SHTP Update, 2 July 2014
(to Nathan via satphone- any transcription errors are mine...)
I spoke to Nat this afternoon the second, at about 4 PM Pacific time.
A few quick points:
It's been a wild, wet ride so far and she was feeling a bit under the
weather.
She's having problems charging from the solar panels. She should be able
to start diagnosing things today/tomorrow. The charge manager (takes
power in, routes it to the batteries) seems to be reporting that it isn't
seeing any power from the solar panels. Nat hasn't yet had time (or
dryness) to break out the multimeter and check each point along the way
for voltage.
The fuel cell is working but isn't keeping up with continuous autopilot
operation. In addition, Nat is being a little cautious about her methanol
supply to avoid running out.
With the charging issue, she's been mostly driving herself and getting by
on 4 or 5 hours of sleep a day.
Today she finally set the kite for a while. A few squalls came along
(during the daytime) and she tried out the blast reacher instead.
She's still very upbeat and pushing hard.
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