Cabinlab

First step at the new property: cache and wall tent platform above the purview of all but the most determined bears. Lopped off the top of 2 standing dead spruce which happened to be exactly 8' apart.

And yeah, the bears already got to the tarp last summer, and shredded a big hole exactly in the middle Jerks.

It seems like a million years ago that I ventured into the Alaskan wilderness to stake new land to build a different sort of subsistence lifestyle. I guess in reality, it was 5 years ago, which is basically a million.

Anyway, after the state stalled the process for COVID, they finally sent out the appraisals in the last few weeks, allowing the purchase process to complete.

Perhaps more importantly, it took away the uncertainty risk of getting an outrageous bill.

Finally have the components to replace the main cabin battery bank with a DIY prismatic lithium build.

One of my main concerns was figuring out how to integrate it with Home Assistant. As long as you select a compatible BMS with Bluetooth, it's usually easy to do without any additional hardware.

However, I had to remove the wifi/BT m.2 card from HA server to add the Coral TPU board for "AI" image recognition – you know, so we can get bear alerts from thr security cameras.

With no Bluetooth, I thought I was going to have to build/deploy another ESP32 module with dedicated firmware as a link from the BMS to HA. But! Someone has put in the work to make it all play nice with ESPHome . That means all I had to do was add some yaml on my Kincony KC868-A4 board, and voila, it just works!!!

Here's the project. The documentation was a little confusing, but it's really well done in terms of functionality.

GitHub - syssi/esphome-jk-bms: ESPHome component to monitor and control a Jikong Battery Management System (JK-BMS) via UART-TTL or BLE ESPHome component to monitor and control a Jikong Battery Management System (JK-BMS) via UART-TTL or BLE - syssi/esphome-jk-bms

If I'd known I could get a set off eBay for $45, I totally would always definitely carry and extra set. I promise. 🫡

(Lower unit forward and reverse gears for the little outboard)

Making ruts in the smushy Spring trails at Experience Alaska 's cabin.

After installing stiff enough springs on the front that the tracks don't rub, I couldn't resist putting extra ruts in @experienceak907 's trails on the drive home.

Best + easiest generator upgrade? Maybe, but I definitely feel less jumpy walking around in the melt puddles while the generator is running with GFCI

Easy safety upgrade I wish I'd thought about sooner. Swapped out the stock outlet for a weather-resistant GFCI. From now on, every generator I use is getting this immediately. The hardest part about the mod was finding where I left my x-acto knife to trim the rubber cover to fit the decora (rectangle) outlet. Maybe there's a good reason generators don't come with GFCI, but I have a feeling that reason is cost over safety. The stock outlet Champion used (black one) looks fairly decent quality, but it never held plugs solidly, and once in a while I'd run the generator for an hour before realizing the battery charger plug has vibrated out, thereby wasting fuel. It's also nice to have the LED indicator on the outlet because at a quick glance after losing power, it's not easy to tell if the breaker has popped or the plug has worked itself out . Aaaaanyway, I feel a little less sketched out walking around outside as winter melts into drips and puddles.

I still love fatbikes, but this photo is an accurate representation of what it's like unless someone is grooming a trail for you.

It reminds me of the classic Hudson Stuck book, "Ten Thousand Miles with a Dogsled". It's not titled 10k miles "by" dogsled or "on a" dogsled.

Would be fun to know how many miles I've traveled with my fatbike vs. on it. 😆

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it snows! ❄️








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