Solar and antenna holder

Jim30587
Jim30587 Member Posts: 6
in Modifications & Upgrades
This is what I have come up with for a solar panel holder, using a telescoping ladder cut down  and will install the solar panel and antenna on top , it will be mounted on a turn table,the ladder is about 15 pound

Comments

  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,035
    I think your solar panel may take flight like a kite😁
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
  • AnOldUR
    AnOldUR Member Posts: 1,746
    Is the plan is to extend the ladder above the tree tops so you can park in the woods?  :o
    Stockton, New Jersey
    2020 nuCamp T@B 320S * Jeep Wrangler
    60,865 camping miles through the end of 2025

  • pthomas745
    pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,605
    I am looking forward to the rest of the plan!
    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
  • Michigan_Mike
    Michigan_Mike Member Posts: 2,858
    Interesting concept and agree, will be nice to hear the rest of the story. 
    Mike - Elmira, Mi / 2019 T@B 400 / 2021 Chevy Silverado LTZ
  • Jim30587
    Jim30587 Member Posts: 6
    a little update on the ladder solar. Will complete next week.
  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,035
    That looks solid!
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
  • TomCanada
    TomCanada Member Posts: 294
    edited December 2021
    How high is the ladder going to get you?  I'm thinking of a 25 foot extending antenna pole for a cell booster like this: https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/wilson-outdoor-antenna-mounts/?sku=WA900203&gclid=Cj0KCQiAk4aOBhCTARIsAFWFP9EsJJqqZOy919Z7zv336l2Q3Oxo_woYZwx3JN-k9hCO3gBdIBcZ7WUaAtETEALw_wcB

    But I'm not in love with the idea of attaching it to the side of the Tab.  The ladder idea is an interesting one..


  • Jim30587
    Jim30587 Member Posts: 6
    Sharon_is_SAM said:
    That looks solid!
    Jim30587 said:
    a little update on the ladder solar. Will complete next week.
    Jim30587 said:
    a little update on the ladder solar. Will complete next week.

  • Jim30587
    Jim30587 Member Posts: 6

    New pictures
  • Sharon_is_SAM
    Sharon_is_SAM Member Posts: 10,035
    Ok, so I had visions of a solar panel swaying in the wind like a flag.  This is original.  And it rotates!
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
  • kmulh
    kmulh Member Posts: 36
    For my weboost antenna I ended up going with a relatively inexpensive 15ft portable flag pole and 3D printed some custom mounting brackets to easily hold it to the boondock platform.  Setup only takes a couple minutes and it's held up to high winds and a couple storms.  The gear ties aren't really needed, I just put them on to be safe.


    2021 T@B 400 BD
    2020 F150 3.5 ecoboost
    Columbus, OH
  • Marceline
    Marceline Member Posts: 1,758
    TomCanada said:
    How high is the ladder going to get you?  I'm thinking of a 25 foot extending antenna pole for a cell booster like this: https://www.wilsonamplifiers.com/wilson-outdoor-antenna-mounts/?sku=WA900203&gclid=Cj0KCQiAk4aOBhCTARIsAFWFP9EsJJqqZOy919Z7zv336l2Q3Oxo_woYZwx3JN-k9hCO3gBdIBcZ7WUaAtETEALw_wcB

    But I'm not in love with the idea of attaching it to the side of the Tab.  The ladder idea is an interesting one..


    The ladder idea is pretty cool for a rigid solar panel but I think that it's overkill for an antenna. I strapped my antenna to an extending painters pole with hose clamps. The pole is lashed to the front driver's side handle of the T@B and the bottom of the pole drops into the center hole of a yellow leveling block.  I've had it up in some pretty strong breeze (30mph+) and it's held up just fine.


    San Francisco Bay Area
    2013 CS-S us@gi
    2015 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner Double Cab
  • pthomas745
    pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,605
    edited January 2022
    Wow, the Ground Controlled Approach trailers sure have improved from back in the day!

    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
  • Denny16
    Denny16 Member Posts: 5,430
    edited January 2022
    Thanks, those are are trailers we had kitted out at a field Intel photo lab in Viet Nam, back in the day…. The smaller front trailer is the control room (we used for a finishing room and office to examine the aerial photos.  The electronics/equipment was in the larger rear trailer.  The front control van, was insulated and sound proof, and we added an AC unit to it.  I would have loved to have a TaB 400 as an office instead.  :)
    cheers
    2018 TaB400 Custom Boondock,  Jeep Gladiator truck, Northern California Coast.
  • pthomas745
    pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,605
    edited January 2022
    This is my GCA unit from 1980 at Barber's Point in Hawaii.  That giant truck (the "Prime Mover") had to be tested every month, and we used to fight to do the driving.  Behind the truck is the guts of the radar processor and maintenance shack, and the actual radar "bays" were in there under the antennas.  Freezing cold in there.  It was a very nice, advanced, radar type for the time.  This is a "CPN-4 Ground Controlled Approach Unit."
    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi

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