Psychaesthetic
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Posts posted by Psychaesthetic
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Yeah that occurred to me as I was typing the message, the fact there's no actual illumination in an LCD screen, (though I assume the Oregon utilizes something more advqnced than just LCD, OLED? .. I'm not sure Garmin state what the exact tech is, outside of "Transflective" but yeah when the unit's switched off, the screen of course is grey - not black.
So my suspicion is that all the colours on a transflective screen cost the same amount of power, because they're - I assume - all just liquid crystal and colour doesn't have any relevance to power used?
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I roll my eyes at the idea of programmable headlamps, eg with apps to program the behavior. Had a bad experience with a bike headlight that tried to be "smart". In very cold weather, the batteries were struggling a bit to produce power even though they were fully charged. I knew they would warm up soon and start gushing it out. But the stupid headlamp thought the batts were almost dead, and switched into super-dim "limp home" mode. Gah - I need light to get home safely! I returned it for a "dumb" model that I'm happy with. The company, BTW, is located in warm Vancouver, where they probably never thought of cold temperatures as an issue.
My other comment, I had a Black Diamond Storm headlamp that was absurdly complicated to operate. (How DO you design a user interface with 18 functions - a number I'm guessing at - and only one button?) Many functions are multiple button presses, and timed carefully. Too slow or too quick, and you'll get the wrong mode. I kept getting the flashing mode, which I detest. Thankfully, the thing died completely one day, allowing me to take it back. In its place I got a much simpler model that just puts out bright light and doesn't, ahem, require a quick-reference card and a thorough reading of the manual.
So why does every documentary adventurist seem to always have a Petzl strapped to their heada? I know companies sponsor all manner of programs, and probably supply documentary makers with all the batteries and products than wil need for the trip free, but reviews online are also very favorable for Petzl gear, so it seems like too much good press to just be marketting.
I too hate the one-button setup though. I have an ordinary headlamp that has only three settings (high/low/flashing) and it's a pretty clumbsy way of dealing with the light, I agree. 18 functions are what, 6x worse I suppose
most irritating is you *have* to cycle right through to switch it off. -
Okay so the first time I used these batteries, I got about 20 hours before the O650 started complaining they were too low.
The settings were set to maximize battery life, but I still used it plenty while walking around looking for caches with the dog, including some 50+ 8MP photos of the dog while we were at one of the parks where she could chase birds etc. I snapped, reviewed, and deleted photos on the device, all the while having auto-route blinking and beeping away at me to turn on whatever street was coming up.
This time, once their're fully charged I will leave the GPSrs screen in "Night Mode", since so far I've had it perma-set on Day because I like that better. Other than the screen colour-scheme no other settings will be changed. GLONASS: 0, Birds: 0, screen timer set to 1 minute with the backlight completely off.
I'm curious to see whether the LCD itself will use less energy displaying mostly dark colours instead of light, since really, the darker the colours, the less power is used. I know phones and tablets use less power with dark colourschemes - black being best since every black pixel is a pixel turned off, so I'll add the on/off and reported charge % here, for curiosities sake.
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Energizer's 2600 mAh batteries are not low discharge, so unless you take a freshly charged pair and use them constantly to the end, a lot of the battery's capacity is lost while idle. Eneloops have an extremely low self-discharge rate which is why you can charge them and leave them on the shelf for months and come back to using them without need for a top-off. The discharge rate on the XX aren't quite as slow as the regular 1900mAh white eneloops, but it's better than any Energizer battery you're going to buy.
In the end, you get maybe an extra 2-3 hours of usage in a GPS with the XX than you do with the regular Eneloops. They don't have as long of a shelf life, and don't last as many recharge cycles. That 30% increase in use time comes at a 100% increase in cost. That is, you can buy an 8-pack of Eneloops for the same price as a 4-pack of Eneloop XX. So unless you NEED that extra bit of capacity, you're better off buying more of the regular eneloops and bringing along an extra set whenever you go out.
In any circumstances, I would much prefer a longer-lofe battery than one that recharges 10,000 times.
The XX's I got the other day are 2550mAhs, and state up to 500 cycles, which doesn't aound much comparatively, but seriously we're talking about $20 a 4-pack.
Break it down a different way, that's two-thousand 2550mAh batteries for $20. Comparing the lifespan of the higher Ah batteries to the lower is splitting hairs when you think about how much a good battery will give you before it's days are up.
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Old Primus = white gas, right. (I think.)
I've heard good things about the Jetboil. Me, I'm happy with my MSR Simmerlite, a very light white-gas stove. It takes finesse to start, and adjusting for a simmer is a challenge, but lordy, a little fuel goes a long way. (On the last 5-day hike, I only used half the fuel I carried. But you do want some in reserve, of course.)
PS, the longer the trip, the more the equation might tilt in favour of white gas. Another fuel bottle vs multiple extra canisters; the latter might be heavier for the same BTUs. But I'm guessing.
Yeah BTUs, they're what matter most to me. I'll be out there for weeks, and although there are plenty of camping stores in towns within walking distance, obviously I want to carry as little as possible, and at around 1hour per cannister the JetBoil sounds pretty greedy. The fact the cooking vessel twists right onto it and maximizes heat is good, but I'll certainly have to be quick if ai want one cannister to last.
It's all made more difficult - these days - to choose the most suitable tool for any application, since there are so many options, and so much bulls&@% comes out of all the manufacturers. Maybe I should look into the white-stove and fuel combo. I'll start by finding out what they're called here in Australia, if not white-gas.
We got all manner of gases and solvents here, but as is often the case, the terms for the different fuels is different here.
Sorry about not repling earlier, but life gets in the way sometimes.
MSR (Mountain Safety Research) has a couple of multi-fuel stoves that work on white gas, unleaded auto fuel, aviation fuel or kerosene - they are great for world travelers since what fuel is where is the question (white gas is common in the USA but Africa is another story). Most of them can use their own fuel to pre-heat them, just do it outside the tent (kerosene is the most difficult to ignite, you may have to carry something else to pre-heat it). I have their WisperLight stove and it fold up and packs in a small cook pot (1/2 - 3/4 liter). It'll boil a liter of water in about 4 minutes (half the time of many cannister stoves) and I can get down to a simmer (took some practice). One guideline I've seen says 2 oz of fuel per day per person, so a quart (32oz - about 1L) should last you just over two weeks (standard size fuel bottle, easy to carry and refill on you town trips).
Orite, so I want to look at a multi-fuel stove as the number one criteria then? Whilst shopping? (I order all these sorts of things online, because they're *always* cheaper for the same thing, and most of the models you'll find so easily online have to be specially ordered in a retail store. I can actual foresee a time in the not too diatant future where food is the only thing sold in bricks & mortar shops, since the lack of choice and overpricing makes it a bot silly to shop there)
600mL's for a week is pretty good. I'll have a couple of BIC lighters, a sparkstick and waxed matches as backup, so getting a flame to light with won't be an issue. A turbo-jet lighter might be good to have too, now i think of it, aince they're weatherproof and targetted.
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I *wish* there were Premium caches around here: I'd feel like there'd be some reason to maintain a subscription. Instead zi got like, 20 caches within a few Km, then zi gotta get in the car to go find any more, and none of them are prem's.
*sigh*
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$3 a month, geez it's so small an amount it hardly seems worth stopping to post about.
Edit: Maybe they're really good caches, too?
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Old Primus = white gas, right. (I think.)
I've heard good things about the Jetboil. Me, I'm happy with my MSR Simmerlite, a very light white-gas stove. It takes finesse to start, and adjusting for a simmer is a challenge, but lordy, a little fuel goes a long way. (On the last 5-day hike, I only used half the fuel I carried. But you do want some in reserve, of course.)
PS, the longer the trip, the more the equation might tilt in favour of white gas. Another fuel bottle vs multiple extra canisters; the latter might be heavier for the same BTUs. But I'm guessing.
Yeah BTUs, they're what matter most to me. I'll be out there for weeks, and although there are plenty of camping stores in towns within walking distance, obviously I want to carry as little as possible, and at around 1hour per cannister the JetBoil sounds pretty greedy. The fact the cooking vessel twists right onto it and maximizes heat is good, but I'll certainly have to be quick if ai want one cannister to last.
It's all made more difficult - these days - to choose the most suitable tool for any application, since there are so many options, and so much bulls&@% comes out of all the manufacturers. Maybe I should look into the white-stove and fuel combo. I'll start by finding out what they're called here in Australia, if not white-gas.
We got all manner of gases and solvents here, but as is often the case, the terms for the different fuels is different here.
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With white gas appliances (anything from 2-burner Coleman stoves to lightweight MSR backpacking stoves to gas lanterns), you pressurize the fuel source, which pushes liquid fuel into the tube toward the burner. The tube passes through the flame, the heat causing the fuel to turn into gas while still in the tube. The vaporized fuel then flows out to the burner where it combusts.
These things can be tricky to get started - you have to "prime" or heat the fuel tube via other means - but they're really efficient once going.
So the old brass Primus stoves I have gathering dust (which are too bulky to take, and old enough to be dangerous looking anyhow) are the kind of stove you're talking about? They have a pump "rod" that slides in and out (haw!), and I assume is meant to pressurize the fuel goes in them.
I've been considering the Jetboil Flash system, since it's just a twist-on thermal mug-like bowl and cannister, and not only doesn't require additional pots etc, it also looks as though it shelters the flame and claims to maximize heating efficiency. They cannisters (well one) can be stored inside the cooking bowl, and refills are only $5/100gm fuel.
If I went with a canister stove, that'd certainly be the one I'd go with. Even has a handle and neoprene cover to insulate whatever you're heating, and says you can carry the mug around while it's cooking.
Pocket rockets by comparison, seem to be just stove-tops screwed to a cannister.
Edit: ipad onscreen keyboard. Makes me look illiterate.
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They've just given the "low battery" warning, having been on 20 hours all up, so that's not bad for one pair of NiMh's.
I hoped they'd last-out the day and hit the 30 hour mark, but had a feeling they'd discharge pretty suddenly towards the end, which they did. Wish they made 10,000mAh Eloops!
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What about a Petzl headlight? I realize they're not as cheap as standard flashlights and torches, but they automatically adjust their lumen output to the activity you're engaging in (close-up, distance, wide-beam and focused) and you don't have to carry them.
They also run on teir own Li-Ion battery, recharge from any usb adapter and can be programmed via OS: Petzl's app lets you configure the torch/lamp on a laptop/PC.
A model with these features will start at $130, no doubt cheaper if you google it, but they appear to be the standard for expedition-grade personal lighting.
To each their own, I guess. I looked briefly at the Petzl Nao, and concluded it was way more complicated that it was worth. Unfortunately, the Petzl adjusts to position, and not circumstances. If I'm climbing over obstacles in the trail (i.e. rocks, trees etc) I've pretty much got my head down, and I want a REALLY bright light to see what I'm doing. When I'm walking on flat trail, I'm content with a lower setting on the beam, where the only thing I'm watching out for is an occasional rock or root.
I've pretty much resigned to a two light set up. I carry a small high lumen light in my hand, for those pesky obstacle issues, or where I'm lighting the path ahead (...is that a coyote or a mountain lion?). I have the Princeton Apex for my general use, although I'm looking to replace it with a newer model, preferably with enough battery life to make it through the night.
Allll about the burn time. I don't own a Petzl myself either, but looking for a decent light myself for an upcoming trip I've looked into different headlanmps, tourches and area-lighting/lanterns. Most torches seem to be pretty traditional in their operation, turn em on, use em till they're flat, get fresh batteries in em and repeat.
I don't *know* how complicated the Petzls are, but having hands-free auto-adjustment and the ability to maximize burn-time through settings to the light's OS app certainly makes it sound more advanced than most lights. Course, i wouldn't have even know such a brand existed if I hadn't seen it in every adventure show for the past 10 years
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Why are Eneloops so hard to find in local retail stores? I have looked in every big box store, electronics store and battery store in my area and none of them carry the Eneloops.
I'd order them online if I couldn't get them locally. The Eneloop XX 2550mAh's I've just bought are still at approx. 50% charge in my Oregon after 17 hours on. Any other Eneloops would be perfectly fine too.
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Yeah I'll go out on a limb happily and recommend Eneloops. The XX's are i pressing me majorly.
The i portant thing it seems, is to not just grab Energizers because you know the brand, and *know* that all batteries are most definately *not* created equally. I have some Varta 2100mAh quick charge AA NiMhs that - even fully charged - on,y last 4-5 hours, which is just deplorable.. Useless.
I have found thst Energizer NiMh's are just as bad, they charge fast enough, but go flat just as fast, and I suspect there are plenty of 2500-3000mAh batteries that are just as rubbish.
Better off with 1800mAh of great battery, than 30,000mAh of garbage, and there's not even much difference in price, it's just a matter of locating the better brands, and resisting the urge to grab whatever's easiest.
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Well the first cycle with the Eloop XX's is going pretty well.
Last night, at 7:00pm I inserted the fully charged batteries and switched the 650 on. At 12:30am it was switched off at bedtime, having been on the whole 5.5 hours.
This morning at 11:00am I turn the unit on, and for several hours is sat on my desk before I took it to the shop with me, then had a break when I got back for an hoir or so until about 3:30pm when I took the dog for a 2 hour caching doggie-walk. The whole two hours we used auto-routing to navigate to the GZeroes, and all up i took somewhere around 50 8mp Geotagged photos while we were out, mostly of her running around the park where one of the caches was located.
The entire 2 hours, also, we had Tracking set to maximum points, without auto-stop, so there are 1500+ track points over the entire 6.3km walk there and back.
We got back aboit 20 minutes ago, and the ti e now is (looks) 6:17pm. Battery charge (according to the indicator) is still 4/4 bars, so close enough to full.
Recapping, that's 5.5 hours last night, and almost 7.5 hours (with heavy use) today for a total of 13 hours and it still reports fully charged. I *do* expect it will drop a bar soon, but even then that's pretty impressive battery life considering it still has almost full charge, so I'll leave it on until bedtime again tonight and see how long we get before reaching the 25% or 1/4 bars level.
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What about a Petzl headlight? I realize they're not as cheap as standard flashlights and torches, but they automatically adjust their lumen output to the activity you're engaging in (close-up, distance, wide-beam and focused) and you don't have to carry them.
They also run on teir own Li-Ion battery, recharge from any usb adapter and can be programmed via OS: Petzl's app lets you configure the torch/lamp on a laptop/PC.
A model with these features will start at $130, no doubt cheaper if you google it, but they appear to be the standard for expedition-grade personal lighting.
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Source? You talking about the StoreDot article? There are certain physics rules that won't be denied. In order to charge that quickly, their battery chemistry will still require that the cell/battery device and charger utilize conductors capable of handling an ENORMOUS amount of current. Should be entertaining to see how that is managed.Apparently, they have uncovered a new battery tech thst allows a battery to be fully charged in 30 seconds.
Assume device is 2000mAh. Charge in 30 seconds, and assuming 100% efficiency = 2A x 120 = 240A.
Nah The Feed, a news show on SBS. Their site is sbs.com.au, though you'd need to watch a half our show for the segment, whichw asn't very long, but SBS news is pretty reliable.
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Yeah, with how many good quality rechargeable AA cells are out there, I'm surprised Garmin even bothered spending R&D money creating their own proprietary battery pack. And one that has to charge in the GPS unit itself, no less. I'm always leery of manufacturers who want to charge batteries inside a device -- it's just that much more costly if something gets fried.
I'd be keen if they were Lithium Polymer, or at least a good pair of 2500+mAh cells, but 2K is not really worth getting upset about when better batt's are only $20/4-pack
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The avatars this half of the page are like a doggy day-care
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Pshycaesthetic is not the only person that have said the rechargeable pack that comes with the Oregon leaves alot to be desired....I have googled some reviews and it seems to be a.common theme with owners...
Not even close to a.deal breaker but it is just another reason for me to stick with the 600 since I dont really want the camera..
I saw a news story last night that could make such things as charging no longer an issue anyhow.
Apparently, they have uncovered a new battery tech thst allows a battery to be fully charged in 30 seconds. *thirty seconds* can you imagine thst? They say they aim to have it in the market within 2 years.
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OMFG WHAT A CUTE DOG!!
heh, heh, heh.... That's Thea, she never fails to bring a smile to my face !
Here's a link to another funny rascal:
Dog's are just the best animals on the planet, I reakon.
Nothin funny about a cat! But dogs, ah yes.. Cutest of the cute
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I got myself a mynxy shewolf who does the same to me!
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Pshycaesthetic is not the only person that have said the rechargeable pack that comes with the Oregon leaves alot to be desired....I have googled some reviews and it deems to be a.common theme with owners...
Not even close to a.deal breaker but it is just another reason for me to stick with the 600 since I dont really want the camera..
Yeah it's an issue bypassed completely with any good quality rechargables, so it doesn't bother me how bad the garmin pack is, since good, higher capacity NiMh's are readily available.
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The pack that came with mine sure does. i get about 4 hoirs from an 8 hour full charge, compared to the Eneloop 1900mAh, ehich tive me up to yeah 17, but not less than a whole day.
Other posters here have said theirs hold a charge much better, and that I should send it back for an exchange, which I moght, but for now i'm pretty happy with Eneloops, and can easily stick a small flat bit of plastic in the battery compartment to charge them from USB just like garmin's pack.
So some people have no issues, I do. Even with the same settings as the Eloops use, the Garmin pack barely makes it through a single 2km walk .
8 Hours? I'm not sure about consumer sized like you're using, so that might be normal, but I can charge a 1.7V battery in 20 minutes through USB, or 7.2 5000 MaH in 30minutes. Just curious though-do you recharge the batteries only when they are completely empty, or is there still some power in them? The reason I ask is that depending on the chemistry, some batteries will have a memory. So if you keep charging them before they are empty, they hold less charge. For example if you only discharge it half way before recharging, it will only hold half the charge. If you recharge after only using 10% it will only hold that %10. Occasionally is ok, but doing it all the time will ruin them. It won't happen with LiPo(which you aren't using) and happens less with other lithium types, or NiMh. But with NiCad-well that's pretty likely.
Too much BatteryGeek Magazine for you Bro!
I am not talking about NiCads, or Lithium Ions, OR "turbo" NiMhs here. The discussion was about GLONASS costing battery charge, and how I *stopped* using Garmin's battery pack because the one I got sucked. Garmin's Siamese battery pack doesn't have a turbo option, it's a standard 2000mAh NiMh that can only be charged via USB, whether that cable plugs into the wall plug or a laptop, the battery stays in the device while it charges.
Have you seen or handled the Garmin Battery Pack in question?
If so, you'd already know it doesn't come with a turbo-charger, you plug in to charge via USB, and that's that. Both cells are flipped on one another so you cannot charge it in a standard AA cradle even if you want to, since they - generally - only charge in multiples of two and since the Garmin Pack is joined siamese-style, yeah. Go have a look at the batteries we're talking about here, and tell me how you would get them charged at a faster rate than several hours.
That's about 8 hours using Garmins own 1000mA wall charger mind you, since there's no other way to charge them without at least destroying your Guarantee.
Anyone can charge their mobile phone's lithium ion in half an hour, but Li-Ions - sadly - are absolutely irrelevant to the Oregon 6xx series GPSr!
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I have heard that the rechargeable battery pack from Garmin is junk.....
The pack that came with mine sure does. i get about 4 hoirs from an 8 hour full charge, compared to the Eneloop 1900mAh, ehich tive me up to yeah 17, but not less than a whole day.
Other posters here have said theirs hold a charge mich better, and that I should send it back for an exchange, which I moght, but for now i'm pretty happy with Eneloops, and can easily stick a small flat bit of plastic in the battery compartment to charge them from USB just like garmin's pack.
So some people have no issues, I do. Even with the same settings as the Eloops use, the Garmin pack barely makes it through a single 2km walk .
Why don't you call Garmin and get it exchanged rather than repeatedly post that it's junk? Give them a chance to send you a new one first.
Because i don't care aboit their battery pack really, since I've got good batteries that do the job .
I didn't post that it's junk, well i did, but I stipulated that other users have stated that their batt-packs aren't junk.
I didn't buy the GPSr for the free battery pack anyway so *shrug*, the unit itself's pretty good at what it does, so the battery is irrelevant. I will send it back eventually anyway, because Garmin - like every business - should be held to account for their product, But 8'm not exactly jonesin for the replacement pack.
most irritating is you *have* to cycle right through to switch it off.
Oregon 650 Battery testing & personal observations
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I'm trying to settle on the settings that'll give me the must bang per recharge cycle, really, and even on low the backlight shortens the life-span a bit, though in daylight the screen reflects so well you can't even perceive the backlight when set to 100%, so there's no reason whatsoever to use the b/light except in darkness, and wven then, a tiny wattage LED keychain light will illuminate the screen without any issues.
Mm. Interesting.