[NCLUG] Re: Remote power for Eee PC

Dan Fink danbob at hughes.net
Fri Nov 28 11:19:21 MST 2008


Hi beww --- I have an ice chest with a 12v marine deep cycle battery 
mounted in it, a direct 12VDC fused take-off, and a 1000w inverter 
mounted on the top. It charges with a 40watt glassless solar panel on a 
portable rack, with a 30ft cord to the battery. There's also a solid 
state AC battery charger mounted for when I have shore power available 
(does 15 amps DC). The solar panel is intended for remote river gaging 
stations, it's small, light, powerful and very sturdy.

The only hassles this system has given me were crossing to and from 
Canada earlier this year, on my 2-week BC fishing trip. It apparently 
looked rather 'suspicious' to the border guards on both sides!

DAN




What do you do about power at such locations?

I'd like to find some solar solution to charge laptop batteries. I already
have a solar answer for cell phone/iPod charging (the British Solio unit),
but it can't produce enough power to handle a laptop. I'm hoping the lower
power requirement of the Eee will be easier to deal with.

I also have a solar unit that can charge 4 AA batteries pretty quickly, so
that takes care of my Nikon camera. 1 watt out of a PDA-sized folding unit
(110 ma.).

Any pointers to remote area power solutions would be appreciated.



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