View Full Version : How frequent is electricity?
protargol
04-25-2011, 14:26
So I'd like to bring my point and shoot Nikon camera with me, but am trying to decide how often I'll be able to recharge the battery. I'd imagine I'd go into town every 4-5 days for food, but don't want to pull zero days just so I can wait for my phone to finish charging. Anyone have recommendations? I may look into a solar system, but that might add weight which would suck. Thanks.
Hikes in Rain
04-25-2011, 15:01
Do a little searching on this board; there have been some really interesting developments in really light-weight solar chargers for phones and cameras.
How fast does your battery charge? If only a few hours, it might be worth the time. I agree, though, it would be bad to "waste" a day just for a charge.
You'd need to weigh the options (pun intended), but it might be worth the trade-off to take a spare battery and hike on.
I'm paranoid about the battery in my cell phone dying so I always carry my charger and extra battery.
I'm coming to realize that carrying an extra battery is like carrying that extra day of food I always seem to have "just in case" - it's extra weight and never gets used.
On the AT you'll have access to electricity on a frequent, regular basis unless you purposely avoid civilization.
You could carry an extra battery and send it back once you were comfortable that you didn't really need it.
Depends!
Find the balance and scenario that works best for you! Different people, different hikes, different hiking styles, different approaches that can work. I have heard of those who carry solar panels that can charge their electronics.
Since, this has been discussed here on WB already, I'll let others expound in more detail.
I'm not a professional photographer without expensive gear. I don't take pics at everything or at every opportunity! I limit how many pics I take and how long my camera is on. I limit high energy consuming(and memory consuming) video.
You mention wt. I'm so anal about wt I'll push ahead via bounce box my camera battery charger along with possibly my ph charger, if I'm carrying a ph. On most thru-hikes in the U.S. I resupply every 10 days or less(usually, like on the AT, every 5 days). On the AT I think I could certainly go AT LEAST 10 days without having to recharge my camera battery. If it started to be of concern I would carry an extra lithium camera battery.
If I was to hike in a remote area in a foreign country I would carry an extra charged lithium battery(haven't weighed the one for my camera but we're talking below an oz!) and PROBABLY store/have my camera battery charger waiting at key reliable locations. Like I said, I try not to be so tied to electronics when out hiking.
I carry 5-6 batteries for my Canon SD1400. They weigh next to nothing and I can get thousands of photos before I need to stop and recharge them.
protargol
04-25-2011, 16:08
So when you carry an extra battery, when do you get to recharge both? If you overnight at a hostel or motel I can see it, but I'm going to try and minimize my nights in civilization.
Then I'd only have about the hour or so at the grocery store when I get off the trail for resupply. Do people mail dead batteries to a point person and then have them sent back?
I carry 5-6 batteries for my Canon SD1400. They weigh next to nothing and I can get thousands of photos before I need to stop and recharge them.
+1
I have 2 extra batteries. they weigh so little.
If your on a long hike consider having someone from home mailing you a fully charged battery and return to them the dead battery for recharging.
Panzer
BobTheBuilder
04-25-2011, 16:41
I used to try a variety of cameras with little rechargeable batteries that cost alot of money and were hard to find and didn't hold a charge. After several section hikes where my camera died two days into the hike, I now have a small Canon digital camera that uses two AA batteries. I use the lithium ion ones and they have incredible life. I have taken several hundred pix and the battery meter still shows full. I wish they made a model that took AAA's, but it is still less than 6 ounces with the batteries included.
Feral Bill
04-25-2011, 17:05
:)60Hz.......
In most parts of North America electricity is every 0.016667 seconds.
:)60Hz.......dang
you beat me to it
Based on how I hike, my camera, how often I take pics, etc and when I do carry two lithium ion camera batteries, I can charge both once a month on an AT hike and be good to snap away for another 30 days!
Electricity is very frequent in most thunderstorms.
You'll need a telescope to look into a solar system. They are thought by most hikers to be to heavy to justify.
Nowadays, most shelters have outlets for phones & hairdryers. The newest ones also have ports for internet access. No problem keeping your phone & camera charged up.
Nowadays, most shelters have outlets for phones & hairdryers. The newest ones also have ports for internet access. No problem keeping your phone & camera charged up.
Funny you should mention it.... I went by a hiker feed just north of Davenport Gap and at the next road crossing someone had setup an internet kiosk. :)
So I'd like to bring my point and shoot Nikon camera with me, but am trying to decide how often I'll be able to recharge the battery. I'd imagine I'd go into town every 4-5 days for food, but don't want to pull zero days just so I can wait for my phone to finish charging. Anyone have recommendations? I may look into a solar system, but that might add weight which would suck. Thanks.
Dude!..
try Lithium batteries...
you get abt TWICE the battery life as regular batteries...& IF you must re-charge....get a small SOLAR charger...
u can hang on back of your pack as you hike.:D
hope to see some of you fellow WhiteBlazers out there May 28-June 12
for my annual 2 week section hike...this years area:
DWG...NoBo...to Kent,CT
protargol
04-27-2011, 14:44
So I have an older Nikon point and shoot and it has a custom Li-ion battery, but the solar charger setup that I would need would be quite cumbersome so I'm trying to evaluate how feasible it is to avoid.
I don't want powered up shelters, but I was just hoping to get some useful feedback on the best technique to do this. I'm going to try and minimize my time in towns, so i think the best idea is to have 3 or 4 batteries and send ones home when they're spent and have them mailed back.
Tried Solio solar charger in Grand Canyon last year, really wasn't overjoyed with the results, and there are no trees to contend with. Haven't tried it on the trail, but with so much tree coverage I can't imagine I'd pleased. Ordered a Personal Energy Generator (P.E.G.) for my 2012 NoBo. Not recommending it just yet, but I will report on its viability once I get a chance to shake it down. Go to www.npowerpeg.com for more info.
lilricky
05-05-2011, 00:29
Powerfilm USB/AA is the way to go, paired with Eneloop batteries, its lightweight(6.6 oz with batteries), easy to charge, has grommets on all four corners for strapping to your pack, and charges even in the green tunnel. Also, the Eneloop batteries hold a charge at 75% of capacity for 3 years, so no worrying about the batteries discharging on their own.
subliminal
05-15-2011, 10:50
I'm planning to get one of these when they're available again:
http://www.solarjoos.com
I like the fact that it has its own battery built in, so you can strap it on your pack and let it soak up rays whenever they're available, and then plug in whichever device needs charging at a later time. The company claims that it's much more efficient than other similar sized panels, and the few reviews that are out there seem to back this up. (In plain english, this means you get more electricity for the same amount of sunlight.) When its own internal battery is fully charged it's supposed to have enough juice to charge an iPhone 4 times.
It includes charging tips for several style USB connectors, as well as for iPod/iPhone/iPad.
I've been exchanging emails with them frequently regarding availability. They're a small company just starting up and have had quality control issues with the last few batches they've had manufactured. The bad part of this is that the thing is hard to get your hands on right now. The good part is that I like the fact that they're refusing to sell the batches that they don't feel are up to their standards. They're hoping to have the next batch tested and ready to sell in the next few weeks.
It's supposed to be entirely weatherproof. In fact, I've seen a video of it charging while completely submersed in water. One reviewer conducted his testing during a drunken weekend trip to Mexico and put it through all kinds of gratuitous abuse, including at one point tossing it off of his hotel room balcony. It was still working at the end of the weekend.
It does weight a pound and a half (24 oz) so might not make the cut for the hardcore ultralighters, but that still doesn't seem totally out of line for what you get. I do plan to get one at least for shorter duration outings close to home. Will evaluate it and make a decision later as to whether I bring it along for my AT thru...
As I said, I'm still waiting to get my hands on one, so I can't recommend it from first hand experience, but I've been doing A LOT of research on solar chargers over the past few months and this one seems to be the best bang for the buck as long as it lives up to the claims (and the few reviewers that have tried it out seem to confirm that it does).
Will be back with a more thorough write-up / review once I finally get one.
chiefiepoo
05-15-2011, 11:19
Just returned from a section hike and did encounter several people carrying solar chargers, including one similar to solarjooos as well as AA powered "hot shot" chargers. None of the owners were totally impressed with recharge capacity of any device. 50% charge seemed to be the best attainable, but 50% is better than dead battery. expectations / weight X battery duration = utility of device
Graywolf
05-23-2011, 14:40
Im testing a Solio Rocksta right now for my hike next week. So far, I am questioning it. We will see..
I may have to buy spare batteries for the camera and just recharge them in town at resupplies..
The Solio dosnt have connections for charging batteries, only MP3s and cell phone.. Dont want to get another solar charger, so we will see...
Graywolf
When I was at the Fontana shelter shower/restroom a couple weeks back, every outlet in the bathroom had a cell phone with charger plugged in. There is a strip above the sink on the right near the ceiling.
mweinstone
05-23-2011, 15:58
blackburn flee 5 watt solar usb charger. read em and weep. light, great, fast, cool.
mweinstone
05-23-2011, 16:02
charges any usb device. only works in direct sunlight . so no wasteing time slow chargeing. comes with usb mag charge peice for computer that allows magnetic contact chargeing of lights made for that. my bike lights in fact. this is a bike company folks. they have solved the cell charger delema. and they dont even know. its gaurenteed for life unconditionaly.40 bucks.
mweinstone
05-23-2011, 16:06
used it on beauty spot for the first time this past weekend. when charging, the samsung logo apears and fades over and over on the screen. and an icon appears that seems to be a solar charger of a type. the sun was out for only minutes but allowed me to make 2 calls on a dead batt. literally minutes. really dead. great find. changes my packweight and logistics totaly. only uses computer charge cable to connect. so i have that as my back up. and an extra batt.
Brewerbob
07-14-2011, 12:34
In most parts of North America electricity is every 0.016667 seconds.You should really understand how electricity works if you want to make smartass comments. It's only every 0.016667 seconds that there is NO electricity with US AC power. The sine wave crosses the X axis 60 times a second. There's voltage there the rest of the time.:cool:
Blackburn flee 5 watt solar usb charger. read em and weep. light, great, fast, cool. Where did you get the 5 watts number from? It's not much help without voltage or current but I couldn't even find that. Looked up the manufacturer and even called a local supplier.
You should really understand how electricity works if you want to make smartass comments. It's only every 0.016667 seconds that there is NO electricity with US AC power. The sine wave crosses the X axis 60 times a second. There's voltage there the rest of the time.You missed half the sine wave, at 60hz the sine wave crosses the x axis 120 times/second. Maybe you should read up on your AC theory instead of dissing a smartass!
Stats 2012
07-14-2011, 20:25
You missed half the sine wave, at 60hz the sine wave crosses the x axis 120 times/second. Maybe you should read up on your AC theory instead of dissing a smartass!
You beat me to it Chief! Also, in this country, all you need is the wattage since the voltage is known (110/120VAC). The relationship between power, current, voltage, and resistance is given by P = IV = RI^2 = (V^2)/R. Use the power and voltage to find the current and internal resistance. Hope I'm not coming off as a smartass.
It's a forum! We're all smartasses to one degree or another. Some take a whole page for a smartass remark, others are more concise. In any case, this is off topic (as if anyone cared).
I'm paranoid about the battery in my cell phone dying so I always carry my charger and extra battery. ...
What do you think is likely to happen if your cell battery dies and you're a day's hike away from an outlet? What would be the most probable worst-case scenario?
Brewerbob
07-18-2011, 08:10
You beat me to it Chief! Also, in this country, all you need is the wattage since the voltage is known (110/120VAC). The relationship between power, current, voltage, and resistance is given by P = IV = RI^2 = (V^2)/R. Use the power and voltage to find the current and internal resistance. Hope I'm not coming off as a smartass.Touche to Chief. I totally forgot the negative half of the cycle and it recrossing.:o By the way, it's P=IE unless you are older than dirt. ;)All the books were changed sometime in the mid '80s?:cool:
As for Power being the only thing needed, that isn't true. That Blackburn gizmo isn't putting out 110/120 volts AC. It's putting out a DC voltage. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say 5 volts. My cell battery is 3.7V so it could recharge that. My camera batteries are 7.3V tho. Give me 5W and I, E, or R and I can figure out the rest.:D
Brewerbob
07-18-2011, 08:13
What do you think is likely to happen if your cell battery dies and you're a day's hike away from an outlet? What would be the most probable worst-case scenario?You're attacked by a bear and drug off the trail. Over the next 7 days, he feasts on your internals while you lay there in agony. He finally eats something vital and you die.
Touche to Chief. I totally forgot the negative half of the cycle and it recrossing.
Bob, please don't touche me, I don't cross that line because I fear the negative half.
You're attacked by a bear and drug off the trail. Over the next 7 days, he feasts on your internals while you lay there in agony. He finally eats something vital and you die.
I'm guessing his wife might get pissed if he didn't check in every day, and that might be worse than your bear attack scenario. :eek:
Brewerbob
07-19-2011, 07:13
Bob, please don't touche me, I don't cross that line because I fear the negative half.Do not underestimate the power of the dark side.
That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it from time to time tho.
I'm guessing his wife might get pissed if he didn't check in every day, and that might be worse than your bear attack scenario. :eek:Wait, I must be doing it wrong. The whole point in going is because the wife won't
Sorry, no signal on this side of the mountain.