Solar, Generator or ?

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:


But Kudos with a capital K on your lens grinding. That impresses me to no end. Who did the coating if I do may be rude to ask?

A friend of mine who has a coating business in Sudbury Ontario Canada called MOONWARD Vacuum Coatings. I did the grinding all by hand I must say, it took me nearly two years on and off then drove 8 hours for him to do the testing and coating.

My knees are knocking and I'm whimpering.

Crystal Skies To You Amigo.

(now to figure out a way to use fiber optics and a laptop for control and image capture...) My warranty has run out so your treasure has to remain on the perpetual wishlist.

But Kudos with a capital K on your lens grinding. That impresses me to no end. Who did the coating if I do may be rude to ask?

Here's a photo of me with my 16in f/6 telescope

Chew and spit time.
Refer to the BatteryMINDER sale in the forum list. Buy one. You can sure use one no matter what.

Cheapest RV battery. Costco, Sams, Wal-Mart. Connect a cheap set of jumper cables from new battery to existing battery.

Have a ball on your outing.

When you get home, charge to the eyeballs then stuff the extra battery in a corner, plug in and connect the batteryMINDER, then forget about it until the next outing. Do check water in between times, though.

When your existing battery dies, you have a battery ready to rock n roll. A coddled unworked RV battery will last 7-10 years or even longer. Coddled means batteryMinder or Battery Tender maintained.

Smart money does not work 3 days a year. Smart money either works or stays ready to work. A four year old worked RV battery isn't exactly a spring chicken.

icanon wrote:
My battery is two years old will be three next summer, willing to change for two batteries. Deciding on which and what batteries to go with? Keep in mind this is a 3 - 4 day adventure and for minimum TT use as I don't need much.

Since your requirements are minimal, as are mine, there's no need to replace your "just fine" current battery at all ... keep it, buy a second of your choice, and operate them sequentially, running the first one 'til it's ~ 50% drawn down then switch to the second. JMO, but too many here on the forums tend to exaggerate the need for battery reserve in large quantity ... fine for those who dry camp a lot, expect to run a lot of devices each day, and have invested a considerable sum in a solar setup for recharging those batteries but for the rest of us this approach can often lead to unnecessary expenditure. For just a couple of trips a year, each trip just 3 - 4 days duration, it sounds to me like you're the ideal candidate for K.I.S.S. ;)

Also, I have a 16” Dobson telescope that I made myself, yes mirror and all.

IMPRESSIVE! Jealous as all get-out!

Thanks for all the replies. It's been really helpful.

Double post

korbe wrote:
We have 2 Trojan 6-volt total 225 amp hour batteries. When my wife and I boondock in the summer months, and in conserve mode, we can enjoy our time using about 20 amps per day, about 10%. After about 6 days, it's time to recharge the batteries, dump the tanks and refill the fresh water tank.

This is my experience also. After 7 days batteries are at 50%,60 gals of water is gone unless I use backpacker tricks, and laundry needs to be done. For 4 days and minimal battery use as you described I would just use what you have and when it is time to replace buy two 6v GC batteries.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi icanon,

There's the rub. Unless the existing battery is nearly new, then adding an additional one may be a problem. That means replacing both.

For small capacity battery banks 1.5 watts of solar per amp-hour of storage would be a good point to aim at.

icanon wrote:
Doug, adding another battery sounds good to me, could you suggest make and model?

Thanks pianotuna

My battery is two years old will be three next summer, willing to change for two batteries. Deciding on which and what batteries to go with? Keep in mind this is a 3 - 4 day adventure and for minimum TT use as I don't need much.