Music Options / Solar Panels

[Mel D]

What do you all recommend re: music optins for long haul/off road travel?

In my vehicle we have a cassette player fitted but I also have a portable CD player and a MD player. I can attach speakers to either of the portables and will have a reliable power source to run them. Which option do you think will last longer? Either way I have to record a whole lot of cassettes or MDs.

Also, what do you all think about solar panels for a power source? We have a good industry in solar energy here in OZ and can buy panels of varying sizes to put atop a vehicle. They are not overly costly. Does anyone have experience with this, know of anyone who has used them etc?

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[Luke]

Imho I think you're better with portable sound and a basic autoradio; you can always get one of those dummy cassettes with a wire that enables you to listen th CDs on the autoradio. I went the flashy route, CD changer etc. and I just know I'm heading for trouble with dust and vibration. It's great for europe though.
Solar panels, YES! never underestimate the ability of a compressor fridge to flatten batteries. If you are sure to drive every day for a few hours you'll be fine, but if you park up for a few days the battery is soon flat. I've done the sums, a big deep cycle battery has about 100 amp hours of energy, not all of which is usable as the voltage drops (Optimas have less but they're tougher). A fridge equipped with a Danfoss BD35F compressor (that's all of them except the Engels) draws an average 2.5 amps over a 24 hour period, giving you 100/2.5 = 40 hours or less to drain the battery. That's not counting the reading lights, water pump, radio, bug zapper and any other accessories you may have in the caravan.
To compensate for this drain, solar panels are an excellent solution, if they're the right size... more maths. In 24 hours the fridge has consumed 60 amp hours, to break even the solar panel has to put that back in only 7 or 8 hours of daylight. That means it has to furnish about 8 amps, or 96 watts. A panel with that output is about the size of your pickup cab roof (single cab). You'll only get the rated power of a panel if it's pointed directly at the sun, if it's horizontal count on 3/4 of that.
That's a worst case sum; you can do similar sums for smaller panels, which will tell you how often to fire up the engine, or how long you can stay parked. My motorhome has a gas fridge, which doesn't cope well with heat, or being parked on an incline but doesn't drain the batteries.
When you say not overly costly, if they're considerably less than here, I'd be interested in shipping some over. How much is a 120watt panel in OZ?
Gosh that was a bit of an epic; sorry, engineers can go on a bit sometimes.
Happy trails
Luke

[Mel D]

Hi Luke..Thanks for the advice. I will go through my paperwork and if I can find the info on the solar panels I'll let you know. We have two good 4WD monthly magazines here - Overland and 4x4 Monthly. They both have websites and they may have links to their advertisers and supporters...

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http://www.on2anotheradventure.com

[ollieholden]

I've had a Sony CD changer (one of those 10-CD jobbies) in both my Landies, and spent a lot of time on dusty and corrugated tracks and pistes - never missed a beat in 3 years! They are pretty resilient, as long as you put them somewhere they don't get bashed.
I would go for it - those "cassette" plug-ins for a portable CD player are cr@p in my opinion.

[Luke]

Thanks Ollie, I feel encouraged that I made the right decision soundwise. It's quite true you lose a lot of quality with the cassette adapters but the advantage is that you can stash the player somewhere safe and replace it easily, the disadvantage is that it's another thing to float around on the dash.
L

[LandRoverNomad]

This isnt that much of an answer, but in terms of solar power, yes, its used on several overland Land Rovers here in the UK for charging batteries. Ive seen several 130s and a couple of 110s with two-metre and one-metre panels on top. I am looking into it myself though research is on hold until December because Im out of the country. I seem to remember thinking that three 15a panels would give a 45a result, similar therefore to a small alternator, and therefore hunting out the panels in question. The best company for it in the UK is, from memory, called A B Butt, they have the rights to BP Siemens solar products, and this is the latest available in Europe. (From memory! I might be wrong )

I was also looking into a motor drive to rotate the panel during a day at a static camp and keep it 'perpendicular' to the sun and maximise charge.

[ctc]

Re Solar panels I think they are perfect if you intend staying stationary for a period of days.

They can also they provide a useful back-up power generating solution. Having said this the first step before buying a solar panel must be (if not already done) to install a second battery (a cheaper and more practical solution) for all your auxilliary power needs. However if you still decide you need more power then solar panels are great.

I bought the Siemens SR50 18 months ago. Amperage Peak amps 2.95 and volts peak 17. Dimensions 23" by 31". Cost 315USD. I'm very happy with it and it also came with a solar charge controller, which means I can see my battery state at a glance.

You also have the comfort of knowing that with a solar panel you can charge your batteries from flat within 24 hours and have enough to turn the engine over (roughly 32amps)

[Luke]

The device to orient the panels towards the sun is available in France, it costs as much as a big solar panel and is very desirable. It's called Keops, http://www.alden.fr/solaire2.html
You tell it where you are (lat/long) and it calculates the elevation and everything; I think it presumes the vehicle is level. They're tough too, tested on the Paris-Caire rally apparently.
I don't think of the auxiliary battery as a first step, it's essential equipment. But it does drain; for autonomy and independance one could also argue that solar panels are essential. I've read a few travelogues where they spend most of their time with a flat aux battery. Free energy has to be a good thing, shame about the outlay :0
Luke

[Roman]

Originally posted by Luke:
The device to orient the panels towards the sun is available in France, it costs as much as a big solar panel and is very desirable. It's called Keops,

Mine comes fitted as standard, is generally available, costs me nothing and is also VERY desirable. It is called "steering wheel"

:-))




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Roman (UK)
www.polandrover.com

[Chris Scott]

Actually Roman, he did say when he was static didnt he? - but I also find the idea of a rotating panel a bit bizzare. Whatever next or am I missing something?
After all, those motorway-side telephones (in France?) are static - set up at the optimum angle which isnt hard to guess - in bright Sahara sunshine the angle is not critical I am sure.

FYI, I bought my resin set panel in Australia for around 120 quid - size of an ironing board - 45a, very nifty and lighter than a spare alternator.
I also have some BP control/regulator gadget that has some flashing lights and LCD info - cost about 70 quid in the UK - before that I cooked my aux battery when I forgot to switch off.

CS

[roamingyak]

Mel,

I have gone for minidisc because although its a slight pain to copy all of your cd's to md, at least if your truck gets thrashed in a blaze of fire or they get stolen, you still have your cd collection sitting at home safely.
(I guess it depends on how many you have and how importent it is to you. I have 700+ cd's and find music is a great companion when your feeling a bit lonely or your fellow companions are not worthy of listening too ;-)

I have the cheapest (sony) md head unit I could find, and then got a 6 disc multi changer to hang off it. I should probably have bought a cassette tape unit as its cheaper. I treat the head unit as somewhat disposable as it's prone to dust and heat etc, but the 6 disc unit I have securely protected (as well as you can) and so if the head unit goes, its a matter of trying to find any other sony head unit to replace it.

The other advantage of your md portable is that it might be recordable? If so, get a expensive mic and record a few things as you go. It's great fun and good for your website (mp3 it etc - see www.minidisc.org etc)

There's my rant on md! :-)

ps: Can you send me a solar panel :-)

[Mel D]

Hmmmm....sounds like MD is the way to go. I have a small player (actually it's big as far as MDs go - I've had it for a few years so it's a bit of a dinosaur really) but it can record, I can attach speakers and so on. I just have to spend the next year or so copying my many hundreds (not quite 700) of CDs onto MD.

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[roamingyak]

Yeah, it can take a while, but it's a good excuse to listen to those old records from the 80's and wonder why you bought them ;-)

How much are blank md's over there? They are only about 65p here.

I have a Sony cd/md unit combined unit at home that does 4 speed dubbing (for sale in a few months!), so it takes less than 15 minutes for most cd's, pretty much a perfect recording and 700 md's are easier to carry than 700 cd's ;-). The unit was 200 quid here, so its not exactly top of the range.

All of the newer md units have 'long play' mode, this compresses the recording and makes it sound very tinny, so older md players are just fine. And the bigger older style ones are far more solid - perfect for travelling.

Hope that helps....

[Mel D]

Mds are about $16.00 for a pack of 5, so, divide, multiply etc etc that comes out at about 1 quid each.

[IanC]

Forget about CD or MD!

18 months ago I bought a Creative Digital Audio Player (aka Nomad [apprporiate name!]), which held about 1500 tracks/150 CD's as MP3's on it's 6GB laptop-type hardrive.

I've just flogged it to a mate and upgraded to a 20GB version, Jukebox 3, (= 5000 tracks or 500 CD's), althought they even do one double this size! Not bad, 10,000 tracks, for a device smaller than a discman! (Oh where will it all end - they didn't have things like that when I was a boy...)

You never need to (or can) open it, so no dust/sand can get in. You would of course need to use a cassette-type adapter in a 4-wheel vehicle. Mine is normally self-adhesive-velcroed to the tank of my bike, with a power lead in and audio out to intercom helmet earphones.

Takes about 5-10 mins to "rip" and transfer an entire CD to it via. USB (or Firewire on top-of-range model), depending on computer speed.

Might seem a little pricey, but what would your CD collection cost (or space be consumed), or even MD's or cassettes?

Quality (build and sound) is excellent, although any compressed audio format is going to lose a bit from the CD, but far better than cassette - virtually un-noticable to most people. It's been on my tank from Somerset (UK) down to Nouadhibou and back in sandstorms etc. no problems.

Have a look at:

http://uk.europe.creative.com/produc...ry.asp?cate=10

http://australia.creative.com/produc...udio/jukebox3/

There are a few choices, don't go for one of the small non HD solid-state types.

[This message has been edited by IanC (edited 16 November 2002).]