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Exactly. I was mostly thinking that the panel and charge controller need to be wired right to the battery not to the 12v outlet. I could be wrong though. If anyone knows different I’d be interested in their opinion.

There is also a “paint on” urethane liquid for resealing tent floors and such that can be applied to the inside. You’d probably still want scotchguard or similar on the outside for water repellency.

No, as far as I know one should not do that. The solar panel needs a solar charge controller (even the super cheap $15 pwm kind will be ok) between it and the battery. The charge controller should be attached to the battery to be charged though you could use alligator clips as a quick and dirty...

Smittybilt X20 10k synthetic rope. I think they went out of stock right when I ordered them the dealer just let my order fall through the cracks and never followed up.

Well, after three months of waiting and calling and emailing I should finally have my winch by tomorrow (hopefully I didn’t just jinx it). Then I get to wait on my Baja Design lights that fedex, naturally, lost. I’m not having the best luck with orders of late :/

Manager 30 is an expensive pice of kit just to hook up a PV panel If you know your system is going to grow and you can foresee actually needing all the capability the Manager 30 offers then it’s for sure a great option. I use their bcdc 1225 with the solar inputs and even that is much more than...

This sounds like an interesting idea. All the face to face testing around here seems to have been cancelled so far and I’m not too interested in the zoom remote options. It’d be great seeing something focusing on how overlanders/off-roaders use ham.

Looking good Snerk. It’s getting that Softroading the West vibe with the pull out kitchen. Very clean so far.

Pretty easy one. Use cable ties or similar if you buy a semi flexible panel or use a mounting kit if using a rigid panel. Wire the solar charge controller to your battery and a set of wires with plugs matching the ones on the panel to the controller. Keep them short. Then you just use extensions...

Indeed. I keep the mc4 connectors on the panels for ease of hook up and inter connecting panels. It’s just the end that connects to the charger input that I put mc50 Anderson’s on.

If you want the battery to last 10+ years rather than replacing it every few as you will with a lead acid, and you can live with the up front cost, lithium (LiFe po4) is the way to go. You save a lot of weight, too. I splurged on a BattleBorn but there are others.

I dunno...an angry wench is a force to be reckoned with.

If you found an older radio set that still had the ability to do both... Try eBay maybe yard sales? My rino gps has all 22 channels across the frs/gmrs range. Kinda handy. Too bad they changed the rules.

Thanks. I went over to ham radio outlet in Oakland and picked up an icom ic v86 two meter handheld. What sold me was that it’s made in Japan :) I won’t be broadcasting but I won’t be left out if there’s last minute changes.

Sounds like I need to look into a new radio then :)

OP: how complicated do you want to make this project? The simplest would be an inexpensive solar charge controller and a 50 to 100 watt panel to use solar to keep your battery topped. The trouble is that you’ll likely find more and more uses for that battery and 12aH is pretty small. You may...

And while I wait for the paint to cure (Brownells alumihyde takes about two weeks to fully cure) on the carrier and then for the winch to arrive I installed a Midland mxt275 in the center storage cubby. Except for the little antenna it’s completely hidden unless I take the handset out.

I have a smittybilt x20 10k with synthetic rope on order from 4wp but it’s been two weeks and I’ve heard nothing yet. Everything is taking three times as long due to the ‘rona panic.

These are some great ideas. Gonna have to steal, I mean borrow, a few ;)

What will convoy comms be? I saw ham mentioned but I don’t have one. I do have gmrs though... Will everyone else be hamming? I’d hate to miss a call out on the trail.