Solar Power On The Cheap

If you want solar power for your house, you are talking thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars. A large array of solar cells is very expensive. But do you need that much power? Do you really need to power your whole house?

That is the message from David Deas, an electrical engineer. He will be the speaker of the next Cedar Creek Amateur Radio Club meeting on Saturday August 12th. There the hams and visitors will learn how little power you need to replace. All you really want is light and to keep the refrigerator going.

With LED light bulbs taking so little power, you can light up a whole area and you can save your food from defrosting. Most power failures last just hours, not days.

So how much money are we talking about now? Hundreds instead of thousands and David can save you even more. He has found a source for dirt-cheap equipment used in other applications that are being sold for pennies on the dollar.

For ham radio operators interested in keeping their equipment powered in emergencies, this is the perfect solution.

If you are interested in technology, come join like-minded people at the meetings that are free and open to the public. It happens at 9 AM on Saturday August 12th at the Mabank Café on Hwy 198 in Mabank.

The club meets the second Saturday of each month there. The meeting starts at 9 AM, but many come early for the breakfast buffet. Anyone interested in technology is welcome.

The Cedar Creek ARC has over forty members from the tri-county area. It maintains a VHF and UHF repeater system that provides hand-held radio coverage to hams in the lake area, and mobile and base coverage throughout the three counties. CCARC participates in the National Weather Service SKYWARN program and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. The club also provides free classes to those wishing to join the ranks of Amateur "ham" Radio. For more information, visit
www.k5ccl.org.