Hawaii No Power Contest

I think any contest you could cheat in. Saying you are running 100 watts but really running 1500. Goal is to get folks on the air and thinking about what to do for power and how long they can operate with no commercial power. Hope a lot of people join and we have fun.

 

More reinventing the wheel. Yawn worthy at best.

 

Replace the word contest with "deployment exercise". Give two hour notice to be up and running. Point are good for all the contacts and elements to make it happen. Don't for get to include FUN.

 

KH6OWL, I think it is a great idea. I hope it is a great success and keep tweaking. It will only get better with each time you do it. It is a great exercise for sure! Look forward to trying to hear HI from TX.

Good luck with the contest! 73 de K5PAP

 

Wrong forum. This thread belongs in the "Contests, DXpeditions and Special Events" forum.

Also, for greatest exposure, seemingly ALL contests are listed on the WA7BNM Contest Calendar (http://www.contestcalendar.com/). Many contesters use it. I see this one isn't listed...

 

You may find Manfred XQ6FOD's homebrew 8 KVA micro-hydro plant (link) interesting. His Electronic Load Controller is here.

 

Have you ever seen the pictures of the endless smog in various Chinese cities? Think about that: CHINA is the country with the top technology IN THE WORLD--and they are killing their citizens with pollution.

Now-- where did your SOLAR PANELS COME FROM and HOW DID THEY GET MADE? Answer: MINED in China, MADE in China, dumped on the rest of the world.

So do the math. Take the efficiency of your solar panels and figure out the power output over, oh, 5 years (when the degradation kicks in). Now figure in the energy it took to mine it. Now the energy it took to manufacture it. Now take the energy needed to get the crap out of the air.

NOW--do the same 'figure' equation for a 'fueled' generators.

You will discover that a FUELED GENERATOR is the CLEANER and GREENER choice.

Don't fool yourself. 'Solar' is ONLY being used because the Chinese are dumping it into world markets at bargain prices.

If they didnt see value in FUELED power, then why would they be on the brink of starting a WAR in order to secure the vast oil reserves around the SPRATLY ISLANDS?

 

Pretty much sums up why, in my career previous to where I am now.....I despised being sent to China! Absolutely absurd environment.

GREAT people though!

 

SUPER people; weird political philosophy. MO. Yours may differ.

 

@KH6OWL Those are bands, not modes for the most part. Rules need to be less ambiguous.

Modes are or should be: Phone (AM SSB FM), CW, Digital (all types to include RTTY)
Bands are HF, VHF, UHF.

Stuff like that. Now, I'm not picking on you, because your concept is good, but the rules are vague. We need guidance when thinking about joining in.

Last comment: Since this was posted on a wide coverage ham radio web site, it would make sense that your contest/ activity would be open to all. I think, from reading what you posted and some of the follow-ups from others, that it is a Hawaii only event? Please tell me that I am wrong, OK? If this is actually your intent or not. If it is, then you might have picked a better venue for your announcement.

 

Reminds me of the electric vehicle craze. Let's talk about how great they are for the environment but let's not talk about the energy used to produce the batteries or where the energy comes from to charge those batteries.
"Enormous hope rests on electric cars as the solution by the motor industry to climate change. However, the batteries of electric cars are not environmentally friendly when manufactured. Several tonnes of carbon dioxide are being released, even before electric batteries leave the factory."
https://www.thegwpf.com/new-study-large-co2-emissions-from-batteries-of-electric-cars/

 

Every new energy modality has an 'efficiency growth' curve.

Fossil fuels do very well. Coal is OK, but getting better. Battery is not doing well, but will in the future. Solar is poor and will always be limited by the reality of the Earth's rotation.

Its a legitimate question to ask what drives those curves. Legislating restrictions is NOT a good way of tweaking the others, for example.

 

In a real emergency, you might want to contact a station that DOES have commercial power to pass your emergency message, no?

 

Legislating restrictions can work to a degree, but not nearly as well as legislating incentives and funding initiatives. Just look at how we got to where we are with petrol. There was nothing natural or purely market-driven about it. Huge government subsidies and even larger commitments of infrastructure were made to foster the growth of petrol. We have never had sea change in energy technology in this country which was not a joint public/private effort.

What I am really trying to say is, pick a horse and back it fully. We should not expect magic to occur today when it never has in the past.