Either way, design or error, is just as bad

The crack-up of the USA: is it by design, or by error?

The crack-up of the Weimar Republic in Germany may offer a useful comparison in one respect. It seems that the Communists and the Nazis were cooperating with each other. Neither liked self-government, which is often called "democracy".

Hitler was very upfront in his contempt for democracy. The communists, on the other hand, were a bit more devious. They offered their idea of "democracy", which is a dictatorship anyway. The dictatorship was supposed to go away, but it never does. No tyrant or group of tyrants willingly give up their power. So the commies will try to use more guile, while the Nazis may be direct in their methods.

As for the modern USA, it can be said that there is no lack of Nazi-type tactics. The use of violent mobs to influence the population, such as what the country endured during the 2020 riots, is not unlike what the Nazis did with their Brownshirts. But these guys are not necessarily upfront about their fascism. They seem to be Nazis with devious communist tendencies. A thought: since cooperation between Nazis and Communists did occur in the '30's, could it not be possible that some sort of cooperation is taking place again in this time? There's really not that much difference between Nazis and Commies, after all.

Like the Commies of old, the modern day Democrats are the devious ones. While extolling democracy and rule of law, they neither respect nor honor either. When Pelosi was asked about the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act she asked "Are you kidding?" It isn't beyond them to employ political violence. Why should it be beyond them to steal elections? Hitler and his Nazis weren't above chicanery in bringing about the rise of their Fuhrer. The same Fuhrer cooperated with his counterpart in the Soviet Union, and helped launch World War II. The battle for total power between the two factions resulted in the Nazi's victory, but when the dust settled from the war, the Commies were in possession of the Eastern half of Germany. Round two was a knockout for the Russians.

Trump was accused of cooperating with Putin to steal the 2016 election. Yet, it doesn't appear that Trump did any of those things he was accused of. However, Hillary sold uranium to the Russians. Could Biden be plotting with Putin to carve up the world, and make it their own? When the dust settles from that war, there may not be anybody left to carry on. The roles of Biden and Putin could be similar to what happened with Stalin and Hitler. The end of that collaboration resulted in big changes for the world order. Although Trump was accused of plotting with Putin, there was no war on his watch. The way this war is going, Biden will have us in it. For what reason?

Plotters and schemers abound. Or is war just an organic thing that will happen like weeds in the garden? Do countries really just stumble into wars? The study of the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich shows that that war was planned from the very beginning of his rule. In this country, we cannot get an honest hearing on what really happened in the 2020 election. Is that just human weakness, or is it a part of the plan? One thing that it isn't. It isn't in the letter and spirit of rule of law and democracy. It doesn't match with the Bill of Rights. The modern crop of leaders in this country have no more respect for such than what Hitler did.

Hitler could lie too. He preached peace and made plans for war. In other words, he lied his butt off to keep an uneasy world in a false sense of safety. Whether by design or error, the people of that time did not act. If we don't act, we could be facing a fate worse than what that generation faced. Nuclear technology wasn't to be invented until the end of that war. It is far more dangerous now.

Off-grid post, 6-3-22

The final solar panel of this particular project has arrived, and is installed. It is testing phase today. The bigger battery is finally on its way. The bms is also here. Everything is here but the battery, and it is on its way.

It was a chore to wire together, as it is somewhat complex. It is a 400 watt, 2s2p arrangement. What this means is that there are two pairs--each pair is wired up as a series of two panels, while these two pairs of two panels each are wired together in parallel. Phew! Altogether, this is a system with 4-100 watt panels thusly arranged.

In order to do this correctly, it was necessary to sketch out a schematic of how the layout was to look. It had to be detailed, so as to obviate any possible confusion of which panel's connections go where. Believe me, it would have been easy to get this screwed up. I'd rather avoid having to do everything all over again because I fried up everything.

The testing phase is going to go slowly, because I need to open the power tote again, and check a few things. While I am at it, I'll do some adjustments that might be the answer to the mysterious shutdowns that I've been experiencing.

As to the shutdowns, the latest theory is that it is too much to handle for the bms. That's what I need to check. I've been looking for some info on that. It seems that the range I seek is not that aggressive. Instead of that problem, I am thinking that it cannot handle charge/discharge functions simultaneously. Either you charge it, or discharge it. But that is a limitation that would make the system impractical to use. To get around any bms issues, the discharge function will be separated out from the charge function. The bms will keep it charged properly, but the inverter will shut down before it can be discharged too deeply. The system is set up to only use 500 watts at any one time. It cannot over-discharge, because the inverter will shut off before it can do that.

The 4 panels thusly described, will generate upwards of 15 amps. The bms should handle that, but I'm not 100% sure yet. It was in February when I bought it, and the dox given didn't specify exactly what it could handle in terms of amps. That would apply to charging AND discharging. Perhaps BOTH. If it's too hot to handle, it could do something like shutting down. At least, that is the theory.

If that theory isn't correct, then perhaps it's still got a loose connection. But it sure acts like it is shutting down due to some other factor-such as heat or load.

So that's where it stands now. Still figuring things out.

2000 Mules

2000 Mules ( Video excerpt)

The entire video is being suppressed. There's absolutely no excuse for that. This one on Rumble can still be watched.

Anyway, those who are interested can watch this excerpt. Or you can spend the money and watch the whole thing.

Once upon a time, I said that the truth isn't respected anymore in this country. The fact that they have a serious film here, and it is being suppressed, is plenty reason to believe such a thing. The real story is a lot bigger than just this one event. It runs the full spectrum of events on everything. The truth is an endangered species. We are in a war against a ruthless and unprincipled adversary.

Is there hope for this country? Sure looks grim right now.

Off-grid post, 5-29-22

Update on recent off-grid post

I found a way around the problem with the controller not charging up after shutting down. Here's the problem, briefly stated. The controller is designed to stop charging after the battery is charged. The battery comes with a preset voltage, but is adjustable. I decided to adjust it because it was too low. That part of it works. The higher voltage will be reached, and then it shuts off. Good, so far. The trouble comes when it is time to charge again. As the battery is being used during the day, it discharges. If the controller won't come back on, the battery will be drained until it has to shut off.

So why doesn't it come back on? That one I cannot answer. What I do know is that I can switch off the panels with the switch I have, and then switch them back on, and then it works as it should. That's the workaround. However, it is not optimal. The optimal thing would be for it to come back on automatically like it is supposed to do.

So much for the controller. There is still a problem with the inverter shutting off for no apparent reason. I've checked for connections, and heat issues, but it doesn't seem to change anything. Since the controller is a bit squirelly, I am suspecting that the inverter is also a bit squirelly. Nevertheless, I will continue to look for possible issues and try to find a workaround. But it gets tiresome to have to monitor it all the time to see that it works properly. This is not an optimal situation.

The shakedown continues, and here I am thinking that I've ironed out all the bugs. More stuff will be arriving before too long, and these issues just won't get resolved.

I'm not an electrician nor a carpenter. But sometimes I like banging on nails more than trying to figure out these squirrelly machines.

When you try stuff like this off-grid project, you have to wear many hats. If you are off-grid, there may not be any repairmen handy. It's all up to you. That might be a bit sobering once you consider all the implications of it. Your butt could be on the line, and there's nobody but you to deal with it.

Well, I've come this far. Might as well keep on. Anyway, I'm not way out in the desert, so there's still a backup plan. This is all a big rehearsal for a play that won't get played anyway. All the same, I am preparing for it as if it is going to be.

Because there may be no better option.

The original post follows below:

Off-grid post, update on 5-29-22 post

The problems I was having were partly on me. It looks like I got lazy, and I didn't want to look to see if I had the kind of spade-type connectors that had heat-shrinking plastic insulators on them. I thought I was out. But I had enough to replace the ones that I tried to use, which were those I was complaining about. That beef was accurate. I need not have put myself through the annoyance of using something I knew wouldn't work worth a damn.

So now I've got connectors that are securely on the wires, and the wires are surely connected to the charge controller. There are still connectors of the bad type on this project, and that's definitely the number one issue that I'm having right now.

The only way to work with the hard plastic ones that won't heat-shrink may be to put a heat-shrink on top of it. That assumes that the heat-shrink plastic will adhere to the hard plastic. I used some solder on the things too, but that isn't always strong enough either. Perhaps in combination with solder, I will get a reliable connection that won't fall apart. That's a long way down the road to get to this destination.

As for the rest of the complaints, they remain valid until disproven otherwise. One of them is still valid. The display is definitely washed out. It doesn't work for me because I need a good view in order to see the thing. That's because the place I wanted to keep it is out of the way, and therefore hard to see. A poor display makes it darn near impossible. The solution was to bring it out in the open where I can get a better look. The trouble with that is one of tight space. It is now in the way of everything as opposed to being out of the way. I have to be more careful about running into it and so forth. A better display would have eliminated this annoyance.

As for the performance, it hasn't been evaluated yet. No reason to expect what happened yesterday, but the day is just getting started. We'll see.

The original post follows below:

The charge controller came, and is now installed. It is not the same as the other, and that is good, but not all good. In fact, some of the features of the other is better than this one. Can anybody make one of these that work?!

The connectors on the controller side are better. That was a factor in the purchase of this particular controller. It came with spade-type connectors, which attach to the wires. That's a good idea, but that's where the good part of this is not so good. If the plastic insulator over the forked-like "spade" connector was the heat-shrinking kind, it would be perfect. Those can secure solidly with the wire. Crimping down on the wire, and having nothing else to secure it, eventually leads to faulty connections. One definite baddie for this purchase.

Another baddie is one that I'm not sure is a baddie, or it might be a fault that lies elsewhere. The problem is that the charging is not keeping up with the discharging. This is unbelievable, since there are two solar panels, and there's only one thing discharging it. That shouldn't be discharging the battery. But there it is. If a certain amount of discharge is to be expected in all cases, then the thing isn't at fault. It could be the way it is supposed to work. But it is still a fault somewhere, if not the controller itself. A two hundred watt system should be able to power less than 200 watts of load without running down the battery. At least I would think so.

Something has got to be wrong here because I cannot accept such poor performance. It is quite possible that there's a loose connection somewhere. That's what I think has happened with the inverter. I tightened up a connection, and now I'll see if it will work without cutting off. It's been running for several hours now. No problems yet for that issue. Maybe I solved that issue that has been a mystery for awhile now.

Another baddie is the display. It is washed out and hard to read. Add an interface that is pretty sparse, and not very user-friendly, and you've got something that is a lot harder to use than it should be. At least the display should be brighter. If there's a weak connection causing that, then it's on me. Otherwise, it is another fault for this thing.

So it is a very slow slog through this project. It began way back in February. I took delivery on the battery in late February while the weather was still cold. Here it is, almost June, and I'm still screwing around with this thing.

I'm still expecting a battery, bms, and solar panel. If I can get this completed, it will be a 400 watt system. Presumably, it should be able to run a less than 100 watt device without running down the friggin' battery.

If it sounds frustrating, it is. Still discharging. It started at 27 volts and is now at 25.2 volts. It is a sunny day. Something's gotta be wrong here. When, or if, I get it figured out, I'll post on it. That's all for now.

To get answers, ask the right questions

A culture and society that is coming unravelled doesn't really know what is happening to it. An example was the late Roman Empire in the West. There were Emperors until 476 AD. The Senate met well into the 500's. But there was nothing left of its greatness. The people alive then didn't know that the Empire had fallen. They may have guessed that it was in pretty rough shape, but it always pulled out of it before. But by 476, it was definitely over. Yet people kept on with a few of the symbols of Roman rule.

The Empire was in failure mode for quite a long time before the last Emperor was deposed, and the last Senate met. So the question for our times is this: is it over? Are we really just mourning over a corpse that will never rise again? Or is there still some life in this society?

The best way to determine that is if there's enough people willing to do it what it takes to set things right. From where I stand, that is a pretty tough call. There are signs of life, but they are weak.

The "leadership" keep dangling the bright, shiny objects in front of us, and we all willing obey the compulsion to pay attention to their false narratives.

The latest is gun control. That is why I refused to discuss it here. I knew immediately what was going to happen as soon as the news hit. Until people take away the bright, shiny object, there can be no rational discussion about the causes.

This for the record: The availability of guns did not cause Uvalde. Gun control will not solve it. It isn't about gun control. It is about power and money, which is at odds with freedom. Those who wish to control us are shining this latest bright, shiny object in front of us. The answer should be a resounding NO to gun control. NO to more restrictions to our freedom. YES to those who wish to protect our freedoms. That is in protecting us in the right way. Not through more stringent regulations upon the people, but returning government to its proper place in a free republic. Uvalde is a local issue. Let them handle it. It is where it belongs. DC is interfering much, too much, in our affairs.

If we cannot do that, we cannot keep our republic. Something else will take its place. From there, things are likely to continue downward. Perhaps at a greater clip.

The government in DC is way the hell out of control. The question is this: will we get that under control, or will it continue down the road to hell?