Thank you for showing up! Please do read the following guidelines before you post new topics.Fieldlines is a web forum where anyone interested in producing energy from renewable source can visit and discuss their interests. Our members share their enthusiasm, inventiveness, and ingenuity with each other, in a hobby that is challenging and rewarding. If you want to get involved, you are warmly welcomed to read through as much of the discussion as you can, search for your topics of interest, and bring up new ideas and questions you have. There is a community here, of sorts, that has grown up over more than a decade of sharing experiences and advice.
The board was originally sponsored and hosted by Otherpower, a small business in Fort Collins, Colorado that sells magnets, wind turbine kits, parts and plans. The board originally was for "technical support", but grew out of sheer popularity to become an essential place to visit if you are interested in turning renewable energy into a hobby. A lot of what happens on the forum (visible and invisible) is done by volunteers and its own members (like these FAQs).
To be frank, the majority of members either dabble with, or are thoroughly addicted to building wind turbines, and of all different kinds and sizes! Solar and hydro round out the mix of renewable energy sources, and you can even get in touch with folks who are knowledgeable about bio-fuels, natural gas conversions, well you name it, somebody's built it.
We all had to start someplace, so do not be afraid of asking a question that is "too dumb". Sometimes new questions are a bit too broad to be answered, or the person asking hasn't done enough research. Please don't be offended - we aren't. Even when that happens, usually the "newbie" is offered a few places to start his search. May a long and rewarding education follow this first footstep!
It also may sound like the usual yada yada yada, but let it be said that signing up to the site just to expound on your brilliance or prove how your new idea is much better than the tried-and-true, is no fun for the rest of us, and usually doesn't get much support. This does happen from time to time, so I thought I'd mention it. The best experience is practical experience, and getting out there, building, and making equipment work, is the best way to prove your ideas. Whether you have something to prove or just enjoy making stuff, it is so satisfying, in fact, that you run the risk of becoming addicted to creating your own energy from scratch.
We run this board in our spare time, and it is moderated by kind volunteers to keep it on-topic. We do NOT have time to contact the author every time a posting is moderated out, since this happens often. If your posting is moderated out, please don't be offended! Unless it is offensive or in regards, politics, religion or perpetual motion machines, simply re-post it to your diary. Moderation decisions are final, though you are welcome to ask for feedback as to why a posting was deleted. The most common reasons that postings are moderated out are: Off topic, self-promoting span, photos larger than 1200 pixels or 1Mb.
Even for stuff that doesn't get moderated, there are good questions and bad questions. Examples of bad questions are: no actual question or insufficient information included, and common topics that have been covered thoroughly in recent months. Use Search before you post! Pick the section carefully! This lets readers find the information they need quickly, and turns this board into a valuable resource when using the SEARCH function. Lastly, always be respectful when you post. Remember that you are publishing something to the world. Take the time to do your best to use correct punctuation, use capital letters appropriately, use spell check.
Below are the sections and subsections that currently exist on this board. Please read it carefully, try to post in the best place ~ and we are definitely open to feedback about how to improve these things so if you think you have better ideas feel free to let us know!
Homebrewed Electricity - link --> This section is for anything related to producing your own electricity, with the exception of free energy/overunity/perpetual motion. These topics are forbidden on this board because we think it's a waste of time and has no chance of working. There are plenty of other places to discuss that and no area for it here. Homebrewed Electricity is divided into the following sections:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - link --> A great starting point for exploring Fieldlines and the subjects we discuss. We have a Wind Power Terms Glossary, and a more detailed story about "What is the
www.fieldlines.com forum all about".
Wind - link --> It's all about slowing down the wind and turning that energy into electricity. Most folks are discussing home built systems although discussion of commercially manufactured systems is certainly welcome. Specifically here, we'll discuss the turbine itself, and their towers. Discussions about controls, batteries, inverters etc... have another section (see below).
Solar - link --> Electricity from the sun (photovoltaic). Specifically... electricity! This is not the place to discuss anything to do with solar heating systems (see remote living/heating for that stuff).
Hydro - link --> Electricity from moving water. Again, this is about hydro electric systems. Please don't post here about well pumps or anything like that - there is a section in remote living for that. Please don't post about generating electricity from your urban water tap or your rain gutters! It won't work and it's been discussed plenty before!
Other - link --> Electricity from stuff not mentioned above, including back up generators powered by fossil fuels or other means.
Storage - link --> Storing electricity in batteries, flywheels, fuel cells, etc. Mostly, the discussion here should be on batteries because not much else seems to work very well.
Controls - link --> Once you've made some electricity it needs to be usable and controlled. This is the section to talk about charge controllers, power inverters, metering etc.
Temporary power - link --> When the power goes out, and you need a backup power source right away, sometimes it comes from wind, hydro and solar - but sometimes you have to make it some other way!
Otherpower - link --> The founders of Fieldlines. They host Wind power workshops where attendees build a wind turbine together, and they share wind power projects. Keep up with Events that may be coming up soon.
Steam Engines - link --> Anything related to steam power, and renewable fuels that can fire them up.
Microcontrollers - link --> Electronic controls with remarkably simple and easy to use interfaces. Learn to program them and then create system controls, sensors, and data collection tools of your own.
Remote Living - link --> For stuff related to more sustainable living. Most of the postings here are from folks who live 'in the sticks' ~ many off them are off grid.
Housing - link --> Building and maintaining homes.
Heating - link --> Heating and cooling your homestead. This includes all types of heating systems including solar.
Lighting - link --> Lighting issues for homes. There are so many different alternatives, now.
Water - link --> Water systems for remote homes, including pumping, plumbing, and waste.
Transportation - link --> Getting around with alternative fuels. Electric and hybrid cars, alternative fuels, you get the point. If you're just confused about how to replace the water pump in your Ford truck, however, this is not the place.
Miscellaneous - link --> Some stuff that's hard to categorize. Most of it relates to questions about using our site and all of its features & functions.
Newbies - link --> If you are new to the board and unsure whether your question has been covered before, or unsure of your terminology, this is the place to put it. We may also move questions to here from other sections and visa versa. The newbies section is really less for folks who are new to this forum, and more for folks that are new to the subject matter. If you are curious about wind or solar energy but don't know the difference between a kW or a kWh, then odds are the posting should go in newbies.
Reviews - link --> Share your opinions or experiences. This is for your reviews of renewable energy/remote living related products, and the companies that sell them. Let others know about your experiences, whether good, bad or ugly.
Site News - link --> This is the area for us (the admin and moderators of the board) to notify users about site news/changes etc. Hopefully, it's usually good news.
The Pub - link --> The place to make friends, and for all that stuff we used to hammer on for being off topic. Remember, it is a
family place. Jokes, links to stuff, whatever. The Pub is a place to discuss stuff that would be otherwise off topic. So long as it's fairly polite, just about anything goes in here. Please bear in mind, however, that topics such as religion, politics, and placing the dessert spoon on the left or the right of the plate setting, tend to provoke heated debates and hard feelings. There are other places on the internet for that.
User Diaries - link --> A good place to document your ongoing projects. Does not have to be RE related. This is for YOUR stuff, which should (please) bear some relation to the topics of our board. We aren't too strict about it here.
Polls - link --> You can set up a poll for folks to vote or provide information about themselves, their interests, equipment, or experiences. Let's keep it on topic though ~ if you're interested in polling to find out who the next president will be, there are better places than here!
Classifieds - link --> sell your renewable-energy-related stuff. If it's unrelated to our topics, it will be deleted. Users who have contributed 50 posts or more to Fieldlines can post a Classified ad at any time. Users with less than 50 posts can start one, but it must be reviewed by a moderator before it will show up. Don't sign up and make your first post an ad - that's what the spammers do. Vague postings looking for "investors" for a "new technology that will change the world" with details that "can't be disclosed yet" are like "perpetual motion" and they get deleted. All classified postings must include contact information, and the more detail the better. We have members from New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Finland, so please include an approximate address. We are more patient with postings here from regular users of the forum. Commercial operations can post classified ads. Post ONCE for each individual item, which should be one of a kind or surplus. This is not the place to re-post links to all items on your e-bay store, although our long-time users can do this one at a time. Repeated postings are not allowed, they must be individual items for sale. "Cheap inverters for sale" would be deleted. "Surplus Trace U2512" would be OK. If your company sells inverters, it is NOT OK to keep listing each one in stock--instead contact us for a link. Once an item is sold or if its condition/price changes, please post an update.
So have loads of fun with it all. Please be respectful and nice. Abusive postings will be deleted.
