Showing posts with label solar car battery maintainer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar car battery maintainer. Show all posts

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Deltran Corporation 021-0152 8v 1.5a Batt Tendr Plus

Deltran Corporation 021-0152 8v 1.5a Batt Tendr PlusGreat little charger for 8 volt batteries used in old tractors. Original batteries were 6 volt but 8 volts give them more starting power...only trouble is finding a charger to work! Much needed charger voltage and a fine product to have around the shop!

Well built, installed a few days ago and is working fine. I wish I colud find a charger of higher amperage capacity for 8V batteries.

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This is a first class product. One word of advise is be sure to connect and disconnect as instructed! Otherwise it works beautifully.and takes up very little space. riderjones@centurylink.net

Read Best Reviews of Deltran Corporation 021-0152 8v 1.5a Batt Tendr Plus Here

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Transceiver (Black)

Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Transceiver
  • More Stubborn Case, More Rich and Enhanced Features
  • Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480MHz; 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
  • 128 Channels 50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS; Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz
  • Dual-Band Display, Dual Frequency Display, Dual-Standby; A/B band independent operation
  • Comes with all necessary accessories, backed up by 12 Months Seller Warranty

If you compare the Baofeng UV-5R to the latest offerings from Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood, you wouldn't think it's a 5-star radio. But when you look at the price they're asking for the UV-5R, 5 stars hardly seems enough. This is a fantastic value. For under forty-five bucks you get a pocket-sized dual band radio, complete with earphone/mike and a desktop drop-in charger. Heck, Icom gets almost as much as this radio sells for just for the charger! NOt enough? It'll also cover FMRS and GMRS frequencies, receive the FM broadcast band, and there's even a built in flashlight!

So you've got to figure there's a catch, right? And there is: Programming this radio from the front panel is a royal pain in the caboose. After studying helpful web pagesnot the manufacturer's manualI'm now comfortable programming single frequencies and repeater offsets in, but I still don't seem to be able to put the in memory properly. The manufacturer supplies a program that's supposed to make programming easier, but the word is that it's as confusing as the front panel controls.

Luckily there's a fix. A group of dedicated hams have created a program called CHIRP that's available for Windows, OSX, and Linux that's as easy to use as a spreadsheet. Just type in the frequencies, offsets, CTSS, comments, etc., and hit upload. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't allow web links in reviews but you can find it by googling CHIPS and UV-5R. You'll also need the USB Programming Cable for BAOFENG UV-5R UV-3R+ Two way Radio With Driver CD to connect the radio to your computer, too. If you're interested in learning more about this radio before your order one, a good place to start is the user reference at miklor dot com slash uv-5r.

Buy Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Transceiver (Black) Now

In short: as of around mid December 2012, buy this one.

Best antenna for this: The Diamond SRJ77CA. Alternately, the Nagoya NA-771 SF if you are on a budget.

I was trying to figure out which version to get on here, frustrated by the reviews, so I decided to buy them all and report. I had read that the various versions are all the same radio, just the style and color vary: UV-5R, 5RA, 5RC, 5RE, 5R+, 5R Mk II, UV-E5, UV-5R Plus. This is true, so it comes down to which one is going to ship with the most recent firmware.

The firmware varies, but there does not seem to be much of a difference in performance. Holding "3" while you turn the radio on gets you the firmware version. I bought this mid-December, 2012 and got firmware version BFB295. I thought BFB293 was the latest but this is even more recent. The "UV-5R Plus" that I bought from Amazon for more money was BFB293, but I don't notice any difference at all in the functionality of the two.

For programming channels, don't bother trying to program directly to the radio get the programming cable. You can buy the cheap connector, search for CHIRP software, and navigate that with some frustration. If you would rather spend a bit more and skip the frustration, look into the RT Systems connector and software which works perfectly without any frustration.

This can transmit on Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) with no license required. It also transmits on General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) which technically requires a license. However, "bubble-pack pirates" persons who use GMRS without a license are common. It also transmits on the HAM bands and even some commercial and emergency frequencies, so be careful what frequencies you transmit on according to your licensing.

Construction? Much better than you're expecting. I have a $450 Yaesu VX-8DR, and this does 99% of what I used the Yaesu for day to day. It's not submersible, so don't take it into the bath tub with you, but at $44 it's practically disposable. The accessories are dirt cheap too. The volume can get much louder on a 5R than any other HT that I've used.

Update 12/28/12: I bought a second one, received on Dec-21-2012, this time it was the BFB293 firmware rather than the BFB295 that I received two weeks prior.

Update 1/4/13: I bought a different, earlier UV-5R variant that came with BFB297 firmware. These radios are all the same, it seems to be a crap shoot what firmware you'll get.

Read Best Reviews of Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Transceiver (Black) Here

Purchased this HT hoping it would deliver as advertised and it did. 5RA with new 293 firmware. All items advertised,(including headset) were included in package. Could program this via USB cable(not included) by CHIRP and BAOFENG VIP software from my laptop with no problems. USB programming cable was ordered also on Amazon from other vendor for around $7 with $2 shipping China Post. Ordered radio and cable on same day and they both arrived on same day (china post shipped cable only took 6 days to East Coast USA). I am very pleased with this item and vendor. ... One note, the metallic front speaker piece in pictures looks silverish but when looking at it in person it is anodized, shiny black like the rest of the HT's frame. Very stylish!

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: You need a license to use this HT on any of the frequencies it is approved by the FCC to transmit on. Ham frequencies part 97 and FCC reg. part 90 only. Even though it will transmit on FRS/GMRS and many other frequencies it is illegal to do so and interference to licensed users may result in confiscation, fines or imprisonment by the FCC and other authorities depending on what you do & how bad you tick them off. For more details see my comments section.

**EDITED UPDATE:as per comments for my review I will add that the picture shown has changed from a 5RA to 5R but the description has stayed the same. Hopefully it is just a mistaken picture. I also know a lot of people say it is hard to program by hand but after a week of daily use it is quite easy to remember what is what but I still use CHIRP and/or VIP software for major changes and frequency updates. I have no problem with my USB programming. I thought I did at one point but it turned out to be software related and not the HT's fault. After about 2 weeks now of use this HT is working just fine but I haven't looked at its harmonics yet. From what I gather, bad harmonics on TX is hit and miss to the individual radio. After two weeks of use, I can comfortably upgrade my 4 star to 5 star rating but will add an aftermarket antenna. With stock antenna I was able to pick up an Amateur satellite within an hour of first programming out of the box. PLEASE READ ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY CLICKING COMMENTS TAB, THERE'S A LOT MORE INFO ON THIS RADIO AND PROGRAMMING CABLE SOURCE.

Want Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Transceiver (Black) Discount?

This is an amazing little radio and an amazing value. You get the radio, 1800 mah battery, drop-in charger, and ear-bud/mic headset for less than you might expect to pay for the battery alone! The radio is packed with features mostly useful, some amusing. Note that it is primarily a ham radio transceiver and you must be a licensed ham to legally transmit on ham frequencies.

The user manual that comes with the radio is useful but scanty. It only scratches the surface of how to set up and operate the radio. Out of the box, you can't do much of anything without some programming. An experienced ham can figure it out, but a new ham buying his first radio will likely be frustrated. This could be the radio for a new ham, but only with some help, preferably from an experienced user that already owns one. For example, frequency steps must be reduced to enable setting popular frequencies, and repeater offsets (not just +/-) must be specified. Fortunately, this radio has an enthusiastic and extremely helpful user group. Before buying the radio, I strongly recommend checking out miklor dot com slash uv5r. If you do buy the radio, you will really appreciate this resource!

A programming cable (purchased separately) is almost a necessity. The cable you buy will probably need an older driver to work. The previously mentioned resource will help you here also.

In sum, these are highly capable, highly quirky units that can provide lots of entertainment and useful operation once you figure out how to set them up. My ham radio group bought a bunch of them for go-kits.

UPDATE: About a dozen of these radios have been purchased by hams in my locality. Every one of them operated properly out of the box. One has been since damaged by dropping it on a hard surface. The radio itself was fine, but the supplied antenna suffered internal damage (resolved by replacing the antenna with an after market antenna). In terms of programming the radio, about half of the users had someone else program the radio using an optional programming cable. Note that one cable can program any number of radios, the caveat being that you need the proper driver on whatever computer is being used. Also note any programming cable for Baofeng, Wouxun, and Kenwood handy/talkies will work. One industrious ham made a programming file that includes all the area ham repeaters, GMRS, FRS, Marine VHF and NOAA weather frequencies. This file was shared by several, and had the added benefit of identical memory channel numbers. As suggested elsewhere, programming the radios manually is somewhat challenging and the "newbies" needed help. After many new radios and quite a bit of use, no one in our group has been disappointed by their purchase.

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Just as a background, I have 30 years of radio experience and have several dozen radios of all kinds and brands. I routinely test these radios just to compare them to give you an idea of how well they perform compared to a similarly priced product.

I am going to use 3 radios for this test. This is the scenario:

Test Equipment:

1 Baofeng UV-5RA

1 Motorola MS350Rwil be used as the Base station for testing

1 Motorola MT352R

Test Environment:

My wife will stand outside our house with an MS350R as I walk away. Every 0.1 miles, I will do a radio check. I have set all the radios to the same frequency and Privacy code.

Distance Test:

0.1 Miles

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive.

Test: 0.1 Mile

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends. Louder and Clearer than the Baofeng.

Test: 0.2 Miles

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends. Louder and Clearer than the Baofeng.

Test: 0.3 Miles

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends. Louder and Clearer than the Baofeng.

Test: 0.4 Miles

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends. Louder and Clearer than the Baofeng.

Test: 0.5 Miles

1. Baofeng Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.6 Miles

1. Baofeng There was a little noise in the background on receive but it came in crystal clear on the transmit.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.7 Miles

1. Baofeng There was a little noise in the background on receive but it came in crystal clear on the transmit. The Baofeng was coming in louder than the MT352R.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.8 Miles

1. Baofeng There was a little noise in the background on receive but it came in crystal clear on the transmit. The Baofeng was coming in louder than the MT352R.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.9 Miles

1. Baofeng There was a little noise in the background on receive but it came in crystal clear on the transmit. The Baofeng was coming in louder than the MT352R.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 1 Mile

1. Baofeng There was more noise in the background on receive but had some noise on the transmit. The Baofeng was coming in louder than the MT352R.

2. MT352R There was more noise in the background but we can still communicate.

Test: 1.2 Miles

1. Baofeng Her transmission was choppy. The transmission was very noisy. It was very choppy on the receive side. She had to repeat herself several times in order for me to understand. I had to repeat myself a couple of time with the Baofeng as well but a little better than the MT352R.

2. MT352R Her transmission was choppy. The transmission was very noisy. It was choppy on both sides. We both had to repeat ourselves several times in order to understand.

Features of the Baofeng:

Pros:

1. Audible menus I love that this thing talks to me as I navigate the menus.

2. Emergency flashlight and strobe light If you are stuck somewhere you can turn on the strobe and it makes you more visible.

3. Tiny size.

4. Removable antenna You can connect this to a mobile antenna.

5. Very long battery life Out of the box, I used this radio for 3 days straight without charging it.

6. FM Radio This is an awesome feature in such a small radio. You can listen to music when you are outside. And if someone talks in one of the channels you are monitoring, it turns of the FM and switches to Handheld radio mode.

7. Inexpensive.

Cons:

1. Not for the novice user. It took me a few hours to figure out how to program all the features on the keypad.

2. Not as durable as an Icom, Yaesu or Kenwood. Then again, those cost a lot more.

COMPARATIVE SUMMARY:

The Baofeng's removable rubber duck antenna and 4-5 Watts of power seems to be a little better in clarity in the longer distances. The Motorola is definitely louder and clearer in distances less than 0.5 miles. The Baofeng is really intended for Ham Licensed Operators since it handles Ham Frequencies and requires programming on the front keypad or by computer using an optional external cable and software. I did not bother with the software as I am used to programming radios all the time. A novice will have great difficulty understanding how to use this Baofeng as the User's Guide does seem to assume you are a Ham Operator.

So to you Ham guys out there, this is a nice radio. I am even building a Repeater using this Baofeng, just for fun. But for you guys that just want a working radio that you can talk on the GMRS/FRS frequencies, the higher powered Motorolas will do just fine.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Scosche Akpa-1Obl 10-Gauge, 250-Watt, Single Amplifier Wiring Kit

Scosche Akpa-1Obl 10-Gauge, 250-Watt, Single Amplifier Wiring Kit
  • Everything you need for single amp install
  • Power and ground cable with fuse
  • Single pair of RCA cables plus Turn-On Wire
  • All 100% Oxygen Free Copper Wire

Does exactly what it's supposed to. Get music and power to your system. Can't say much more about it. I would buy it again if I was doing another stereo installation.

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Pure oxygen free copper, ample amount of cable, interconnets are quite unrobust but all in all a very nice kit for a lite duty hook up and at 13 bucks including delivery, what can you say?

Thursday, September 4, 2014

XS Power HF1215 12V 15 Amp High Frequency AGM IntelliCharger

XS Power HF1215 12V 15 Amp High Frequency AGM IntelliChargerMuch like all the other products I have purchased from XS Power, this charger is a high quality product. Unlike some other "intelli" chargers that you have to set and monitor, this charger just plugs in and turns on. The chipset inside does the rest. It is on the expensive side when compared to some others but it is well worth every penny. I highly recommend this product to everyone that needs to charge and maintain high end batteries, you will not be disappointed.

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Monday, June 16, 2014

BESTEK Dual 110V AC outlets and Dual USB 3.1A 300w power inverter car dc 12v to 110v ac inverter dc

BESTEK Dual 110V AC outlets and Dual USB 3.1A 300w power inverter car dc 12v to 110v ac inverter dc adapter laptop charger notebook adapter dc charger ac adapter usb charger MRI3011BU
  • Converts 12-volt DC power from a vehicle battery to 120-volt AC power. Simply plug the inverter into your vehicle's DC outlet, and connect your device to the inverter's AC outlet or USB port.providing on-the-go household power in the vehicle.
  • Dual 110V AC oulets and Dual USB ports 3.1A totally, one with 1A and the other 2.1A for iPad and other larger devices fast charging
  • Short circuit,overload,overheat,low battery voltage,over battery voltage Protections, Full protection features and Auto-shutdown keep your appliance and car from damage of overheating, over load , low load, short circuit, low voltage and over voltage.
  • High tech achieved: Input & Output Isolation avoid electric shock ! Built-in fuse & cooling fan. Resum working after protections.
  • For DC12V and Car ONLY, not applied for DC24V and airplane use !

Arrived bubble wrapped in a small priority shipping box; not a retail package. This is a 1 piece unit, no accessories and a single half sheet of instructions. No loose parts to worry about, the plug is permanently attached and plugs directly into cig adapter. I like the compact size and feel of this unit. The cord is about the right length for me, there is 22" of wire between the plug and the unit. It'll reach the passenger seat just fine from the console. Mine works and produces modified AC power which runs my gadgets nicely (chargers: both USB and AC wall warts). The included USB ports are a bonus. My biggest disappointment is that the fan remains on continuously. This means I'll only be able to use it in situations where the car is running. I had hoped the fan would only turn on when it needed to cool down.

Due to the inefficiencies of a continuous fan, this unit is not a reasonable choice in an off grid battery situation. It is fine in a running car. I bought this unit hoping I could use it in a camping kit but it would quickly drain my solar charged portable battery system (only 9Ah). I'm going to keep it, but it's less useful than I had hoped. I won't be unable to leave this unit turned on when I'm away from the car or it'll drain the car battery, which is unacceptable.

The sales info says "Temperature controlled cooling fan" which tells me the fan should not be on unless it needs to cool the unit. I've contacted the seller to see how we'll resolve this. Perhaps I have a bad unit? *** Update from seller, this unit is working as designed ***

3 stars for delivering the power and having a USB port, but not more due to the noise and waste of energy a full time cooling fan causes. If the fan only went on as needed this would be a nice 5 star Inverter.

*** Update ***

Contacted seller, after a couple of email exchanges it was determined that this unit will keep the fan on at all times. While the unit differs from how I understood the listing, it's not worth my time to send it back. When I ordered mine, 1/3rd of the price was paid in shipping fees, so I'll keep this unit as an in-car unit and look to find something else that will be more efficient in a solar/battery based system.

If your intended use is in a car, the fan is most likely not a problem. You can also check to see if your Cig adapter shuts off when you turn off your keys, then it's even less of an issue as it won't drain your batteries when you leave your car. I have a Cig adapter in the trunk I use to power/charge things on trips and when traveling, mine turns off with the key so I can use this in the car without worry.

Mine continues to work well and has survived weeks in my trunk in the hot AZ sun.

*** For comparison purposes I have also reviewed the GoPower 175w inverter and compare that unit with this one side by side. You will find that video here:

Go Power! GP-175 175-Watt Modified Sine Wave Inverter

Buy BESTEK Dual 110V AC outlets and Dual USB 3.1A 300w power inverter car dc 12v to 110v ac inverter dc Now

I purchased this adapter for my cross country road trip and it has been so useful! We frequently camp and the adapter is perfect for charging phones and cameras. I've used it for my hair straightener and we have used it to inflate our inflatable mattress. HIGHLY recommended. The customer service from this company is fantastic as well.

Read Best Reviews of BESTEK Dual 110V AC outlets and Dual USB 3.1A 300w power inverter car dc 12v to 110v ac inverter dc Here

Product was delivered promptly. Charges my laptop in just over 1 hour. Also used with a multiple outlet power strip to charge 2 Dewalt 18V batteries together. Fan is fairly quiet.

Cons. Cord could be longer.

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Overall I can recommend as long as you understand what you are getting. A nice little inverter for the money. The things that might surprise you is the little cooling fan never turns off. Not a super big deal but it does draw a little under half an amp just to run the units cooling fan. Having two USB ports was why I bought it. Watch the video and you will see more about power draw.

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I was watching the coverage of the aftermath of hurricane Sandy when the reporter showed a line of people waiting to plug in their personal communication devices in a power strip that the mobile reporting van had generously given them access to, and it occured to me that a simple 12 volt power port (cigarette lighter socket) adapter might be handy in the event of a power failure lasting for more than a day or two. Realizing that everyone in my household has different charging adapters, I thought that maybe I should look for a small inverter where we could all recharge our devices from the 120 volt output of such a device. Now I realize that you can drop a lot of money in a hurry when you start getting into higher output true sinewave inverters and I wasn't really looking to bust my budget, so when I came across this one for 26 bucks I ordered one just for emergencies. I also own a ES5000 12 volt jumper pack which has a power port built in, so I plugged in the BESTEK inverter and my Intertek "KILL A WATT" power monitor and tried out a variety of different devices. Unloaded, the output was 112 volts. Loaded, it rose to 116 voltsboth acceptable. The frequency held rock solid at 59 Hz, again acceptable. I powered everything from a small battery charger (Dremal tool) to my laptop, to a radio/ CD player, to a small 50 watt table lamp. Everything worked as advertised. The fan does run continuously and it does make a fan noise but that doesn't affect what I'm going to use it for. You might want to consider buying a power socket that has alligator clips attached so you can power it from a stand alone battery if necessary. Remember, this is only a 300 watt inverter so check out the amperage draw of what you are going to power up first (volts X amps = watts) i.e. a 300 watt bulb @ 115 volts draws 2.61 amps. So limit your device draw to about 2.5 amps and you will do just fine.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

GPS Portable Travel USB Plug-in Rapid 12v Car Charger for Garmin Nuvi 270 / 275t / 300 / 300t / 310

GPS Portable Travel USB Plug-in Rapid 12v Car Charger for Garmin Nuvi 270 / 275t / 300 / 300t / 310t / 350 / 360 / 370 / 510 / 550 / 650 / 660 / 670 / 680
  • IC Chip recognizes full battery & automatically switches to saver mode
  • LED charging indicator
  • Fast charge for your GPS while on the road
  • Can be used with input voltages for car and truck
  • Made of high quality vinyl

At first this 12volt car adapter worked fine.now It blows out my fuse every time I try to use it.It would be great if the company would replace it so I do not end up with a GPS that is used up the charge.I purchased thru amazon.com website.

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Worked great for about 4 months, but now will instantly blow the fuse in our car. Time to buy a new charger and I think I will look elsewhere.

Read Best Reviews of GPS Portable Travel USB Plug-in Rapid 12v Car Charger for Garmin Nuvi 270 / 275t / 300 / 300t / 310 Here

This is one of the terribly made chinese product, it cooked my $350.00 Garmin GPS too. I strongly recommend NOT to even consider this product and ALSO this seller which carries such cheap quality products.

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The price was right on this charger. Although the picture doesn't indicate it, the charger does have a coiled cord, which is different than the OEM cable, so if you are hanging the Nuvi from your windsheild, it might not be the best choice.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Smooth Polished Billet Aluminum Optima Battery Tray - Chevy/Ford/Mopar

Smooth Polished Billet Aluminum Optima Battery Tray - Chevy/Ford/MoparItem shipped fast and was accurate to the description! about half the price for basically the same product that you find on other mail order sites.

THIS ARTICLE IS THE BEST OF THE BEST, THE PRICE IS VERY LOW... EXCELLENT CHROME AND THE EXCELLENT QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT... I RECOMENDED CFR PERFORMANCE FOR ALLS PEOPLE AND SPECIALITY AND RESTORER CAMARO, MUSTANG O CORVETTE ....PRODUCTS OF LOW WEIGHT AND ALUMINUM OF THE BEST PRODUCT. PORTECTED YOUR OPTIMA BATTERY WITH THIS BASE.

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Monday, April 21, 2014

Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld Amateur HAM Radio Tranceiver!

Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld Amateur HAM Radio Tranceiver!I am new to HAM but wanted to see what this little guy could do, and not spend a ton of money.

With all hand held radios the problem is the small antenna. I can get ok reception but I live out in the sticks. I hooked up a roll up Jpole and wow. I cant wait to hook it up to a bigger antenna. You can have 100's memory set ups, several ways to scan. Like I said I am new and was a bit worried about all the different settings etc the book tells you step by step. I dont know how to do everything that this guy can do but you will pick up the regular settings easy enough. So far I have picked everything from police bands, EMS, Wendy's drive up, voice of america, voice of cuba, voices of I cant speak it, HAM chat, about 6 weather chans, regular AM/FM. I got all this from the regular antenna and the roll up J pole. This was in just a few days of messing around.

It is easy to travel with this. Throw it in the car, back pack, just a pocket. You can also order an AA battery pack so its easy to power it up if away from a charger.

Only thing not great are the small buttons, thats not a biggie since this thing is just bigger than a pager.

Don't get me wrong. This is an awesome Ham Radio Transmitter for the size and price. Any radio that can open a repeater 30 miles away on only half a watt has got to be something special.

The problem I have with this radio is it's reception outside of the Amatuer Bands. To put it bluntly, it sucks. It is EXTREMELY susceptible to static, reception range is extremely weak, and you can barely understand the voice carrier wave for all the static.

As A Ham Transmitter, I give it Five Stars. as a reciver, I give it a Raspberry.

UPDATE: SEPT.18th, 2011: Apparently, my apartment has a lot of RFI. I took the rig outdoors, and it opened right up. Reception on the Aircraft Band is absolutely Fantastic! I snagged at least 30 diffrent ATC Frequencies in Scan Mode, some as far away as Las Vegas and Pheonix! Based on this, I'm changing my Reciver Rating to Five Stars. Outdoors, this is one awesome little Reciver. Just do not expect the same results indoors.

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I owned this radio for only a couple of weeks. It has a wide band amplifier that is very susceptible to nearby transmitters. The police were coming in stronger than the frequency I was tuned to. It was a common problem whenever I was within a few miles of a tv or fm transmitter. If you're out in the boonies you may not have this problem, but near a city you may find your signal to noise ratio to be less than 1 a lot of the time. Not for me. I replaced it with an FT60, which works fine.

Read Best Reviews of Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld Amateur HAM Radio Tranceiver! Here

I am a new ham and wanted a small affordable H/T eto begin with. The AM / FM broadcast bands come in clear as well as the local WX bands. I just passed my Tech test and am eagerly awaiting my call sign so that I can test the TX and RX features. Will updat when I have a chance to do this. 4 stars so far for what I can use.

Want Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld Amateur HAM Radio Tranceiver! Discount?

I have already a vx7r and a vx6 ( both of which are more powerful units). This is a very small ht with pretty good rx and tx the rx is a few bars off of my other vx hts, but considrering the small size and the price point I'm happy with the unit. AD7TX out.

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Monday, March 24, 2014

Battery Tender 021-0123-AAA Junior Charger/Maintainer

Battery Tender 021-0123-AAA Junior Charger/Maintainerwe bought this trickle charger for our car we leave at our vacation home..so happy with result we purchased a second trickle charger for use at our regular home. Easy to use and battery is always charged and ready to go.

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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Philips Accessories DLZ92007/17 Transcast Fm Transmitter Mp3

Philips Accessories DLZ92007/17 Transcast Fm Transmitter Mp3
  • TransCast FM Transmitter MP3.
  • Includes Rechargeable Battery.
  • Connection Cable & Car Charger.
  • Tiny Device Broadcasts Music Over Any Available FM Radio Frequency.
  • Simple 1 Handed Frequency Tuning & Backlight Control Via Joystick.

I had been looking for a handy and reliable FM Transmitter which doesn't need to be plugged into the Cigarette Lighter socket, since my car doesn't have a line-in for the speakers. The Philips/DLO FM transmitter works great.. have been using it for a few months, the sound quality for the 88.1Mhz frequency is excellent. Construction is plastic, so its not extremely durable. Does not seem to have auto turn off. Has a single rechargeable AAA battery which can be charged while in use by line-in from the included cigarette lighter socket adapter. I love it :)

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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Finevu NEW CR-500HD 16gb Full Hd Record Car Vehicle Black Box Recorder Camera Racing 1920x1080p@30f

Finevu NEW CR-500HD 16gb Full Hd Record Car Vehicle Black Box Recorder Camera Racing 1920x1080p@30fps w/SONY CMOS Sensor
  • Ultra High Full HD 1080p Dash Cam Video Recording with SONY Exmor CMOS Sensor
  • 2MP FULL HD Quality Video Recording with Fast Lens
  • Customized Recording Modes 1080p Full HD / 720 HD
  • Recording Frame 30fps / 24fps / 15fps / 5 fps
  • Camera: 2,000,000 pixels

This is my first experience owning a dash cam DVR. Apparently, the only people who have dash cams in America are the police. The rest of the world has dash cams of all makes and models and has been selling them for years. Owning a dash cam gives me piece of mind in knowing that if I ever get into a wreck and another person tries to blame me for the wreck, I have video proof of who is at fault. This little insurance policy has the potential of protecting me from insurance fraud and lawsuits filed against me and my family. With that in mind, I would like to give my review.

The camera attaches to the window with a special kind of double sided tape specifically for glass. Once you attach to window, it is on. The tape can be removed, but it is hard. I placed mine just right of my rear view mirror and to the left of my sun shade. I rand the power cord around the window, down the pillar, under my dash, and into the center column. The camera can be used with an always on power supply, but I choose not to use this feature. I only use the camera while I am driving. It has a parking mode and motion detection, but I disabled those two options. The camera speaks commands every time it changes modes. The camera will start recording the second power is turned on. It will beep and say "recording on". When the power is turned off, the camera beeps and will complete the current video recording, save it to the memory card, and then shut down. There are buttons on the back that you can use. The camera can take still pictures, mute audio recording, and save current video as an emergency event. This can all be controlled by the buttons on the back of the camera. When the camera is connected to a Windows PC, the camera beeps and says "USB mode". The camera shows up as a mass storage device with folders for different events. It has three folders called Event, Normal, Photo. Normal video is stored in the normal folder, shock events and emergency events are saved in the Event Folder and still photo's are stored in the Photo folder. All you do is copy and paste videos and photos to your computer. It is that easy. The camera has three G sensors that detect excessive amount of G-forces. If it detects any excessive G-force it thinks you have been in a wreck and will save video 5 seconds before and 35 seconds after the event, in total 40seconds of video. The camera saves video in AVI format so you would need a player that plays that format. Finevu offers a media player for the camera, but you have to download it from their web site. The camera has the settings software on the memory card so you can change the settings. All you do is click on the .EXE and install onto your Windows PC. After installation, you can change all sorts of settings. The camera can even format a new micro SDHC card if you decide to use a different card that you purchased separately. I am impressed so far by the camera. It is still too early to really give it good thumbs up. Finevu did a good job making a fine DVR black box. If they ever come out with newer products, I would buy from them again. Just keep selling on Amazon, and I will keep giving you my money. I do have a suggestion. If and when Finevu makes a new DVR black box, can you please include WIFI along with an IOS app? It would be very cool to be able to use my iPhone to record, watch, play back, change settings, and add multiple cameras?? It would be really cool to be able to control and view from multiple cameras. I could install a second camera in the back to record drivers behind me. If you added this to your next DVR black box, I would be first in-line to spend my money.

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I bought this camera after encountering couple idots on the road who were looking to create an accident. Also, saw a bunch of clips on youtube about accidents in Russia. This device will help provide objective picture for some complicated situations on the road. Might even help another person who got into accident in front of me.

Video quality is amazing in daylight and quite good at night. The camera is small (good for inconspicuous mounting) and very light. I liked the long power cable which allowed me to install the camera in my Odyssey without any visible hanging wires -it looks very professional.

I've put 32Gb (max allowed size) in it and it should be able to hold 2-3 days worth of recordings. Afterwards the oldest clip gets overwritten with latest. The camera records .avi files with 3 minute recordings.

I recommend disabling shock sensor for driving mode or you'll end up with a lot of false "Event" recordings after hitting pretty much any bump. "Event" recordings stay on the card and don't get auto-erased and this will lead to eventually full SD card. With disabled shock sensor this won't be an issue.

Read Best Reviews of Finevu NEW CR-500HD 16gb Full Hd Record Car Vehicle Black Box Recorder Camera Racing 1920x1080p@30f Here

This is a great little dash cam that is very simple to use. It comes with a 16GB micro SD card that can hold a decent amount of 1080p footage before having to overwrite data. The memory card has separate folders for "normal" footage and "event" footage (e.g. an accident) to prevent video of accidents from being overwritten with the normal footage. However, even changed to it's lowest sensitivity level setting, this camera's shock sensor is WAY too sensitive. It will go off when rolling over speed bumps (even the smooth ones), sloping curbs, etc. It got so annoying, I simply turned off this feature altogether. The camera can also be switched to "parking mode" which will record video if motion or impact is detected. I even use this as a security camera at the small office I work at, since where I park the wide angle lens views the front parking lot, cul-de-sac, and neighboring business. The camera will not drain your vehicle's battery, as it will shut off before your vehicle battery drops below a certain voltage.

The video quality is superb--fine enough to easily read license plate numbers and street signs. So far I've used this in the rain, sun, and at night, all with excellent results. The camera comes with a micro SD to SD adapter for use with any standard SD card reader. Thankfully, the videos are in a standard .avi format for easy viewing. The files are in chunks of a couple minutes each and clearly named with the date and time. It couldn't be easier to get to the footage you need!

I was disappointed that the camera only came with a mount requiring double-sided tape to attach to your windshield. I wish they had included a high-suction mount like portable GPS units use. It would be nice to be able to move the mounting point with ease not possible with a more permanent tape mount. They do include 5 clips (also with double-sided tape) for cable management, which is really nice. I was able to route the wires well enough that this camera looks professionally installed with no slack wire visible. And they give you PLENTY of length on the 12V adapter cable used to power the unit.

Mac users beware. You will be unable to change the camera settings without access to a Windows computer, as they only provide a .exe configuration app (a USB cable is provided to attach the camera to your computer as a "disk"). However, the camera disk image mounts perfectly on a Mac and you can access all video files with ease (or by using the SD adapter).

Also please note that this camera does NOT have a built-in GPS unit, so you will not have a speed and location readout on the video files unless you purchase FineVu's separate GPS unit that attaches to the camera.

I can't recommend this camera enough. And it feels so much better driving with a witness that doesn't lie. It tells the truth in HD ;-)

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Crystal clear image, audio capture is very good, small enough to hide behind your rear view mirror so it's not obvious it's even installed to even myself or passengers. It automatically starts recording when car is turned on and no skips in video.

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In a nut shell this its the best dash camera in the market so far. Expensive for sure but the pic quality is so so good. Keep in mind the HD 1080p thing exists in some other cameras too but this is the only one that delivers it at 30fps. Meaning better pictures at day or night. I owned briefly the other model from the same company FineVu PRO Full-HD 1080p but it delivers 1080 at I believe 15 fps if I am not mistaken. Trust me there is a big difference.

My only negatives with it is:

1Doesn't work with Macs. You need to download a converter called iSkysoft Video Convertor http://www.iskysoft.com Free at the beginning then you have to buy it. Excellent program by the way.

2The light from the buttons on the back of the unit are at night a little bit of annoyance.

However these are minor negatives when the main purpose is top quality videos in case of an accident God forbids.

BTW I also suggest you use the cam with the Panavise 809 Camera Window Suction-Cup Mount sold on Amazon. Its much better to use suction cup than the fixed 3M that comes with it. This way you can move the camera from car to car. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000246ST6/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also you can buy a permanent wiring for it from Amazon too FineVu Dash Cam Uninterrupted Power Cable, Continuous Power Usage for Finevu Cr-500hd, Cr-300hd Car Black Box http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BWWRD46/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A4Z7UY2RWHCRJ

One more thing, Don't do like I did by purchasing a a larger capacity memory card 64GB which won't work with it. I guess its capped at 32GB.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Auto Car Charger for Sansa C140/C150 E250/E270/E280 NEW

Auto Car Charger for Sansa C140/C150 E250/E270/E280 NEW
  • Brand new non-OEM. Vehicle Lighter Adaptor. (12~24v DC)
  • Short circuit protection. LED charging indication.
  • Plug never heats or overcharges the battery.
  • Can Charge Ni-Mh, Ni-cd and Li-Ion Battery.
  • Intelligent IC chip inside recognizes a full battery and automatically switch to a saver.

i received this item aproximetly 20 days ago and until 2 days ago i don't have a chance to try it.When i go to LA,I tried it but it was broken because it's wires are so thin.I couldn't use it.

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Somewhat flimsy relative to other car chargers; feels cheap, but functional. I would expect this to crack/break if one is not careful.

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Great for charging my Sansa View on the road. I leave my Sansa View in the car and mostly use it at work, I use car charger instead of bringing it home to charge.

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It charges my e250. It seems adequately made for the money.

Beside the long-term reliability question, what else is there?

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Goldsource STU-1000 Step Up/Down Voltage Transformer Converter - AC 110/220 V - 1000 Watt

Goldsource STU-1000 Step Up/Down Voltage Transformer Converter - AC 110/220 V - 1000 WattThe voltage transformer is heavy, sturdy and reliable. I am in Switzerland now, and I bought these for barrage of devices brought from the U.S; I plugged in a humidifier, a blender, Vonage phone, laptop, shaver (all at once), and so far no issues whatsoever.

The only catch is the wall converter from US to Euro (so that you can plug the thing into the wall jack) It is too wide for Switzerland (would work in e.g. Germany). So I had to spend a couple of euros for a converter in a local store. Other than that, no issues in the first 45 days....

Got this so I could hook up my 110v 52" LCD HDTV and LG blu-ray player here in Europe. I plugged in a power strip to the 110v outlet, and it powers both items without a hitch. Also extremely quiet. If the entire house is silent you can hear the slightest low hum but as soon as the tv comes on then it's undetectable. Very happy with this purchase and may buy another.

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I moved from Germany to USA so I have a few 230V devices to run on 110V.

This converter works absolutely inconspicious.

You just turn it on, plug a german device in and it just works. No noise no hum at all.

Good product. Highly recommended.

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This company back their products 100%. I had a problem with the USB power port and I mentioned it in a comment. The company reached out to me via phone and email and insisted they rectify the problem in any way I wanted. Refund or replace. I have no real use for the USB part of the transformer so elected not to have the unit replaced. Otherwise the unit works perfect. I would definitely buy from this company in the future. Excellent Customer Service!!!

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I bought two cheaper converters before this one. None of them survived after 3 months. I have used this one for over a year. No problem at all so far. It is little heavy but compact in size. I used a power strip connected to this converter and have several appliance plugged in this power stip. The total power is close to 800 watts. The unit works perfectly.

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Mini Portable Car Dashboard DVR Camcorder Camera F500L HD Full 1080P with LED Light

Mini Portable Car Dashboard DVR Camcorder Camera F500L HD Full 1080P with LED Light
  • Mini full HD 1920 x 1080P@30fps portable DVR car camcorder. 2.0" LTPS TFT LCD display. Recording resolution: 1920 x 1080 (30fps); 1440 x 1080 (30fps); 1280 x 720 (30fps); 848 x 480 (60fps).
  • Video reverses recording 180 degree (Menu setting). Loop recording, time and date stamp. Still Image (jpeg) Resolution 2592 x 1944 JPEG 3200 x 2400, 4000 x 3000.
  • Video Codec MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. Video output: HDMI: CTS1.2 Compliant. Audio Mic and Speaker (Mono) Equipped. Port USB 2.0/HDMI/TV OUT. Shutter Button Electronic shutter.
  • Recording format: Mov. 4X digital zoom (Full HD resolution non), Sensor: 5 Mega pixels CMOS, Lens: 7.0mm (4.5mm optional), Focus: 10cm - infinity.
  • Supports 1080i/720p output mode, Composite: NTSC/PAL. Connection ports: USB 2.0 / HDMI / TV. External SDHC/MMC card (Max 32G SDHC Card). Battery: 3.7V 1000mAh Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery.

UPDATE: After five weeks of constant use with this product, I've had no problems. The thing doesn't miss a beat. I record an average of 29 gigs per day, looping constantly.

...This is a long review because I believe potential buyers need to know all of this...

This product is exactly what I expected -a true HD looping dashcam (1920x1080) that I can (and do) run continually while I'm driving, for a very low price. I have been using the f500l every day in my car, even when I'm parked, for a few weeks now and have had no problems. I've captured a lot of fun video so far, though no accidents or anything really exciting.

Pros:

1. Real HD at 1920x1080. Fantastic quality videos.

2. Numerous options to tailor the camera to your needs.

3. Comes with a lot of accessories, except SD card.

4. The included windshield mount produces no vibrations or other degradation of video, even though it's cheaply made.

5. Good quality audio recording, which can be disabled.

6. Date/time stamp optional.

Cons:

1. Cheaply made. It seems quite fragile and light weight, so I have been treating it very carefully to prevent mishaps. So far so good. I picked up a small case at a local Radio Shack to protect it when transferring between cars or bringing inside the house. Cheap build quality is not a deal killer, especially for the price they're charging.

2. Menus are in Russian out of the box. Three minutes of fiddling (and laughing) fixed it. Not a deal killer.

3. Night shooting is grainy. This is to be expected for a $100 camera. The videos are fairly good at night, though. They're still HD and capture plenty of detail to enjoy watching the clips. This is not a deal killer -it's plenty good.

4. Battery seems to last 5 minutes. This might be a menu setting for battery conservation. I really haven't dug into this because I have mine plugged in at all times. Not a deal killer.

General Info:

I highly recommend this camera if you want something to continually record in your car (looping / recirculating) for the purposes of catching insurance fraudsters and liars, or just want to capture interesting driving incidents. I've transferred many of the clips to my Windows PC and edited them without too much trouble (see below for details). They look really, really good.

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BUY

1. Because the videos are .mov natively, Windows Movie Makers need to do the following to edit the clips: download Freemake Video Converter from download.com and convert the .mov files to .wmv. To view the clips, without editing, download Apple Quicktime for PC. Warning: use Freemake to convert to .wmv or be prepared to have Windows Movie Maker choke on the files, causing hours of frustration. Trust me.

If you have a Mac or use Adobe Premiere or some other quality video editor for the PC, you can probably skip the conversion steps.

2. The camera is cheap, even though its specs are impressive and the quality of the video is high. If you buy, I recommend being very careful. Cover it with some kind of scratch-free, lint-free cloth and keep store it in a rigid case when transporting. Buttons are cheap, so set the camera the way you want, then resist the urge to fiddle.

3. Buy the fastest SD card you can afford. I bought a Class 10, 32 GB card and it is flawless. Card below class 10 cause large gaps between videos. Don't be cheap on the SD card or you'll miss a driving event.

4. The menu button stops working when the camera is plugged into the cig lighter. I almost returned the camera because I couldn't access the menus, until I discovered that the menu button works fine under battery power. Very strange. I can picture an engineer named Igor or Zheng shrugging and saying, "Good enough."

5. I found it useful to change my cig lighter socket so it's always powered, even with the engine off and key out. I wanted it to record while I'm shopping, at work, or parked on the street. Never know when somebody parallel parks, crashes your car, then speeds off. You can nail them if you're always recording, even away from the car. Licenses plates are clearly readable up close.

CONCLUSION

Don't hesitate to buy this camera if you want really great looking driving videos at a very low price *AND* you're willing to be gentle with a cheaply made product. This camera is very unique because the videos are fantastic, and the price is so low. Honestly, if you get unlucky and yours breaks, you can get another for $100. It's an easy sell, really. Seller / vendor was good and reliable and no problems.

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I am not professional driver. Luckily I had not accidents until now unlike my friends. I paid attention that the biggest problem is to prove that it was not your fault. The camcorder is always an unbiased witness of an accident which will save lots of your time with police. As a bonus, you may use it to record your recent trip and share most interesting moments with your friends :)

I should admit that camera by itself is very light weighted and can be easily cared in the pocket. Unlike other camcorders which are difficult to setup/remove, this one uses special locks, which allows you to setup/remove it in seconds. The lens is pure wide angle and because of that, some videos may look unusual or even funny :) Camera uses regular Nokia phone battery, so it can be easily replaces if needed. It can make high resolution photos (I noticed that photos are NOT wide angled and looks as normal ones). The only thing it is really missing caring bag, to protect lens from scratches (if it could be scratched of course).

I will give 5 stars to day time recorded video quality. There is a little bit more white color but you can easily fix that via settings. Gadget has option to rotate video upside down, so that allows you to setup camera on top or bottom of window. There were not delays, jumps or even waves (which usually can be found on cheap camcorders). The video looks Full HD 1920x1080 pixels.

Camcorder also records the sound but I personally did not test it. It has nice option to start recording automatically (when camera is powered) but I personally prefer to have feature to start recording once it notices voice inside the car.

UPDATE: I just found a motion detecting feature, so now the camera starts recording automatically, when it detects motion!!! AWESOME!!!

BTW camera comes without SD card, so do not forget to order it separately. I personally will suggest buying min class 7 SD card or SanDisk with 30 or 45 MB/s writing speed. This is needed to prevent any time gaps between video chunks (videos are recorded in small chunks, which allows circle recording).

As an overall this is really stable gadget. I forgot to say that camera has option to mark any chunk as 'interesting' and in that case, it will not be overwritten automatically. That's useful if you recorded something really interesting and you prefer to keep it on camera.

Read Best Reviews of Mini Portable Car Dashboard DVR Camcorder Camera F500L HD Full 1080P with LED Light Here

Unlike other reviewers, everything was already in english. It was really easy to setup and I am really surprised at how well everything works. I was expecting a lot of bugs but the thing is solid. I have it recording non-stop and it gets really, really hot in my truck and it doesn't skip a beat. 3 or 4 days after I bought it, an accident happened right in front of me. Got the whole thing on dashcam. Take a look. Quality is much better before youtube compression of course.I will probably ending up buying 1 more for my boat.

UPDATE: The camera stopped working after a week. I just sent it back to them. Sucks because now I'm out an extra 10 bucks to ship it back :( I'm rating it 2 stars until I get a unit that lasts more than a week!

UPDATE 2: Got the camera back and have had it for a while. It's been working great. The only issue is that it shuts down on it's own sometimes. It seems to shut off when it's really hot and that might be a on purpose so the unit does not get damaged. I leave it on 24 hours a day so when I get in the car, I just check to make sure it's running and if not, just turn it on. Overall satisfied.

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I have been happy with the performance of this video camera. It is relatively easy to use. The videos look clear well, except for at night, and except for the substantial black spot on the lower middle of all videos. That is the one complaint I have about this video camera. It came with a foreign object somewhere internal to the lens assembly. (I know, I know. Someone will say, in that annoying, whiny tone, "Did you try cleaning off the outside of the lens?" Yes, my complex, highly sophisticated thought processes were even able to fathom both of those possibilities that it could have been something EXTERNAL as well as internal.) If it bothered me that much, I would return it. However, I only bought it to document any incidents that occurred while I am driving. And for that purpose, I just don't care that much about the black spot.

The sound quality is very good, except when the level of sound being recorded gets too high for example, loud music that I am listening to while I drive. For loud music, the playback sound is very distorted because of limiting (clipping) during recording. However, for conversation in the car, it sounds very clear.

When the device is plugged into a computer (in my case, a Mac), there are 3 options that come up on the video camera screen: 1) MSC, 2) CHARGE, or 3) OPEN. It wasn't obvious to me, but the 'MSC' option is what causes the video camera to be recognized by the computer. After selection of 'MSC', the 'EOS_DIGITAL' icon appears on my desktop and 2 folders below that level are the video files in .mov format.

The size of the video files is determined by a menu option on the video camera. You can select 512, 256 or 128 MByte. Thus the maximum file size is 512 MByte, which is a recording time of 8 minutes, 49 seconds for the highest image quality (1920 x 1080). So, while the camera is recording, when that file size is reached, the video camera automatically creates a new file. So, for example, say I record for one hour. That is 3600 seconds. A 512 MByte file is 8 minutes, 49 seconds in length, or 529 seconds. So if I divide 3600 by 529, the result is 6.805293. That means that my 1 hour recording will result in 6 files that are 8 minutes and 49 seconds in length, and 1 file that is (0.802593)x(529) = 426 seconds (or 7 minutes, 10 seconds) in length. So using a 32 GByte SD card, for highest video quality, the total recording time would be approximately:

(32 GB)/(512 MB/529 seconds) = 33062.5 seconds, or 9 hours, 11 minutes (if I did my math correctly).

What I haven't verified is that the camera will delete old files when the SD card becomes full. As I now look through the not-so-easy-to-understand manual, I see an option for 'RECYCLE'. The options are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 minutes, or OFF. So it may be the case that once the SD card gets full, the video camera will stop recording (if the OFF option is selected).

So in conclusion, except for the black spot on all of my videos, I am happy with the purchase. It does what it was designed to do for a good price. If it wasn't for the foreign object in the lens assembly, I would have given it 5 stars.

10/21/2012 Update:

Last night when I simply tried to attach the suction cup to my windshield, the suction cup assembly broke. There goes my 4 star rating. I think I would have to rate it 2 star now.

12/19/2012 Update:

I contacted Yorktek LLC, asking if they could send me a new suction cup assembly. They did not have the suction cup assemblies apart from the video camera, so they graciously sent me a new video cam unit, including suction cup assembly (after I returned the original). Well, I have been using it for close to 2 months now, trying to be gentle when mounting/dismounting the suction cup assembly. Well, last night the second one broke while I tried mounting it on my windshield. My conclusion is that the strength of the plastic assembly right at the suction cup is inadequate to perform the intended function. It is very thin and fragile. Now I have to figure out another way to mount it possibly on my rearview mirror. There goes my 2 star rating down to a 1 star.

Camera bought from seller "Loftek" is a fake. The version on the manual is HDC-500. The settings in the menu are also different from the real F500LHD.

The real F500LHD has a firmware that ends in "T2L-KH" that can be updated. The company has released about 10 updates total for this camera model, the newest being V8.9 T2L-KH.

The F500LHD is a good camera, maybe the knock off version is also good. But with the price point of the knock off the same as the original, I rather just get the original version. Would recommend trying another seller on Amazon other than Loftek and maybe you'll get lucky.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Koolatron P9 Traveler III 9.8-Quart Electric Cooler/Warmer, Grey

Koolatron P9 Traveler III 9.8-Quart Electric Cooler/Warmer, Greybought this cooler as a gift for my husband. he is on the road all day and tired of drive-thru. he was using a regular cooler and the ice packs just wouldn't keep drinks cool all day on the blistering hot days. my husband loves this electric cooler. he does not pre-chill the cooler before packing it, but all food and drinks placed in the cooler are pre-chilled. he does not have to add ice packs, the cooler does the job. my husband's only negative comment is he wishes the power cord was a little longer.

1st cooler was received damaged, but i called customer service and i had the replacement in 3 days. no cost to customer to return the damaged one.

Very disappointed in this product. The first time I used it the plastic hinge on the lid became distorted. The lid is difficult to open.

The instructions was a single page and though written in English, were not clear. It took me a while to figure out how to make it cool or warm. It stopped cooling after one use and I had it plugged in correctly.

The provided strap was unattached. No Instructions were included on how to attach the strap. Also, the strap is a cheaper version of what is displayed on the packaging.

I'll go back to my old ice cooler.

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This cooler is a great product, no problems w/ the quaility of it. It was smaller than what I needed. I made several attempts to return & exchange for a larger model. I requested 3 times a return thru email ( as directed). With no reponse from the shipper. Extremely dissapointed with customer service!

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They really need to have thermostats on this. That said, it works, it works well, and it does what the advertisement says it will.

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The P9 Koolatron works well and is the size I wanted. But the fan noise is excessive, very irritating. I bought a $5 CPU fan from a computer store

and modified it and replaced the fan that came with the cooler. It is now much quieter and it works well. The manufacturer should put in a better fan.

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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic Heater

Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic HeaterI purchased the Olympian Wave 6 Catalytic Heater during the summer of 2007, for use in our 1987 Starcraft Nova Popup Camper. The camper has an 11' box, so it's a fairly large camper when opened up. I had already installed an OEM Duo-Therm forced air furnace. It worked great, but the blower fan in these forced air furnaces are noisy, use alot of 12 volt battery power, and the furnaces use quite a bit of propane. Every time that furnace turned on, it would wake us up. Then we'd lay there listening to the blower run for 10-15min. When it finally shut off, instead of being able to go back to sleep, we'd still be awake, anticipating the next cycle.

The Wave 6 Heater is an amazing heat source and fits the use in this camper perfectly. I purchased the feet for it, as well as the available protective cover for storage (I highly recommend you buy the cover because you must keep the platinum catalytic mat clean). I had a 10' flexible rubber propane hose made and T'd that into the existing fitting under the fold down sink cabinet. A small brass ball valve is located at the T in order to turn off/on propane flow into the flexible hose to the heater. At the other end of the 10' hose is a propane quick coupler (purchased from ) and this allows the hose to quickly be "snapped" on to the male fitting that I installed on the heater. A quick note about these propane quick couplers. There are several versions made; a low pressure and a high pressure. The Wave heaters use your low pressure system in your camper/RV/MH/TT/5er, but you can use either the low pressure quick coupler set up, or the high pressure. Some campers/RV's/etc. use these quick couplers from the factory, so if you're having trouble matching an existing coupler, it may be because you're trying to mate a low pressure with a high pressure, or vise-versa. Call the folks at mbsturgis and they can help.

When not in use, the heater stowes under the dinette seat. It takes just a few minutes to get the heater out before going to bed, and set it up. Per the manufacturer's instructions, I open the roof vent about 1/2", and the lower panel of the screen door the same amount. Sometimes I'll unzip just a few inches of the upper corner, of the side bunk windows, but not always. We never have a condensation problem.

The heater lights quickly and in about 5-10min. is fully "cooking." Set on medium, it will keep the camper 71*F inside at an outside tempurature of 51*F. I leave it run all night and it keeps us toasty warm.

A word of advice on using heaters in campers; do your homework if you're worried about carbon monoxide poisoning. By that, I mean call the manufacturer and get your information straight from their technical support, or even their engineers. That way, you have actual data, instead of all the story telling that is so common on many RV website forums.

Bottom line: This is an outstanding product that's extremely well designed and built. It's easy to use, super efficient, quiet, and just cranks out the heat!

UPDATE: Dec 2012

We're still using the Wave 6 heater after 6 seasons. Still love the thing. It still runs all night long, while we sleep. I wound up making "thumb screws" that allow me to take the feet on and off faster. I install the feet at the beginning of each camp trip, and take them off on the final day of the trip, and the heater just sits out of the way on the counter during the day. The thumb screws are just 5mm allen head "bolts" that I threaded into 5mm wing nuts. I tightend the allen head bolts really tight into the wing nuts, so the wing nuts make it easy to spin the bolts through the legs and up into the heater's threaded lugs. Hope that makes sense.

To give an idea of how little propane these heaters use, we had an 8 day camp trip this year, and only used 3.8 gallons of propane. That included about 10 days of running the refrigerator, and 8 days of cooking 2 meals per day on the 3 burner carry-out stove, and using the Wave 6 from about 8pm each night, until around 6am the next morning.

My little travel trailer came without an LP Furnace. I originally thought this would be a huge drawback and prevent me from dry camping...until I discovered the Olympian Wave 3! What a fantastic little unit! It's every bit as powerful as a forced air 12000BTU LP furnace, however it has some big advantages-1. it's completely silent. No loud blower motors to wake you up every time they turn on; 2. it doesn't require any battery power (an LP furnace won't run if your battery dies); 3. it's smaller, lighter, and portable than an LP furnace; and 4. With a hose and leg accessories, you can move the heater around to wherever you need it.

The only disadvantage is that there's no thermostat control-you only have two heat settings (low and high) that stay on as long as the unit is on. But since it's more consistent radiant heat, once it warms the interior, you can maintain a consistent temp inside by just adjusting your windows or roof vent.

Unlike cheaper catalytic heaters such as the "buddy" series or the Coleman "cats", this one uses much less LP per hour (since it uses low pressure LP rather than high). It also works in higher elevations (where the others can't operate above 5000 feet or so).

Highly recommended product that will last you for years!

Buy Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic Heater Now

We bought this heater for our travel trailer. We enjoy "dry camping" (no power or water) in the the desert during the winter and needed a heat source that does not run down our batteries. The heater is ideal from that respect. It does not require a blower and it does not use power to control the flame.

It worked well for us at first. After a month or so of regular use we noticed that it started to smell and then our carbon monoxide detector alarm sounded in the middle of the night warning of carbon monoxide levels high enough to kill. (Wouldn't you know it, it was the coldest night we ever experienced in the desert, -18 degrees!!)

Camping often means dusty conditions. It is not stated in the on-line specifications or mentioned in the reviews or in the manufactures description that this heater is not suitable for dusty conditions. Only by careful reading of the operation manual can this be discovered. We went ahead and installed the heater hoping that we could keep the dust down. Although we thought we were being careful by keeping it covered when not in use and practiced good housekeeping, the heater failed because the catalyst got "poisoned". Once it failed we found that the warranty does not cover catalyst poisoning and it was too late to return it. We now have a heater that we cannot use because of high carbon monoxide levels.

Be aware that this heater can be deadly. In a dust-free environment the heater will probably give years of use, but if you plan to use this heater, or any catalytic heater for camping, be aware of the limitations, check the operation manual before you buy it and use a CO detector.

Read Best Reviews of Camco 57331 Olympian Wave-3 3000 BTU LP Gas Catalytic Heater Here

The unit has been used twice and works perfectly. In addition, when I had a question about the unit, the tech support folks were right there with speedy, courteous information. For their size, these heaters do not have the raw output of something like a "Buddy Heater." However, there are some big differences. Buddy Heaters do not work above 7,000 feet. Therefore, of little use in Colorado. Second, these heaters burn exceptionally clean requiring very little ventillation. Previously, I was using a radiant kerosene heater to keep my enclosed trailer warm during hunting season. It took huge amounts of ventillation to keep the carbon monoxide detector from going off (read "to stay alive".) A clean efficient burning process is critical for me when I use the heater for my hunting trailer. In addition, because these heaters hook up to a large propane tank, they can run for a very long time with no input from the user. I am very satisfied with this unit.

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Hi All.

We have been using a Mr Heater, and a Wave #6 Propane Heater, for about 8 years now. The only time you notice any smell at all, is the very first time your fire it up. Its just that new smell that you noitce. It goes away very quickly. Since we do almost nothing but Boon-Docking, ( No Hook-Ups at all ) we never, ever use our RV's Furance at all. First of all, because it will suck down one Battery per night. And second an RV Furance at best is maybe 40% to 50% effective, which means it really sucks down the Propane. And the last issue with any RV Furance is that they make a whole lot of noise all night long. Where as the Mr Heater and the Wave #6 Propane Heater is totally silent and use's no power at all. You can either Permantely Mount the Wave Heaters or use a Leg-kit and use the wave #6 as a Portable.

As mentioned, you must keep your Wave Heater's Pad, Covered and Clean all of the time, or you will poision it for sure. I have met other RV'er who hhave used the very same Wave #6 or the Wave #8 for almost 20 years wiht no problems. We also have never had a problem either. Take care of your propane Heater and it will take care of you. You can have it repaired, but it cost almost as much to just buy a Brand New Wave #6 Heater, and start with a new Warranity. The Mr Heater is a good Propane Heater also, but it is only good to about 6500 feet, and it does put out a liitle bit more Carbon Monixide than the Wave #6 does, which is almost nothing, compaird to the Wave #6, and is good up to 12,000 ft. Others have mentioned Moisture issues. If you vent properly, you can easily manage this. We used both of these Propane Heaters in our last 5er. And now in our 34 ft Class A Motorhome. The Wave #6 is tapped into the Motorhome's Low Pressure System. I use two 12 ft Low Pressure Propane Hoses connected together. So I can move it any where I want it to be in our Motorhome. Our Motorhome is not what you call an All Season RV. But just the Wave #6 Propane Heater has keep us very comfortable down into the singal digit numbers in the winter. In cold weather Boon-Docking, a Wave #6 Propane Heater can and does extend your time that you can stay out and enjoy yourself and the winter time. If for any rreason that ours should ever quit working, we will buy another one for sure. I do make sure our Motorhomes Furance does work properly, for just in case of an emergency only. Good Luck. Happy Travels

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