Here’s a list of the electronic items I plan to take to EBC and the methods of keeping them running!

Canon 50d

9x batteries @ 1,800 mAh each

I’m planning on taking the 50d, 16-35mm 2.8 L, 70-200mm f4 IS & the Peleng 8mm. Power wise, I’ll be taking 8 third party batteries and 1 original canon. Each is rated at anything between 100-800 shots (depending on temperature).

The main issue is whether the batteries will die with the cold temperatures..

Forerunner 405

300 mAh internal battery

The forerunner will be used for distance tracking, pace & altitude via GPS. It’s rated for 10 hours GPS usage from each charge.

The Forerunner can log 18,000 data points (or 20 hours worth of data) in track format, at a data point every 4 seconds. After this, data is summarized into distance/time/speed. Without the ability to the change the data capture rate, I’m planning to use the I-Gotu to capture the track of the entire route as the Forerunner won’t be able to store the entire route.

Garmin Forerunner 405 at Amazon.

I-Gotu GPS data logger

240 mAh internal battery.

The I-Gotu data logger from mobile action can store 16,000 co-ordinates, the new model the GT-120 can store 65,000. They’re both rated at 20 hours of GPS usage at 15 second logging interval, this will roughly have to be charged 6-7 times to store the entire 18 day route. Both of these can be connected to a laptop via  cradle to provide GPS guidance, or be run standalone.

The GT-100 can be found quite cheaply, with the GT-120 being a bit more. There is also a bluetooth GT-200 that can connect to a laptop to provide GPS guidance.

Zen Vision W 60gb

1650 mAh removable battery.

This will be used as an extra backup device for storing/copying photos. With a built in CF card slot it can copy photos directly off a CF card (including RAWs). Although, with the cost of CF cards, this will nearly be defunct. (Two 16gb cards, one 4gb, one 2gb and one 1gb card will be taken).

This probably won’t need to be recharged, but if it does need to be recharged, in the case of music/video, it will be the most effort of all the devices to charge.

Zen Stone+

250mAh internal battery

I wasn’t originally going to take this, but for the size, I think I will.. just in case.

Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 Player With In-Built Speaker – Black

Charging

Solar Charging

After initially looking at portable USB power supplies to charge the various devices, I came across solar charged power packs, for a decent price.

Each of the above devices (apart from the 50d) can recharge off regular USB power, which can be provided by a portable USB supply, or a solar charged battery. The 50d could also be possibly be charged this way with a small voltage step-up circuit, as 8.4volts is required, rather than 5v/USB power.

The devotec and solio both charge to full in 6-12 hours depending on sunlight whereas the Freeloader can charge in under 4hours (also due to a lower capacity battery). I decided on the devotec due to price and battery life.

After looking at various devices, the devotec solar charger seemed to be the best deal.

The details of various devices I looked at:

Devotec Solar, 1800 mAh, 80mA from solar cell ~£25-30

Battech Ipower, 2200 mAh, 80mA from solar cell, ~£40-£45

Solio Classic, 1650 mAh, 80mA from solar cell ~£40-55

Freeloader Globetrotter, 1000 mAh, 120 mA from solar cell ~£35-50

After fully charging the devotec solar charger (6-12 hours of sunlight) it can provide the following:
2 full recharges of the I-gotu &
2 full recharges of the Forerunner 405 &
2 full recharges of the Zen stone
Or
1 full recharge of the Vision W

In theory anyhow, under ideal conditions. I’d be more than happy if it did 1/3 of that per recharge…