The Battery Test

What follows is something of a string of consciousness ramble while testing the Everun's battery under an average load. Only a geek would find this a worthy expendure of one's time... Posted from the Everun using Ecto The purpose of this entry is to test the life of the battery when using an external keyboard. This test began at 10:59p with 99% battery available. I don't know if a USB keyboard pulls much power or not. However, I would not think that it would take much to drive a passive input device. I had hoped to use one of the surprisingly hard-to-find battery testing applications to have a more quantifiable test result, but apparently, the Everun does not conform to ACPI standards with regards to its battery. Of the two battery apps that I tried, both failed to detect the battery in the unit. Go figure. As of 11:03p - still at 99%. Don't really feel like typing all night. I have an 8:30 meeting in the morning and there is no way short of a act of God that I will make it on time if I don't retire before midnight. While I'm thinking about it, I have the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios turned off and the CPU speed set to Power Saving (that corresponds to 400 MHz). I am using the Ecto blogging client to create this entry, The software is surprisingly nimble as is Windows XP at the slower speed. Wouldn't want to fire up Photoshop on it, but for journaling and such - not too shabby. 11:08p - down to 98% Here's what I hope will be the results of this test: The standard 2200 mAh battery will last close to its rated life of 6 hours. That means that given two hours/day average use on the trail (reading/journaling), I can get nearly 20 hours of run time with the all three Li-Ion batteries that I will have with me: the aforementioned 2200 mAh battery, the extended 4000 mAh battery and the 4000 mAh battery in the Xantrex Powersource 100 charger/inverter. Any amount of charge that I can "steal" from the sun via the 15w solar panel will be icing on the cake. I've begun looking at the resupply points for the first 300 miles of the trail. From what I can determine, I should be able to find a mains power source about every 3-6 days to recharge. It is conceivable that the solar panel will be redundant (wouldn't mind saving a couple of pounds! in pack weight!). Still, I might want to have it along later in the trip once the Li-Ion cells begin showing their age. Also, I'm not sure how cold termperatures will affect the discharge rate. It is likely that I will encounter single-digit temps during the first month or so of the hike. I don't know if my fingers, much less the Everun, will function at those temps. 11:19p - Down to 95% battery OK, I've been typing for 20 minutes and have lost 4% of the battery. That equates to 12%/hour - assuming a linear discharge rate which is most likely an incorrect assumption. At this rate, the standard battery will last about 8 hours. That's well beyond the rated specs, so I'm sure this thing will start bleeding voltage soon. We'll go for another 20 minutes and see what happens. Let's talk about pack weight, shall we? Without clothes, but with food/water, I'm pegging 38 pounds. That's ungood. I had hoped to be right at 30, but assuming 4 liters water/day and 2 pounds of food/day, it just isn't happening. I did a pretty good job of picking light-midweight equipment. Short of jettisoning the Hubba Hubba tent (4 pounds with poles, fly and ground cover) in favor of a tarp, I don't think there's any way to shave weight in that category. I've slept cowboy under the stars and liked it, but when it comes to snow, rain, wind, this courier prefers to meet the swift completion of his appointed hike with a full enclosure, with space for my pack and ample girth. What about cooking implements??? Here's a possibility. I've packed a Jetboil PCS. One pound for the cooker, another 6 oz for the fuel canister. Yep, an alcohol stove will beat this setup hands-down in weight, but not when it comes to keeping the flame alive in a stiff breeze without effort. And talk about speed! The Jetboil just ROCKS! A couple of minutes and a cup of water is brought to a nice rolling boil. I've watched hikers fiddle with stoves made of soda cans and the like under adverse atmospheric conditions. I wasn't encouraged. Still, this choice begins to fall under the "convenience" category. There are reliable stoves that do weigh less than the Jetboil. It really comes down to speed. Am I really in THAT much of a hurry to eat that 50th dehydrated dinner??? Might have to reexamine this choice.... 11:39p...40 minutes - 90% battery remaining. So, more like 13.2 per hour. Ok. I can live with that. It is now 11:43p. 89% battery remaining. I will let the Everun sit idle for 20 minutes and see where we are. 12:03a - battery is down to 84%. 5% for this idle 20 minute period. Odd, to say the least. Perhaps the battery discharges more quickly as the total charge is brought down. Let's see where we are in another 10 minutes, then wrap this up for the night... 12:13a - battery is down to 81%. So let's assume 6% every 20 minutes. Based upon this VERY limited test, it looks like I should assume 18%/hour battery drain to start. At 36% per day, I should have 3+ days of trail life per charge. Pretty close to 5.5 - 6 hours, as rated by Raon. Ah, Truth In Advertising for once! Close to 12 days total from the other batteries. Yeah, I can work with that! As the number of recharge cycles increase, this discharge rate will increase (hopefully slowly!) Enough! It's bed-thirty.

Ruggedizing The Everun

Since my plans call for using an Everun palmtop as an e-book reader and journaling tool while on the AT, I wanted some way to protect the unit from water, impacts, blunt force trauma, rabid shelter mice, etc. Otterbox makes great cases for PDAs that fill the bill and the interior dimensions of their Model 3600 case appeared to fit the Everun like a glove. I found a deal on eBay and placed the order. Here's the case alongside the Everun: Unfortunately, I soon found out that the interior dimensions were not quite as advertised and the Everun was just a touch too large: After about 30 minutes worth of work with a Dremel tool, I was able to grind out just enough plastic from inside the case to enable the UMPC to fit. The display actually positions quite nicely with the viewing "port" on the Otterbox: A few things to note: 1) Additional modifications will be needed to enable the accessing the power button without removing the unit from the case. By drilling a small hole in the case and inserting a plastic rod and spring, this should be easily accomplished. Similar mods for access to the charging port and USB port will also be required. Judicious use of silicone cement and/or rubber plugs is recommended where such modifications are made to retain the case's waterproof characteristics. 2) Input via USB or Bluetooth keyboard is required while the unit is in the case. That's what I planned to use even with the unit outside of the case, but your mileage may vary. 3) Some repositioning of the rubber gasket on the case may be needed, depending on how much of the interior you grind out. 4) Weight of the case, standard 2200 mAh battery and Everun is 2.01 pounds. Not insignificant, but still not a bad trade-off considering I won't have to pack a journal or a book. Practical? For me, yes, but probably not for someone who plans to restrict their use to the "civilized" world. Until someone comes out with a Everun-specific case, this seems to be a very good solution. Scott

Pre-Trail "Zero" Day

Not zero in terms of mileage, but rather in the sense of motivation at the office. I was up until 3am last night reading posts at whiteblaze.net and checking my gear list against those of other thru-hikers, past and future. Now it is hard to keep my mind focused on the tasks that I really need to take care of - getting two UNIX servers up and running. I guess you could equate it to "senioritis", that malady of motivation which afflicts students during their last year of school. The trail is calling and mentally, at least, I'm already there.

Tech On The Trail

Tech on the trail is a somewhat tricky subject amongst AT thru-hikers. Some feel that it is a violation of the wilderness to enter the long green tunnel with anything more advanced than a LED headlamp. Others wouldn't dream of taking the first step without their iPhonePodBerry safely ensconced in their pack. I'm thinking something a bit more hybrid. I do think that loud conversations on cell phones and MP3 players blasting out tunage is a distraction, but I also think that technology, when used discretely, is not a problem. As the mantra goes, "Hike your own hike". I hope to be able to keep posting while on the AT and to that end, I'm putting together a solution which (hopefully) will allow me to "go green"; using solar power to keep my palmtop and digital camera alive for the duration of the journey. After exchanging several e-mails with vendors, I've ordered the components of what I hope will be just such a system: - Raon Everun UMPC w/ 2300 mAh battery (Blogging, photo uploads, e-books) Weight: 1.0 lbs http://www.dynamism.com/everun/main.shtml - Raon Everrun 4000 mAh battery Weight: .25 lbs - Xantrex PowerSource Mobile 100 (4000 mAh battery w/ AC inverter) Weight: 1.05 lbs http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/233/p/1/pt/5/product.asp - Global Solar P3 - 15 watt/12 volt Folding solar panel Weight: 1.6 lbs http://www.globalsolar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=67 - Targus Mobile 70 Universal AC Adapter (To charge Everun and digital camera from PowerSource Mobile) Weight: .5 pounds http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=APM10US Total System Weight: 4.4 lbs While the setup won't exactly earn kudos from the ultralight hiking crowd, it's about the best config that I have been able to work out thus far. As soon as the components arrive, I will post the results.