Living Off The Grid

Backed into the forest along The Great Divide, New Mexico
The hoof prints are from elk and deer that live here.

Parked out here, you'd think you'll be left alone. 

At midnight the cops told us we couldn't be there.

Dragging in firewood with a winch secured to the tail of the trailer.

But it's cooling off in the mountains and we're returning to the desert.

Hiking up a dry creek bed.

I think we'll park here a while.

For loading logging trucks.

A wide field panorama of Jewel.

Discovering some of the neat features on the Nexus 7, photosphere.

Summer In The Sierra Nevada's

A Saguaro Cactus
We parked near the Colorado River, Arizona and walked east.
This is where the first Saguaro in western Arizona begin to grow.

Fly In Visitors
Along the Colorado River, Arizona. The ground here is hard packed dust.
I have to be careful not to get stuck out here!

Parked In The Desert
All we need is a dead tree for our wood stove.

Horse Friends
Snowbirds like us, but they have a couple horses.

Treasures!
Out hiking around in the Mojave Desert.

It's a Yucca, but I have come to affectionately call this doozy "Spanish Bayonet".

Jumpin' Cholla

On A Ride With New Friends
A semi is a high profile vehicle and captures the interest of many.
This couple was out in their ATV and decided to pay us a visit.

Stuck
We have neighbors.
These people were gathering some firewood and got stuck in some of the soft stuff.

On A Hike
This is some beautiful country!

The Desert's Beginning To Bloom

Sending Up A Weather Balloon
When I opened the blast doors this morning I saw this group preparing to launch a balloon.

Jenny Lou's Cabana On A Colorado River Tributary

Heading north, a different desert. A desert tortoise.

MPPT

Maximum Power Point, or MPPT.
A technology used to harvest the maximum power from a renewable resource.

THE MORNINGSTAR MPPT60.
THE METER READING HALF SCALE IS ABOUT 20 AMPS TO THE BATTERIES.
This is my electronics and electrical bench. I installed four of these solar laminate arrays to the roof of my trailer when I made the conversion. However only a couple days ago, I got a charge controller.
Southwest winters are mild. Very comfortable during the day, chilly at night. This time of year, energy from the sun is low. However this type of charge controller coupled with a high energy array will find the maximum power available. In the summer, it will limit the power and condition the batteries.
The voltage output from these arrays would be too high to efficiently charge 12 volt batteries. At the time I got the solar arrays, I needed a fast easy installation. These adhere to the roof of the trailer. The PVL-144 are solar laminate.
The Morningstar TRISTAR MPPT 60 includes an Ethernet port and web server. Presently I don't have internet connectivity to the tail of my trailer, where I've mounted my solar arrays, batteries and the new charge controller. However I have a spare router. I've run an Ethernet connection from the charge controller to the router and WiFi connected my tablet. Now I can wirelessly connect to the TRISTAR to read it's web formatted data.
Today is cloudy, it's 10am and the LED lights in the trailer are shining bright. The MPPT is converting 150 watts from my solar arrays. The battery voltage is 12.6 volts. When I step outside, it's cool and cloudy with almost no shadow. How can it be I'm getting almost 12 amps from my solar arrays? The way it had been, I'd be running my generator on a day like today. Yesterday was sunny all day and my charge controller logged 1500 watt hours.

Techie:
The analog meter below the monitor is shunt calibrated to read power. It will read full scale on summer solstice, but in winter, reads only about a third scale.

All Internet

From the time I've been streaming video to Camstreams, I've enjoyed unlimited internet with Millenicom as my broadband reseller. Their unlimited plans were the only game in town while providing their customers with the best equipment I've seen. Millenicom's gateway was Sprint. Then Sprint cancelled their contract with Millenicom. Millenicom's gateway became Verizon. Millenicom sent us a Novatel MiFi so I remained with their service using the Novatel device. After Verizon became Millenicom's gateway, service became restricted. Then, all of Millenicom's customers were handed over to Verizon. Now, as Verizon customers, our plan restricts us to 20 GB per month.

In the past, I've enjoyed unrestricted access to the internet and with Camstreams I was arguably among the world's first truck cams. With a web cam mounted to the top of the passenger seat of my truck, I broadcast 24/7.

My Cradlepoint router has a data usage monitor, a bean counter that tallies the bytes used. Now I'm chasing the devices using data, shutting them down and restricting their access.
While the telecoms tout speed, they restrict access. Less for more $$$ seems to be the way of things.

NAS, DLNA, UPnP, Chromecast and HTPC
Perhaps it's just the natural evolution of things, but my interest in computers includes intranet. It's not enough to have a tablet, laptop, PC and MAC, but they must be able to share files. The easiest way to share files among your different devices is by building a network that includes storage. My first network storage device was a DSM-G600. The DSM-G600 is now backup for my NAS.

A couple years ago I bought a Nexus 7, but only a few months ago I purchased a Chromecast. I plugged the Chromecast into an open HDMI port on my television and could then cast my Nexus screen to the television. The other HDMI port was being used to watch our huge collection of DVD's, but it occurred to me I should be able to cast movies from my Nexus and with the help of BubbleUPnP, it worked!

Star was working on a book from her laptop. She has a collection of books she has been working on for the past 30 years and in the event her laptop crashed her work would be lost. As it turned out, only about a month after I added a NAS to our network, her laptop crashed! She was able to recover her work to a new computer her kids sent her from our NAS. In the meantime, I've been ripping our DVD's to the NAS. However playing movies from my Nexus and casting them to a 42 inch high definition television is a lot to ask from a tablet! Windows Media Player from Jewel's new laptop worked like a charm.

But that wasn't enough. The media bug had bit. Although I've known about DLNA, HTPC's and UPnP for a long time, it wasn't until I got a NAS and began streaming movies from it, that it occurred to me why I'd want all that stuff.

About a week ago, I received a barebones mini PC I mail ordered from China. I was doing my research and discovered that although something like a Raspberry PI could work as a HTPC, Windows Media Player was much easier to configure. I used the hard drive from Jewel's destroyed laptop that had Windows installed on it, on the new mini PC. Now our net is working and we have a spare PC in the event Jewel's laptop goes kablooey.

Using Super Capacitors

The length of wire from my charge controller and trailer batteries to the truck meant my large 150 amp hour battery in the truck was not getting charged. After sitting in the wilderness a week or so, starting my truck is impossible without running my generator for several hours.

I ordered six 2.5 volt 350 Farad super capacitors and boxed them as shown with 2x4 wood blocks. I connected them in series with solid 12 gauge copper wire.

These capacitors are about the size of a D cell but they pack a wallop!

I took them to the truck and connected jumper cables to the positive (+) and negative (-). I turned the key to crank the engine. The added energy actually started my 866 cubic inch in line six cylinder Detroit diesel!

I completed the circuit by adding diodes for balancing and reverse polarity protection and installed this permanently in the truck.

It's A Dump!

An Abandoned Camp

Star and I take several walks every day. If we're in wilderness areas we don't see a lot of trash. But most of the time we're parked on the outskirts of a small town. On the outskirts of these small towns people have been dumping their trash for a long time. Only in the last 50 years or so has there been regular trash collection as a city service.

Whenever we're parked in an abandoned area, I enjoy discovering the dump, the area where the past inhabitants took their garbage. All that remains is the metal, their trash that hasn't decomposed. What I find for the most part are rusted cans from the time before aluminum; before pull tops. Now a can is opened by the ring. These cans are all seamed - something modern manufacturing has long since made obsolete. I wonder how old this stuff is. Easily 20 to 50 years old. The other day I found a pile of cans opened with a can opener. Mixed in, were cans with a pull ring, however they were the old style still seamed. The pull ring had not been pulled, the cans were opened from the bottom with a can opener. People are slow to accept change.

Looking Out The Tail Of The Trailer At The Tailing Pile

About a year before I met Jewel, Itchykaibo fell down a vertical mine shaft. Nevada is known for it's gold production, the largest in North America. This state is littered with abandoned mines.

An Abandoned Mining Area Near Goldfield, Nevada

I was sitting on a rock outcropping when I saw him at the top of a tailing pile near the edge of a shaft. His curiousity had gotten the better of him when he slipped over the edge and fell. I ran to the top of the tailing pile from where he had fallen and could hear his mornful cries below. I was parked several miles from the nearest town, however the road was well graded with several cars passing by every day.

A Vertical Mine Shaft

Whenever someone passed, I stopped them and told them my cat had fallen down the mine shaft. After a few days, word had gotten around and a woman stopped by to visit. She lowered herself into abandoned mines searching for treasure and relics. She had a tri-pod she'd erect on the top of a shaft and pulley attached to the winch from her ATV. She put on a harness and hooked herself to the cable winch. Using a hand controller, she lowered herself into the shaft. This mine had caved in from the top where the structure used to dig the mine had broken, clogging the vertical shaft about 30 feet from the surface. Itchykaibo was trapped about 30 feet below the debris, making rescue very dangerous. She could see him below the wreckage. Other people from town were taking an interest and it was decided we'd tie sheets and carpet into a long rope and lower it to him. He'd climb out when he was ready. The next morning before sunrise, I went out the trailer and called to him from the top of the tailing pile, but no response! I didn't hear him below, but then I thought I caught a glimpse of him by the truck. I ran over to the truck, and there he was! Dirty, thirsty and hungry but he was out of the mine shaft and ok.

Off Grid?

To Be Off Grid Or Not To Be Off Grid.

Homeless, Off Grid That Is The Question...

Doing some GOOGLE searches on off grid living have turned up some interesting results. This guy in Denver is said to be living off grid, yet he's living virtually homeless in a warehouse. He's a dumpster diver, storing his dives in a refrigerator. And he's off grid?

Why is it so difficult to understand?

If you're plugged in, you're not off grid. Somebody is paying his electric bill for his refrigerator and I wouldn't be suprized if he's running an extension cord to power some other goodies. I would.

I was show electrician for a carnival out of Salisbury, Massachusetts. One season I arrived a little early and ran a wire to my trailer from a nearby power pole. I was arrested for stealing power.

Why is it a guy can power his refrigerator and be written up as living off grid? He's homeless, living off the laurels of others and published as living off grid.

Some of the "off grid" articles I've seen are written by people living in their ivory towers; explaining to others what they need to live off grid. How does this make any sense? Not until you're off grid yourself, should you have anything to say about it. To truly understand what living off grid means, you must prepare as best as you can. Then as a test, go out to your electrical box and shut off the breaker labled "MAIN". Now see how long you can live without power. Perhaps for the first time, you'll flip the light switch and experience the empty feeling of living in darkness. You'll throw something in the microwave, but there's no power to conveniently heat your food. Another test of your off grid preperation would be to load up your car with everything you've prepared for in the event of a power failure. Now; head off into the hills and see how long you can live that way.

Perhaps there needs to be a more accurate definition of what "living off grid" is.

Off Grid

Technically, OFF GRID means you would NOT be connected to the electrical grid - the power companies.

Off Grid In The Wilderness

Some would define being off grid as living entirely without infrastructure of any kind. By this defintion, we're not off grid. We buy fuel; gasoline, kerosene and diesel. We cut and gather down dead wood to burn in our wood stove for heat and cooking. We buy our food from grocery stores. We fill our water tanks from a potable water source. Although I have several levels of water purification including ultra violet, I'm not fully enabled. The day will come when I pump water from a stream and purify it, but I'm not there yet. We depend upon finding wood, fuel, food and potable water.

Does that mean we're not living off grid? We rely on infrastructure. We're snow birds, we rely on highways so we can go north in summer and south in winter. Yet I'd say that we are truly off grid. If there would be an argument related to better defing the meaning of living off grid, I'd like to know it.

Living Off Grid In A Semi

Ely, Nevada

We left Cedar City, Utah a couple days following the radiator replacement when I was sure the repair was successful. Checking for leaks, I replaced a hose clamp. Now we could leave town, traveling east on Highway 56 to Highway 93, then north to Ely, Nevada. We had business in Nevada. The truck registration would expire in September.

We aren't in a hurry. The trip to Ely, Nevada would be less than 200 miles, but there were a couple mountain passes along the way. Highway 56 to Panaca, Nevada went over the Panaca Summit where we stayed 6 days. This was on BLM land, yet we were visited by the Sheriff who checked our ID's to verify we had no warrants against us, and if my semi was stolen. He said his office had received 8 calls regarding my semi, that people just have to be in other people's business. We hiked to some of the mountain peaks to have a look around, exploring along the way, taking pictures and cut some of the down dead cedar to replenish our wood supply.

Exploring Along The Way

We went on to Panaca, Nevada where I re-filled the water tanks at the local park, then fueled at the junction of Highway 56 and 93. We headed north on Highway 93 to Pioche, Nevada, but in Pioche I couldn't find a good place to hang a while. There would be a Labor Day celebration in Pioche we would have liked to see. We'd continue north on Highway 93.

Connors Pass is another mountain pass south of Ely, Nevada where we parked for several days. We hiked to the nearby peaks, explored and cut dead White Pine for firewood. Then, down the road to a wildlife viewing area, located several miles south of Ely, Nevada on Highway 93. We stayed for several days taking in the 30 mile view of the valley.

At Ely, Nevada, I expected to get internet. Before I leave an area, I check the Sprint Coverage Map to determine where I can get internet service. I should have gotten internet in many areas along the way, yet we hadn't gotten internet since we left Cedar City, Utah. I can see the cell towers. No internet. The next couple days I'd determine the reason why. I plugged my Franklin Tri-Mode USB into Jewel's computer and ran some diagnostics. Internet was available on her PC. After some time, I discovered Roam Guard was blocking our access. I turned Roam Guard off, plugged the Tri-Mode USB into my Cradlepoint MBR95 router and now we have internet to all our devices via WiFi.

Today, when I came out of the truck stop with a can of beer, Jewel was running toward me. A water pipe had exploded. She shut off the water pump and came out of the trailer to the truck stop where she met me. I chased into the trailer and saw the SharkBite nylon water pipe had blown near the wood stove. Water was running from the blown pipe from the bottom of the water heater. I shut off the valve at the bottom of the water heater.

Nevada Northern Railway Ely, Nevada

Today, we visited the Renaissance Village in Ely, Nevada. These replicas resemble the houses of 100 years past. I got the idea of heating our water from these early water heating systems.

This is a semi, an 18 wheeler. I built the trailer to be livable a couple years ago, yet there are some imperfections. A nylon pipe a little too close to the stove blew open. I have many of the needed parts and supplies for such a disaster. In in an hour the problem was fixed.

Besides the wood stove, I have a Brunton AF. Jewel has posted a couple pictures, from her blog, one of me lighting the stove and another brewing coffee. I've had this stove a couple years and use it when I need a very hot stove. I'm pictured lighting it with a propane torch because the torch gets the stove to operating temperature much quicker. The wick used in the lighting process has long since burned out. I've cleaned the jet many times and it's probably gotten larger. When I'm lighting this stove with a propane torch it is easy to turn the fuel up too fast, causing it to squirt raw fuel up into the air with flames several feet high. Although this is an all fuel stove, I'd recommend kerosene. Gasoline works well also, but tends to dissolve the pump. I've siphoned diesel from my main tanks in a pinch and mixing with kerosene works well however straight truck diesel clogs the jet. I've never used propane with this stove because propane defeats the purpose of getting the most bang for the buck. We have a propane stove as well, but cooking your food with propane is more expensive. Perhaps one day I'll get the fittings so we can use a 2 gallon propane tank rather than the cylinders. The cylinders frost and burn one burner perhaps a half hour. The cylinders cost $5 for two, and I buy 5 gallons of kerosene about twice a year.