Going off grid in Africa - Again!

Two more days till the next Africa trip. I won't be quite as off-grid as last time thanks to somewhat better internet service there at the radio station. But it'll still be a busy time, so I'll be scarce around here. I can't believe all the extra hoops I've had to jump through (and more to come) because of the COVID restrictions, but I think I have all the requirements now.

I'll be in Togo for 28 days, but there are two days of travel in each direction, so 32 days away from home this trip. I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends there and helping at the radio station, but not looking forward to a month away from my wife; that'll be a record in our 44 years of marriage.

With retirement coming up at the end of this year, I've been assuming this would be my last time there. But then I got the pictures of a couple rusty guy wires. (We had to use local supply for some of them. Long story.) If my health holds up and no one else with the right skills comes along, I may be going back again in a year or two.

 

Thanks, Ray. Glad you get to have some time with your folks.

They are very serious there. There's a very involved online form to fill out that took me about an hour. I have to have a negative COVID test in the past week just to get on the plane. Then I get another one at the airport in Lomé and have to stay in town till they get the results. I also have to install a tracking app on my phone and keep it activated while in the country. Everyone wears masks in public. On the return, I have to get back to Lomé a couple days before the flight for yet another COVID test before they will let me leave.

I did a nine-month consulting gig after leaving my previous job to become a missionary. I made way more than ever in my life. After retirement, I'm sure I'll still be volunteering from time to time with the mission. For me, it's not the money. God has provided faithfully as long as I've kept Him and His kingdom as my main focus. It's amazing how He has blessed me with not just stuff but with people I love. Just amazing. Retirement will let me be more flexible in where and how I minister.

 

It's part of my job. I could refuse, but it's more God's calling than my boss asking if I will go.

I used to love flying. But now, I'm convinced that the airlines are experimenting to see how much crap people will endure. Judging by some of the news stories, they are finding out how much fairly regularly. So, I only fly to places I can't get to by car and I only go there if I have a good reason. This is my first time flying since COVID hit and I'm not looking forward to spending 28 continuous hours (plus) with a mask on my face. But I've endured way worse for the Lord and He always makes up for it in some way. I would definitely not make a trip like this for the fun of it.

 

Yeah, from the time I enter Tampa International Airport at about 8:30AM Friday till I get to my hotel room in Lomé at roughly 2PM Saturday, I expect to have to wear a mask. Even though I can go to restaurants, grocery stores, Walmart, chiropractor, etc. around here without a mask.

Thanks, @ETC(SS)! And yes, there will be pix.

Just for fun, here's one from there that they sent me this morning. The lens distortion almost made me fill my britches till I realized what was going on. Then it cracked me up. (For the uninitiated, towers don't bow like that.)


And the ensuing conversation shows a little of the goofballs I get to work with.

 

Unfortunately, they don’t have an online version. So you’d have to come here to listen. Also you’d need to speak French and/or one of the several tribal languages in the area.

They air a mixture of Christian music, Bible teaching, news, community information, and even Bible reading. This is an area that’s never heard the Gospel and people don’t have Bibles, so they love listening to it read to them. Also, out in the villages, it’s an animist culture with an oral tradition, so hearing God’s Word read to them is something they love. Lots of what goes on here is translating scripture to local languages. They just finished translating Genesis into Anufu and are working on Exodus. This plays well in the area because the city people are predominantly Muslim and the Old Testament is scripture to them. They are surprisingly receptive.

Here’s a picture of a map I annotated to show the broadcast area. More pictures later when I have time to sort and resize them. Time to hit the hay. It might be a while before I have time to show many pictures. But they’re coming. Mostly work, eat, sweat, and sleep. “Feels like” temperature is over 100F most of the day. But I’m having a ton of fun anyway.

 

Thanks. Sorry, no shortwave. They are FM only and the government limits them to 500 watts. It turns out that 500 watts reaches the entire area that we thought we'd need 2,000 watts to reach. That saves a ton on electricity.

Speaking of electricity.
When we built this station, we used 30 kW worth of donated solar panels that were a portable military version. It took a ton of work to mount and connect them all.

My first order of business was to get the solar grid back to full functionality. There are two SMA Tripower 15000 inverters under the solar array and one of them hasn't worked for several months. We thought it just needed a reset, but the Webbox that's supposed to communicate with them couldn't see either one. The failed inverter claimed an insulation problem on the DC side, which could be either in a panel, a connection, or a cable. Checking something like 150 panels and all their connections and cables was going to take forever. So, to be sure, we swapped inverters. Son of a gun! The inverter was lying. The problem went with the inverter. Not a showstopper, though.

The people here had already considered that possibility and had bought one for a very good price from South Africa. We put that in and, as they say, "Voila!!"" Power from both inverters.

Then, this morning, it rained (hallelujah!!!!!). Nice and cool after burning about 800 calories yesterday in 100ºF temperatures. It's only about 90 today. And guess what. Both inverters claimed insulation faults. That's when Kuami told me that that's what always happens when it rains. So the panels are pretty much trashed but still better than nothing. There are two good things going for us, though. First, after a few hours, the panels dry out and start producing again. Second, a donor is sending us 150 panels that are 300+ watts each. I don't remember the exact wattage. I think 50 are for the missionaries' houses and the other 100 for the radio station. With the slowness of shipping, I'll be long gone when they get here.

Also today, we installed a transfer switch and 15 kW voltage regulator to bring in city power. We're now running on city power since it's cloudy and only a couple hours to sunset. It's a continuously variable regulator, so it's cool to see the wipers move around as the incoming voltage fluctuates.

Tomorrow is mostly documentation, research, and investigation into the inverter malfunction.

Back side of Hope Radio studio/training center building and shop/transmitter/electrical building.



Solar panel arrays.



The new voltage regulator that allows us to safely use municipal electricity.

 

Hmmm, I left home at 8AM Friday and got to the radio station at about 11 AM local (7AM Florida) time on Sunday. I did get to sleep horizontally for several hours in Atakpame on the way from Lomé to Mango. By then, my body clock was throughly reset, so I've been sleeping regular hours with no real issues.

 

Gosh! I've been working like I'm killing snakes!! And in fact, the guard killed one last night that he found in him broom out by the front gate. It's too small to identify, but that's a scary place to find what is likely to be a black mamba.


As for the job, we got the solar power system putting out from both arrays and inverters, so that's good. But I need to find out why it insists on charging the batteries to 100% and then continuing to charge them. I know there's a communications fault. I fixes a bad connection on the RS485 connector, but that wasn't enough. Exploration continues.

Meanwhile, to my amazement, they didn't know that lead acid batteries require attention. We had to sent off to Lomé, 300 miles away, to get distilled water. Yesterday, Kuami and I cleaned and filled 24 of the 48 batteries. It took 22 five-liter jugs to fill those 24 batteries. We bought 30 jugs, so we'll need to buy ore. Tomorrow is a holiday, so Tuesday I'll show their electrician how to care for the other 24. I'm amazed the batteries still work. Quite a few are bulging and you can see tons of damage to the plates from exposure to the air. Here'a picture of half the batteries before cleaning and filling. The other half are on the other side of the wall to the right. (Some of the covers are removed for cleaning.)


This is a geek's paradise. I just hope I can get past these critical electrical issues in time to get something done with the computer and network issues and to make a transmitter log for weekly checks so they can monitor trends.