New Solar Powered Charging Station
at the Field
by Mark Lane
 Tired
of propping the hood of your vehicle to charge your batteries?
Wish you could charge lipoly batteries at the field but you don't have a
portable battery to do it with (as required by club policy)? Well
now you can! The Wingmasters flying field has a newly created
solar powered charging station that is available to all members.
In January the Club purchased a solar panel kit to accompany a generous
donation of deep-cycle batteries by Cal-Kona Marine (thank you Dave
Yapp). Additional donations of wiring and battery boxes by
Cal-Kona and a donation of a steel service box by Rex
 Geivett
allowed us to complete the necessary components for a solar powered
charging station. Steve Kerrin manufactured a charging panel and
completed the necessary electrical components with some helpful
electrical input from Jeff Lastofka and Rex Geivett. It was truly a convergence of the minds
and a team effort to get the system ready to be installed.
 On
Saturday March 20th Carl Diefenbach, Steve Kerrin, Julian Schock, and
Rex Geivett installed the solar panels and completed the wiring to the
charging box. The installation went smoothly and the final product
looks clean and professionally done.
Here are the details:
 The
charging station has a 12 volt DC output, distributed at 6 different
access points (see the image on the right). The connection to the
power output is through banana-plugs. PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF THE
POLARITY (RED VS. BLACK) WHEN YOU PLUG IN YOUR CHARGER! Each
member must supply their own battery charger and a lipo sack if they
intend to charge lipoly batteries. All rules about charging lipoly
batteries at the field are
still in place and will be strictly enforced. Please be mindful of
others who might be waiting for you to finish using the charging station
on busy days. If you have any problems using the charging station
or need help and direction on how to use it, please ask.
The Wingmasters Board would like to give a big THANK
YOU to all who contributed their time, materials, and knowledge to this
project. We feel that this additional convenience at the field
helps make the Wingmasters a first-rate club with modern flying
amenities.
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