Power

[BobT]

Hi All,

Some advice from those in the know would be much appreciated.  My BRe has no electrics and for the moment 99% of my sailing is day trips.  However I would like to be independent for 3 days so I need to be able to power/recharge: my tablet (charts), my VHF handheld (Standard Horizon) and my mobile phone.  No night sailing is intended but I would look to take some battery powered ones just in case.

I have seen Ring Powerpacks eg RPP170 that provides: USB socket, Mains socket and 12V socket which looks to fit the bill and they do 17Ah or 33Ah but have no idea if they would last. Does anyone have any experience of these or similar?

Regards,
Bob

[Graham W]

Bob,

To work out how much battery capacity you need to power your electrics for three days, you have to calculate how many times you will recharge each device.

So for a tablet being used as a GPS/navigation tool, power consumption is high and you would probably need to recharge each day.  An iPad being recharged from empty at 12V requires approximately 40-60Wh, so for three days you might need up to 180Wh.  Your phone and VHF would be on top of this.  Let's say your total requirements are 300Wh over three days.  To provide that much power from a 12V battery pack, you need something that is rated at a minimum of 25Ah (12V x 25Ah = 300Wh).

So you would need the 33Ah version of the the Ring gadget that you mention, rather than the 17Ah.  One word of caution on the Ring gadgets is that despite the power sockets that they incorporate, I think that they're really designed for jump-starting cars.  I don't know how good they would be at delivering a charge consistently over several hours.  Perhaps someone who has owned one can comment.

[Rob Johnstone]

I used an Ipad 2 as the chartplotter on Vagbond and found that I had to charge is almost completely every evening (at a local pub) after a full day (12 hours) of use. In the end, once I had left all the pointy bits behind after leaving "port" in the morning, I turned the ipad off and steered an approximate compass course until we came near something interesting (or I was lost). This enabled me to eke out the ipad battery life for about 3 days when I was really away from civilisation.

[Rory C]

Hi Bob,
I have a similar (preferred) lack of fixed electrical systems. I use a Nexus 7 tablet for chart plotting but like Rob use eyeball for most of the time and turn it on only when needed. I have just bought a Poweradd Pilot X7 20,000mAh Portable Universal External Power Bank from Amazon and being significantly heavier than my 16,000 mAh original back up that will recharge the Nexus at least 3 times I think I'll be covered for a week with care. They'll  recharge my iPhone simultaneously though I only have that turned on occasionally and not if there is no signal. (the phone seems to work very hard when searching for one). I've also bought a spare battery for my icom VHF which will be kept for emergency use only.
Rory

[BobT]

Thank you all,

The tablet and phone don't appear to be much of a problem with a power bank. The VHF is the trickier. At 7.5v and no USB charging socket I have not seen a power bank that will charge it hence my looking at a power supply with inverter. My VHF gives me about 8hrs on a charge and I like to have her on the whole time on the water so that's about a DAY. For me I would not be comfortable that one replacement battery would not be enough.

My original question now is refined to how to charge a 7.5v Standard Horizon handheld VHF.

Regards,
Bob

[IanEagland]

Hi Bob

You don't mention the model but I see some Standard Horizon have a 12volt charger available.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Horizon-Cigarette-Lighter-Except/dp/B001E8FA8Y

You would need a cigarette lighter socket connected to your 12 volt battery. Something like this:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FUSED-12v-Accessory-Cigarette-Lighter-Power-Socket-Kit-/180502761187

[Jonathan Stuart]

I have a Tracer Lipo 22AH battery and it lasts a good long time (sorry for being vague, but it's days) recharging phones and the VHF and running a ballast pump.

I also have a Standard Horizon VHF - model HX870E - and bought a 12v cradle for that (Standard Horizon part) and it charges the VHF fine from the Tracer.

All works very well and I recommend this setup.

To preserve phone battery turn off mobile data or, if you have no signal or don't care about calls, put it in airplane mode. That makes a huge difference. Useful if you need to access stuff on your phone despite it having no signal.

[Graham W]

Like Jonathan, I have a Tracer lithium battery and would also recommend it despite the substantial extra cost.  It is very light (3kg vs the Ring gadget's 14kg) and stands up quite well to the marine environment, being "waterproof".  I'm not convinced that it's anything more than splash-resistant but it's certainly better than most.  Here's a link http://www.tracerpower.com/lifepo4-12v-24ah-battery-pack.html

My Icom M91D VHF can be charged in its mains cradle, but at 12V, by using a different lead attached to the battery.  You just need to match up the output voltage and current of the mains transformer, which in Icom's case is 12V at 0.5A.  It sounds like this may not be possible with the Standard Horizon if it uses 7.5V.  In which case, as Ian and Jonathan suggest, buy a 12V cradle (or 12V adapter that plugs into the mains cradle) that will step down the voltage to 7.5V.

[BobT]

Thanks all again,

My transceiver is the HX851E (older version of Johnathan's I think) which on the Standard Horizon (SH) web site does not have a cigarette lighter power lead listed as an accessory. It comes with an AC adapter and cradle. Looking at its AC adapter it outputs at 12V 0.5A. The charge cradle input is DC12-16V 200mA and its output is DC8.4V 170mA.  This would suggest to me that a generic 12V input to the cradle would be OK.  I have emailed SH so will see what they say.

I see the Tracer has a cigarette lighter accessory, to get USB devices connected do you plug a USB adaptor into this or do something different?

Regards,
Bob

[IanEagland]

This sort of thing:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifetime-Warranty-RAVPower-Charging-Protection/dp/B00Q2GFP4M/ref=sr_1_1?s=telephone&ie=UTF8&qid=1493914828&sr=1-1

You can get cheaper on ebay but I like amazons warranty.

[Jonathan Stuart]

Any 12v connection to your cradle should work fine as long as the connector's polarity is right, etc. However, Standard Horizon do a 12v connector for your VHF's cradle:

http://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/en/gb/Standard-Horizon-Cigarette-Lighter-12v-Charger-Cable/m-3274.aspx

[BobT]

Just confirmed with Standard Horizon that my HX815E cradle can take a 12v input.  They did say some cradles were 10.4?v.  He advised an in line fuse and warned that the jack that goes into the side of the cradle is likely to be a Japanese spec (with yellow tip) and there are very similar UK speck jacks that appear to fit but will not work if plugged into the cradle.
Regards,
Bob

[Andy Dingle]

My Standard Horizon HX270e - admittedly a good few years old now - came with the 12v 'cigarette lighter' input as well as the mains plug, either can be used on the cradle.
Both do have the yellow tipped plug - picture attached.

It also came with an extremely useful back plate adapter that can be fitted carrying 6 AA batteries when all else fails, Something I've not seen on any other hand held radio.

The 12 v adapter lead doesn't seem to have a part number or any other markings on it so I suspect it may be a generic one. But if you want some help with polarity or measurements etc happy to do so..

Regards

Andy

[Peter Taylor]

He ... warned that the jack that goes into the side of the cradle is likely to be a Japanese spec (with yellow tip) and there are very similar UK speck jacks that appear to fit but will not work if plugged into the cradle.

That may explain a long standing puzzle I've had concerning my Icom handheld radio. I made up a lead to charge it in from Seatern's 12V supply but, although everything seemed to work, an ammeter showed that radio was not charging. I ended up having to buy the expensive Icom adapter cable. I quizzed Icom about it at the boat show a couple of year's ago but they could not explain my problem.
Peter

[BobT]

Thanks one and all for your input I now have a way ahead should I start overnighting in "Escape". Ref sailing lights having done some reading and reviews of battery powered navigation lights. I have come to the conclusion that a good white light shone in the sail is far more likely to be seen that a small port/starboard battery light but that is just my opinion!
Cheers all,
Bob