of assumptions led me to the conclusion that the station [12:28.610 --> 12:32.230] would be based on AC power and DC would come from conventional [12:32.570 --> 12:36.450] power supplies just like you'd use at home. And I'd [12:36.450 --> 12:40.630] use batteries and an inverter for AC power because, as I [12:40.630 --> 12:43.850] said before, I couldn't rely on the internal generators. [12:48.200 --> 12:51.220] I decided that the AC power [12:51.220 --> 12:54.960] would be up to 3 kilowatts so I could eventually accommodate the limit [12:54.960 --> 12:59.540] amplifiers. And I wanted to make that decision once because it was heavy and hard to wire. [12:59.540 --> 13:03.120] So I wanted to make sure I was future-proof even if I wasn't [13:03.120 --> 13:06.960] going out with the limit amplifiers at first. [13:07.380 --> 13:10.520] I would use direct battery power for the station DC [13:11.220 --> 13:14.380] and I would use dual batteries for flexibility. [13:14.380 --> 13:16.620] I could use the AC inverter [13:17.940 --> 13:22.460] from one battery with the DC supply from another or maybe I could use one while [13:22.460 --> 13:26.500] charging the other. I knew I would get good flexibility by having [13:26.500 --> 13:30.460] two batteries. And lastly, I would need a charger maintainer for the [13:30.460 --> 13:34.560] van batteries because the van would be in storage a lot [13:34.560 --> 13:39.220] of the time and, like any vehicle, you need to maintain those lead-acid batteries. [13:44.260 --> 13:45.300] Here's a [13:45.300 --> 13:49.320] diagram of the overall power design context. [13:49.320 --> 13:53.200] I first have to apologize because my [13:53.200 --> 13:57.060] writing is so terrible. It seems like I learned to print and to draw [13:57.060 --> 14:01.500] and then just stopped learning when I was at the age of 7. [14:01.500 --> 14:05.780] So my drawings are awful and I don't have the time or patience to draw them in [14:06.520 --> 14:08.040] a drawing program. [14:08.340 --> 14:12.660] I hope you'll forgive me for these awful looking diagrams. [14:14.000 --> 14:16.800] The overall context diagram includes [14:16.800 --> 14:20.920] the old systems and the new systems. It includes both AC and DC. [14:21.420 --> 14:25.620] And we're going to be going over many of these systems one at a time. [14:29.420 --> 14:31.680] We went over the requirements, the context [14:31.680 --> 14:35.560] diagram, and now we'll spend some time [14:35.560 --> 14:38.500] on the implementation of those power systems. [14:40.120 --> 14:43.800] Here's a picture of the key power components. [14:43.800 --> 14:47.940] Here's that 3 kW inverter, charger, switch that I mentioned. [14:47.940 --> 14:51.620] And here are two 200 Ah each. [14:53.120 --> 14:55.400] Nominally 12 volt batteries. [14:55.400 --> 15:01.020] These are 115 pounds each, so they are quite beefy. [15:02.440 --> 15:03.840] Batteries actually deliver [15:03.840 --> 15:05.840] an enormous amount of current. [15:10.640 --> 15:14.300] Even just mounting the batteries required skills I didn't have before. [15:14.300 --> 15:17.160] And that's one theme I wanted to bring out. [15:17.220 --> 15:21.940] This entire project taught me quite a few really basic [15:21.940 --> 15:24.880] mechanical real world skills I didn't have before. [15:24.880 --> 15:30.320] Many people learn how to do things like a cut with a table saw when they're in their teenage years. [15:30.320 --> 15:31.640] I didn't know any of that. [15:31.640 --> 15:36.880] I had a virtual life on computers almost my entire career. [15:37.020 --> 15:38.680] This was new to me. [15:38.680 --> 15:44.260] And it was scary making my first cut on my first table saw. [15:44.260 --> 15:46.700] So this is just one [15:46.700 --> 15:50.420] especially dangerous example of things that I learned to do [15:50.420 --> 15:52.260] just for the sake of the van. [15:56.790 --> 16:02.350] So using that table saw and my newfound skills, I cut boards to constrain [16:03.030 --> 16:06.870] those 115 pound batteries horizontally. [16:06.870 --> 16:10.210] I used straps that you can just barely see here and here [16:10.210 --> 16:12.650] to constrain the batteries vertically. [16:12.730 --> 16:18.410] And here is a binding post to tie together all the negative side of the system. [16:24.700 --> 16:27.740] So let me describe the A.C. part of the [16:27.740 --> 16:29.840] system build. [16:30.820 --> 16:36.140] Over here is the native A.C. system that was already in the [16:36.140 --> 16:39.460] van and here is my new A.C. system. [16:40.400 --> 16:43.020] The inverter charger [16:43.020 --> 16:45.860] switch can supply [16:49.080 --> 16:51.180] current to the A.C. [16:51.180 --> 16:54.280] system in a back feed arrangement [16:54.800 --> 16:58.580] and the power is supplied from the shore power [16:58.580 --> 17:03.280] into the new A.C. system, into that big blue box I showed. [17:04.380 --> 17:06.680] I would have 15 amp outlets [17:07.800 --> 17:10.480] that are existing in the racks [17:10.480 --> 17:15.480] and I would also build 25 amp outlets that were brand new. [17:15.740 --> 17:18.220] And to run off of battery power [17:18.220 --> 17:22.240] there would also be a very large 200 amp capacity [17:22.240 --> 17:24.940] connection to the battery system. [17:27.950 --> 17:32.330] So here is a diagram of the A.C. power circuit. What I did was to [17:33.490 --> 17:36.490] connect into, rather than replace, I connected into [17:36.490 --> 17:39.050] existing A.C. circuits in the van. [17:39.050 --> 17:43.190] So here is a supply that I pulled off [17:43.190 --> 17:47.130] of these original circuits that [17:47.130 --> 17:51.130] are no longer used in the van to supply A.C. [17:51.130 --> 17:54.770] power into the inverter, say from shore power [17:54.770 --> 17:58.990] when I'm, for instance, charging the batteries. [17:59.010 --> 18:02.990] And then the output of the inverter would go through [18:03.910 --> 18:07.290] a new 30 amp circuit breaker and then branch [18:07.290 --> 18:11.090] off into two of the racks for an existing [18:11.090 --> 18:15.470] 15 amp circuit and another existing 15 amp circuit [18:15.470 --> 18:19.150] for the other two racks. And lastly, I [18:19.150 --> 18:23.330] installed two new sockets for higher current A.C. [18:23.330 --> 18:27.960] supply. And here is what the [18:29.460 --> 18:32.960] new A.C. power panel looked like. [18:32.960 --> 18:36.740] This is the main circuit breaker. Here are the two 15 [18:36.740 --> 18:40.720] amp circuit breakers in a double arrangement. [18:41.160 --> 18:44.960] And here are two higher current sockets for [18:44.960 --> 18:48.940] someday for legal limit amplifiers that require [18:48.940 --> 18:52.140] this amount of A.C. current. Here are the [18:52.740 --> 18:56.620] two multi-wired cables going back to the electrical panel. [18:56.620 --> 18:59.280] We'll take a look at the electrical panel shortly. [19:01.390 --> 19:06.150] And here's that same system mounted onto the back of [19:06.150 --> 19:12.880] rack number one. Now these two [19:12.880 --> 19:17.400] multi-wired cables go to the A.C. distribution in the [19:17.400 --> 19:19.840] back driver's side of the van. [19:21.220 --> 19:23.060] Which looks like this. [19:24.880 --> 19:29.200] This is a before picture and this is an after picture. And you can see those same two [19:29.200 --> 19:33.520] multi-wired cables coming up into the panel on this side and being [19:33.520 --> 19:37.340] wired into existing circuits. And you can see that I was lucky that this [19:37.340 --> 19:41.440] terminal block had a lot of unused circuits. So that made [19:41.440 --> 19:45.580] it a lot easier than it would otherwise have been to wire in my own [19:46.380 --> 19:48.600] connections into the A.C. panel. [19:51.000 --> 19:54.840] Now I added some labels to the native power panel to [19:54.840 --> 19:58.940] tell me how the switches should be laid out, at least in [19:58.940 --> 20:01.920] ordinary operating conditions. So this is the [20:03.620 --> 20:06.720] input power into that [20:06.720 --> 20:10.740] big blue box, the inverter charger switch. And these, even though they're [20:10.740 --> 20:14.620] off in this picture, these would normally always be on. And in [20:14.620 --> 20:19.040] contrast, I am connecting the output of that [20:19.040 --> 20:22.720] inverter to these two circuits. So normally these would be off [20:22.720 --> 20:26.840] because I already have current on them. But this does allow me [20:26.840 --> 20:30.900] to do a back feed into the rest of the A.C. system if I had [20:30.900 --> 20:34.800] some emergency that would require me to supply A.C. to other [20:34.800 --> 20:38.200] parts of the van besides the rack circuits that were intended. [20:42.580 --> 20:45.920] Now here's both D.C. power panels, and we'll be going into [20:45.920 --> 20:50.080] this in detail. This is a picture at the bottom of rack number two, [20:50.080 --> 20:52.480] in other words, the middle of the three racks. [20:58.670 --> 21:03.070] So I'm first going to be talking about the battery system that's really at the core of [21:03.070 --> 21:07.010] the entire system that supplies power to both the A.C. system [21:07.010 --> 21:10.090] that we just talked about and to the station power. [21:14.260 --> 21:17.420] The battery circuit is relatively simple [21:17.420 --> 21:21.520] electrically, but it was hard to build because of the size of the [21:21.520 --> 21:25.440] cables that I had to deal with. So you can see that here are the two [21:25.440 --> 21:28.680] batteries I showed in the picture earlier. Each battery has [21:29.600 --> 21:33.140] two fuses mounted right on the terminal, which I didn't even know existed [21:33.140 --> 21:37.340] before I started this project. So that's a nice safety [21:37.340 --> 21:41.400] feature to have a fuse right on the terminal of the battery. [21:41.400 --> 21:45.840] 200 amp coming off of each battery for the [21:45.840 --> 21:49.180] inverter charger to give it enough power to supply [21:49.180 --> 21:53.520] three kilowatts of A.C. power. And then the 80 amp circuit coming [21:53.520 --> 21:57.580] off of each battery goes to this switch and then to [21:57.580 --> 22:05.240] the station power system here. Here's more of a [22:05.240 --> 22:09.260] close-up of the battery switch panel. [22:09.260 --> 22:13.180] So here are the two switches that I showed in that circuit diagram. [22:13.180 --> 22:16.840] They can select either battery or both together or [22:16.840 --> 22:21.320] both off. These two [22:21.320 --> 22:25.200] green panel [22:25.200 --> 22:29.180] meters alternately show voltage and current, but only [22:29.180 --> 22:33.080] when their respective switch is on. And this always [22:33.080 --> 22:36.740] shows voltage to the batteries no matter the switch position. [22:36.740 --> 22:41.320] All these meters are only on when the meter switch is on. [22:41.320 --> 22:45.360] And that allows me to not drain the battery unnecessarily when, say, [22:45.360 --> 22:52.550] the van is in storage. Here's the back [22:52.550 --> 22:56.630] of that same panel. You can see how large some of these [22:56.630 --> 23:00.510] cables are. This is a quad-zero gauge wire. [23:00.510 --> 23:04.530] It's very big and very expensive and really hard to work with, as you might [23:04.530 --> 23:08.530] imagine. These are two double-zero cables that go to each [23:08.530 --> 23:12.410] battery. And this is the 200 amp side of the circuit. And, of course, [23:12.410 --> 23:16.510] this is the 80 amp side of the circuit with 4-gauge [23:16.510 --> 23:22.640] wire being used for that wiring. Here's a [23:22.640 --> 23:28.400] top view of the installed batteries with the [23:28.400 --> 23:31.600] two fuses that I mentioned earlier here [23:31.600 --> 23:34.520] connecting to the panel. And you can just barely see down here [23:34.520 --> 23:38.720] the common connection point for all the negative leads. In between the two [23:38.720 --> 23:42.340] batteries is a, which I'll be talking about shortly, an [23:42.340 --> 23:46.560] 80 amp boost regulator. It just happened to fit very well between the batteries [23:46.560 --> 23:50.560] just by chance. So it's a nice spot for it. It's nice and cozy [23:50.560 --> 23:54.440] in there without having to take up, say, a rack space. So that [23:54.440 --> 24:02.240] was a lucky thing. Now let's talk about [24:02.240 --> 24:05.520] the two-way charging system. [24:09.470 --> 24:11.810] And here are the controls for that [24:12.870 --> 24:16.650] two-way charging system. On the right is another [24:17.590 --> 24:20.870] instance of that volt-amp meter. In this case, this is [24:20.870 --> 24:25.190] showing the voltage and current from or to [24:25.190 --> 24:27.950] the van battery system. [24:28.590 --> 24:32.870] This is a meter switch, like I talked before, so I can turn this meter off when [24:32.870 --> 24:36.970] the van is in storage. And here's a double-throw switch that allows [24:36.970 --> 24:40.830] me to put current in either direction into the batteries [24:40.830 --> 24:44.630] from or to the native [24:44.630 --> 24:48.450] vehicle battery. So in the up position, [24:48.450 --> 24:52.610] I can charge the station from the van alternator while the van [24:52.610 --> 24:56.630] is in operation. In the down position, I can charge the [24:58.290 --> 24:59.290] van batteries [25:00.550 --> 25:04.730] when the van is stationary. I can charge the van batteries [25:06.830 --> 25:09.330] while AC power is supplied. [25:13.410 --> 25:16.030] Here's a circuit of that two-way charging system. [25:16.030 --> 25:20.190] So the key part of the system is these two 65-amp [25:20.190 --> 25:23.690] solenoids that connect the station battery [25:23.690 --> 25:25.350] to the vehicle battery [25:27.820 --> 25:32.030] when necessary. These are in turn energized by [25:33.070 --> 25:36.390] this smaller capacity relay that fires six seconds [25:36.390 --> 25:40.150] after the ignition signal is set. I have [25:40.150 --> 25:44.190] this six-second delay in order to allow the van engine [25:44.190 --> 25:48.150] to stabilize before I connect the large station batteries [25:48.150 --> 25:51.750] to the van batteries. And down here is [25:52.770 --> 25:56.430] something called a battery tender, or in other words, a battery maintainer [25:56.430 --> 25:59.950] charger. And this can be switched in [25:59.950 --> 26:04.110] or out by that double-throw [26:04.110 --> 26:08.210] toggle switch that I showed in the panel before. And this supplies current into [26:08.210 --> 26:12.050] the van DC system [26:12.050 --> 26:15.730] with the solenoids off in that position so I can [26:15.730 --> 26:18.790] charge into the van DC system. [26:26.960 --> 26:31.100] Next I'm going to talk about the station power system. [26:31.100 --> 26:33.960] And that is fed from the battery system with [26:35.840 --> 26:38.420] up to 80 amps and [26:39.180 --> 26:42.740] then moves as a regulated 80 amps into station equipment [26:42.740 --> 26:52.780] or into the computer. And here's the station [26:52.780 --> 26:56.480] power control panel on the left-hand side of that [26:56.480 --> 27:00.900] same rack panel I showed before. One controls [27:00.900 --> 27:05.140] the input into the [27:05.140 --> 27:08.620] 80 amp booster, and the other controls whether [27:08.620 --> 27:12.900] I am supplying power to HF components, VHF components, or [27:12.900 --> 27:22.130] both. The station battery [27:23.570 --> 27:27.210] switch output, that 80 amp switch [27:27.210 --> 27:31.050] I showed in the lower panel, first goes to a MIDI [27:31.050 --> 27:34.910] fuse block to supply current to the [27:34.910 --> 27:39.530] unregulated battery output binding post. [27:40.510 --> 27:42.990] It supplies current in from the [27:42.990 --> 27:47.030] two-way charging system I showed earlier. And the main circuit is [27:47.030 --> 27:51.270] an 80 amp fuse that protects the rest of the system for all the other [27:51.270 --> 27:55.350] station components. There's a panel switch that I showed in the [27:55.350 --> 27:59.110] previous picture that can turn [27:59.110 --> 28:03.290] this circuit on or off and also can have a supply instead [28:03.290 --> 28:07.190] of from the station batteries from some power [28:07.190 --> 28:11.330] supply if I ever wanted to run the station on AC instead of DC. [28:11.490 --> 28:15.230] That goes into that 80 amp boost regulator that was between the two [28:15.230 --> 28:19.170] batteries that I showed earlier. I have a shunt resistor and an analog meter [28:19.170 --> 28:23.250] to measure the instantaneous current being [28:23.250 --> 28:27.290] used by the entire system. And the output of the boost regulator goes [28:27.290 --> 28:30.670] to binding posts for further distribution. [28:34.720 --> 28:38.280] And here is that further distribution. This is the connection point [28:38.280 --> 28:42.160] from the left-hand side of the previous diagram. One side [28:42.160 --> 28:46.500] goes to an unswitched power pole distribution for things like radios [28:46.500 --> 28:49.520] that I'm going to use for both HF and VHF. [28:50.480 --> 28:54.440] The rest of the distribution goes through a panel switch to select [28:54.440 --> 28:57.640] either the HF or VHF equipment. And the HF [28:58.500 --> 29:02.540] cable goes into a MIDI fuse box on another rack [29:02.540 --> 29:06.160] shelf into the amplifier and a power pole distribution [29:06.160 --> 29:10.440] for HF-only components like the screwdriver antenna and [29:10.440 --> 29:14.380] the remote SWR meter. In the VHF [29:14.380 --> 29:18.560] position, we have a high current and a low current connection. [29:18.560 --> 29:22.420] The high current goes through a MIDI fuse box that I used in my [29:22.420 --> 29:25.200] old minivan Rover to go to for [29:26.460 --> 29:30.160] medium power amplifiers for the low VHF [29:30.160 --> 29:34.480] bands. And another branch goes to [29:34.860 --> 29:37.580] a power pole distribution system for low current [29:38.420 --> 29:42.320] components like a small flex radio amplifier [29:42.320 --> 29:45.420] fans, transverters, and an SWR power [29:46.160 --> 29:50.400] meter power system. One little [29:50.400 --> 29:54.360] branch circuit from the previous diagram goes through [29:54.860 --> 29:58.740] a fuse box that can distribute unregulated [29:58.740 --> 30:02.640] battery power. And the only component using that so far [30:02.640 --> 30:05.720] is the computer. And we'll talk about that a little bit later. [30:11.330 --> 30:15.590] Here's a picture of the station power distribution [30:15.590 --> 30:19.370] shelf. So this is the connector I showed before that [30:19.370 --> 30:22.950] was scary to put on because it was a live hot DC [30:22.950 --> 30:26.970] that would have welded my tools if I wasn't careful. [30:26.970 --> 30:30.990] The two fuses for the input DC from the [30:30.990 --> 30:34.530] van. Here's the solenoid relays and the [30:34.530 --> 30:38.990] relay timer for the delay of connecting the [30:38.990 --> 30:42.390] station batteries to the van alternator. [30:42.530 --> 30:47.010] Here's a first fuse box for [30:47.010 --> 30:50.930] the distribution of battery power to three [30:50.930 --> 30:55.010] different destinations, the most important of which is the [30:56.210 --> 30:58.210] booster. And that [30:58.930 --> 31:02.790] cable goes here to the front panel switch that selects either the [31:04.510 --> 31:07.070] battery or a power supply for the input [31:07.070 --> 31:11.050] to the booster. The booster is underneath this panel and comes out [31:11.050 --> 31:14.850] here on the hot side and on the [31:14.850 --> 31:19.050] ground side. So this is where the regulated voltage comes out from the booster. [31:19.050 --> 31:21.990] That can be connected to directly or [31:22.970 --> 31:27.270] another circuit goes to another panel switch [31:27.270 --> 31:30.730] that allows me to switch to either VHF [31:30.730 --> 31:35.910] distribution over here or to HF distribution over here. [31:39.910 --> 31:42.630] Above that station distribution shelf [31:42.630 --> 31:48.330] is an accessories rack shelf that includes a [31:48.330 --> 31:51.270] system to power laptops that I no longer [31:51.270 --> 31:55.090] use in the van, but that this was a big help when I [31:55.090 --> 31:57.730] was transitioning off of laptops into [31:59.330 --> 32:03.310] a permanently installed computer. On this side [32:03.310 --> 32:07.050] are the three connection blocks that I talked about in the previous circuit [32:07.050 --> 32:11.090] diagram. This is the direct station battery [32:11.090 --> 32:14.950] unregulated, 12 volts from the station batteries that [32:14.950 --> 32:19.170] go to the PC. This [32:19.170 --> 32:22.190] power pole distribution block is the unswitched [32:22.810 --> 32:26.870] power that goes to things like radios that I need for both HF and VHF [32:26.870 --> 32:30.910] and here as you can see on the label is the power pole [32:30.910 --> 32:35.590] distribution for VHF only components like transverters. [32:37.950 --> 32:40.090] Now I'd like to talk about the build out of [32:40.690 --> 32:44.550] HF and 6 meter amplifiers. There's a series [32:44.550 --> 32:48.210] of photographs that show the build process just as an example [32:48.210 --> 32:53.290] of how I built these things out for better or worse. [32:55.240 --> 32:57.300] The HF amplifier is an [32:57.300 --> 33:01.540] Amaritron 500N amplifier which produces about 400 RF [33:01.540 --> 33:05.560] watts. This is the side of the [33:05.560 --> 33:08.960] distribution that supplies HF only [33:09.460 --> 33:13.760] power poles for other lower current devices and [33:13.760 --> 33:17.960] we're going to see a series of construction pictures next. [33:18.740 --> 33:21.960] Here's the amplifier mounted using a [33:23.240 --> 33:27.400] piece of angled aluminum where I screwed in the [33:27.400 --> 33:30.140] screwed in the aluminum into [33:32.400 --> 33:34.580] existing screw holes for the [33:34.580 --> 33:38.840] cover of the amplifier and then the vertical bolts bolt down into [33:38.840 --> 33:43.700] the rack shelf. [33:43.700 --> 33:47.120] After the amplifier I put in wood in the other spaces in order to mount [33:47.120 --> 33:51.300] the rest of the system here and use for future [33:51.300 --> 33:55.340] items here which turned out to be the 6 meter amplifier that I'll talk about. [33:58.310 --> 34:01.130] Here's just mounting the main components in the [34:01.130 --> 34:06.940] back and here we are wired. [34:07.500 --> 34:11.000] Here's the high current connections to the [34:11.000 --> 34:14.300] amplifier through these MIDI fuses [34:14.300 --> 34:18.700] and one more branch goes to this small power pole distribution [34:18.700 --> 34:22.700] and you can see this unusual connection of just the positive side. This is the [34:22.700 --> 34:26.820] bias voltage which is a separate wire that goes into the [34:26.820 --> 34:29.440] Ameritron amplifier. And finally [34:30.700 --> 34:34.900] this is the system actually mounted in the van [34:34.900 --> 34:39.020] with all the connections. Here is a [34:39.680 --> 34:43.140] remote probe for SWR and [34:43.140 --> 34:47.060] RF power that I connected to the output of the amplifier. [34:47.060 --> 34:50.280] Here's several of the HF only components including this screwdriver [34:50.280 --> 34:54.660] and that probe. Here's a PTT [34:54.660 --> 34:58.980] line from the amplifier to hit the relay [34:58.980 --> 35:02.780] during transmission for the amplifier. And finally [35:03.720 --> 35:07.300] here's the power input into this shelf from the [35:07.300 --> 35:10.940] station booster shelf, the picture of which I showed earlier, [35:10.940 --> 35:15.340] with two 4 gauge cables that go down to that other shelf. [35:17.100 --> 35:21.060] Now just this week I installed a 6 meter amplifier [35:21.060 --> 35:24.660] that I had for a long time and a 50 volt power system. [35:25.600 --> 35:29.180] So the amplifier needed 50 volts and I decided to [35:29.180 --> 35:33.180] supply that with my first big lithium battery and also built [35:33.420 --> 35:37.280] a switching monitoring and inrush board that I'll show later. [35:40.220 --> 35:42.940] Here's the mount board for the 6 meter amplifier [35:42.940 --> 35:47.160] that I used to help tie down that amplifier. [35:47.160 --> 35:51.440] The legs go into these glued down PVC caps. [35:51.880 --> 35:55.240] I have four eyelets for small bungee [35:55.240 --> 35:59.120] cords to constrain the amplifier vertically and [35:59.120 --> 36:03.000] these are four countersunk holes so I can put wood screws into the [36:03.000 --> 36:06.760] piece of wood that's below this mounting board. [36:08.240 --> 36:11.440] And here's the amplifier mounted next to the [36:12.120 --> 36:15.060] HF amplifier. Now there's two years between [36:15.060 --> 36:19.060] these two things. I built this shelf with the HF amplifier [36:19.060 --> 36:23.080] two years ago and this was just this week that I put [36:23.080 --> 36:26.080] the 6 meter amplifier in. [36:28.150 --> 36:32.430] Here's a picture of that large 50 volt 50 amp [36:32.430 --> 36:37.230] battery with some of the tools I used for the connections. [36:40.510 --> 36:42.450] And here's what the battery [36:42.450 --> 36:46.390] looked like. Before I put the restraining boards in [36:46.390 --> 36:50.470] I put the battery in with the connector to make sure everything fit as I [36:50.470 --> 36:53.870] expected before starting to make cuts. And as you can see [36:54.390 --> 36:58.010] this is that AC distribution I talked about early [36:58.010 --> 37:03.050] in my presentation. And here is the box for the generator. [37:03.050 --> 37:06.310] So this little kind of cubby hole is otherwise [37:06.310 --> 37:10.450] wasted space. So although I had to turn the battery on its side it was [37:10.610 --> 37:13.890] a nice fit, a nice use for otherwise wasted space. [37:17.880 --> 37:20.840] That cable from the battery is [37:20.840 --> 37:24.920] mounted on a board and the board is mounted on the side of the van and this [37:24.920 --> 37:28.840] represents a connection point for the battery. This allows me to connect or [37:28.840 --> 37:32.700] disconnect the battery as necessary for my different operations. [37:35.650 --> 37:38.490] Here's the 50 volt power [37:38.490 --> 37:42.670] shelf that I built recently. This is [37:43.790 --> 37:46.710] a box that contains a shunt resistor for [37:46.710 --> 37:50.110] the metering system and a bolted down [37:50.710 --> 37:53.850] midi battery. And this is the cable for [37:55.410 --> 37:58.870] supplying the voltages to the battery [37:58.870 --> 38:03.110] monitor here in the front. This is all in a [38:03.110 --> 38:06.970] treasure box, a wooden treasure box from a hobby store, kind of hillbilly [38:07.230 --> 38:11.170] engineering I call it. But I can close this lid to protect all these different [38:11.170 --> 38:14.910] connection points. I'm kind of paranoid now that I'm 50 volts versus 14 [38:14.910 --> 38:17.630] volts. That can supply quite a shock. [38:18.750 --> 38:22.410] Over here, maybe the most unusual looking part of this system is [38:22.410 --> 38:26.170] these resistors connected in parallel, also mounted in [38:26.530 --> 38:30.710] a hobby box. This is for inrush current [38:30.710 --> 38:34.590] protection. What I saw when I used this amplifier [38:34.590 --> 38:38.310] several years ago was that there was quite a spark [38:38.870 --> 38:42.670] of very high current as the capacitors got charged up from [38:42.670 --> 38:46.690] the capacitors, the amplifiers got charged up from the [38:46.690 --> 38:50.210] battery. And that kind of big inrush of current is not good [38:50.210 --> 38:54.810] for the battery and it's not good for the connectors. So a [38:54.810 --> 38:59.030] feature that I included was an inrush current protection by forcing [38:59.030 --> 39:02.930] the initial current to go through a total of [39:02.930 --> 39:06.970] 16 ohms that limits the current to less than 4 amps. And then [39:06.970 --> 39:10.470] that rapidly degrades to allow me to give it [39:10.470 --> 39:14.670] full power. Two switches on the front, one to [39:16.070 --> 39:18.470] charge the battery through this conventional [39:19.210 --> 39:23.090] power pole connection. So the charger gets connected here [39:23.090 --> 39:27.010] and I have one position for the charge. The other position goes to this other [39:27.010 --> 39:31.370] switch, one position of which forces the current [39:31.370 --> 39:35.450] through the 16 ohm resistor for inrush current [39:35.450 --> 39:39.190] limitation. And the other position, number 2 position, is a straight [39:39.190 --> 39:43.310] connection into the amplifier without the resistors for normal operation. [39:43.590 --> 39:47.330] And here, this is a meter that I [39:47.330 --> 39:50.270] had removed to make room for this shelf and [39:51.010 --> 39:55.170] this was just simply a convenient place to put this meter [39:55.170 --> 39:59.350] that monitors the voltage for my booster and my battery [39:59.350 --> 40:03.150] for the 14 volt system. So this has nothing to do with the 50 volt system, [40:03.150 --> 40:07.570] it was just a convenient place because I have a limited amount of rack space. [40:10.140 --> 40:12.560] And lastly, here's the whole system [40:15.000 --> 40:17.580] configured for test. You can barely [40:17.580 --> 40:21.660] see maybe the numbers on the meter [40:21.660 --> 40:25.620] that shows instantaneous voltage amperage [40:25.620 --> 40:29.780] and shows overall amp hours and watt hours. [40:29.780 --> 40:33.680] So that's this meter glowing here. You can see the lights on over here [40:33.680 --> 40:37.600] at the amplifier. This is actually an HF [40:38.460 --> 40:41.120] dummy load that's supposed to go up to, as you can see, [40:41.120 --> 40:44.940] it goes up to 30 MHz, but I used it because I didn't have any other [40:45.460 --> 40:49.740] dummy load that could take that much power. It was a 1.6 to 1 SWR [40:50.420 --> 40:53.580] at low power, so I didn't want to fire [40:53.580 --> 40:57.580] this 6 meter amplifier up all the way. But I did verify [40:57.580 --> 41:01.700] that it puts out 20 times the power that's put into it. [41:02.120 --> 41:05.440] I tested it up to 600 watts with a FM carrier, so [41:05.440 --> 41:09.040] I'm satisfied. It basically works and nothing smoked, so [41:09.040 --> 41:13.200] it was nice to have that first test go well. [41:18.520 --> 41:21.220] I have not yet installed VHF [41:21.880 --> 41:25.040] equipment, although my VHF equipment is [41:25.840 --> 41:29.780] battle-tested. I haven't installed the shelves, but when I do, [41:29.780 --> 41:33.500] each band will be on one shelf. Each one will include a medium power [41:33.500 --> 41:38.020] amplifier, which I kind of referred to earlier in a power distribution [41:40.700 --> 41:43.860] schematic. I'll have a digital [41:43.860 --> 41:47.560] SWR meter for probes for each band, so I can see the power [41:47.560 --> 41:51.920] going out of each amplifier. And, as I mentioned, [41:51.920 --> 41:55.760] all the VHF equipment is already contest-proven, so I have confidence that the [41:55.760 --> 41:59.360] equipment I have will work. It's just a matter of [41:59.360 --> 42:03.820] mounting it. The 10 meter [42:03.820 --> 42:07.400] or 28 MHz IF that goes into the [42:07.400 --> 42:11.400] transverter port will come from the milliwatt output of [42:11.400 --> 42:15.240] the FlexRadio 6500. And I'll [42:15.240 --> 42:19.380] probably have a manual switch for selecting which band gets [42:19.380 --> 42:23.470] that IF initially, but I do want to [42:24.640 --> 42:27.320] install an automatic switch so I can select [42:27.320 --> 42:31.240] the band from the radio and have the IF switch [42:31.240 --> 42:35.380] through a relay. And I have those components, but I want to do one step at [42:35.480 --> 42:39.120] a time. It was good to talk about the power [42:39.120 --> 42:43.380] first, but next I want to talk about the radio and computers in the van. [42:47.600 --> 42:50.560] When I first started, and I made major [42:51.640 --> 42:54.640] assumptions about power systems, I originally aimed to use [42:54.640 --> 42:58.500] the Flex5000, which was my first 100-watt radio that I used [42:58.500 --> 43:02.360] at home. It's well-suited because it has [43:02.360 --> 43:06.600] transverter outputs and multiple RF and PTT outputs [43:06.600 --> 43:10.100] that you'd expect from a flagship radio. [43:11.280 --> 43:14.900] And the need for a good, powerful [43:14.900 --> 43:18.780] PC for this SVR drove the decision originally to [43:18.780 --> 43:22.320] use AC power for the van. Now what happened [43:22.320 --> 43:26.520] after I installed the entire AC system, [43:26.520 --> 43:30.600] one of my VHF club members offered a new generation Flex6500 [43:31.220 --> 43:34.220] for a surprisingly low price. [43:34.220 --> 43:38.140] That latest series from Flex radio [43:38.140 --> 43:42.540] includes self-contained computing power, so you don't need a big PC. [43:42.540 --> 43:46.340] Got fantastic programmable interface for driving relays, that makes [43:47.120 --> 43:50.320] some downstream work a lot easier than it would be [43:50.320 --> 43:53.880] with any other radio that I know of. [43:54.380 --> 43:58.220] It also has the same transverter and multiple programmable PTT [43:58.220 --> 44:02.700] outputs as my 5000, and lastly, not a big thing, [44:02.700 --> 44:06.760] but it's nice that it directly supports rack mounting. So I did buy that [44:06.760 --> 44:09.420] even though I made a lot of expensive decisions [44:11.200 --> 44:14.680] that were the foundation of which were [44:14.680 --> 44:18.700] the assumption I was going to use the Flex5000. So I now have a Flex6500 [44:19.340 --> 44:22.840] in the van. And here [44:22.840 --> 44:26.740] it is, mounted. Here's the front of the radio, which currently most of that is [44:26.740 --> 44:29.660] obscured by my monitor, but I do have [44:29.660 --> 44:33.740] access to the power button, that's the most important thing. [44:34.240 --> 44:37.320] And here's the connections to the headphones and the [44:37.320 --> 44:41.360] foot switch. And here's a view of the rear of the radio. [44:42.200 --> 44:45.760] It's not the flagship of the line, but it has enough [44:45.760 --> 44:49.180] connections to make things worthwhile, and you'll see [44:49.180 --> 44:53.720] the most unusual connection for most radios is this Ethernet [44:53.720 --> 44:56.840] connection, and that connects to my PC [44:56.840 --> 45:00.780] in order to have a GUI for this radio, because you can see [45:00.780 --> 45:05.240] on the front panel there are no conventional controls like a [45:05.240 --> 45:13.020] VFO knob. Another radio I installed was the [45:13.020 --> 45:16.940] ICOM IC7100. That was my first mobile radio for both [45:16.940 --> 45:20.920] HF and VHF rover contesting. So it has [45:20.920 --> 45:24.940] HF, it has two VHF, well I guess [45:24.940 --> 45:28.320] three if you count six meters, three VHF or UHF [45:30.600 --> 45:32.920] bands. So it's a [45:32.920 --> 45:36.660] really nice, tremendous value radio and used as a [45:36.660 --> 45:40.620] backup radio, maybe an IF for the microwaves, maybe [45:40.880 --> 45:44.320] as a FM radio for just [45:45.100 --> 45:48.900] making contacts to the local repeater. Anyway, it's a jack-of-all-trades [45:48.900 --> 45:52.520] radio that turned out to be vital because [45:52.520 --> 45:56.120] an older radio broke when I was on a major rove in Canada [45:56.120 --> 45:59.120] and I was able to use that [46:00.680 --> 46:04.040] IC7100 in the rove, preventing [46:04.240 --> 46:07.300] a major disaster for that long trip. [46:11.280 --> 46:15.100] And this just shows that IC7100 under test [46:15.100 --> 46:18.980] and various components of that rack shelf [46:18.980 --> 46:23.680] where the main unit of the IC7100 is tied down here. [46:23.680 --> 46:27.400] This is PTT connections because it's a small radio [46:27.400 --> 46:31.580] so everything comes out of this multi-pin connection [46:31.580 --> 46:35.360] that allows me access to this. And this is an automatic [46:35.360 --> 46:39.660] screwdriver antenna tuner, which I really don't use that much, but I had it [46:39.660 --> 46:43.000] so I mounted it with the radio that it operates with. [46:48.590 --> 46:51.910] Now again, another decision that was based on originally wanting to use the [46:51.910 --> 46:56.070] Flex 5000 that needs a big PC was to get a desktop-class [46:56.070 --> 46:59.830] rack-mounted PC. I had this built by a specialist vendor who [47:01.290 --> 47:03.530] built PCs especially for that [47:03.530 --> 47:07.850] series of Flex radios. Now, with the new generation, the [47:07.850 --> 47:11.890] Flex 6500, it's overkill. I don't need anywhere near that amount of [47:11.890 --> 47:15.130] CPU power, but I already have it so that's what I'm using. [47:16.430 --> 47:19.450] Later on, I replaced the original AC power supply [47:19.450 --> 47:23.890] from the vendor with a DC supply. In other words, what I mean by [47:23.890 --> 47:27.830] DC supply is that it's a computer power supply, but instead of the [47:27.830 --> 47:31.930] input being AC, it's DC. That thing was expensive, [47:31.930 --> 47:36.310] but it eliminated the original need for the AC base station. [47:36.310 --> 47:39.730] And again, boy, I wish I made that decision a year before, because [47:39.730 --> 47:44.110] I spent a lot of time and money getting an AC base station built. [47:46.550 --> 47:46.870] That [47:48.010 --> 47:51.350] power supply accepts a wide voltage input, and [47:51.350 --> 47:55.830] that voltage accepted is within the range of the raw battery, so I don't have [47:55.830 --> 47:59.350] to regulate that voltage. I can just connect it to my [47:59.350 --> 48:03.910] batteries as is through, of course, a distribution system [48:03.910 --> 48:05.350] that I showed you earlier. [48:07.550 --> 48:11.790] This PC works great with the new Flex 6500, and also works with the [48:11.790 --> 48:16.270] older 3000 or 5000 lines, because it has a [48:16.270 --> 48:20.850] good firewire connection. Now, what I did was [48:20.850 --> 48:23.790] brought out the 5V and 12V from inside the PC [48:23.790 --> 48:26.510] to a connector outside [48:27.590 --> 48:32.050] for use of low current logic like Arduino boards [48:32.050 --> 48:35.890] or relay boards, rather than having a separate DC power supply [48:35.890 --> 48:39.790] for those components. So, I haven't actually used that yet, but that's going to [48:39.790 --> 48:44.630] save some rack space and possibly save some additional source of RF noise. [48:44.790 --> 48:47.950] And lastly, at least I have a video [48:47.950 --> 48:51.670] adapter in there that supports a UHD 4K monitor, [48:51.670 --> 48:55.670] not all built-in video systems of a [48:56.290 --> 49:00.050] PC without a separate adapter would support a [49:00.050 --> 49:09.800] high-def monitor, and that is a big deal to me. That's a big help. [49:09.800 --> 49:12.240] So, here's a rack-mount PC, the back [49:12.240 --> 49:16.240] of the PC anyway. Nothing very remarkable, except it does [49:16.360 --> 49:20.660] take a lot of room in the rack, and it's kind of heavy. And actually, one of my [49:20.660 --> 49:24.040] projects that I'm going to do shortly is to reinforce this, because I really [49:24.040 --> 49:27.700] should have some weight support in the back of this [49:27.700 --> 49:30.840] PC, rather than just laying it hanging from the front. [49:32.660 --> 49:35.660] And just to emphasize again, this is the power input [49:35.660 --> 49:40.040] to the PC, and that [49:40.040 --> 49:43.640] DC input power supply is supplied through these [49:43.640 --> 49:48.820] input terminals, where normally the modular AC connector would be. [49:53.670 --> 49:56.050] My computer monitor is a 4K [49:56.050 --> 50:00.010] monitor. It's kind of mounted kind of floppy, but I'm working [50:00.010 --> 50:04.230] on an improved mount. There's enough room for an SDR interface [50:04.230 --> 50:08.130] and many windows, and man, screen real estate is really vital [50:08.130 --> 50:12.310] in today's ham contest. You have chat pages, [50:12.310 --> 50:17.390] you have monitoring systems, you have your logger, you have a [50:17.390 --> 50:22.350] rotator control. So, all these controls are [50:22.350 --> 50:24.450] soft controls, so it takes a lot of [50:25.850 --> 50:28.150] monitor real estate space. [50:28.310 --> 50:32.490] Now, I use Samsung monitors. I used a smaller one before, and what [50:33.070 --> 50:36.470] at least they used to. I don't know what the situation [50:36.470 --> 50:40.350] is today, but many of the mid-range and above Samsung monitors [50:40.350 --> 50:44.290] use a separate AC to 14 volt adapter. [50:44.290 --> 50:48.390] I don't know of any other manufacturer that has a 14 volt input, so what's nice [50:48.390 --> 50:52.590] there is, I can replace the power brick that takes AC [50:52.590 --> 50:56.510] with a power pole connector, so I can directly supply DC voltage [50:56.510 --> 51:00.990] from my station supply as the input into the monitor. [51:00.990 --> 51:04.190] So, just a recommendation, if you want to [51:04.190 --> 51:08.830] run your monitor from station power, look into the [51:08.830 --> 51:12.590] Samsung monitors, and you'll have [51:12.970 --> 51:16.550] a little bit of simplicity in one less brick, one less [51:16.550 --> 51:19.110] source of RF interference. [51:22.170 --> 51:25.010] And here's a picture of the operating [51:25.010 --> 51:29.150] position, showing that monitor and the nice amount of [51:30.550 --> 51:33.310] screen real estate. This is an old radio [51:33.310 --> 51:36.870] they used to use. They used to use a Flex 3000. That's been replaced. [51:36.990 --> 51:41.570] And here's one of the most important things I ever bought, which was a [51:41.570 --> 51:45.250] battery-operated fan. And this is blowing right at my face, and it is [51:45.250 --> 51:49.190] the difference between operating in 90 degree weather or not operating in 90 degree weather. [51:49.190 --> 51:53.070] Remember, the van is off. There's no air conditioning in the van [51:53.070 --> 51:56.570] when I'm operating, so having that fan be able to blow on me [51:56.570 --> 52:00.250] is a huge help on hot summer days. [52:03.790 --> 52:05.670] Next, I'm going to go quickly through [52:08.050 --> 52:11.730] the progress I've made on microwaves so far in the van. [52:12.870 --> 52:15.110] Now, I was just starting to buy [52:15.690 --> 52:20.370] used microwave equipment, even in my minivan days. [52:20.370 --> 52:24.370] That's kind of my normal pattern, where if I know [52:24.370 --> 52:28.450] I'm going to go someplace down the road, if I see an inexpensive piece of equipment [52:28.450 --> 52:32.150] being offered, I'll just buy it up knowing I would use it for the future. [52:32.990 --> 52:36.370] Now, then a successful pack rat [52:36.370 --> 52:39.350] that's my VHF club's name, [52:39.350 --> 52:44.370] retired from roving, and he sold me his complete set of working microwave [52:44.370 --> 52:47.990] bands from 33 centimeters or 903 [52:47.990 --> 52:52.490] megahertz all the way up to 24 gig. [52:53.370 --> 52:57.070] They were put aside until I could work on them. [52:59.450 --> 53:01.630] I concentrated first on the lower [53:01.630 --> 53:05.950] five microwave bands, because they were interior mounted. [53:06.250 --> 53:09.630] Physically, the 33 and 23 centimeter bands were [53:09.630 --> 53:13.430] separate on two-tier wood mounts, and the [53:13.430 --> 53:17.610] next three bands were all on one long plywood board, so I had [53:17.710 --> 53:22.410] a project to separate all the equipment and mount them each on a rack shelf. [53:25.250 --> 53:27.330] Now here's those three bands [53:27.330 --> 53:30.750] on one big plywood board I talked about. What I did was, [53:30.750 --> 53:35.250] believe it or not, and I can't believe it myself sometimes, I put that big [53:35.250 --> 53:39.270] board on the... I did do a little bit of separation first, but [53:40.550 --> 53:43.090] here, because they're so close together, but [53:43.090 --> 53:47.170] I actually ran the table saw I showed you earlier, [53:47.170 --> 53:49.930] I ran that table saw to physically disconnect [53:51.110 --> 53:55.490] each of these bands, and then mount each band on a [53:55.490 --> 53:59.150] separate rack shelf. [53:59.150 --> 54:03.410] It's hard to see, but you can just barely see the outline of each shelf [54:03.410 --> 54:09.960] in this bottom row of pictures. And here [54:09.960 --> 54:14.340] are the first five microwave bands mounted in the [54:14.340 --> 54:17.520] fourth rack. This is the rack that you can see directly [54:17.520 --> 54:21.320] in when you first enter the side door of the van. So it goes [54:21.320 --> 54:25.520] 903 up to 5 gig. Down [54:25.520 --> 54:29.440] the bottom here are two 12-volt batteries [54:29.440 --> 54:34.060] about the size of a normal car battery, although they're deep-cycle AGM batteries, [54:34.060 --> 54:37.520] and their charger. So this is the basic supply for [54:37.520 --> 54:40.040] the power for the microwaves. [54:42.760 --> 54:47.100] And here's a picture of the rear. Not terribly interesting, and a lot of [54:47.100 --> 54:51.140] the mess of wires, those green wires and blue wires, are actually left over from [54:51.140 --> 54:54.920] the old van, so I'll probably be taking those out before making the connections [54:54.920 --> 55:00.800] on the back. Power requirements of the micros [55:02.640 --> 55:05.420] included high current 26.5 [55:05.420 --> 55:08.260] volts, high current 12.6 volts for [55:09.180 --> 55:13.100] the four low bands, and of course all the [55:13.100 --> 55:17.080] bands require nominal 12 volts for transverters, etc., like most radio equipment [55:17.080 --> 55:20.360] does. And I had a requirement for 5 volts for [55:21.050 --> 55:23.480] TTL logic and USB. [55:24.640 --> 55:28.780] My peak power estimate was 250 watts total. [55:28.780 --> 55:33.580] Now one unusual problem was that these are, most of them anyway, [55:33.580 --> 55:36.980] are Class A amplifiers, so there's a large current draw [55:36.980 --> 55:40.780] whether or not there's RF applied. So one of my requirements is that I would [55:40.780 --> 55:44.180] supply power only when the particular band was selected. [55:44.180 --> 55:47.720] And the relays on my distribution board [55:47.720 --> 55:51.620] should energize with grounding of the 24 volt [55:52.060 --> 55:55.980] system, because that's the same procedure that's used for the [55:55.980 --> 56:00.180] IF relays I had. The control [56:01.600 --> 56:03.620] power supplies would be separate [56:04.120 --> 56:08.240] and I'd want to monitor the current and voltages in the system. [56:09.920 --> 56:12.100] So here's the board I built to meet [56:12.100 --> 56:15.920] all those requirements. Central to it, of course, are these two power [56:15.920 --> 56:19.700] supplies that have the two voltage outputs I [56:19.700 --> 56:24.020] need, 12.6 and 26.5, and they are powered [56:24.020 --> 56:27.340] from nominally 24 volts [56:28.260 --> 56:31.460] from the two batteries that are on the bottom, the two 12 volt batteries [56:31.460 --> 56:35.740] are in series. And the only reason I made that decision versus [56:36.260 --> 56:39.840] a 12 volt supply at higher current was that I couldn't find power [56:39.840 --> 56:43.360] supplies with these outputs at these currents [56:43.360 --> 56:47.800] at anything less than a 24 volt supply. [56:47.800 --> 56:51.900] Here are my meters in the front. I'll have a better view of that later. [56:51.900 --> 56:56.060] Yet another shunt resistor [56:56.060 --> 57:00.120] to measure instantaneous current and the distribution [57:00.120 --> 57:03.560] of voltage to the [57:03.560 --> 57:07.160] various components in the power supplies. Here are two [57:07.160 --> 57:11.240] relays that I used to switch in from the front [57:11.240 --> 57:13.340] panel, and here's my much smaller [57:13.340 --> 57:19.160] 5 volt power supply. Here is a [57:19.960 --> 57:23.520] self-contained, I bought this as one unit, self-contained relay board [57:23.520 --> 57:27.400] with four relays. This meets my requirements of only supplying power [57:27.400 --> 57:31.720] to the high current amplifiers when their particular [57:31.720 --> 57:35.160] band is selected. So you can see [57:35.160 --> 57:39.360] that there's two connections for 26 and two connections for 12 volts [57:39.360 --> 57:43.020] that are controlled by the relays, and then the [57:44.120 --> 57:47.240] triggers here that are 24 volts, the triggers [57:47.240 --> 57:51.400] are brought out in this smaller terminal strip. And over [57:51.400 --> 57:55.420] here, this is meeting my requirement for the distribution [57:55.420 --> 57:59.820] of plain old 12 volts to the various components like transverters. [57:59.820 --> 58:03.380] And these are all powered from, of course, the 12 volt power [58:03.380 --> 58:07.580] supply side. So, quite a lot going on in this board, and [58:07.580 --> 58:11.680] this took me quite a long time to lay out all the components, [58:11.680 --> 58:19.360] no less build it all out. Here's the front [58:19.360 --> 58:22.320] power panel. The analog [58:23.520 --> 58:27.460] amp meter is here. This is the battery monitor, [58:27.460 --> 58:31.440] the battery voltage monitor that has a little graphic that shows how much power [58:31.440 --> 58:35.320] is left, which is possible because they're AGM batteries rather than lithium [58:35.320 --> 58:39.400] batteries. Here are three switches for turning on [58:39.400 --> 58:42.740] the power supplies individually, and these are [58:43.880 --> 58:46.340] meters, digital meters that monitor the [58:47.220 --> 58:51.460] three different available voltages. The reason I went to all the trouble of having [58:51.460 --> 58:55.480] separate switches for the power supplies was to limit [58:55.480 --> 58:59.420] inrush current, so I could switch each power supply on in [58:59.420 --> 59:03.520] turns. I mean, I could have done it, I guess, in a more [59:03.520 --> 59:06.800] sophisticated way, but this was a simple solution to just [59:07.510 --> 59:11.660] flip, flip, flip, and limit the total inrush [59:11.660 --> 59:15.360] current to the system. And that's it. [59:15.360 --> 59:19.160] If you're watching this video live at DEF CON, [59:19.160 --> 59:23.760] I think we're going to have a live Q&A after this. If not, [59:23.760 --> 59:27.100] if you're watching this video offline, you are welcome to [59:27.100 --> 59:30.160] write me at my QRZ email address.