GPS Outdoors by Russell Helms

Author:Russell Helms
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9780897327770
Publisher: Menasha Ridge Press
Published: 2006-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Recharging Batteries

BEFORE ANY outing, make sure you have a fully charged battery on board. Don’t guess: turn the unit on and check its battery indicator. If it’s anything less than 90 percent, go ahead and recharge if you can. If you recharge or replace the batteries, check again to make sure that you have a 100 percent reading.

Depending on the unit you use and how you use it, battery life can vary wildly. From my experience, a basic unit without a color screen that does not display a base map will run continuously for 12 to 18 hours depending on the type of battery and how frequently you use the unit’s backlight function.

As manufacturers ratchet up the features—such as color screens, base maps, bigger screens—battery life dips correspondingly. To offset larger battery drains with the more sophisticated units, lithium-ion batteries are becoming more commonplace. Unless the unit operates on an internal or removable lithium-ion battery, tailor your battery choice to your outing.

Just going out for a quick jog? Then most any battery will do. Planning on a weekend hike? A new pair of alkaline batteries might get you by. A set of lithium-ion batteries would be even better. If you opt for the NiMH batteries, make sure you have a spare set and also a backup set of alkaline batteries. Unlike lithium-ion and alkaline batteries, NiMH batteries fade quickly once the power is nearly gone. Alkaline batteries, though, tend to slowly dissipate, giving you plenty of time to prepare for an impending battery switch.

How about a two-week sledge-hauling expedition in Nova Scotia? You’ll probably want to take a unit that uses either disposable or removable rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, along with a spare GPS that operates on standard AA batteries, plus plenty of spare batteries (mitigated by how efficiently you’ll be able to charge them along the way).

GPS units save data using flash memory, which does not lose data should the batteries die on you. If you can, change the batteries soon after your low-battery indicator comes on. Save your track and waypoint data before you shut the unit down to replace the batteries.

Theoretically, you could start walking in Key West and, by the time you reached the Bering Straits, have never needed to pop into town for a fresh set of AAs—even if you had a cell phone, a weather unit, one of those stoves powered by a tiny fan, a digital camera, and a GPS. The key is recharging batteries using solar energy gathered and transformed into electric current by solar collectors. Solar-charging options are many, so you need to assess your outdoor-adventure tendencies, consider the equipment you already own, and factor in equipment you will most likely acquire in the near future.

There are two common types of solar chargers: hard and soft. The hard chargers, such as the C. Crane model, are typically boxlike and made of hard plastic with an array of protected photovoltaic cells on top. Batteries, 9-volts excluded, fit inside. A meter on the front

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