Posted: 5/7/2009 11:34:33 AM EDT
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As a business owner, nomad, and outdoorsman I’ve got some gadgets that are pretty important.
My question concerns keeping things powered up including: GPS, Cell Phone/PDA , mini-Net book (tiny low power computer) I carry a pack with me at all times with basic survival gear, plus the stuff I need to work wherever. One key item is a GMRS/FRS/NOAA/AM/FM radio that includes a flashlight and crank charger. This device has a USB output not for data but for power. My question is: do you know of any versatile adapter system that would allow me to use both the USB crank charger and by car battery to power all devices? I’ve tried googleing and I’m not having much luck. Right now, I have a USB cable that goes from the radio to my cell phone but I'd like adpaters for the other devices as well. |
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First question: does your GPS use rechargeable batteries?
I have a handheld that runs on 2 AA batteries, and 2 rechargeable AA batteries do not put out enough power to run it. (each @1.2v vs. 1.5v alkaline) Second question: How many VDC & amps does each require to charge? I believe USB only puts out like 5VDC which is probably not enough to charge a laptop. If your GPS has rechargeable batteries, then you can probably get a variable output car charger with multi-adapter heads to fit the GPS at Radio Shack. My wife has a Garmin which has a USB plug for use in the car. With the supplied charger (from garmin) it runs fine. If I hook up any other USB charger to it (example psp charger), it thinks its connecting to a PC and will not turn on, it just shows a screen stating 'connected to pc'. I would think the biggest problem is the laptop. My experience with them is they usually use some wierd voltage to charge requiring the use of a proprietary car charger. My employer did not issue me a 12v cord for my latest work laptop, instead they provided a voltage inverter to use the included AC adapter when in the car. These are my experiences only, YMMV |
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I am paranoid about hurting my blackberry and its battery, I don't want to spend the money to replace it.
When using an old cell phone charging cable the blackberry shows charging but does not show battery level. So I only use the specific home and car chargers for charging my blackberry for the most part. I can also charge my blackberry using the laptop battery, if I tether it to the laptop it charges and I also use the blackberry for my internet connection. With the software that came with the blackberry the setup works well and shows required information. My laptop has decent battery life, part of why I bought it, but it also came with a spare battery I plan to start using soon. With the extra battery in use the life will be more than enough for my needs. Right now to get the car to charge the laptop batteries I would have to use an invertor and the home charging cable, and I have an invertor that will do this. But there should be a specific car charger that would be more efficient than messing with an invertor to get to house current levels and then using the house charging cable to step the power back down. I plan to find a gps before too long but I want one that runs well on rechargable AA batteries because I am setting up to be able to run rechargable AA batteries for stuff that sees constant use. As far as the hand crank item I would be concerned about it having variable charging output and what that might do to my blackberry and its battery. Because of how I use the blackberry I don't currently want a spare battery for it but once the original battey gets some years on it I will spend the money for another battery so I have a backup setup. And to some extent this is on my list to buy if I find it for a really good price. Overall I find it easier to trust specific stuff made for all my stuff and assemble my setup that way, instead of trusting generic stuff to work. My blackberry was included in the 2 year contract so I don't really want to play around with a $300 or $400 phone and battery and wind up out of pocket because I wanted a generic charging setup. I freely admit I have not really read up on how others are doing with generic chargers but howard forums has a lot of info on this sort of thing and it is where I go to read up on options for my specific stuff. Part of why I am getting the car stuff is so I can also use some batteries in my apartment for an emergency backup for my stuff. It may be cheaper to use generic stuff but with what I have paid for my electronics I prefer the exact items needed for my stuff. Then again, I will be keeping up with this to see if I can learn some other ways to do things that work well and cost less. Something else I wanted to add is in the discussions about rechargable AA batteries there have been links to better chargers that extend the life of the batteries compared to cheap chargers. I consider rechargable batteries to be an investment and this lifespan does matter to me because they are not cheap. And while I currently have energizer rechargable AA and AAA batteries the enerloop rechargables are considered much better so those are what I will be buying next time around. |
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Quoted:
<snip> As far as the hand crank item I would be concerned about it having variable charging output and what that might do to my blackberry and its battery. <snip> I have something similar to this, what the crank probably does is recharge the built-in battery and the USB runs from that, so the output should be constant (mine is). However, cranking enought to charge the built-in battery (on mine) is almost impossible. I think you would be cranking for hours. Best I can do with mine is crank for a few minutes and that gives enough power for the radio for a while.... good enough for emergency radio use (mine is receive only), but to charge a dead internal battery enough to actuall charge other items.... Probably not realistic.  YMMV
I really think the best way to go if in a car a lot would be cigarette adapter charging cables made for the devices, or an inverter to charge things while you are driving. (This is how my work van is set up) For SHTF, I am using solar panels to charge things as we have a lot of sun in Texas. 
(hate to waste it) |
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Thanks for the tips; I think I'm going to go in a new direction with foldable solar: http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p2007.html
That should do the trick. |
| I'm using a Brunton Solaris26, which is a foldable, flexible, waterproof panel. I have standardized on AA batteries for most things, and have a battery charger that will handle ALL types of rechargeable cells. Any of the higher end model airplane battery chargers will have this capability, and will do it better than the chargers that came with your devices. Unless you are bugging out on foot, you should use the panel to charge a gel cell or car battery and charge off of that to make it so that you can charge at a fixed rate regardless of how the weather is or what time of the year. Clouds and distance of the earth to the sun severely affect power output from a panel, so you want to bank that energy. Having a constant source of power (the car battery) will allow the charger to do it's job properly. When clouds pass over a panel, the voltage drops. That means the voltage in the batteries you are charging drops too, which fools the charger's computer into a False Peak Detection of the battery and then it shuts off thinking the batteries being charged are full. To some degree you can get past this problem by dialing the charge rate but you really don't want to do this unless you have a lot of panel to work with. Any man portable panel in cloudy weather isn't going to have a lot of power to start with, chasing the charge rate around is a PITA so get a car battery and run the charger off of that. |
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What about a cigarette lighter plug in power inverter? They come in various sizes and configurations and some even have a USB outlet on the inverter... This should work for you... yes?
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Thanks again,
I’ve revised my search to this: http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p2563.html It’s a 25W Folding solar panel with a built in inverter and 300W Battery. Has anyone tried this? The battery itself can recharge from the panel, AC or car’s DC power. I figure that the battery is going to have to stay in the car or base camp making it useless for backpacking, but very useful for regular camping or SHTF. It’s not as portable as I'd like but it takes me from being tied to AC power to being tied to my truck which is a start. |
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Ya I used to use a StormCase which is an excellent case. Now I use plastic bags.
The case just adds too much bulk. This works fine in the rain, or even a heavy splash or wave, but if submerged for more than a second I'd probably loose the GPS and computer. I was thinking about getting a Panasonic Toughbook, but they are too bulky and WAY too expensive, so I got a Asus Netbook with solid state hard drive. Its very low power, very small, and only $300. |