Brent and Katie's Homestead - Build Report

[Fort Wisers]

Well folks it's been a while since we updated this thread, figured I better get into gear before the summer routine rolls out (soon)!
We had a great winter / spring at camp but I'll focus on the last couple of months.
As always, the complete set of the latest pics of our progress can be found here:
http://fort-wisers.ca/Albums/Camp/Our_Camp.htm

A few highlights......
The woodshed got an expansion this spring. This new portion of the shed gives the ATVs a roof to live under for now.
The long term goal is to build a workshop / garage at which point this expansion will simply hold more wood.
We also finished off some more firewood, we should now have enough to cover the next couple of seasons.
We have yet to put steel on the roof of the expansion but this should happen over the next couple of weeks:






We've managed to get a bit more interior work completed including adding pot lights and trim in the bunk area, some more interior pine and a mirror we built added to the bathroom:





We added some software to a tablet so we can monitor the solar system over wifi.
While I'm not a huge fan of having a bunch of tech crap at camp, the end goal of this project is so we can monitor
the solar remotely when we're not at camp......AND this way we can ensure we have enough power to run the beer fridge
while we're sitting in the gazebo enjoying a cold one!



The kids ATV got a lift and some bigger tires so it's now living at camp, we took the machines for a quick trip to
the old Mica mine over father's day weekend.




Lastly, while visiting family in North Bay we snapped this photo of the girls exploring a beach on Nipissing and thought it was worthy of a post!



Starting this Thursday we'll be up more or less full time for the summer again.
As always anyone on the forum passing through the Mattawa area is welcome to stop in for a beverage break.
Take care everyone, hope to see you around.......

[Greg]

Awesome... just awesome... great work guys!

[Fort Wisers]

Thanks Greg, Slowly but surely we're getting there.

[puckster_guy]

Thanks Greg, Slowly but surly we're getting there.

Oh Ya I know that feeling. Great work bro, looks awesome. Where did you get the app for the solar? I kinda like that idea.

[Fort Wisers]

Thanks Joe!

Here's a link to the app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.farrelltonsolar.classic&hl=en

What charge controller are you running?
It works with Midnite Solar Classic Series charge controllers (this is what we run) and apparently Morningstar Tristar MPPT series charge controllers.
If you have a different controller, let me know, there's a few decent pieces of software out there for different controllers.
The app is built for Android devices only.

Hope that helps, have fun at camp!

Brent

[Jay Thomas]

Outstanding!! Thanks for sharing.

Jay

[puckster_guy]

Thanks Joe!

Here's a link to the app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.farrelltonsolar.classic&hl=en

What charge controller are you running?
It works with Midnite Solar Classic Series charge controllers (this is what we run) and apparently Morningstar Tristar MPPT series charge controllers.
If you have a different controller, let me know, there's a few decent pieces of software out there for different controllers.
The app is built for Android devices only.

Hope that helps, have fun at camp!

Brent

I hope that helps

[Fort Wisers]

Hey Joe,
First pic looks like a Morningstar MPPT to me, so you should be able to make that work.
What you'll have to do is hook (via an ethernet cable) the Charge Controller to a wireless router, then connect the tablet / phone to the same wireless network.
The app will be installed on the tablet / phone.
Just FYI, some newer generations of Morningstar controllers have a webserver built in meaning you wouldn't even need a third party app to check out what the controller was doing from some other device (phone, tablet, pc etc).
Regardless, you'll still need that router.....

On the charge controller (first pic) there is a small label that says ENET....is there a connector behind this spot?
It will look just like a Ethernet port on a laptop / computer.

If it helps, perhaps we should plan a visit, finally meet face to face and get something up and running.

[puckster_guy]

 There is an E-net connector under the led's facing down. We can hook up to that. Sure, Come on by if you can. I'd Love to show you around.

[Fort Wisers]

Morning PG,
From this point, if you're familiar with hooking up networks and have a router then you're safe to simply hook that charge controller to your router to get it on your network.
From there there might be a small amount of configuration on both the router and Charge Controller (CC) ends so that other devices can reliably see the CC.

That being said, if you get it hooked to your router, no configuration may be required for the third party app mentioned above to find the controller.
With the midnite controllers announce themselves (VIA UDP) on the network every 10 seconds, the app uses this to find them (IE associate IP Address to the controller each time the app is opened).
Perhaps your morningstar will do something similar, you can always try it, hook the controller to your router, download app, open app and see what happens.

Let me know how it goes! Otherwise let me see what I can do to head over your way over the summer (BTW sorry to just sort of invite myself!)



BTW, thanks @Jay Thomas for the kind words! Missed your post as PG and I got sidetracked talking solar...

[Oarin]

Wow, looking great!

[puckster_guy]

 Hey FW I'll buy another cable when I'm in town next time. I was looking for a way to wring more info out of this unit. I got a small LCD display plus idiot lights. (which does suit me  ) cool to know Tho I may have to force you to come here anyway. I can figure it out but just in case anyway... lol 

[Fort Wisers]

Hey Pg, would be my pleasure to visit.
Good luck!
Brent

[Fort Wisers]

Morning folks.....

Well, mid last week I took a couple days to go up to camp and finish off some pine on the ceiling.
We brought the pine up a few weeks ago but a terrible cold kept my energy and motivational levels too low to actually install.
So the pine was sitting in the middle of the cabin floor. Given how small our place is, we thought it best to get up there as soon as I was feeling better to get it installed and off the floor before we started into our winter trips.

Here's where the job was left off from previous trips:


Here's where we are now.
Except for a couple of strips at the very top that will need to be ripped down, the ceiling pine is now 100% complete:


So far we've accumulated a decent snow pack this fall:


Cool for a fall day:


Thursday was a crisp, clear morning:


Can you see the rainbow?:




Hope everyone out there is doing well and has their fishing / hunting lists out to Santa!
Cheers!

[Oarin]

Looking good! I love how your kids helped!