[Closed] Recharging GPS/mobile without electricty

not had much success with this to be hones, neither have friends

we have a [url= https://powertraveller.com/iwantsome/primatepower/powermonkey-explorer/ ]Power Monkey[/url] which has not really been much use, the most useful bit is the AC adapter it comes with that has tips to charge just about everything.

Even in the south of france the solar panel didn't get much juice into the reserve battery

i've also tried a USB charger that takes AA batteries

all this did is make my garmin crash, lots

if you know anyone with a garmin etrex/dakota that you could borrow they take 2xAA batteries so you could take spares. sorry if that's no help though (it was the reason i went for an etrex vista over the bike specific ones in the end)

I'd thought about solar panels but as I'll be riding all day they wouldnt really get a chance to do a lot. I suppose I could strap them to my pack but I wouldnt like to guess how much sunlight we'll get.

Its an Edge 205 BTW.

There's this sort of thing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet-Dual-Port-Universal-Incredible-Blackberry/dp/B000NDQ92W/ref=pd_cp_ce_0

there's also cheaper 2000Ah ones too

garmin actually sell the power monkey as an added battery pack for the Edge 800.

they quote the reserve battery as giving 20 hours extra use on the 800, i guess it'd be about the same on the 250 as the battery life was always pretty poor anyway

The Treknet device looks quite sensible, I wonder how long it would provide power for?

20 hours for the Power Monkey seems quite good when it can be topped up with some degree of solar power but how reliable is that I wonder?

If you are running forks which take a q/r you could build upa dynohub front wheel to charge gps / phones e.t.c. A few units out there that do this or some schematics online if you fancy DIY.

as far as i'm concerned you can abandon the solar part

we topped ours up in cafes etc

B&M e werk

http://www.dotbike.com/productsP8333.aspx

Dahon

http://uk.dahon.com/accessories/2010/biologic-reecharge

schematic 1

If you are running forks which take a q/r you could build upa dynohub front wheel to charge gps / phones e.t.c. A few units out there that do this or some schematics online if you fancy DIY.

Its a cunning idea Brick but a bit to Macguyer for me lol.

Charging in cafes sounds like a good plan but would they mind you plugging into their mains?

Dynamo? Surely there's a Dynamo with a 5V output, or battery that it charges that in turn will charge a USB device? Or must be easy to convert one...

EDIT: Search and you will find... [url= http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/the-phone-charger-you-pedal ]Dynamo Charger[/url]

Mike Cotty used an external battery charger on his SDW double.
[url= http://www.mikecotty.co.uk/ride.asp?NewsID=316 ]have a look here about halfway down.[/url]

I think it was something like [url= http://www.gomadic.com/garmin-edge-705-portable-aa-battery-extender.html ]this[/url]

Powergorilla, or proporta or similar.

I found [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emergency-Battery-Charge-Extender-Samsung/dp/B001L1BXDK/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp_T2 ]THIS[/url] which I think is the same thing just from UK.

Again though I wonder how long it will last for?

I looked into all this and the best option was the 5000mah "technet" battery linked above from Amazon.

The battery in a Garmin 705 is 3.7v and 1250mah
the battery in the power pack is 3.7v 5000mah

so you should get 2-3 recharges out of it.

Dynamo will be a lot more expensive.

The technet thing works with iPhones too, which need an 'intelligent' USB socket that can provide two different voltages like those on a computer can.

[url= http://www.thinkbiologic.com/products/reecharge-power-pack ]Dahon make a charger[/url]

Pretty clever.

I've got the Technet 5000mah one, for the money it's great, but don't expect the full 5000mah out of it (it will only charge my 1400mah phone twice).

which need an 'intelligent' USB socket that can provide two different voltages like those on a computer can

Slightly mis-informed. USB is only ever 5V.

USB spec says 5v and up to 500mA. Some chargers can supply more current for a faster charge, e.g. 1000mA for an iphone one, or 2000mA for a iPad one.

They indicate what current they can supply to iDevices via a certain resistor combo on the data lines, this is probably what you mean by "intelligent".

I have to say that in principle I quite like the idea of a dynamo hub however the cost of the whole set up is rather prohibitive to my current budget.

I don't know what the voltage is of the battery in my Edge 205, maybe less then the 705 as its a more basic model so I would expect to get a good three charges out of the Technet?

As it stands I get about 7 hours out of a full charge on my Edge.

Although the Technet only charged my phone twice, during the first charge I was using the phone with WiFi (the phone is very power hungry). I've managed to charge my phone, the wife's phone and an ipod nano from it, so I think it should do what you want.

I use a power monkey to charge my Garmin Forerunner no problem. My smart phone is too power hungry for it though.

This subject comes up quite often on the Garmin forums for people doing long distance events. Get yourself over there and do a search [url= https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20 ]https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20[/url]

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