These are the voyages of the hand truck, Shacktopus. Her continuing mission… to seek out new loads and strange environments… to boldly blink where no one has blinked before.
When I moved off of my sailboat, I almost immediately began to miss a stable 12-volt power system, independent of the utility grid. I decided to replicate it in a portable package I could tuck under my desk or roll into my next technomadic substrate.
The result, after a couple months of refinement and research, was a capable machine that brings all my power needs into one central tool... which displays status at a glance and even collects data that can be viewed in a browser. I wrote about this on my Nomadness blog, then pointed to that with a few Facebook posts, and the piece has had thousands of hits and quite a few inquiries.
I decided to document the construction thoroughly and publish it as a detailed how-to book. This includes the complete design, discussion of packaging alternatives, optional modules that can be left out in some applications, parts lists, sources, and tips on use.
The Shacktopus name references the classic amateur-radio jargon for a station (ham shack), as well as a multi-armed, intelligent creature. The machine shown in the cover photos includes:
- AGM Group 24 battery (79 amp-hours)
- 30-amp, 4-state charging from the AC power line
- 10-amp charging from solar panels (PWM controller with display)
- Instant change-over on power fail for reliable UPS service
- Low and high voltage disconnect to protect sensitive loads
- 400-watt sine wave inverter
- Switching between line and inverter for AC distribution
- AC monitoring (voltage, current, and frequency display)
- 6 independently switched AC outlets (and one always on)
- high-side DC & battery monitoring with display (volts, amps, amp-hours)
- LED indication of all states including blown fuses and high voltage present
- Main battery breaker (40A)
- 12-volt distribution with individual fuses (9 free circuits)
- Utility 12-volt outlets (one cigarette style and 3 spade terminal pairs)
- USB outlet powered by DC source
- USB multi-outlet charger powered by selected AC source
- AA/AAA charger for Eneloop batteries
- Data logging on DC system
- Server for data collection (power, security, camera, and environmental)
- Network connectivity, NFC-triggering of phone app, local control outputs
- LED work light
- Utility pack for cables, fuses, and other accessories
- Collapsible hand-truck substrate
Publishing here on Leanpub allows me to do an early release while the book is in progress, automatically update readers as the project is completed, and eventually add a gallery of Shacktopus versions built by others.
Please don't be intimidated by the apparent complexity of this... all the hard stuff is already done in the form of commercial products that we integrate into the overall package, and detailed instructions are provided in the text (with LOTS of photos). If you want to be ready for disasters, take your radio or data-collection projects into the field, or just centralize all the power clutter of your life... then this is for you!
