Alternatively, run an inverter from a large (80-100Ah) car battery, and have this on permeant solar panel charge. This can then feed the standard power supply. You could also use a 24v supply and used a cheap regulator to bypass the standard laptop supply - most need 16-18 volts.
As long as you don't operate 7 days per week, this should do fine and is how the club I flew from in the UK worked. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Penrose Sent: Wednesday, 1 February 2006 16:54 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] daylight display screens On 01/02/2006, at 16:44, Robert Hart wrote: > Brett Kettle wrote: >> >> This list recently reported the successes of John Wharington, Todd ?, >> etc establishing an OZFLARM-based clubhouse display for finishing >> gliders at Benalla. I'm looking to create something similar for the >> DDSC 'pie-cart' (we now have 100% of the club fleet and all bar a >> couple of stragglers in the private fleet OZFLARM-equipped). Cathy >> Conway's give me some useful antenna advice and I'm trying to find a >> good display option. >> >> Does anyone have any recommendations on a computer screen that will >> still be clearly visible with bright sky behind the observer? >> LCD? TFT? CRT? or another TLA? >> > My (limited - using a laptop mostly but also a PC/CRT on a few > occasions) experience is that flat screens are considerably to be > preferred in such conditions. With a flat screen one can usually find > an angle which minimises reflections whereas this is very hard to > achieve with a curved screen. With the addition of a shade, things > improve considerably. Yes I agree - and the price is getting better. Although a laptop has been suggested for power issues, you still can only run laptops for no more than about 2 hours - which means you still need a power source. > An old(er) laptop would meet the needs - but newer ones have a > brighter screen and a wider viewing angle. With a laptop, you also > open up the possibility of linking into the wireless LAN which means > the duty crew would have access to the latest radar pictures, useful > when storms are around! With 12v solar power in the pie cart, we > should be able to keep things powered up for a day if we increase the > collector area. Laptop and Desktop both have the ability to use wireless - infact it is cheaper on a desktop and better support for external aerials :-) Scott _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
