Subject: Welcome



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(689)   Tue 25 Jun 91 22:46                             
By: Don Kulha
To: All

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In Welcoming two new systems to our echo (151/502 and 323/109) I 
would like to "replay" our opening message which stated the subject 
and hopes for our fledgling conference (...in part because I'm not 
sure confmail will re-export it right). Enjoy....

Original Message Date: Tue 25 Jun 91 22:45
From: Don Kulha
To: All
Subj: Home Brew Power
   Many folks in the U.S. have chosen not to hook into the normal 
utility power grid and to generate their own power. Some of us are 
planning to take this step, some are forced into it and others are 
still dreaming of the day that they can buy that piece of country 
property and do so. Northern CA is a hotbed of homebrew power folks 
and this conference is dedicated to them.
   Some of the topics that will likely be dealt with here are: 
Solar energy, solar panels, inverters, battery systems, hydro 
power, solar cooking, energy conservation, electrical wiring, 
generators, phone systems (radio & otherwise), water heating, 
appliances and electric powered transportation. There are many 
others also appro to this conference too numerous to 
mention....we'll just have to discover them as we go along.
    Our BBS, Sonoma Online is going to kick-off and promote this 
conference. We will be contacting other BBS systems in Northern CA 
to invite them to join in the discussion and fun. Eventually, if 
enough folks participate and find this echo of value, I'm sure it 
will spread across the country. To be sure our start will be a slow 
one but there are many thousands of folks "living off the grid" and 
dreaming of "cutting the cord" so I think it wil become quite 
useful and popular.
    Finally, credit where it's due. This conference (and this 
sysop) was inspired by and somewhat modeled on a great publication 
called "Home Power" magazine which has been in print for several 
years now and is a tremendous resource. Last summer we met Richard 
Perez, the publisher and editor at the Solar Energy Expo and Rally 
(SEER '90), held in Willits CA in early August (a must do event!, 
details soon).
He offered to give us copies of hundreds of articles they've 
published over the years on disk to post online for you so we'll 
likely establish a file area for downloading them and also post 
some of the shorter pieces to the echo. Hopefully they'll eventualy 
get online with us and share some of their wealth of experience. 
This is gonna be a lot of fun folks!

Don Kulha/Sonoma Online BBS

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