Group,
Sorry this isn't Elecraft per say, but I figure someone here has built Don Brown's solar controllers and I haven't been able to reach him by email. The short of it is, a finished picture of the small 1.5 Amp charger/controller would help me a lot if it could be sent (attached email) to me. The long if it is - it's been a while since I've soldered anything and either my eyes have gone real bad or the parts have gotten a lot smaller or a little of both. I'm pretty sure I have the resistors in the right place - though R7 didn't appear to be in the kit (only required to bring the charge voltage to 14.5V). The place for D1 is not marked on the circuit board but I'm guessing it's that long unmarked rectangle to the left of J1 (looking at the parts side with R1-3 at the top and J1 on the right edge)? The rectangle marked D3 is probably for D2 as there is no D2 on the board? The LED (D4) is not red but I'm more concerned about Identifying the long lead (anode) and placing it in the square pad hole. One lead is only a tinsy bit longer than the other and there is no "square pad hole" though there are two round holes on the left side of the circuit board - opposite side from J1. The lower circle as a + by the lower hole but the upper circle has no extra markings. So I'm guessing D4 goes in there not sure which hole, the upper or lower in the circle, the leg that's only a tinsy bit longer goes in. There are no components marked C1 and C3 but I have two similar capacitors that aren't marked so I guess those are them. If so C2 probably goes in the circle with the + by the lower hole that I mentioned above. I can't see any +- marking on the capacitor but one side has a gray strip with a 0 on it. I'm guessing that gray strip side is the + lead? Don mentions substituting a 1N5822 for D1 if I want to extend the range to 3A but my local Radio Shack doesn't carry that diode. Has anyone had luck with another RSIS (Radio Shack in Stock) equivalent to the 1N5822? The FET Q1 with screw fiber washer, lock washer and nut - coming up from the bottom would you have the screw with fiber washer and then the lock washer and nut go on top - on the Q1 side? His description of that is clearer now than it was at 1:30AM last night (this morning). A picture of the finished product would be such a help :) Is there any "off the shelf" box this fits into (about 1.75 x 3) . I thought I had a case but it was just a little too small. I can check radio shack but maybe there's an alternative - like a plastic box in a craft store. I'm guessing I'll solder the resistors first, then clip their leads to tidy up the board and add the few other more parts. My last "work" was on a DX-100 and things were bigger then. Thank you for your indulgence - I figure if anyone has had experience with this 1.5A model I'd find them here. 73, Paul _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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