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11/09/2004 11:43:59 AM · #1 |
I am planning to go on a two week outdoor (under canvas) vacation in Alaska next June/July. The camera I use is a Minolta Dimage 7i which is notoriously greedy of batteries particularly in cool conditions. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can recharge my batteries, or otherwise keep the camera working. We shall be travelling around in a Mini-bus, but I don't know if I could "tap into" its power supply, but it is a posibility. I understand that sometimes we will be using "commercial" campsites, is it likely that I could recharge there? I'm not familiar with Alaskan campsites and their facilities.
Does anyone have any experience of this problem and if so how did you cope? Any suggestions for this power problem would be welcome.
I'm actively considering (as a last resort)downgrading to my old (Non electronic) Pentax 35mm kit, but this is larger and heavier, and weight restrictions are a consideration when you have to carry everthing on your back. |
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11/09/2004 11:49:15 AM · #2 |
If you're in a vehicle, you can get an adapter with regular plugs which runs off the cigarette lighter. We went on a road trip and I charged batteries and ran a laptop as we drove down the road. Of course, you will want to be sure that your minibus' cigarette lighter operates and that it's ok to use (if you're not the owner/driver). And most commercial campsites I've seen have electric hookups, at least at RV sites (though I've never been camping in Alaska).
Sounds like fun... Wish I could go! |
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11/09/2004 12:10:59 PM · #3 |
If you are really out in the sicks, solar is your only viable option. There are other option besides this particular one I'm sure, but it's a start. A better solution IMHO would involve an array of amorphous solar cells on a flexible plastic substrate as this could be rolled up into a tube, but this might be what you are looking for.
Isun Battery Charger
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11/09/2004 01:00:08 PM · #4 |
| i dont know about batteries but i cant wait to see your pics....i want to go to alaska so bad! im jealous |
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11/09/2004 02:52:30 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by riotspyne:
i dont know about batteries but i cant wait to see your pics....i want to go to alaska so bad! im jealous |
Did you know CRABappl went to Alaska?
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11/09/2004 02:53:34 PM · #6 |
| crabAPPL3 went to Alaska? Who knew? Hope he took some pictures while he was there. ;o) |
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11/09/2004 02:56:50 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by laurielblack:
crabAPPL3 went to Alaska? Who knew? Hope he took some pictures while he was there. ;o) |
I think he took one or two. I vaguely remember him mentioning them at some point.
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11/09/2004 03:12:56 PM · #8 |
Some time ago I bought a 12v booster/starter for my car. It plugs into the cigarette lighter to charge whilst I'm driving or into main house electric supply when at home. Once fully charged, it will last for weeks, if I need to start a car that has a flat battery. It also has an air compressor and torch built in.
However, the most useful extra is the 12v cigarette light type plug include on it, this can be used to power a light, boil a kettle, recharge my MP3 player, or by using the car adapter, charge camera batteries.
The main advantage over the actual car cigarette lighter is that I can put it in the tent and charge my batteries...no need to keep running the car or risk running down the car battery.
It sells for £50 in UK or similar in US would be about $90?
Well worth it!
Message edited by author 2004-11-09 15:13:44. |
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11/09/2004 04:54:45 PM · #9 |
| Remember to keep the batteries in a pocket near your body. The body heat will keep the batteries from going too fast. |
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11/09/2004 05:34:31 PM · #10 |
all you really need is a car power inverter. You can probably get them at any electronics retail store.
Basically one end plugs in to the cigarette lighter in the car, the other end gives you a standard plug socket which you can plug your charger in to .
You can run a laptop, or a camera charger etc of this. Make sure you get one rated for a high enough power output for what you need to run from it, and you should be fine.
There is also the //www.digitalcamerabattery.com/
Message edited by author 2004-11-09 17:37:42.
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11/09/2004 06:18:21 PM · #11 |
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11/11/2004 04:10:46 PM · #12 |
Thanks for the replies folks. I have decided to try Solar-power. I have ordered, and already received, two different solar battery chargers from [url=//www.strikealight.co.uk]StrikeALite UK[/url. Cheap to experiment with and good delivery (3 days from order to doorstep).
One is a 2xAA charger (The AA & AAA & Prismatic Charger) and the other is a 4xAA charger (The AA Charger). Both are small and light, easy to carry strapped to the top of a Rucksack. A quick read of the documentation leads me to think that they might be somewhat underpowered for high capacity NiMH cells. It looks as if I might need 2 days of good sun to replace a few hours of use in the camera. However, I shall carry out some experiments and see what transpires, if the system looks promising I might then invest on a more powerful solar charger.
Message edited by author 2004-11-11 16:12:06. |
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