Congo Campground

[Alan]

Hi

Yes, I have finally moved on - now at Congo campground in Eurobodalla National park. No power here, so the lappy battery is just about to die. It rained just after I set up, but the weather Gods took pity on me - clear sky now

[Barkly]

Stunning pics.
Called in to loom at that camping site earlier this year - quite crowded. Know your camper type well. I will be investing in a Prado and an off road soft floor camper September.

[sejac]

Nice light caught in both these Alan.

Good to see that you're not restricting yourself to inner voyages.Are you headed south?

[P Plates]

Very nice Alan - particularly like the stars in #2. Both would make a nice ad for your camper.

[Alan]

Stunning pics.
Called in to loom at that camping site earlier this year - quite crowded. Know your camper type well. I will be investing in a Prado and an off road soft floor camper September.

At $5/night I can see why it's popular. Only one cold outside shower, but beautiful, spacious and expensive toilet/shower blocks though, (bring your own solar shower bag). No fires allowed.

Nice light caught in both these Alan.

Good to see that you're not restricting yourself to inner voyages.Are you headed south?

Thanks Charles - no North atm.

Very nice Alan - particularly like the stars in #2. Both would make a nice ad for your camper.

Thank you Maybe Avan would sponsor me to tour Australia, taking pics of their van in exotic settings

[P Plates]

" Maybe Avan would sponsor me to tour Australia, taking pics of their van in exotic settings "

Worth a try - would be an ideal job in my opinion.

[Lost]

what's the van like Alan?. I just bought a battery pack to run lappy and so on. Also handy to start the car when i leave the lights on

[Alan]

It's great Ian. Love it. I'm just investigating the options to keep the lappy going. I joined the Caravanners Forum and there is a long discussion going on atm about the pros and cons of inverters vs dedicated cig lighter chargers. I have a Mac and there is not much around for their 'mag safe' connection. An inverter would allow me to use other 240V chargers etc - but for a pure sine wave one it's $$.

I hadn't thought of a battery pack.

Cheers

[Lost]

I hadn't thought of a battery pack.

we often read about an extra battery is a "has to have" [along with all their other bull ] extra for 4x4s. Seems a lot of weight and expense to me and when the nice auto club man turned up to start my car he used one of those battery packs. I looked into them and they can also supply power for the toys when required. It can be charged via fag plug during the day. About $150 I think. Must admit I have never used it.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

.... I'm just investigating the options to keep the lappy going. I joined the Caravanners Forum and there is a long discussion going on atm about the pros and cons of inverters vs dedicated cig lighter chargers. I have a Mac and there is not much around for their 'mag safe' connection. An inverter would allow me to use other 240V chargers etc - but for a pure sine wave one it's $$.... Cheers

G'day Alan

I'm also active on the caravan forum too !!
We have Toshy laptops - so our power options are very much easier than macs with their special connectors

For us, the Jaycar $75 12v to 24v DC-> DC power packs work wonders. Set the device to 20v and it delivers 3,4A and the laptop goes like the clappers - and has done for best part of 10 years

But with the mac special connector, you'll [probably] need an inverter

A 'pure' sinewave inverter is only needed by devices with 240v motors within them - drills, laser printers etc
A 'square' sinewave inverter will work very well with providing power to a heater [water jug etc] &/or the laptop power pack

Whatever you decide to buy, double the 'computed' size to give yourself plenty of efficiency margins
Our 1st inverter was 600w, we now use a 1000w via 2 x 100amp batteries charged by 2x 100w solar panels. It's mainly used for the laser printer

Regards, Phil

[twistednoodle]

Wow great information here! I have a small fridge for my van and have been wondering about powering it separately from the 12v plug so it stays cold even when the car isn't running. That battery pack sounds good - you'd need two wouldn't you, one for the fridge and one for the Mac and other toys. What are they actually called - these battery packs?

Great pics BTW Alan - what a terrific spot! Love the stars....

[loose cannon]

Interesting info.

I run a 120ah deep cycle battery with 80 watt solar panels. The battery will run the 40lt Engel fridge for at least three days during the hotter months. Also I have a 600w modified sine wave inverter that runs my lappy, charges camera batteries etc etc.

With deep cycle batteries it's very important to not run them down past 50%. That makes my battery effectively a 60ah power supply but that's oodles of power for my needs and I expect to get an absolute minimum of five years from the battery so the purchase price of $260 is pretty cheap really.

By mid-morning the battery has been fully recharged by the solar panels, I've quite a safety margin built in to my stuff and can stay bush for weeks at a time no problems at all.

It's well worth calculating what your power needs are and then finding a solution to suit.

The Jaycar DC - DC unit sounds interesting and I'll look into those.

Plenty of options these days!

[Gaz]

Back to the pic's, gotta love no.2...well they're both great really, but one always seems to stand out more.

[Lost]

what's the van like Alan?. I just bought a battery pack to run lappy and so on. Also handy to start the car when i leave the lights on

Bull I did. Well I thought I did. Mine will still need a converter or whatever so I have just realized. Mainly got it for an emergency car starter, like when I leave the lights on but I will now look into the converter, not that I need it that much.