Does anybody use a dynamo to charge up a phone/gps etc?

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Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
I looked at a solar charger which is a great idea until I remembered thaT i LIVE in the uk and not the caribean....I'd like a charger that works on my phone and digi mini tv and any future gps I may get...pro's cons?? Good/bad ones???
 

friedel

New Member
Location
On our bikes!
Friends of ours rigged a dynamo up to do just that. They made it themselves with the help of a friend who knew a bit about wiring. There are instructions online. I don't have the link to hand but if you can't find something let me know and I'll ask them for the info, or you could get in touch and ask them yourself. The website is in German but they both speak fluent English. http://bikeaway.info/
 
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Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
from what I can gather online the issue is getting enough power...most seem to be just 6v or less. There is also the necessary extra wheel drag. Also different devices use different power levels, so a 'central' power cell would need to be charged up and then be able to supply the relevant power level to individual devices. I havent found anything that can do that yet.
 

Magna

New Member
Someone should market a solution for this! I'm not an electrician but I love the idea of pedalling my way to full power batteries!
 

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
We just ask the reception at the campsite were staying if its possible to charge our phone's and they havn't refused us yet, in any campsite everywhere we've been. Because we use double AA batteries on everything else, night (head lamps), rear lights and camera, we cary along a (lightweight fast loading) battery charger and none have a problem with that either. Sometimes we just ask the trailer or mobile home next to us, this is also a good way to meet people, and after meeting us they also watch our stuff when we go sightseeing or shoping.
We do offcoarce offer a beer :tongue:
 

CycleTourer

Veteran
Location
Bury St. Edmunds
xilios said:
We just ask the reception at the campsite were staying if its possible to charge our phone's and they havn't refused us yet, in any campsite everywhere we've been. Because we use double AA batteries on everything else, night (head lamps), rear lights and camera, we cary along a (lightweight fast loading) battery charger and none have a problem with that either. Sometimes we just ask the trailer or mobile home next to us, this is also a good way to meet people, and after meeting us they also watch our stuff when we go sightseeing or shoping.
We do offcoarce offer a beer :biggrin:

We have done the same by asking at the campsite receptions if we can charge up our phone and PDA and they have usually been quite obliging.

However on our recent tour to Iceland a couple of sites asked for a charging charge of about 300kr per item. This worked out as just over £2 per item which I thought was very steep considering the low current consumed by these items.

Perhaps this a sign of things to come as so many campers now have mobile phones and ipods etc. Campsites are obviously getting more and more requests, either the charge was to limit the number that they had to look after or cynically another way of making money!
 

davidwalton

New Member
Bigtallfatbloke said:
I was going to buy this:
http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/pr...ms/solio-mobile-phone-and-ipod-solar-charger/

and probably still will if I cant find the equivalent with a dynamo which seems to be the only box it doesnt tick

Perhaps a request to Trevor Baylis is in order, with something that can be attached to any cycle to create and store a charge that can then be used for charging everything else. Something that doesn't require a £200 hub dynamo would be better as well ;)
 

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
CycleTourer said:
We have done the same by asking at the campsite receptions if we can charge up our phone and PDA and they have usually been quite obliging.

However on our recent tour to Iceland a couple of sites asked for a charging charge of about 300kr per item. This worked out as just over £2 per item which I thought was very steep considering the low current consumed by these items.

Perhaps this a sign of things to come as so many campers now have mobile phones and ipods etc. Campsites are obviously getting more and more requests, either the charge was to limit the number that they had to look after or cynically another way of making money!

We hope it's not a sign of things to come. For charging our phones we always have two with us and use only one at a time (good to have a spare in case of emergency) so if there is a problem with charging we can wait for the next days camping, and as far as the battery charger goes, our main concern is the camera which takes 2 AA's, the head lamps take 4 AA's each the rear bike lights also take 4 AA's so we just swap.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
xilios said:
We just ask the reception at the campsite were staying if its possible to charge our phone's and they havn't refused us yet, in any campsite everywhere we've been. Because we use double AA batteries on everything else, night (head lamps), rear lights and camera, we cary along a (lightweight fast loading) battery charger and none have a problem with that either. Sometimes we just ask the trailer or mobile home next to us, this is also a good way to meet people, and after meeting us they also watch our stuff when we go sightseeing or shoping.
We do offcoarce offer a beer ;)

In the UK I've asked cafes and bars to put my phone on charge with no refusals yet. Campers and caravanners with hook ups have never refused either. It's easy enough to get a two pin adapter and use the shaver sockets in the shower blocks for an early morning top up.

In France I took a spare phone battery with me and never ran out of power. My camera and lights all took AA batteries which were easily replaced should they fail. I deliberately chose a camera that took AA cells for maximum availability of a power source.

I've never offered a beer as more often than not I have it offered to me at camp sites by the motorised camping fraternity. I once drank a caravan dry but that's another story :biggrin:
 
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Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
I had a full four course meal with candles, wine and a proper tabecloth laid on for me by a wonderful caravanning couple just outside of Thetford forest last summer...all out of the kindness of their hearts. There are soom wonderful peeps out there.


...how about something like this as an alternative though:

http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/power....html?osCsid=b52f81305f2235c7bfa146fd8744fad0

ok...so it isnt ideal but seems to me it would make life easier by prolonging the need to find a wall socket
 
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