Putting the Batteries in The GPS Correctly

Putting the Batteries in The GPS Correctly
Atakpame, Togo West Africa
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Andy of HoboTraveler.com



I marked the plus and the minus with permanent black marker.

I think I am fond of functional worlds; I want my world to function. I sometimes feel paranoid; I think to myself, am I the only one that cannot put the batteries in correctly?

Actually, I am more afraid of what happens to small computer like circuits when something is backwards. I just do not want to accidentally pop the small brains working in my electronic toys. The camera is the same, very easy to put the batteries in backwards. Plus is minus and minus is plus, I am fortunate, I do not need to mark the batteries because I remember which is plus.

Ok, I purchased these permanent markers, I carry them with me, and I make sure it says permanent on them or they just are not worth buying. I mark things, I often mark the light switches in rooms whereby I know when off is off and on and on. This is good to know in Togo as the electricity is off too often and I want the lights on so I get a wake up call when the electricity returns.

I also mark the hot and cold water when there is hot and cold water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability

Putting the Batteries in The GPS Correctly

6-12 Volt Fan and Lights

6-12 Volt Fan and Lights
Kpalime, Togo West Africa
Friday, April 20, 2007

I want to buy off the shelf products to carry in my backpack; I want to be capable of buying replacement parts, when one piece is lost or broken. Nothing worst than having a favorite piece of gear lost that cannot be replaced while traveling.

I have found on the shelves here in Togo.

1. Batteries to run lights and fan.
- Six Volt Sealed Motorcycle batteries for 5500 CFA or about 11 U.S. Dollars.

2. Charger I think or hope will work.
- I am 90 percent sure I can buy a 8-12 Volt cell phone charger, that works with both 110 and 220 or in a really drastic move, I can splice into the charger I use for my portable phone.

IF I can find…

- A computer fan, or a some 5-15 Volt fan.
- A light that runs on 6 or 12 volts.

I have a 12 Volt one cup coffee cooker.

There is a converter I can purchase in the USA, which will allow me to plug my computer into a cigarette lighter, which in the USA is 12 Volts. I need to place two six-volt batteries in a row to have 12 volts.

I am excited as this would solve many problems, and make my life more pleasant. I wish I could calculate how long my computer would run on two six volt made into a 12 volt system would last. I can purchase 8 hours batteries for my computer, and one cost 150 US dollars and, this set up would cost around 40-50 US and could be fixed or replaces anywhere, with the hope it works of course.

It is easy enough to find electricity every five days or so, and I do have a 12 Volt Solar Battery charger to try to use

Fans, Batteries, 12 Volt, Lights, Electricity, Togo, Batterie Charger, Cellphone,

6-12 Volt Fan and Lights

12 Volt Travel Power

12 Volt Travel Power
Kathmandu, Nepal Asia
February 11, 2007

A feasible solution to not having electricity, as solar charging is not much good without a way to store the electricity, the sun does not shine all night.

Chris the worlds greatest Internet researcher surfer has found an all-in-one solution that is the same as one of my ideas, and taken to finish. It is very hard to think of something that is not already made and sold.

I want to use 12 Volt Electricity Power in my room, Nepal has been a great training country on living without electricity as the country shuts the electricity off from 3 to 10 hours per day, and can be random. Therefore, are you ready, oops, no electricity now.
http://www.hobotraveler.com/2007/02/12-volt-travel-cooking.html

If I am typing on the computer, reading a book, and worst, trying to take a shower, all the world is disrupted on a random basis. The Hot Water here is electricity, they say it is Solar, yet that does not work good, not even close to adequate, so in the night, if the hotel is good, they will turn on the electricity. But some mornings they shut off the electricity at 5:30 til 8, therefore no morning showers because the heater has been off for the time needed before my shower.

To depend on the Hotel or Nepal for Hot shower, is not feasible, they are just not going to supply me with a Hot Shower.

12 Volt Travel Power

iSun BattPak 3-Way Battery Charger with 10 NiMH batteries

This product is cool, one problem. I could not find on page if I can charge with both 110 and 220 electricity. If I cannot do with 220 then not much good, better to continue on my system. On the other hand the cost of 10 rechargeable batteries is close to this, so I could buy it and dump the charger.

I do wish I could just call them and ask.

Solar energy is a great idea, however lets be real, spending 200-300 dollars to buy a charger I use for a few days a year I am without power is way to expensive. Yes, I could go hiking for a 20 day trip, and what I really want electricity for is both my computer and a reading light. Campfire do most of the normal lighting while in the brush or jungle at night.

I do not want to carry everything on the planet, I have a 40 Kilo limit.

If a person or I was in the jungle for 20 days, I would need 40 to 50 hours of battery for my computer, this is a lot of time. The problem with solar is moving, if I live in the same place for 20 days then solar become easy and very feasible, but who would stay in one place for 20 days in the jungle. I suppose I could be living on top of a mountain being the Monk thing, but still, this is probably not going to happen.

I tend to think if I was living on top of a mountain I would go for hydro power, or make a small dam, and get a couple of car alternators and charge my 12 Volt System... hehehe, just like the one here. Water flowing down a hill seems more reliable now, and I truly do believe I could make a few or many hydro chargers with parts from any junk yard in any country on the planet.

But, back to the problem, I need to store the electricity, then for me, I need to carry the batteries. Motorcycle and Car Batteries do me no good, I cannot run my Sony Camera on a Car Battery. I need AA batteries, I only buy things with AA batteries, this seems to be the best size.

The Truckers and Recreational Vehicle people are doing all the research and if I can convert my non electricity time to 12 Volt, I can I think easy handle a random 5 t0 10 days of no electricity. The problem with electricity is not a planned trip to the jungle, the problem is as here in Nepal, when they just randomly shut the electricity off for 3 days. It is the bigger problem, I have been places where they shut the electricity off for a week.

I was in Mexico and because of the corruption, the government punished the people and ME, by shutting the juice off for the week of Christmas.

No warning, no idea what is going on, there just was no electricity.

Travel is not so much planning to deal with a trip, it is planning to deal with the problems you did not plan on having.

12 Volt Travel Power

Cell Phone Battery Problem with GPRS

Cell Phone Battery Problem with GPRS
Kathmandu Nepal
Saturday, January 27, 2007

The drain on the battery is more than the charge.

I have a Motorola V555 quad band cell phone. I plug it into the charger and connect to the internet with Mero Mobile prepaid service here in Katmandu, Nepal. I have noticed over time, and am quite sure when connected it is slowly using more electricity from the phone then what is being charged into the phone. This means that the battery is slowly being drained, and eventually it disconnects from the internet and I must wait for the battery to recharge.

A second battery is needed, yet the problem is I can only charge the battery while in the phone. I personally do not like to remove the battery or the SIM card as the cover seems like it is not going to stay one good.

Cell Phone Battery Problem with GPRS