Getting powered up – second edition

I have spend some time the last couple of days  figuring out how to get my different items powered up, while on the run. Beside of The Powerlet system I have installed on the bike, I also need several adaptors to charge individual items. This means taking up space, weight and confusion, when finding the correct adaptor/charger every time I have to get a camera etc. powered up. I came up with the “Charger and adaptor kit – second edition”. Works with 12/230 Volts, giving the specific output required for the individual item, that should be charged. I will test it in my car in the next couple of days, to find out, if it brings any problems. Only disadvantage, you can only charge one item at a time, which for my situation is okay. I would not like to overload the generator or rectifier on the bike.
Again I was lucky to get sponsorship from a company, this time it was batteries from www.batterinet.dk – they offered me some nice and good quality Ni-MH cells from Vapextech - thanks to Lennart at Batterinet. He supplied me with 3 ea D-cells 10000 mAh, 4 ea AA-cells 2900 mAh and 4 ea AAA cells 1100 mAh. I will use these batteries for my head torch light, folding travel speakers, ATC camera (piece of shit later dumped in a trash bin in Morocco) and the Garmin GPS 60 CSX. While on my way, I will charge them with my “Charger and adaptor kit” or with a computer charger as shown below. I hope to be self-sufficient with power from the bike’s 12 Volts battery to charge the items. Beside of this I also have the possibilities to charge from 115/230 Volts AC with my travel adaptor, which has different types of plugs.

GPS logger testing on Sealand

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Got a GPS logger at my 30 years birthday from my friend from the Netherlands – Matheu Swartjes, Now he and others (my parents) can follow my footsteps. Tested this device last Sunday, on a nice ride from Copenhagen to the North of Sealand and back again. The logger has the options of logging heading, speed, height, longitude and attitude. One can set it to log for every xx kilometres/ xx seconds and above a specified speed etc. to spicify your waypoints. One’s also have the possibilities of showing the recordings live via a cell phone on a Google Map, if you wish. I will go for the method of uploading my journey when I have access to the internet, cause I’m not taking a cell phone on my low budget journey. This is a very nice gadget, that will add a possitive interactive experience to this site and for the reader. See the device here: GPS logger

Saturday I did some multiple jobs, installed the Vibra-light system on the bike, takes no more than 30 minutes. Hardest thing, is to find a suitable position to locate the control box on the bike, having in mind that it should have some ram air cooling. When this is said, I washed the bike, cleaned and lubricated the wiring’s with silicone grease. Ordered some spare parts from UK, packing’s, o-rings, hoses etc. for backup.
Sunday I went visiting my friend Irfan Siddiqui. He helped me with the issue, to find the correct rated solar panel, for charging and supplying the lap top with power. The measurements are performed by Irfan Siddiqui, and shows the Akoya at different effect modes. Next issue on my list, is to look into the solar panel-market (USA) to find a solar panel, that will fulfill my needs!

These are the values we came up with, after a measurement of the Medion Akoya:

Power usage for Medion Akoya (MSI Wind PC):
off, no battery (adaptor): 0 W
off, charging battery from 0% capacity: 14 W
on, idle CPU load, charging battery from 0% capacity: 26 W
on, 100% CPU load, charging battery from 0% capacity: 30 W
on, idle CPU load, no battery: 13 W
on, 100% CPU load, no battery: 18 W
standby (lid closed), charging battery from 0%: 14 W
(Input-power needed: 19 Volts, 3.42Amps)

Conclusion:
I need to get my hands on a solar panel (fold able), rated from 30-40 Watts, to make sure to get enough output effect (Watt). You have to consider all the individual losses, when it comes to a solar cell, such as reflectance losses, thermodynamic losses (heat), recombination losses and resistive loss, and of cause when there is no sun to be found, which I think will be the biggest problem = doesn’t work :o/

Result:
I won’t be carrying any solar panel with me on this trip, I have been in contact with the danish company UnatSolar for several months now, them promising to call back, but they never did, so I finally called them for the last time. The dude at the company was more interested in selling me a crap satellite telephone than a solar panel, which was what I intended to get. They do not think they can get any advantages of this adventure journey. He offered me a “good” price on a panel instead, which was sky high, too expensive for my budget. What the heck, it means less things to have along, and more money for travelling ;oP

Had to find a way to get my camera and laptop powered up, while on the run, and in a safe way. I googled and found some nice products from a company in Chicago, USA - Powerlet Products, They specialize in power outlets kits for motorcycles, and can supply kits for different kinds of makes and models of motorcycles. They had a kit for the VFR, for installing of the power outlet in the steering stem, to get 12 volt DC in my Bagster tank bag. The kit comes  with a nice installation instruction, in text and pictures, and the quality seems very good, and most of all, it is waterproof, which was what I was looking for. Today I used the rest of my day after work, to install the kit on the VFR and in my tank bag, so now I’m ready to charge whatever item I have with me on the bike. I think I will order one more kit, to install in one of the side alu boxes, for charging the laptop, supplying the air pump with electricity, when I will experience a flat tire etc.

I thought you might want to see a photo of the bike, so here is one. I shot some during the mainte – nance of the Honda this Sun -day. The bike is not completed yet, still a lot to do, electrical work, installation of modified rack for the alu-boxes. Re-installed the new Hyperpro suspension springs (front forks and rear damper). Cleaned and lubricated the rear swing arm. I Was not able to take it for a ride, due to a missing clutch hose! I managed to test the suspension by sitting on the bike in static. It feels more hard than with the old OEM Honda springs, which was the intention - mission succeeded…