I have a Solio Classic2 charger. It seems to work fairly well, I charged two of my Drift cameras (one had the extended battery) and my cell phone off one charge. It's light, compact. www.solio.com

Must have double tapped it last night in a sleepy stupor. I've merged these threads.

rw2 wrote:... So you would get less than one charge from Guide10.

iPad is 11,000mah. So Guide10 wouldn't even make a dent in that.

Not to be argumentative... but again, if you are of the mindset that you want it all, and you want it now.... solar is not for you... on the other hand if your patience and reasoning / logic skills surpass that of your battery then solar should work out just fine. By the above reasoning all aircraft electrical systems are worthless because they can't sustain full loads (including the starter) perpetually...

The nomad/guide kit will indeed not run an ipad solely... but it will allow you to recharge it when not in use, and have juice when you need it. In fact I have used the nomad to charge the 12v guide batt, and run my powerhog MacbookPro off that ... just not in the boonies of alaska

FWIW the nomad7s output is a meager 7W (hence nomad7) and it's 6.v or 12v (which my meter calls 14 )
Don't you just love first hand experience?

Take care, Rob

Rob wrote:

rw2 wrote:... So you would get less than one charge from Guide10.

iPad is 11,000mah. So Guide10 wouldn't even make a dent in that.

Not to be argumentative... but again, if you are of the mindset that you want it all, and you want it now.... solar is not for you... on the other hand if your patience and reasoning / logic skills surpass that of your battery then solar should work out just fine. By the above reasoning all aircraft electrical systems are worthless because they can't sustain full loads (including the starter) perpetually...

Yeah, I get that you're not being argumentative. Hopefully I'm not coming off that way either. I'm just saying why *I* don't think there is strong value in a solar based setup on either a per-ounce or per-dollar basis at the moment. And I don't think it is a "want it all/want it now" argument. Yes, solar can work. I don't mean to say it can't. But, it's a very expensive way to get the job done.

Dollar for dollar, you can take far more electrons into the field by getting multiple battery packs. Ounce for ounce you have to stay in the bush with no access to power for a week or more before solar starts to make any sense at all. And those are both true whether your bringing a single point and shoot camera or several gopros. Solar panels are just not very efficient and to get enough capacity to gather enough light they get heavy. So if you need a lot of electrons, solar and batteries both get heavy. If you don't need very many then solar and batteries both stay light.

The goal10 + solar panel is within an ounce or two of the same weight as the 13,000mah battery I linked initially. So here are the two scenarios. I'm walking into the woods with the same weight and either 13,000mah (battery pack) or 2,000mah(guide10+solar).

The Nomad 7 produces 1,000mah under optimum sun. Having lived off a solar panel in a pop-up trailer for a few summers, I can pretty much promise you that you won't have optimum sun. First, no one sets up camp in the sun. Second, you have to adjust the panel to get optimum sun. Since you'll be out hiking all day, even if you leave the panel in the sun before you leave it won't alway be optimum. Even the vendor says you can plan on getting one charge per day, or 2000mah out of the setup.

The best case scenario in favor of solar would be one where you are using 2000mah a day of juice and thus giving you infinite power from solar (assuming, on top of our previous assumptions, that it never gets cloudy) while wearing out the big battery pack most quickly. At 2000mah per day the big battery runs out halfway through the sixth day while the solar system keeps supplying forever.

Let's say you are using more juice than that. Let's say you are using double that. In that case the big battery runs out the morning of the third day. Not too great. However, the solar solution only lasts a single day, then you are on half power.

Let's say you use half that. Then the big battery lasts about two weeks. The solar solution again lasts forever, but you don't care until day 14. And, of course, you got to spend the last two weeks managing a solar panel. I suppose the most likely scenario where I'm in the bush for two weeks is one in which I'm doing a through hike. Solar panels would be terrible for that as you can't set them up in a sunny spot in the morning and then come back. It would have to be mounted atop your pack somehow and, if you're anything like me, you don't hike the entire day in the sun if you can avoid it.

But we still have to get back to cost. In all those scenarios that big battery costs me less than a quarter of what the solar system cost and weighed the same.

To me all of this is a bit academic though. I think the case against solar is very strong for 98% of backpackers, but this is an airplane forum, so I'm concerned about pounds more than ounces. So, to me, "wasting" three pounds on three of the big batteries and having all the power I could need is very appealing. Then I don't have to budget my video time. Heck, when I did my homework earlier and saw the capacity of modern boat and solar batteries I was half tempted to get one. I can get a 225,000mah solar battery for $175 and it weighs 67 pounds. Under the 4,000mah scenario above that would give me almost two months of power.

Then I remembered that I've never actually been away from power for more than three days.

For my use case, the $50 battery is an absolute no-brainer.

If you're going to be using some power, but not a lot, and are in the bush for more than a week then solar starts to look appealing.

If you are going to use a lot of power, then you need to be very strong, because your backpack is gonna get heavier no matter what and you're going to look goofy with a 70W solar panel on your head if you try to go solar.

If you aren't going to use much power then batteries will last you longer than you need and be tons cheaper.

rw2 wrote:Yeah, I get that you're not being argumentative. Hopefully I'm not coming off that way either.

nah, not at all... learning a thing or two from other peoples experiences is the name of the game in these threads, and you have experience, and knowledge on the topic.... I pretty much agree with everything you're saying right up to and including, this part;

rw2 wrote:If you're going to be using some power, but not a lot, and are in the bush for more than a week then solar starts to look appealing.

which is how I intend to spend the rest of this month and part of the next

mission, mission, mission...

Rob wrote:

rw2 wrote:If you're going to be using some power, but not a lot, and are in the bush for more than a week then solar starts to look appealing.

which is how I intend to spend the rest of this month and part of the next

mission, mission, mission...

Have a blast. Sounds like a great trip!

I'd say that I'm looking forward to seeing the video, but you won't have enough power.

...It would be cheaper to camp next to OregonMaule and bum off of his generator

Got a couple bucks? Hire this guy to sit next to your campsite.



Gump

Rob wrote:The nomad/guide kit will indeed not run an ipad solely... but it will allow you to recharge it when not in use, and have juice when you need it.

I ran the Nomad/Guide setup last year at JC...yes, I know power is available there, but I was looking to see if the system could really meet my meager needs...in the end, it kept my iPad happy and allowed me to charge my phone and a flash light as well. Weight is really next to nothing unless you are really counting ounces.

Now it lives in the back seat pocket of my bird...JIC.

If looking to boost up your iPad/cell phone during some down time is your goal then it will definitely meet your needs...as long as there is sun!

Took a little trip to the screen printer's shop to get our shirts squared away. On the way home the traffic was kinda heavy so I took a detour...which led me to pulling into the REI parking lot. Walked with with the GoalZero Guide 10 Plus.

Will report back after charging some GoPros and the like.

I can see both sides of the, well it's really an argument, but both approaches to powering up. I can charge off the aircraft's 12v in flight, but I like the idea of a solar gadget. The brick battery is also a good idea if you're just going for a few days. I might try something like that in the future as well.

I'm not too out of agreement with OregonMaule about hauling a generator Honda and Yamaha make some pretty lightweight 1000W models these days. My 3000W home generator is a little to bulky for the Sport Cub.

Carrying this: http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Yamaha-EF1000IS-Portable-Generator/p1205.html?utm_source=bizrate&utm_medium=paid+portals ... ...standard equipment on overnight flights, plus a very light solid state battery charger ( if master switch left on ).

On the ocean I get 14 volts/15 amps from a wind generator in the trades 24/7 most of the time. The trades rarley stop offshore in the tropics. But, turbine blades are frick'n loud and dangerous!

With solar, Sun declination and azimuth need to be considered during the day for best results.

The little USB bricks are great for a few days or more...very impressed.

rw2 wrote:I'd say that I'm looking forward to seeing the video, but you won't have enough power.

Shooting video is never the problem... finding the time and not possessing the talent to edit them into something meaningful is

Snipped these shots from last years underpowered videos ;

Zipping past Childs Glacier


I find it truly fascinating that the Glacier and Slough are all of about 10 minutes of flying apart... Talk about extremes in beauty...


One of my all time fav AK airports... bet AKT knows this one well

And Zzzzz with your video skills we will be expecting more than a report

Rob wrote:Shooting video is never the problem... finding the time and not possessing the talent to edit them into something meaningful is

Ain't that the truth.

Still, I'm ok with how my most recent effort turned out.

Hanger several rows over have harbor freight 45 watt solor battery charger --> runs his lights and other stuff . About 4 ft high and 2 ft wide. Has a truck battery and inverter >>> about $ 150 bucks.

rw2 wrote:

Rob wrote:Shooting video is never the problem... finding the time and not possessing the talent to edit them into something meaningful is

Ain't that the truth.

Still, I'm ok with how my most recent effort turned out.

Hello Rw2,

How did you get the HTTP links embedded at the end of the video? Very professional.

Thank you!

8GCBC wrote:How did you get the HTTP links embedded at the end of the video? Very professional.

Glad you liked it!

Strictly speaking, they aren't URLs. Youtube only allows you to reference other youtube videos. That said, here's how you do it. I use Final Cut, but you should be able to do similar things in other programs.

1) I took the old videos that I wanted to link and made new videos that were only 30 seconds long (the length of the outro). While this may not be strictly necessary, it eased the workflow.

2) Created the background (image, text, etc.) and added audio. In this case, I deliberately picked music that had a 'normal' track and an instrumental version available so that the music under the outro could be the same melody as the music used earlier in the piece.

3) Layered the two 30 second videos that I wanted to link and "transformed" them into the right size and placement. Getting the placement correct is much easier if you type in coordinates rather than try to drag and drop them.

4) Rendered and uploaded the video. Side note: I've noticed that the final cut upload process is much more sensitive to internet faults than the native youtube one, so I've switched to using the youtube native uploader for longer videos.

5) In youtube edit your video and add "annotations". The kind of annotation I used is a "Spotlight". Size the spotlight to cover the embedded video, give it a title and link it to the video you want to navigate to when the use clicks it.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I have the goal zero and am using it currently on my 10 day trip to Missouri breaks, Montana, and Johnson creek. With the cig adapter and a USB 2.0 adapter it will charge the iPad but not quickly or completely. It works great with the smaller devices like my iPhone, and my gopro. I stick it in sun in the window while flying and point it toward the sun when on the ground. I just have the one with the pv panel and the charge controller - not the battery.

For the iPad I recommend a rated Li ion battery pack that can be charged. iPad sucks the juice.

There are separate lead ion ( not lithium) batteries that are uber light and fantastic - cub guys are replacing batteries with them and shedding many pounds. Will post pics when I get back to civilization

I have been using a 25W 12V SunlinQ for six or seven years. It folds ups quite small and is light. I put together a package buy with the Maule BB group and we purchased a case of 25 directly from the company at dealer pricing.

I have directly charged rechargeable batteries, and laptop with it. It also comes with clips to trickle charge your airplane battery. Neat deal is they provide a connector with the female portion of a cigarette lighter (now known as a DC outlet) so any device that will plug into your car DC outlet can be charged with it.

I keep one in the plane and one in my earthquake kit.

TD

FWIW, I have tried solar chargers in the distant past and have always been disappointed. I have one on my motorhome which keeps the battery charged, but it is just preventing the normal discharge that any lead-acid battery has by sitting--it would never charge the battery.

Last year at OSH I had cobbled up a receptacle directly to my aircraft battery to charge things without turning on the master, but a wire broke in it and I had no soldering tools to fix it. So instead I would turn on the master for a half hour at a time to charge my phone, twice a day, making sure I had all of the avionics and lights turned off. By the time the week was up, the voltmeter still showed 11.8 volts for the aircraft battery, and my phone had been usable all week--no trouble starting the engine after 7 days of sitting plus charging the phone. I have since repaired my cobbled receptacle, so I won't have to turn on the master to charge things this year.

Cary

I see the PowerMonkey uses a 3 watt pv panel, and I had to really search through all the ad copy to find that, these small solar systems are a bunch of money for very little power! All of the similar types are also pretty wimpy.

A much better bang for the buck would be a 20 to 50 watt "real" module (and a multi or mono crystalline one, not the amorphous types, they need to be twice as large for a similar output) now we are talking some power....these modules will indicate a bit less or more then 20 VDC open circuit, typical for 12 volt battery charging, and yes a charge controller is required. The MORNINGSTAR SUNGUARD controller is a quality unit, not Harbor Freight crap (like their PV modules), and is about 35 bucks. You can google around for the cheapest, much less then $100.00, module you can find on the internet, then go to a BATTERIES ARE US type site, and for half the price of the aformentioned wimpy setups you have many times the charge capacity and many times the storage capacity. A trip to the local Radio Shack will finish the setup with the required adapters for whatever it is you're charging, they also sell cheap voltage converters so you can charge your 3,6, or 9 VDC whatever at the right voltage and amperage.

Any time you can avoid batteries entirely you are better off, as you don't get 100% of the power you in it out of it, there is always transition losses. If you are looking at just taking a charged up battery, keep in mind that you can only withdraw about 50 to 60% percent of it's max amp capacity, that is if you don't want to trash it. In other words a 100 amp battery doesn't supply 100 amps. A big solar panel (and all the good ones are size relative, twice as much power is twice as large surface area) and a small battery or preferably NO battery would be my personal choice for a PV system carried in the plane, using the aircraft battery for storage. Hikers/backpackers? You can still save big bucks and get more power by getting your own components.

Without fail, I have found that the people who dis solar, don't know what they are talking about. They relate tales of a brother-in-law or friend who had "a panel on his camper, but it didn't work". Well yeah, that's because it was a Harbor Freight piece of junk, and he was withdrawing 10 times what it could produce. Like money, more is better, you simply need to make a bit more power or at least nearly the same then you withdraw on a daily basis, that's all there is to it. The people who do this rave about solar, whether on their backpack, boat or home. The people who don't, bad mouth it.

A picture of last weeks delivery of a 95 watt module (25 yr warranty, and for less then the HF 45 watt crap) to ex Air Force FAC Dave, right in his hay field, no extra charge! This is the guy I posted about a few weeks ago, I met him while doing a crane job, the next thing he knows I'm landing at his place and he's buying solar gear from me

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