I've actually been thinking about adding some by-pass capacitors (0.01 uf) across the
12V power & motor lines, and the four wires coming from the optical module.
But mostly, I'm sold on the idea of installing a good ground at the base of the mount.
As to RF capture of power, I'm afraid that we don't have the land area or the copper
to install an antenna capable of capturing usable power.
The station is about 1.9 miles from here and the inverse square law tends to eat up
a good bit of the power at that kind of range.
Besides, a single inexpensive PV panel could harvest a lot more power for a LOT less money.
Anyways, I had the top cover off the boiler this afternoon and I checked the heat patch using the IR scan pistol..
The main gauge said the boiler was about 140 deg. And a scan of the top read out as about 140 deg.
But when I scanned the 107.66 watts (of PV) on the heating patch, it showed up as 210 degrees!
The steel close around the patch was in the 170-190 deg range.
If the 10 ohm load is a good match for the panels, and I can get around
500 watts, sunk into my water storage, this project might end up being
very productive..
