SoCal Branch Year 4 LEAF-Gatherings - See Year 5

Does it cost to get into the Great Park, to park, and /or
enter this "Solar" event?

We could have an optional HTB Cluster meeting on
the 5th or 6th in Santa Ana, if any wish to do so.

We will have our normal Gatherings, in Cerritos
on the 12th, and in Santa Ana on the 26th.

garygid said:

Does it cost to get into the Great Park, to park, and /or
enter this "Solar" event?

We could have an optional HTB Cluster meeting on
the 5th or 6th in Santa Ana, if any wish to do so.

We will have our normal Gatherings, in Cerritos
on the 12th, and in Santa Ana on the 26th.

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Gary, re admission and parking cost, all of the online information says that the event is free to the public. I assume that includes parking. Parking is usually free at the Great Park, except for concerts.

Also, the Solar Decathlon OPENS AT 11am, NOT 10am as I might have said previously. So our meetup there on Sunday the 6th should be at 10:30 am rather than 9:30 am.

Phil,
Thanks for the info and time change for the Great Park.

I have been requested to help with someone's Android phone
and getting it to work with the OBD dongle, and we will meet
on Saturday 5 Oct for an informal Cluster meeting and
breakfast at Hometown Buffet on 17th street in Santa Ana,
just 2 blocks East of I5. If anybody feels like joining us,
they are welcome. I should be there shortly after 8 AM.

This might give us an opportunity to discuss Sunday's
adventure at the Great Park?

Tomorrow, September 28th, I should be arriving at the Long
Beach Plug-In-Day event around 8:30, and I will call Dori on
her cell phone to find "our" table, and possibly get some help
bringing "stuff" (including our experimental Rapid-Charger)
from the car to the table.

Note: I try to keep the first post of this thread updated
with the upcoming Event and LEAF Gathering occurances.

See some of you tomorrow.

Will we have any electricity at our table in Long Beach?

I would not count on electricity there. Maybe 12VDC from a car. Not sure what the situation will be. I think Jeremy will be volunteering from 7am!

See you all in Long Beach. My sister and I are bringing the PiP.

Kataphn said:

See you all in Long Beach. My sister and I are bringing the PiP.

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Cool, Kat. It's shaping up to be a great day!

We had beautiful weather in Long Beach. Great crowd. Lots of folks around the SoCal LEAF table. My sister and I took great pleasure in watching every type of EV silently glide into the parking area in a seemingly endless stream. We loved checking out the electric bikes and talking with the SunPower guy. She is seriously considering a PHEV so we were able to test drive the Ford and talk to the Clipper Creek guy. She connected there with William Korthoff for her EVSE installation. Chelsea was there, too and Paul Scott and the always on message Ed Begley, Jr. Loved seeing all my fellow LEAFers , too. Thanks to all who organized this Plug in Day.

We displayed our experimental Rapid-Charger, also known as
"mini-QC", with two versions of the Jolomo 3D Printed QC Plug.

For some, it was their first experience ever seeing an object
that was "manufactured" using the process of depositing
melted plastic in a 3-Dimensional space (essentially
a tiny, precision hot-glue gun) .

For others, it was the realization that faster charging is
just around the corner, works now, and an easily-portable
unit would be both very helpful, and practical.

The RC has successfully charged 4 different LEAFs.
Unfortunately, there was no place to power it there
(a simple 240v 50-amp circuit would be adequate) .

Dori's OpenEVSE attracted a lot of attention, though more
"Can I buy one?" and almost no "I want to build one!"
type of comments.

The 240v/120v modified EVSE also attracted attention, more
because of the pigtail attachments than the unit itself.

A few display cases, better arrangement of objects within the case,
and groups of good signs would answer many questions, and
make it harder for smaller objects to wander off.

Of great interest was the LEAF Spy Android App. Seeing its
demo data (the last captured real data) was a big hit.
Many were familiar with Android Smartphones but few
knew of the ELM327-type clone devices. Again, more effective
signage and pictures indicating the function and usefulness
of the various parts of the screens, in a display, would have
been very effective.

It is difficult, in a short time, to explain why the LEAF's
gauges are... not very useful without more information,
and tend to hide more than they reveal.

A number of people wanted to meet with us at a Gathering,
and Allen's nicely prepared lists of links were Very Helpful.

Because we had a nice location, in the shade, and we managed
to move to stay in the shade, I was quite comfortable, but
I was very sore when I got home... but smiling.

Many thanks for the approximately 8 minutes of QC that
allowed me to get back home on the 83 mile trip, which
started "full", at about 86% GIDs.

Also, thanks to all who organized, helped, offered to help,
visited, and encouraged. Overall the location was great,
and the Chancellor's Office was splendid to let us meet there.

I believe that the event was enjoyed by many,

There was a sticky ad on the front of the Register this morning guys. Looks like the SD parking is going to be $5. But the event is free.

A special mini-Gathering (perhaps just a Cluster of LEAFs)
is scheduled for this coming Saturday (5 Oct) at the Hometown
Buffet on 17th street in Santa Ana, just 2 blocks East
of I5.

This meeting is to help one member get the Android
App working in his car, and Frank (a LEAF educator)
said that he wants to attend and get the LEAF Spy app.

Any others are welcome, and there will be at least 2
of us there.

I should be there by about 8 am.
I need to remember to bring black tape for Dori's gland.
I will have some Android devices and OBD dongles.

This Thursday, 3 October, the Solar Energy House Decathlon
event opens at the Great Park (in Irvine?).

Boomer is organizing our group to show up at
10:30 AM on Sunday October 6 to make a "showing"
of LEAFs, and any other EVs, at the event.

I will try to attend on Thursday to see if I can make
special arrangements for our EV parking, perhaps
to be inside the show as a display, or as a "decoration"
near each of the energy-efficient homes.

I will also ask if any of the homes would like to
demonstrate EV charging as part of their theme,
with L1, L2, or possibly even mini-QC being
something that we could demonstrate.

If they go for it, we would probably have to
provide volunteers to monitor each demonstration.

So, I will endeavor to report more later.

Maybe I could even get in to talk with someone
today or tomorrow?

Ok, ok, AFTER I wash my car!

Ok, it is Sunday afternoon, and I just got back from the Great Park.

Finding the entrance is the first task. After driving counter-clockwise
around about 75% of the perimeter, I found the entrance is right under
the I5 and 133 "interchange", off of Sand Canyon Road.

Coming south on I5, exit Sand Canyon. Turn left onto Sand Canyon, then
go under the freeway, and turn right at the signal to go south a bit to enter
the Great Park.

Going north on I5, exit Sand Canyon, and turn right onto Sand Canyon,
immediately (about 75 feet) turn left to go south a bit to enter the park.

The "entrance" is a "T" intersection where there is an information booth,
and one could turn left to go toward the orange helium balloon ride.
However, going right one circles left to find the entrance of the
Solar event.

more later.

In the volunteer parking lot, I talked to a professor of engineering
from Prague, from the Czech Technical University there. In the
University Center from Energy Efficient Buildings, he heads a
research program: Architecture and Environment. He is here
to get the Air-House exhibit constructed by Thursday.

In the volunteer registration tent, a very nice young lady
listened to my offer to help, if possible. I then mentioned
that a group of Electric Vehicles from our LEAF Gathering
group was planning to meet at 10:30 Sunday morning,
before the event opened at 11 AM.

I said that we would be pleased to help them out, because
we also wanted to help save the planet. She was interested.

I suggested that we could park in a special area, in a group,
so that people coming in could see environmentally friendly
vehicles. Or, if they wanted, we could park "inside" and become
an addition to their exhibits. She liked that, and said that
she would contact the appropriate people, and I could
expect a call.

Then, I mentioned another thing that they might want to do:
Park some EVs at the Energy Efficient homes, as part of
the theme of the energy efficient housing. Further, if they
wanted us to do so, we could demonstrate charging
our vehicles. Of course, just to help them and their event.

She liked that too, and said that she would pass that on as well.

If any of you want to volunteer in other ways, or to do
the same thing on other days, let me know so I can
better offer our help and support when their people call.

I will have the Rapid-Charger (mini-QC) for the next two
weeks, it needs a 240v 50-amp circuit with an appropriate
plug, and having 120v available would be helpful.

I would not get my hopes up about charging there, just
because of liability issues. However, if we are allowed
to demonstrate EV charging, I suspect that it would be
120v (L1) charging.

More when I hear from them.

If the Solar event folks happen to be wildly enthusiastic,
I might say that we could display some of our "stuff"
possibly on other days as well as next Sunday...
if they could provide shade. Similar to what we were
showing last Saturday for Plug-in-Day.

Anybody want to do that?

I could help on most of the days that they are open,
but it would be nicer for their visitors if the "table"
was in a nice cool space.

garygid said:

If the Solar event folks happen to be wildly enthusiastic,
I might say that we could display some of our "stuff"
possibly on other days as well as next Sunday...
if they could provide shade. Similar to what we were
showing last Saturday for Plug-in-Day.

Anybody want to do that?

I could help on most of the days that they are open,
but it would be nicer for their visitors if the "table"
was in a nice cool space.

Click to expand...

I'm open to consider participating on an info table, Gary, though probably not for a huge number of hours. We would also want special parking passes if there is indeed a daily parking fee, and maybe some kind of exhibitor badge if that would expedite our access to the site.

Sounds like you've done good work so far in introducing our group to the SD organization. I'll stay tuned for more.

If we do anything special for them, I will negotiate for
parking and entrance benefits. Thanks, you got this going.
I will check about the parking fees.

It would be really nice to flood them with all-electric vehicles
on Sunday, but also have some EVs there on some other days.

I was amazed at how many LEAFs there were in Long Beach
this last Saturday. Amazing what a free t-shirt will do.

Registered volunteers might get a free t-shirt for this event also,
at least they had yellow shirts for some people working on a house,
and some gray shirts, for unknown purposes. I will check.

Who is planning to show up for this event at 10:30 AM this coming Sunday?

If you are on the edge, undecided, or would prefer another day
or time, Please let me know (post here) and I will try to arrange
for more participation than just this coming Sunday.

The event opens in 3 days, on this coming Thursday, is open for 4 days
(through Sunday), and then repeats Thursday through Sunday next week.

garygid said:

Who is planning to show up for this event at 10:30 AM this coming Saturday?

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I think you meant to say Sunday, right, Gary. You might want to edit to correct.

You bet, corrected, thanks Phil.
Sunday for the Solar Decathlon at the Great Waste...
oops again, it is called the Great Park, isn't it? :lol:

Is it any relation to Ocean View Parkway in Palm Springs?
No, I made that up too. :roll:

However, this coming Saturday we have a small gathering
at HTB in Santa Ana (on 17th street, just 2 blocks East of I5)
for breakfast, I plan to be there by about 8 AM...
to work through one person's problems with the Android
LEAF Spy app, and ELM327-type OBD adapter-dongle.

I will have Android devices and dongles for those interested.

garygid said:

I need to remember to bring black tape for Dori's gland.

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In any other context this sounds intriguingly weird, but I have it figured out, so I shouldn't forget to bring my OpenEVSE, right?
, I will be there Saturday morning. And I plan to attend the Solar Decathalon as well on Sunday. Keep us posted Gary!


PS, the Plug In events in Long Beach and Diamond Bar were great fun, SO enjoyed seeing the regulars, the EV Superstars, and others that I don't get to see enough of. DB was relatively sparse compared to LB by the time I got there at 4pm, but I saw that TomB, Jeremy, Jason, 91040 were there representing.