Author Topic: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6  (Read 720911 times)

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #720 on: 01/04/2018 05:39 pm »
 The camera is up to 25 feet. More will have to wait a bit for me to make guy points. After 50 years, I managed to lose two windows in a week, including a sliding glass door, so priorities have shifted for a few days. Unfortunately, most of the shots are southerly, so it's going to tend to be glary in the wintertime. Maybe somebody will send me a better camera with a rotating filter disk or something when construction picks up.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2018 05:59 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #721 on: 01/04/2018 05:52 pm »
Kinda glitchy using a browser.

 Interesting problem. When the webpage in the camera was Chinese, it was dropping the connection after every request and having to reconnect for the next one. After finally figuring out how to switch it to English, the issue went away.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2018 06:42 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Dave G

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #722 on: 01/04/2018 05:59 pm »
Is this a normal amount of traffic for a Thursday morning? or is something unusual happening?

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #723 on: 01/04/2018 06:01 pm »
Is this a normal amount of traffic for a Thursday morning? or is something unusual happening?
The construction guys like to go down to the beach during lunchtime. There's not usually more than a dozen private vehicles on the whole 7 1/2 miles of beach on weekdays. Most vehicles are site related, security or law enforcement. State, Sheriff and Border Patrol all like to cruise around. Bird watchers are also a factor.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2018 06:08 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #724 on: 01/04/2018 06:13 pm »
 A good shot of the control center might have to wait for a 50 foot tower. SpaceX has a BFT in the way.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2018 06:15 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline bob the martian

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #725 on: 01/04/2018 06:18 pm »
A good shot of the control center might have to wait for a 50 foot tower. SpaceX has a BFT in the way.

Or a chainsaw...

Offline Kenp51d

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #726 on: 01/04/2018 06:22 pm »
That is way to cool.
Let's just hope some one doesn't get the wrong ideal about that camera, and think you are doing something wrong. That could be a pain in the butt.

Ken

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Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #727 on: 01/04/2018 06:27 pm »
 Shot of the mound. It's something like 16 feet high, so an assembled F9 would be almost the height of the photo. The pad would be to the right of the mound, so we don't have to worry about a warehouse blocking the view.
 If they launch something here before I die of old age, a much closer, remote cam is possible. A pair of cheap, 16 db panels would be fine for a clean LOS, low rf environment WiFi connection at a mile and a half.

 Apparently, half of good picture taking is waiting for the light to behave.
« Last Edit: 01/04/2018 08:02 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline RonM

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #728 on: 01/04/2018 07:21 pm »
That is way to cool.
Let's just hope some one doesn't get the wrong ideal about that camera, and think you are doing something wrong. That could be a pain in the butt.

Ken

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It's on Nomadd's property and that property is in Texas, 'nuff said.

Offline nacnud

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #729 on: 01/04/2018 07:26 pm »
Apparently, half of good picture taking is waiting for the light to behave.

And the other half is having a camera. Thanks for the pics, can't wait to start watching the grass grow (on the mound)

Offline Kenp51d

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #730 on: 01/04/2018 07:29 pm »
That is way to cool.
Let's just hope some one doesn't get the wrong ideal about that camera, and think you are doing something wrong. That could be a pain in the butt.

Ken

Sent from my V10 using Tapatalk

It's on Nomadd's property and that property is in Texas, 'nuff said.
Yup knew that. Lived in Texas awhile, miss it. But it seems these days that people just make trouble for no good reason. Any more I just assume the worse till proven wrong.

Ken

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Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #731 on: 01/04/2018 10:43 pm »
 The array is going up fast. It's starting to look like a solar farm.
 I did a little measuring and counting and came up with a few numbers. It turns out the old rule of thumb of 250kw an acre was pretty dated.
 With 330W panels and each 12 panel rack taking 360 square feet, including the space between racks I get exactly 11 watts per square foot for this field. There are 160 racks, or 1,920 panels for 633.6 kw over 1.32 acres, or exactly 480kw an acre.
 So, if you make the path between racks a few inches smaller, you could figure half a megawatt per acre with this setup. There may be codes in some places requiring less ground coverage for large arrays.
 It seems a little odd they're pointed at about 225 degrees. Maybe afternoon air conditioning is the load they worry about most.
 
 I got spoiled with my little pocket camera. 1080 photos just don't look good anymore.
« Last Edit: 01/05/2018 02:38 am by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Dave G

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #732 on: 01/05/2018 02:26 am »
It seems a little odd they're pointed at about 225 degrees. Maybe afternoon air conditioning is the load they worry about most.
Good point.

Most solar panels in the northern hemisphere are tilted to the south.  These appear to be tilted a bit more to the west.

As you say, this would provide less power in the morning, and more power in the afternoon, which would presumably be better for air conditioning.

Offline wannamoonbase

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #733 on: 01/05/2018 02:37 am »
The array is going up fast. It's starting to look like a solar farm.
 I did a little measuring and counting and came up with a few numbers. It turns out the old rule of thumb being 250kw an acre was pretty dated.
 With 330W panels and each 12 panel rack taking 360 square feet, including the space between racks I get exactly 11 watts per square foot for this field. There are 160 racks, or 1,920 panels for 633.6 kw over 1.32 acres, or exactly 480kw an acre.
 So, if you make the path between racks a few inches smaller, you could figure half a megawatt per acre with this setup. There may be codes in some places requiring less ground coverage for large arrays.
 It seems a little odd they're pointed at about 225 degrees. Maybe afternoon air conditioning is the load they worry about most.
 
 I got spoiled with my little pocket camera. 1080 photos just don't look good anymore.

So is the plan to use the PV Solar to charge Tesla Powerpacks and build the project with self generated power? 

A half megawatt with battery storage should go along way at supporting most of the construction.
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline Johnnyhinbos

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #734 on: 01/05/2018 02:42 am »
The array is going up fast. It's starting to look like a solar farm.
 I did a little measuring and counting and came up with a few numbers. It turns out the old rule of thumb being 250kw an acre was pretty dated.
 With 330W panels and each 12 panel rack taking 360 square feet, including the space between racks I get exactly 11 watts per square foot for this field. There are 160 racks, or 1,920 panels for 633.6 kw over 1.32 acres, or exactly 480kw an acre.
 So, if you make the path between racks a few inches smaller, you could figure half a megawatt per acre with this setup. There may be codes in some places requiring less ground coverage for large arrays.
 It seems a little odd they're pointed at about 225 degrees. Maybe afternoon air conditioning is the load they worry about most.
 
 I got spoiled with my little pocket camera. 1080 photos just don't look good anymore.

So is the plan to use the PV Solar to charge Tesla Powerpacks and build the project with self generated power? 

A half megawatt with battery storage should go along way at supporting most of the construction.
It’ll go a huge way, especially since 99.99% of construction vehicles are diesel...
John Hanzl. Author, action / adventure www.johnhanzl.com

Offline Azular

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #735 on: 01/05/2018 02:59 am »
Kinda glitchy using a browser.

 Interesting problem. When the webpage in the camera was Chinese, it was dropping the connection after every request and having to reconnect for the next one. After finally figuring out how to switch it to English, the issue went away.

Maybe the English version bypasses the Great Firewall of China  :D
Be careful what you wish for.  You may get it

Offline ChrisC

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #736 on: 01/05/2018 03:02 am »
Just want to say THANK YOU Nomadd.  This is so awesome.

Now about that internet connection ...
PSA #1: EST does NOT mean "Eastern Time".  Use "Eastern" or "ET" instead, all year round, and avoid this common error.  Google "EST vs EDT".
PSA #2: It's and its: know the difference and quietly impress grammar pedants.  Google "angry flower its" .  *** See profile for two more NSF forum tips. ***

Offline Dave G

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #737 on: 01/05/2018 03:03 am »
I got spoiled with my little pocket camera. 1080 photos just don't look good anymore.

Depends on the specific type of 1080.

1080 is the just number of pixels. The amount of compression also makes a huge difference in the final image quality.

In fact, if you listen to professional cinematographers, when they talk about "resolution", they're not talking about the number of pixels. They're talking about the ability to visually resolve fine details within the image. For example, 4K video that's been heavily compressed to fit onto a consumer flash card often has less visual resolution than professional 1080p video that's been lightly compressed to fit on a professional RAID flash card or SSD.

As an example, look at the cropped section of the webcam photo below.  Note all of the compression artifacts around the pole, wire, and the horizon. This is commonly referred to as "mosquito noise", and it's very common in consumer grade cameras. With professional cameras that use much less compression, most of these types of compression artifacts go away.

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact
« Last Edit: 01/05/2018 10:47 pm by Dave G »

Offline Dave G

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #738 on: 01/05/2018 03:24 am »
So is the plan to use the PV Solar to charge Tesla Powerpacks and build the project with self generated power? 

A half megawatt with battery storage should go along way at supporting most of the construction.

What makes you think they'll use Tesla Powerpacks?

To be clear, I have no idea if they will or not, but as far as I know, the use of Tesla Powerpacks has not been confirmed.

Note that the vast majority of solar systems in the U.S. are grid-tied, with no batteries.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when they ran fiber-optic cables to Boca Chica last year, they also ran new electrical power lines to the area.  Nomadd, do I have this right?

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX Texas launch site Discussion and Updates - Thread 6
« Reply #739 on: 01/05/2018 05:25 am »
So is the plan to use the PV Solar to charge Tesla Powerpacks and build the project with self generated power? 

A half megawatt with battery storage should go along way at supporting most of the construction.

What makes you think they'll use Tesla Powerpacks?

To be clear, I have no idea if they will or not, but as far as I know, the use of Tesla Powerpacks has not been confirmed.

Note that the vast majority of solar systems in the U.S. are grid-tied, with no batteries.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, when they ran fiber-optic cables to Boca Chica last year, they also ran new electrical power lines to the area.  Nomadd, do I have this right?
Nope. No new electric yet, but the company guy marking lines last week said there was some on the way. It turns out that when they claimed they were upgrading it a couple of years ago, they were actually downgrading it to 7200 volts because of deteriorating insulators. That little stretch of wire in the picture you just put up is actually the only overhead for miles. The guy that owns the former store ran it from across the road because coming underground would have cost more.
 I haven't found many choice with this camera yet, but switching to BMP does seem to be better quality than the overly aggressive jpg they use.
« Last Edit: 01/05/2018 05:30 am by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

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