I have forgotten my KAP - battery charger, what now???

Built at: Feb.08.2004
Last update: Dezember 06, 2004 		      Diese Seite ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.

What a lot of battery chargers do anyboddy drag in the meantime?

It is particularly bad, if you go to vacation by train and must pack or carry everything in the suitcase like us. But "airmen" don't have it more easily there. Chargers for mobile telephone, video camera, digital camera, laptop, flashlight, and many more. 

Really bad it is if you forget one of the battery chargers. In that time the own equipment is uselessly too soon without battery charger.

This was happend to me in our summer holiday on the German Island Sylt. I had forgotten my KAP-charger (at right on the top picture). What did kites, kitelines, KAP rig, picavet, ground anchor and the whole other stuff use now, if you have forgotten your battery charger for the transmitter and receiver?

At first you can be certain for some mockery, but then the trouble starts about the lost aerial pictures one wanted to make at the different places. Lost aerial pictures ??? There must be a solution anyway!!! One drags enough battery chargers, but everyone is different. Other voltages, other charging currents, other plugs....

So I looked more exactly to the loaders I had with me:
I had to load accumulators in the transmitter and in the receiver. In the transmitter 8 cells NiCd with 750 mAh. In the receiver 4 cells NiMh with 500 mAh. 

So the charging voltage therefore should be at least 8 x 1.5V = 12V. The charging current wasn't so important because the accumulator could load well overnight. I would get the whole capacity by a small charging current and a longer charging time.

  At first a view on the small handy charger: Only 3.7V. Not enaugh for the 4 or 8 cells.

Than a view to the new quick charger for the four AA cells of the Canon A70. It exist out of two parts. The charger with slots for the four cells and the power supply with DC output. The identification plate shows me 12V and max. 500 mA output. This was enough power to charge my cells. But you can not attach the accupaks simply to the power supply. The charging current would be far too high and both the power supply and the accumulators would be destroyed. A suitable resistance to the current limitation on the required charging current must be switched into the line.

But where does one get such a resistance in a vacation dwelling on Sylt island? Therefore I have crept by the apartment on the search for a little useable. In the television should be enough of this......Not but kind. Therefore continuing to search .... The iron was in the house workroom. A 230 V consumer. Briefly calculated: Makes approx. 26.45 ohms of resistance to 2 kW at 230 V. Could go, however, were a bit adventurously but for the emergency better than nothing.

There are a lot of bicycles on Sylt..... Bicycle lights!!! Therefore I have gone to the next bicycle rental company and have bought a little back light bulb. 6 V, 0.6 W, makes 0.1 A. That fits!!!

Now the parts had only be connected together.
With a match, a small piece insulating tape and the bicycle back light bulb I have build my new KAP-charger. And what shall I tell you? After some houres of charging time the live comes back again into the KAP equipment.
In the evening I have then pluged the transmitter and loaded it overnight. That workes well too. So the situation on Sylt was saved and I could make my pictures on Sylt.

The "charging-circuit" made with a match, some tape and a bicycle back light bulb, 
was powerd by the 12V DC power supply of an other charger.
Camera: Canon EOS D30

Links to other KAPers and more you can find in my Surfers Guide.

I like to be available for questions, suggestions or experience exchange.

I would be very pleased about an entry in my visitor's book.

Manfred
http://KAP-Man.de

Manfred