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charging NP-1's from DC? Solar?


sound of eric potter

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hey gang.   i'm going to be recording 8 tracks w/phantom at 96K, and my NP-1's run the SD recorders very well like that.

thing is, this one is a nature science expedition for a month with only DC available from a solar rig. i hope to charge my NP-1's from that, as i can't be tethered to the solar battery most of the time.   i don't know what the voltage or current capacity is yet.

 

but i'm wondering if anyone has experience in general, charging their NP-1's from a DC source other than the standard chargers.   

i have the B4B NP-1's with the DC jack and i have the small travel charger (which actually runs on AC).

i would love to use my big four-bay AC charger, but i believe they are trying to avoid using inverters or generators.

 

can you simply tap into, say,  a 12 volt DC source (like a car battery) and get a charge from that?  or do you need some sort of charging circuit for such a DC source?

 

totally new one for me.

cheers,

eric

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http://www.westmountainradio.com/product_info.php?products_id=epic-pwrgate

 

Look into this device. I don’t have personal experience with it but you could in theory create a custom charging program that your NPs would be happy with. Would require some extra research, cable making and leg work on your part but could be just the thing. 

 

Also accepts a PSU input so you could have it switch over to an AC power supply when AC is available. 

 

I think the way way it works is it pulls from whichever source (battery or PSU) has the higher voltage and also keeps your battery charged via solar or the PSU input. 

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15 hours ago, Derek H said:

rad.  this looks promising, in that it seems portable enough, and can handle various DC sources, perhaps whatever the Mothership solar throws at me.   as long as it's not software dependent after initial setup - i don't think i have space for my laptop!

 

i'll give West Mountain a call tomorrow.   thanks, Derek!

 

Jon - indeed i may pack an inverter (or they *might* be packing such already), but my first goal, as this is a very remote and rugged month-long expedition, is to be as efficient as possible, it appears they discourage the DC-AC-DC energy flow, for good reason of course, but yeah - inverters aren't too heavy as a backup.

 

Dalton - that's very appealing and was my first consideration.  i just don't think we have canoe space for my own solar rig.  today i heard that the community solar rig can provide - so i'm focusing on the DC charging aspect to make my share as efficient as possible.

 

cheers, all!

eric

 

 

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I spoke to the IDX folks a few years ago and they discouraged me from trying to charge via DC.  I think it had something to do with circuitry.  I own a Goal Zero Yeti1000 and it is really good; however, it's too heavy for any real back country or lightweight traveling as it weighs about 60 pounds.  The search goes on.

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Just an FYI:

The CH7000 charger from inspired energy will charge smart batteries directly from a solar panel.

 

https://www.inspired-energy.com/products/ch7000/

 

I'm about to get the ch7000 as I have a few field recording projects coming up where I'll be away from AC power for a few days/weeks at a time. 

My friend used to mod RV's so we're going to be installing solar panels etc for my campervan in the next few months. (it's currently spring here in New Zealand)  

  Grant.

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