Free Stuff, plus some solar

[John & Barb Ely]

Having been sitting in Pittsburg, CA (SF Bay Area) for a few months and
anticipating more, I've been doing some upgrading and renovating. As a
result, I have an original 21" steering wheel and the little console table
that goes between the two captain's chairs in '80s PTs which are available
to anyone who wants to pick them up or pay for the shipping. The console
table is the one with a shallow drawer on top and a deep drawer on the
bottom. I have modified the bottom drawer to accept letter sized hanging
files. It also has the select-a-top, where you can pull a larger top out
of a rear storage compartment to increase the available table top
space. This bear is going to EXPENSIVE to ship. Both pieces are original
to the coach, in very good condition, and are FREE to anyone willing to
cover the cost of capturing them.

Two new 123w AMSolar panels arrived today, so that is my next
project. When they are in, I'll have four for a total of nearly
500w. I've been running four months with two panels and they don't quite
get the job done, in that I can't go for sunny days on end without turning
on the charger. On consecutive sunny days, I can go overnight and through
the next day, but that night I'll be down to about 12.2 and will need to
turn on the charger. I've actually run to the third day but found myself
down to 11.9 or so by that afternoon. My expectation is that with the new
panels, I'll be able to avoid the charger continuously as long as I get
good sun. I get a peak of nearly 11 amps from the two panels, so am
looking for 23+ from the four. I'm looking forward to using the system in
the desert or mountains where the air is clear. I think I may get over 25
amps there, maybe even more.

John Ely, 86PT40, Rapid City, SD On the road in SF Bay Area