Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

This is a good solution, but I have an other solution for the Garmin USB-charged units.

You can use any USB battery extender. Basically, it's a box that hold 4 AA batteries and the other end is a USB "port." You can plug your normal mini USB cable into this and charge almost anything. I use one to charge my Forerunner 305 and have used it on my Foreunner 301 as well, and my blackberry. So just about anything will work.

I also have a 12 volt USB converter. It plugs into the cigarette lighter in my truck and then I can plug my USB cable into that and get it to charge this way, too. I've done that quite a lot, too.

Go to eBay and do a search on "shuffle battery extender". You can find these for about $10-$12 shipped. They're marketed for the Apple IPOD Shuffle and are white. They work great. Make sure they can plug a USB cable (or an IPOD Shuffle) directly into them.

I use mine at my camp and make sure it's in my vet check bag for away checks.

Keith may be referring to a Forerunner 201, though, and that one is charged using a Serial port, not a USB port and requires a bit more to do.

April
Nashville, TN
http://www.tracetribute.com

http://endurancerider.blogspot.com

On 11/27/06, Keith Kibler < kwkibler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

  If you own a garmin rechargable unit and would like to charge it on
the fly while camping or at a ridecamp without electricity I have found
the solution to that issue.
Get a Energizer brand instant  charger for you phone. They cost  like
19.95 or so.  They  allow you to use 2 AA batteries  to charge your
phone. The cable between the charger and the  phone is detachable.
    Take the charger (which is a small pod thing about half the size of
your palm)  along with the  garmin unit and  its plug in  charger  pad
to radio shack. They do not sell the energizer by the way,  They have a
chord and  both the ends  to fit the  energizer instant charger and the
docking  pad for the garmin. the cord and the two ends will cost you
about $ 14. The charger and the gps for my phone, which is a RZR are
both 5 volts and within 150 miliamps of each other.
  It works. So, for about $ 35 I have an instant portable charger for my
phone and my garmin gps.
Sweet.
Keith

do not forget to take your phone to the place you get the instant
charger to make sure it is the right one, it lists which charger works
with which phone and the cord of it hangs out the back of the package to
make sure it fits, I got mine at Home Depot, but Walmart has them too I
think.
Then take the whole shooting match to Radio Shack and have the thing
hooked up before you leave the store, the instant charger blinks with a
blue light when it is working and the garmin screen comes on to say
"charging". make sure that the person helping you checks the voltage,
polarity of the connections and the miliamperage.
Failure to do these three things could result in frying stuff you dont
want fried.