Jacob Goes Off Grid Day 130 Part 1
This is a video from Day 130 of going off-grid. I went 'off grid' six hundred and forty-three days ago and it has been quite the journey since I got dropped off at this old fallow farm and built (continue to build) all my own infrastructure. I have been video documenting the entire process and have just recently begun publicly sharing some of the videos. I have been sharing the videos privately since I started the entire process which I call Jacob Goes Off Grid In The Woods. 'Day 1' is the morning after I arrived at this little place in the mountains in the 'dead of winter' on January thirteenth of two thousand and seventeen with my dogs, my wits, minimal gear and very little hard currency to work with. Slowly I have done my best to breathe life into a very old farm and give it all my best, 'learning as I go', and documenting the process as best I can. It has been quite the journey so far. @jacobpeacock
In this video I show the pre-owned DC to DC cordless tool battery charger that I ordered and talk about how there was a little rust on the plug but otherwise was in good condition. I talk about cutting the cord off of it and directly wiring it to a battery but I actually decide against doing that. Note: It is a model DW9109 9.6V-18V Vehicle Charger and still works great. I talk about charging my cordless batteries with a standard AC charger and an inverter but later I learned that is a very bad way to charge Nickel-Cadmium batteries and it actually damages them.
I show the marine grade 12-24 volt input 'dash mount' array that has two female USB ports, a 12 volt utility port (automotive cigarette lighter port) and a digital voltage meter. I talk about only having the USB ports wired up at the time and needing to still wire up the rest of it.
I show the BSV20A solar charge controller that I ordered and talk about how I had previously had my solar panel directly wired to the battery. I do not mention it but every night I would unhook the battery from the solar panel because without a charge controller the battery could feed back into the panel during the night and damage it. I also talk about how the charge controller will stop the battery from being over charged but I also mention how with such a small solar panel that was unlikely.
I talk about getting rained out on working in the homestead area that day but how a neighbor from down the road stopped by for a little while and helped rake up a lot of the vegetation that I had been cutting.
I show the progress that I made clearing brush in the new homestead area and talk about taking pictures of it each day so that I have a good visual record of the changes I have made to the area.
I show a path that I cut through the woods to a massive tree and talk about not wanting to put any buildings under the big tree because it has a lot of dead branches at the top of it.
I talk about finding more pear trees on the slope where I was clearing out vegetation. I talk about the trees growing in a bit too thick on the slope and how they should be thinned out some.
I talk about when I am cutting away the vegetation I am being careful not to accidentally hit the bigger trees and also going slow because it is difficult to see what is under the vines.
I talk about there being several large black walnut trees in the area and how I do not want to put a building under them because then the walnuts will drop on the building and make a lot of noise.
I talk about my main concerns with the new homestead site is the proximity of it to both the creek and the road. I also talk about how the area does not get much sun and gets really poor cellular signal.
I talk about how with caretaking I have to remain flexible and always pass what I am doing by someone else and get the necessary permissions before doing things.
As always this is just a summary of the video's content and not meant to explain everything that I cover in the video.
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