Bike power: version 2 – field test

Bike power complete. Bike, bike stand, 3 phase rectifier, capacitor, 6 Amp solar battery charge controller, 12V bulb.

The bike ( on a bike stand ) were attached to the 3 phase rectifier and the 1 Farad capacitor to produce 12V DC.

The wheel is a  200 W 36V wheel so the bike could only be operated at a low ( comfortable) speed to prevent too much voltage and too much current.

A 12V 50W dichroic light bulb was added to show it was really working.

capacitor at 13.6 Volts and 50Watt 12 Volt dichroic light working.

PV charge controller added using the bike as the power input instead of the solar panel and battery charger was used.

Probably best for charging a small device unless you want to pedal the bike for a long time.

Future additions:

36 to 12 volt step down for a higher current lower voltage system.

replace the back tire with a smooth tread tire.

Scram bag: Radio

Got to get information.

Access to information is very important and radio, while an old technology now, is likely to be one of the best sources of information during a crisis. AM radio is a particularly good source because of its range and likelihood of operation.

the DEGEN DE13 world receiver.

DEGEN DE13 Solar / windup/ 5V DC powered. Radio AM FM SW, LED flash light, red flashing LED, USB power output, and alarm.

This is a really great radio, packed with features.

A radio? You may think that because your mobile phone has a radio you’ve got it covered. Well partially. Mobile phones generally only receive FM radio and usually only with headphones attached as they double as the antenna.

FM is a relatively short range radio signal so if you are far from a transmitter you wont hear anything.

AM radio stations use large amounts of power and have large capacitors in order to operate, so that when the power goes off to radio stations FM stations only have generator reserves. AM stations will have a few days of electric reserves in their capacitors on top of generator reserves, so an AM receiver will be more likely to give you information and for longer. AM stations also have much longer range in reception as well.

Shortwave SW radio has enormous range, you’ll realize this when you start hearing languages other than English on them. Shortwave radio receivers are somewhat uncommon these day also.

Powering it.

Solar: A nice little polycrystalline panel.

Wind up: 60 turns of the handle for 1 hour of radio.

AAA cells: 3 AAA cells are an option.

micro USB port: the 5 pin connector, connect to a computer or other 5V DC source.

Lithium battery: Just like what is in cordless phones.

Features:

3 LED light, a pretty good light for shorter range illumination.

Red flashing LED, this is meant to be for reading maps at night, the red doesn’t affect you night vision too much.

Siren: I’m not sure how this is useful but its there.

USB output: I think this runs from the wind up only,  and has output limited to low current for charging older mobile phones or small electronic devices, but better than nothing (though the manual doesn’t specify).

Down sides.

Not waterproof, this can be mitigated buy using a small water proof container or bag.

Not dust proof, if your operating environment is very dusty of silty you could have trouble.

Antenna clasp is a bit fragile, fortunately this is not a critical component.

Battery case cover for the 3xAAA compartment seems a little flimsy.

No clock, one of the few products where the addition of a clock might have made sense, radio shows are scheduled to start at certain times, thought announcers do tend to quote the time often enough.

The instruction manual that comes with this device is pretty vaguely written, a bad translation from Chinese, it’s almost a throw away manual.

There is not form of charge indicator, just  charging LED (green) and a discharging LED (red).

 

Short wave radio stations sometimes talk about transmitting on X meters rather than a frequency.

This length distance they are talking about is the wave length of the radio wave, wavelength is usually given the Greek letter λ

c is the speed of light in a vacuum 299 792 458 m / s , you’ll notice this number is close to 300,000,000,  300 million or 3 x 10 ^8.

Frequency: f , measured in Hz (Hertz).

For example if someone was transmitting on 19 meters:

c  = λ  *  f

f =  c / λ

f = 300,000,000/19

f = 1,000,000   *  300/19

f = 1,000,000   *   15.79 Hz

f   = 15.79 MHz  (or 15,790 kHz )

This radio can detect that short wave frequency and those between 5.8 MHz and 18.2 MHz (51 to 16.5 meters in wavelength).

It should be noted that some SW bands are not in the frequency region where they should be due to some historical conventions.

 

Radio frequency notebook

You should create a series of notebook entries listing for each location you plan to be in which frequencies are operational and what type of information is given.

ie

location 1

AM  frequency  information types

station 1             music and hourly news

station 2             news and weather (mostly prerecorded)

FM  frequency  information types

station 3        music  (infrequent news)

SW frequency  information types

station 4        Chinese language (shipping?)

 

A great deal of information can be inferred from which stations are still broadcasting also with what information they are giving.

 

This handy radio comes in several colors; dark green(pictured), lime green fluoro, and white, though I’m sure almost any color is possible

Can be bought from many internet sellers for about $30.

Bicycle Power

200W 3 phase powered bike hub, 2x BR 354 rectifiers, 12 V 1 Farad capacitor, 12V lamp.

the picture is a gif animation click on it to see.

So me and a mate managed to get hold of some powered bicycle hubs. They are basically a 3 phase alternator built into an over size axle hub. Of course you can reverse the process and instead of adding electricity to get wheel rotation, you can spin the wheel and get electricity. The 3 phase AC needs to be rectified and smoothed a little with a capacitor (3 phase is smoother than single phase however).

The light pulses because the wheel is not constantly spinning. we later figured out we had wired up the capacitor backwards.

The work continues.

The original bulb pictured was an incandescent  indicator lamp from a car, essentially a tiny 12V light bulb. After some slightly energetic riding it actually burnt out, after glowing quite bright.  I estimated we were able to put 21W through the setup safely thought it (by pedaling slowly in top gear) though the bike is capable of a lot more.

The electrical diagram of the bike powered the light bulb.