View Full Version : Wifi and charging regularity
Fletchlives1234
02-26-2014, 07:08
Morning all.
I hope all is well. I had some good reponses yesterday, but still haven't got that warm feeling I was hoping for about what charger is best suited for the AT.
I suppose the question is:
How often I am gonna hit civilisation on the trail and / or be able to charge my phone in the conventional manor. By this I mean by plugging it into a wall socket, not my mobile charging device.
I thought that it would be approx every 5 days or so? Is this realistic?
By knowing this info it will help me choose the correct charger and hopefully the most lightweight.
The same applies for WiFi. As I will be relying on this to send emails and / or GPS co-ords back to the missus.
How often do you think that I will reach a town / locatoion which has Wi-fi? Again I was hoping that it would be approx every week or so.
If it is likely to be longer then maybe getting a SPOT GPS system will be a better way to help my girlfrined keep track of my status.
Fletchlives
4eyedbuzzard
02-26-2014, 07:18
You should be okay figuring on 4 to 5 days. There might be a time or two you can't hold to that, but a good average.
During my 2013 thru I carried an ITORCH powerpak a rechargeable external battery which charged my IPhone 2-3 times. I never ran out of power unless I forget to put my phone in Airport mode. You can recharge every 3-5 days. Wifi was available in almost 99% of trail towns. Verizon 3G worked in most locations. Mountain summits usually had good phone service and were good spots to send your updates to loved ones.
peakbagger
02-26-2014, 08:00
100 mile wilderness would be one place where 5 days isn't going to work.
One thing to consider is charging a phone takes several hours and it will be quite easy to justify a night in town so you can charge your phone. This can get expensive. Many of the low budget hikers camp near town, go into town and resupply and then hike out of town in the same day. Over the course of the trail, that night in town every 5 days can add up in expense and slow your average mile down.
Please note in the whites that the huts do not necessarily have AC power for charging phones, they have power for hut functions but its limited. If their batteries are fully charged and the solar panels are in dump mode, the crew may be somewhat accommodating but I sure wouldn't plan on it.
If your goal is to keep loved ones in the loop on your location, a Spot can be a good solution. It uses replaceable AAA lithium batteries so there is never a need to recharge, although batteries can be expensive. The downside of the Spot is that it is a send only device so you can notify others of your location but you cannot be contacted. It uses a satellite system so cell reception is not needed, although an unobstructed sky is needed. There is also no real confirmation that a message was received by the satellite so the fallback is to let the unit transmit for at least 20 minutes for each message.
I rented a spot for the JMT last year and I'm considering buying one. The Spot 2 can be purchased on Amazon for $70 and one year of service is $99 so the cost isn't prohibitive.
Delorme Inreach SE is a much more capable device and does two way satellite texting but it is expensive at $299 and service plans are expensive. Additionally it uses an internal battery so recharging is an issue. I like to avoid the need to recharge devices whenever possible.
Starchild
02-26-2014, 08:47
5 days worth seems like the sweet spot - should get you thru 95% or so with out any issue - and you should be able to stretch out the rest by conserving. That's how it usually works anyway, you conserve power at the beginning of the section then when you know you have enough you start freely using the device.
As stated above it's just not the town stop, it's the wait that you have to work with. If you get into a minor resupply area, you go into a restaurant and start recharging your phone and battery pack it may get only a partial charge. Do you stay or go? Also usually many (all) batteries will charge slower as it goes over 80%, so getting it to the last 100% can be a long wait. Not waiting for a full charge means you are setting out without the 5 days worth of power, which has to be taken into account.
You also would want USB adapter that has multi USB outlets and at the highest current rating for your devices to get the fastest charge. You want a battery pack that can charge at the highest rate (currently 2.1A is the highest (designed for tablet charging) but smaller chargers and phones may only do 1A max).
You may also be able to use a computer to charge your devices, I did at Fontana Village preparing for the smokies. That didn't cost me any hiking time as my plan was to resupply there and stay at the fontana hilton. But it was quite a long time staying at the Fontana general store waiting for everything to get topped off.
Other considerations is that you may want to use the smartphone at the recharge opportunities, sometimes you can't do both, but bring a long enough cable for when you can. And sometimes when I knew I was heading into a recharge option where I would have to leave the device unattended I would charge up my phone fully off my battery pack, this way I didn't need to leave my smartphone unattended, just a $35 battery pack.
Can't help you with wifi,as I used cellular where I could, unly switching to wifi when cellular was not working. But there were many thru's with smartphones using wifi at most locations. I would not expect a issue.
I just found the Targus 4800 mAH battery pack on NewEgg for $10. You'll have to use coupon code EMCYTZT5785. Shipping is free.
NewEgg link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=-GqCRp7mEeOGEToMloNEXAiYN_qQFz3_0_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16858994402&cm_sp=).
Kraken Skullz
02-26-2014, 09:23
Nice link. I would definitely carry the 10oz for that.
Starchild
02-26-2014, 09:33
Nice link. I would definitely carry the 10oz for that.
10 OZ is a little heavy for that amount of power, mine is 5.2 oz for the same amount of power, though I do wonder if the 10 oz is the total package weight.
Same here. The Amazon listing shows it at about 7 ounces. When mine arrive I'll weigh one and post the result.
Fletchlives1234
02-26-2014, 09:35
Thanks for the info.
I think I am gonna roll with the Anker Astro 2 8400mAh.
Features 4 full charges and a flashlight (or so I think)
Fletchlives1234
02-26-2014, 10:15
Dumb question I know, but I am supecting the higher the Input ampage and Output ampage the faster the Anker will charge and / or charge other devices (if you get what I mean).
I am comparing the followng:
1. Anker Astro 2 8400mAh
- 4 full charges
- Ouput 5V 2A / 5V 1A
- Input DC 5V / 1A
- 6.2 oz
2. Anker Astro 3E 10000mAh
- 4-5 charges
- Output 5V / 3A
- Input 5V / 1.5A
- 8.5oz
3. Anker 2nd Gen. Astro2 9000mAh
- 4-5 charges
- Output 5V / 3A
- Input 5V / 1.2A
- 8.8oz
Nice things about option 1 is obviuosly the weight and it comes with a handy torch. However I think options 2 and 3 will take on charge quicker as well as charging other appliances quicker. If you could please confirm that would be very helpful.
Fletchlives
Kraken Skullz
02-26-2014, 10:17
Anyone got an actual weight on it from personal use?
Fletchlives1234
02-26-2014, 10:25
Same applies for wall chargers. I am assuming the higher rhe ampage the faster the charge?
Not sure if this was mentioned or asked elsewhere, or if it even applies, but...
Since this poster is coming from the UK, will there be any issues with his electronics plugging in in the US? Plug types, sizes, watts/volts/amps etc.?
I know that used to be an issue with electrical devices (at least for those in the US going overseas) but not sure if the newer things like phones are more compatible or not.
Hill Ape
02-26-2014, 15:23
amazon is notoriously untrustworthy as a source of weight for our standards, just something to think about
Starchild
02-26-2014, 17:51
Dumb question I know, but I am supecting the higher the Input ampage and Output ampage the faster the Anker will charge and / or charge other devices (if you get what I mean).
I am comparing the followng:
1. Anker Astro 2 8400mAh
- 4 full charges
- Ouput 5V 2A / 5V 1A
- Input DC 5V / 1A
- 6.2 oz
2. Anker Astro 3E 10000mAh
- 4-5 charges
- Output 5V / 3A
- Input 5V / 1.5A
- 8.5oz
3. Anker 2nd Gen. Astro2 9000mAh
- 4-5 charges
- Output 5V / 3A
- Input 5V / 1.2A
- 8.8oz
Nice things about option 1 is obviuosly the weight and it comes with a handy torch. However I think options 2 and 3 will take on charge quicker as well as charging other appliances quicker. If you could please confirm that would be very helpful.
Fletchlives
Yes the higher input amperage/wattage will lead to faster charge times - IF the battery is supplies with the higher amperage. If you connect your 2.1 amp battery pack input to a old USB port on a computer you will only charge at the rate of 500 or 800 miliamps. So you also have to match your charger so it is able to provide such power.
Chargers can supply anything up to it's max, Batteries can accept various input levels up to it's max. There is no danger of using a 2.1 A charger for a 1A device, both are happy and 1A will be supplied. There is the odd case where a smartphone will balk at a charger and state 'incompatable device' iPhone is one such offender.
Yes the output rate is also a factor, but not so much on the trail. Usually if you are using the battery pack to recharge a smartphone you have time for whatever the rate is, though sometimes fast charge is preferred - the output current is however a lot less critical on a thru then input.
A word about efficiency. The lower the charge rate the more efficient it will be, less energy lost and more actual usable power stored. In a town day stop you simply want to get as much as you can as fast as you can, but if you have the time a slower rate actually tends to cram more power into such a battery, so your showing 100% may actually be 110% or more if slow charged. This is the reason you may want to slowly recharge your smartphone off your battery pack if you have the time. It is also part of the reason you don't see many 2.1 amp small battery packs, as the charge rate needs to be proportional to the battery capacity and charging a small battery pack at 2.1 would lead to diminished run time.
Starchild
02-26-2014, 17:53
Same applies for wall chargers. I am assuming the higher rhe ampage the faster the charge?
IF the device can accept it. A 1 amp device will charge at a max of 1 amp, even if the supply is rated at 2.1A. The remaining 1.1 amps is never produced, the wall charger just supplies the 1 A as the device is actually limiting the circuit.
Doc Mike
02-26-2014, 23:33
IF the device can accept it. A 1 amp device will charge at a max of 1 amp, even if the supply is rated at 2.1A. The remaining 1.1 amps is never produced, the wall charger just supplies the 1 A as the device is actually limiting the circuit.
As a test try charging your iPhone ( 1amp) on the 2.1 amp iPad charger. You will notice in the case of the iPhone that it charges significantly faster.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Fletchlives1234
02-27-2014, 05:21
To help me make a decsion here. Can anyone quantify exactly how how it will take to charge option 1 v's option 2
1. Anker Astro 2 8400mAh
- 4 full charges
- Ouput 5V 2A / 5V 1A
- Input DC 5V / 1A
- 6.2 oz
2. Anker Astro 3E 10000mAh
- 4-5 charges
- Output 5V / 3A
- Input 5V / 1.5A
- 8.5oz
We are comparing Inputs 1A to 1.5A here. Will the 1.5A option offer an extra 50% of charging capability. If so does anyone know the total times to fully charge each charging devices. As I don't like the idea of having to hang about in towns whilst my charging device does it's thing. I want to be in and out like an assassin.
Starchild
02-27-2014, 08:32
As a test try charging your iPhone ( 1amp) on the 2.1 amp iPad charger. You will notice in the case of the iPhone that it charges significantly faster.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I have not seen confirmation on a quick google but what is confirmed is it will not harm the device - which I knew anyway and I have charged my iPhone off of 2.1A chargers, but have not noted the charge time. Actually I had a USB cable that split into 2 and would frequently charge the steripen and iPhone at the same time, each rated for 1A charging.
I know there is a significant difference between charging at 1A and 500mA and want to make sure that you are getting better charge time at 2.1A compared to 1A charging and not comparing it to 500mA charging. Or in other words if the iPhone is truly limited to 1 A charging the 1A and the 2.1A will charge identically, but if you are actually comparing it to 500mA charging the 2.1 A charger will be faster (as it will be charging at 1A, compared to 500mA if the device is charge limited).
I'll give it a try.
When my daughter thru hiked, we bought three batteries: One was at our house being charged; one in her phone; and the third in the bounce box waiting at the next PO, or on the way back to us. Batteries last at least a week if the phone is only turned on when in use. Worked well.
10 OZ is a little heavy for that amount of power, mine is 5.2 oz for the same amount of power, though I do wonder if the 10 oz is the total package weight.
Mine came in today and it's 4.75 ounces.
I quickly scanned this thread topic and thought I read - Wife and charging regularity. Other things came to mind. Never mind.
Starchild
03-01-2014, 07:45
As a test try charging your iPhone ( 1amp) on the 2.1 amp iPad charger. You will notice in the case of the iPhone that it charges significantly faster.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Update, I did use the 2.1 A charger on my iPhone 4, I didn't see any difference over the 1A charger. The 2.1A performed equally as well as the 1A, which is faster then the standard USB charge rate. At least for my phone your method does not work, perhaps for later models it does.
Also I didn't use a iPad charger, just a generic 2.1A one that I got and took during my thru.