[pct-l] Solar panels

[matt maxon]

Craig
I'd suggest you use Lithium batteries, I have surveyed the Southern 
portion of the trail from Campo to Cottonwood Pass using several 
different GPS units and power sources. I think you'll have trouble 
powering your unit on Solar.

I have experimented with several external power sources, and found 
probably the best was a D cell setup I made from a headlamp power pack. 
Never did kill those batteries. Of course you have the wires to deal 
with but I found an external antenna a must! And external data storage, 
I was using a GPS datalogger until it croaked early this year, I'll now 
use a PDA to store the data using G7toCE

I'd like to see your setup... post a photo somewhere or eamil one direct

Regards
Trail90

Craig Stanton wrote:
> Greetings!
> 	Next year I plan to carry a custom GPS unit and a camera that takes  
> AAs rather than 'camera batteries' so that I can easily purchase new  
> ones along the way. However the GPS unit lasts only 16-20 hours on  
> four AAs and I don't want to lug 3lb of batteries with me the whole  
> way so I'm looking to solar power for a solution. I like the idea of  
> the Solio iPod charger, because it has it's own built in battery, so  
> if it is gathering more energy than it is giving out it can store  
> some up for the times I'm in the shade or night hiking. Butt it also  
> looks like the cells are pretty small compared the object size so I'm  
> still looking for alternatives. Does anyone here have a  
> recommendation for fairly light solar cells that could sit on top of  
> a pack and make use of all those wonderful UV rays?
>
> Cheers,
> 	Craig
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