Keeping this charged

[LDog]

That Richard Solo looks just like my New Trent
http://www.newtrent.com/IMP70D-dual-USB-7000mAh-iphone-battery-p/imp70d.htm
They must use the same overseas manufacturers ...

[The Mighty Tiberious]

They do look a lot a like. That price is nice too. Says it is on back order. Nice job if you already ordered it.

Seems like a good middle ground between weight and the number of times it will refill your device.

If my old Richard Solo 1800 can recharge the iPhone 4S one + times.

Then this device should recharge 3 - 4 times. Maybe even 5 times before going back into town to power up. Not bad for most weeks on the AT.

[LDog]

I ordered this "Universal" camera battery charger which has both an AC plug, and a USB port.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00369CNFW/

The pins on the charger can be moved to fit most batteries with contacts on the end. The USB port can either be used as an input or an output. If the charger's plugged into the wall, you can charge a cell phone, ipod, etc. But you can also plug a power source into it to charge your camera battery. It comes with a USB cable and 12V cigarette lighter adapter, but I also charged my camera battery from my New Trent ACD66.

[Bucho]

I started the AT with a 5v 1amp solar panel which on paper should have been at least twice what I needed. Early in the trip it was difficult to use as it would only provide a consistent charge to my electronics if I was sitting still. Trying to hike with it often caused me to loose more power going through the charging animation on my phone than I took in. Once it got a little later in the year and everything turned green the solar panel became useless.

I've heard mixed reviews about those solio chargers with the internal battery, I got the impression that whether people liked it or not depended on how much power they were trying to get from it. As in if they didn't need much power it worked ok.

Another interesting option is a kinetic battery charger http://www.npowerpeg.com/ The motion you make hiking causes this device to charge it's internal battery.

Personally I resupplied every few days and like a lot of people just took to recharging my stuff in town. I got this http://www.tekkeon.com/products-tekcharge1550.html so that I could use my spare set of AA's to charge my mp3 player or book reader if I ran low. I also ended up getting a 15min AA charger. It was a brick but that way I could top my electronics off as much as possible with AA's and then finish getting everything charged over lunch at McDonalds instead of having to wait overnight while the really slow lithium-ion batteries charged.

[jeffmeh]

My son just acquired one of these for his thru. http://www.seidioonline.com/charging...-pbpt22-bb.htm

How it will work in practice remains to be seen, but it is fairly light and will charge itself and up to 2 other devices when you have an outlet available. They are available via amazon also.

[bamboo bob]

I used a camera with spare batteries and never had an issue. I don't really understand the concern about cell phones. Just leave it off unless you are actually using it. It will easily last until town. Is there a situation where you would be using it for hours at a time? I turn it on maybe once a day and call my wife for a few minutes and maybe reserve a room sometimes. Does anyone leave it on to take calls?

[LDog]

I might use it to make a journal entry, take a picture, update my blog, check a pdf of the Companion, use the GPS, check the wx radar, read a book at night ... Other than that, I'd probably leave it off.

[The Mighty Tiberious]

Plan on leaving my iPhone on with Air Plane Mode turned on.

Like Chilly I am going to use my phone for Pictures, Video, Journal (Momento App) off line AT Map and hoping David Miller gets his AT Guide 2012 published digitally for iPhone Kindle App or iBooks soon?

I know he is working hard on it. (It can be a lot of work).

Looking for detailed digital Maps of the Appalachian Trail that would cover ever shelter, stream and road crossing to use off line.

[dink]

try www.charge2go-sales.com it is a really nifty little single AA battery portable charger for cell phones. I have used it when I am away from electrical outlets for a week or 2 at a time.

[Slo-go'en]

I just ordered a 15W thermal-electric generator (TEG). Says it can produce 15 V @ 1 A with sufficent delta T. It's kinda expensive ($80 plus shipping) and can't be used right out of the box. Will need a voltage regulator and a heat sink of some kind on the "cold" side. But I have high hopes for this method, as heat from a dying camp fire lasts all night, unlike the sun...

[Miner]

This is just my opinion. Some of the effort you guys are going through to be able to charge your phones on trail so you can use it as an everything device sometimes adds up to more weight then carrying seperate devices. Don't get too fixated on using a particular piece of electronics or it can blind you to other ways of doing the same thing. Whatever you do, do a comparison of alternative ways of doing the same thing and see how the weight compares.

Carrying a compact camera that takes video and powers up almost immediately and keeping the iPhone turned off most of the time for many would seem to be a more optimal solution. And the photos will be better (no matter how good a cell camera you have, its small sensor size crammed with way too many megapixels is going to suffer in lower light conditions compared to a larger sensor camera).

[LDog]

I just ordered a 15W thermal-electric generator (TEG). Says it can produce 15 V @ 1 A with sufficent delta T. It's kinda expensive ($80 plus shipping) and can't be used right out of the box. Will need a voltage regulator and a heat sink of some kind on the "cold" side. But I have high hopes for this method, as heat from a dying camp fire lasts all night, unlike the sun...

Very cool. Can't wait to read how it all comes together!