[IceClass]

Life on Ice Station Zebra demands a certain "can do" attitude but more importantly it requires a lot of gadgets and adapters...and music.
My portable audio gear helps keep my sanity in a lot of rough environments like rust bucket trawlers, rat trap old prop planes and tents on wind swept patches of sea ice. Most of the time, I don't have to (or have the option) of traveling light and being often miles from "civilization", power not bulk is my usual priority.
To that end I have been experimenting with both an Energizer XP4000 and a Solio Solar charger/power pack to keep things powered. The Pelican case keeps things from taking any abuse. 
 

 
 
 
Any other folks running a "Wilderness Rig"?

 

[KimLaroux]

Is this an internal hard drive in the middle? The black thing that looks like it has 3 screw holes in it? If so, how do you use it?

 

[IceClass]

Not sure what you're referring to bu from left to right in the case there is:
- Fostex HP-P1 DAC/Amplifier
- Continenetal V2 amplifier
- Ipod 120GB Classic in a Yotank Case
- Energizer XP4000 Power Pak
The orange thing is the Solio solar Panel/Power Pak
 

 

[KimLaroux]

Ah, it's the iPod case. It does look like an hard drive from the picture =P

 

[IceClass]

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[IceClass]

 

 

 

[BoxBoxBox]

so it is solar powered? does the case have to be open? that is pretty awesome, it could survive the end of civilization as we know it

 

[IceClass]

The case is purely for storage. The solio is a solar rechargeable battery that can recharge or power any of the components in my rig. It can even recharge the XP4000 but that can take a while.

 

[JK1]

Does the Solio make enough power?
 
This looks cool, but is not so cheap.
 
http://www.amazon.com/sCharger-5-Powerful-Actually-eReaders-Portable/dp/B003ZFQUWO

 

[IceClass]

Quote:

Does the Solio make enough power?
 
This looks cool, but is not so cheap.
 
http://www.amazon.com/sCharger-5-Powerful-Actually-eReaders-Portable/dp/B003ZFQUWO

 
 
It makes enough power. The only thing is that it can be slow to recharge but in my case with 22 hours of daylight it's not a problem.

 

[JK1]

I have heard that the smaller solar chargers take so long. I haven't tried any solar chargers yet.  I want it to be able to charge a 5000 mah battery pack within 6 hours.

 

[IceClass]

6 hours would be a stretch. The Solio will recharge in a day of being on the dash of my car or when camping in summer I'll face it south and it'll charge considerably quicker. In my case, charging isn't time sensitive, I'm more interested in keeping my rig powered out on sea ice or the tundra for days on end.
 
I'm surprised there aren't more folks here using their rigs out in the sticks far from a power source.

 

[JK1]

The Solio doesn't have a 5,000 mah battery though. I think it is only 1650 mah. I would like to see sturdy lightweight crank USB chargers. The cheap compact ones I have seen on the net have plastic gears and probably wear out fast. The problem with solar chargers is that sometimes people run out of power at night. There could also be bad weather during the day preventing use of a solar charger. One post I read claimed that leaving a solar charger on his car dashboard made it take twice as long to charge due to the uv filtering in the windshield. Some car windshields might block uv even more than that.

 

[IceClass]

Quote:

The Solio doesn't have a 5,000 mah battery though. I think it is only 1650 mah. I would like to see sturdy lightweight crank USB chargers. The cheap compact ones I have seen on the net have plastic gears and probably wear out fast. The problem with solar chargers is that sometimes people run out of power at night. There could also be bad weather during the day preventing use of a solar charger. One post I read claimed that leaving a solar charger on his car dashboard made it take twice as long to charge due to the uv filtering in the windshield. Some car windshields might block uv even more than that.

The main issue with putting the Solio on the truck dash is when you're driving around you're not always facing the sun. It works out though and doesn't take significantly longer than when I lash it to a backpack strap in summer. It is so far, the best option for cost/size/performance I've found. The real star for short trips though is the XP4000 Energizer which I'm constantly overjoyed with.

 

[Stockbox]

I got the XP4001 which is the updated version so I'm wondering, how do you connect it to your solar charger?