Hamish Campbell

Published Date 6/5/14 6:17 PM

Here is a list of components to get basic solar power working on a converted liveabord lifeboat.

Can get from here or here  for about £130 each, will need two.

Then you have a choices of 2 different type of charge controller, possibly unreliably but more efficient MPPT or a bog standard cheap PWM controller – to start out I would probably go for the cheap controller.

MPPT have to import from china here or here  for around £80

Or a very cheap basic controller here for around £12

Then you would need a length of 6mm cable and a pear of MC4 combiners

The boat currently has 4 starter battery wired up into 2 separate redundant 24V banks, I would re-wire one of these as 12v and use that for a while.

todo

Have to test a all the wires and find out what is 12v and what 24v

Have to find out which bank of battery is live

Fitting out

Then get some 3 way car cigarette splinters, good soled wire and 5m of LED lighting strip, more info here

Published Date 5/14/14 3:27 PM

Am planing to do workshops on “journalism with the tool in your pocket” and “solar power for everyone” over the summer at protest camps, festivals and conferences. Am working with a number of other people to do this. But… the is generally a but… 

For the Solar workshops I have a young man who is competent and has energy, but needs to learn the skills of organising, teaching and most importantly internalise the importance of simplicity, getting there slowly.

Published Date 4/22/14 1:15 PM

I have decided not to get involved in this activist tech gathering even though it is completely on the subjects that are core to my work. I had tried to interact but with no noticeable affect. 

The is a failer of imagination in almost all atavist tech that shapes a blankness in ideas and almost no real action. Its not that the ideas and campaigns are not important as some of them clearly are, it is more limited framework that these things are addressed with.

This gathering reminds me of the Rebellious Media Conference from a few years back which took up a lot of my time and had no affect what so ever. On balance the RMC damaged the declining alt-media by taking focus and energy, am worried that this gathering will lead to the same outcome.

If you wont to get involved in real alternative tech in action, and while doing thinking about the bigger picture try http://activisttech.org or the develoment side try this http://hamishcampbell.com/en/home/-/blogs/the-tech-manifesto-of-the-omn