iPhone use in the bush questions...

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

You can't move it via the iPhone, just control start, stop, camera shutter and you can access and change all the menu items like resolution, photo, video, time lapse, video quality, frame rate, etc... You can also power the camera off and on, but the wireless keeps running obviously or you would not be able to remotely power it back up. However, when you first set the camera up you can see where it's pointed and make adjustments then. There's also a wifi remote that comes with the GoPro that will do the same stuff minus the preview.

You get to see on your iPhone screen a small compressed view of what the camera sees. The phone and camera communicate over the wifi connection. The camera has a wifi network built in that you log into to control the camera via the iPhone so you can do this in remote places - no cell coverage or computer needed. There is a lag of about 3-4 seconds in video preview and distance away from the camera seems to affect the time it takes to send the preview a little bit. I've only used it from a max of about 25 yards so far but it has worked well for me. There is a blue flashing light on the camera that cannot be turned off to the best of my knowledge that is only on when the wifi is running - even when the camera is powered down remotely. If you're trying to film something covertly like I was on my bear bait, you'll need to put some tape over that LED so you don't freak out the critters.

Coop

 

[Slim Jim]

Thanks Coop! Good info

 

[Brandon Pattison]

Coop, you got a link to the bear snout video?

 

[Damonsecloro]

I see a lot of people take these with them. Is it because you know you have service here or there or what? I find their weight heavy and their use un-needed but I am open to ideas. I have also found that the GPS doesn't work on mine with no signal - explain that one to me. I ask this as a recent thread was started asking about external chargers. They have many different mAh ratings. What is the phone's mAh to begin with as a reference? If a guy was to get a solar charger what is a good, simple, lightweight brand and what output do you need? Has Apple figured out a way to use it as a sat phone or for use as a SPOT-type device with texting options? Am I five years early on technology? If I was going to take mine in the bush I would turn it off when not in use so I would think that it's battery would last a very long time if you limited your use when it is on.

If you have 3G on your iphone you can basically use it anywhere in the world, I wouldn't rely on external battery chargers but a portable handheld solar chargers like the ones Suntactics.com sells called the sCharger-5. It weighs only 8oz and doesn't require heavy external/internal batteries, so you can direct charge things like GPS or smartphones in an instant, also charges the SPOT connect.

Check out the portable solar charger here:

http://www.suntactics.com/shop/usb-scharger-5/

 

[TheRambler]

If you have 3G on your iphone you can basically use it anywhere in the world, I wouldn't rely on external battery chargers but a portable handheld solar chargers like the ones Suntactics.com sells called the sCharger-5. It weighs only 8oz and doesn't require heavy external/internal batteries, so you can direct charge things like GPS or smartphones in an instant, also charges the SPOT connect.

Check out the portable solar charger here:


http://www.suntactics.com/shop/usb-scharger-5/

Why do you say you wouldn't rely on an external battery pack? A battery is about 1000x more reliable than a solar panel charger. For most people they would get better and more consistent use out of a battery pack vice a solar charger. Solar chargers do work, and work great under the right conditions, but are really only best suited to certain types of trips. Not only that, but to really get the most out of your solar charger you need to have a battery connected to the solar charger to capture the energy otherwise you have to leave your devices connected to it instead of being able to use them.

Your unit weighs 8oz, my 9900mah battery pack also weighs 8oz. I can use that battery pack over a 20 day trip without needing to recharge it. There are also bigger battery packs, even a 18,000mah battery pack only weighs 16oz. I could last probably close to 2 months with that. The weight vs time vs charge ratio is much better with a battery IMO. A battery charges faster, more evenly, and stores energy for use at any time. A solar panel weighs the same as most batteries, but takes a long time to adequately charge something, has an uneven charge rate, and does not store energy for later use.

This is the way i see it as far as advantages and disadvantages for battery packs and solar charger.

Battery pack
Advantages:
Cheaper
Faster recharge of devices
Quick to recharge the battery
Convienient hassle free use
Works day or night and in all weather
Small

Disadvantages:
Has to be recharged
Limited uses(depends on size of battery obviously, but in any case its still limited)
Lifespan of roughly 500 full cycles of the battery pack, or about 1000 cycles of 50% (of the battery pack, not of a device your charging)

Solar Panel chargers
Advantages:
Renewable resource with unlimited energy potential
Recharges devices without the need for batteries
Can charge devices while you are doing another task, like hiking
Longer lifepsan than a battery(theoretically)

Disadvantages:
Slow charge rate
Requires full sunlight to be fully effective, can be partially effecting in partial sunlight
Requires good solar aspect(has to be angled to the sun at a good angle to be the most efficient)
Takes up more space than a battery when in use
Doesn't work at night or in cloudy/bad weather
More expensive than battery packs
Fragile and susceptible to shock and blunt force damage.
Weight to charge ratio is heavy(amount of charge you get over a set amount of time vs the weight of the unit)
Requires device to be kept connected for long durations
Requires a battery to be fully efficient- ***This is important*** Depending on the amount of sun a solar panel may only put out a small amount of current, this can potentially be below a devices minimum requirement and even though a device is connected it may not charge at all. A battery connected to the solar panel elimates this as the battery will capture all energy sent into it as long as it is high enough to overcome the resistance of the battery itself. The difference between a battery pack and say a smartphone is the charging circuitry, the circuitry in a smartphone requires a slightly higher amount of current to actualy begin charging the battery and its not just its batteries resistance it has to overcome.

 

[slim9300]

Why do you say you wouldn't rely on an external battery pack? A battery is about 1000x more reliable than a solar panel charger. For most people they would get better and more consistent use out of a battery pack vice a solar charger. Solar chargers do work, and work great under the right conditions, but are really only best suited to certain types of trips. Not only that, but to really get the most out of your solar charger you need to have a battery connected to the solar charger to capture the energy otherwise you have to leave your devices connected to it instead of being able to use them.

Your unit weighs 8oz, my 9900mah battery pack also weighs 8oz. I can use that battery pack over a 20 day trip without needing to recharge it. There are also bigger battery packs, even a 18,000mah battery pack only weighs 16oz. I could last probably close to 2 months with that. The weight vs time vs charge ratio is much better with a battery IMO. A battery charges faster, more evenly, and stores energy for use at any time. A solar panel weighs the same as most batteries, but takes a long time to adequately charge something, has an uneven charge rate, and does not store energy for later use.

This is the way i see it as far as advantages and disadvantages for battery packs and solar charger.

Battery pack
Advantages:
Cheaper
Faster recharge of devices
Quick to recharge the battery
Convienient hassle free use
Works day or night and in all weather
Small

Disadvantages:
Has to be recharged
Limited uses(depends on size of battery obviously, but in any case its still limited)
Lifespan of roughly 500 full cycles of the battery pack, or about 1000 cycles of 50% (of the battery pack, not of a device your charging)

Solar Panel chargers
Advantages:
Renewable resource with unlimited energy potential
Recharges devices without the need for batteries
Can charge devices while you are doing another task, like hiking
Longer lifepsan than a battery(theoretically)

Disadvantages:
Slow charge rate
Requires full sunlight to be fully effective, can be partially effecting in partial sunlight
Requires good solar aspect(has to be angled to the sun at a good angle to be the most efficient)
Takes up more space than a battery when in use
Doesn't work at night or in cloudy/bad weather
More expensive than battery packs
Fragile and susceptible to shock and blunt force damage.
Weight to charge ratio is heavy(amount of charge you get over a set amount of time vs the weight of the unit)
Requires device to be kept connected for long durations
Requires a battery to be fully efficient- ***This is important*** Depending on the amount of sun a solar panel may only put out a small amount of current, this can potentially be below a devices minimum requirement and even though a device is connected it may not charge at all. A battery connected to the solar panel elimates this as the battery will capture all energy sent into it as long as it is high enough to overcome the resistance of the battery itself. The difference between a battery pack and say a smartphone is the charging circuitry, the circuitry in a smartphone requires a slightly higher amount of current to actualy begin charging the battery and its not just its batteries resistance it has to overcome.

Clearly a troll. His first post is listing a website and promoting a product. Gotta love Google analytics.

And he clearly missed the entire prior discussion where solar panels were pretty much 'ruled out' for hunters taking trips of 2 weeks or less.

 

[crazy_davey]

The Goal Zero Guide 10 works exactly like that. I used it this way for an entire season. It's much better with lithiums versus alkaline though. With 4 lithiums you get a full charge on an iPhone. I don't see how you could be doing it wrong. Mine works just the same as with the rechargeable AA's but doesn't provide a comparable charge unless you use lithiums.

OK, well tried it again and no luck. Four brand new Duracell's, green light comes on and little light works but will not register on the phone. Put the four goal zero batteries back in and boom, works like a charm. Tried it with Energizer lithium's as well and no luck . This is the Goal Zero Guide 10 plus.

Just tried it one more time to be safe, no luck. Rechargeable's back in and voilà.

Slim, I am going to take a shot in the dark here and say yours is probably a different model than mine, correct?

 

[slim9300]

OK, well tried it again and no luck. Four brand new Duracell's, green light comes on and little light works but will not register on the phone. Put the four goal zero batteries back in and boom, works like a charm. Tried it with Energizer lithium's as well and no luck . This is the Goal Zero Guide 10 plus.

Just tried it one more time to be safe, no luck. Rechargeable's back in and voilà.

Slim, I am going to take a shot in the dark here and say yours is probably a different model than mine, correct?

That's exactly what I have. One of them is permanently located in MT and the other is sitting with all my gear. The one in MT is two years old and definitely works this way (I had to use it for two weeks to keep my phone charged). I have not tried installing regular batteries in my newest model that I purchased a few months ago. When I get home tonight I'll give it a try and report back.

 

[crazy_davey]

Cool, thanks. Something must be different I am thinking. Mine is a very recent purchase.

Thanks for checking!

 

[Rizzy]

Do u guys have the same phone?
I know that with iphones the 3,4,5 have different charging circuitry.

 

[slim9300]

Cool, thanks. Something must be different I am thinking. Mine is a very recent purchase.

Thanks for checking!

That's really odd. I get the green light but I get no charge with alkaline batteries. I don't have any lithiums to test either. They must have changed something from the older model. I even tried an old iPhone 3G and it didn't work. Sorry for the bad advice.

 

[crazy_davey]

That's really odd. I get the green light but I get no charge with alkaline batteries. I don't have any lithiums to test either. They must have changed something from the older model. I even tried an old iPhone 3G and it didn't work. Sorry for the bad advice.

They must have then. I have the 4S phone and obviously the same battery pack as your new one. Thanks for confirming for me. Now I need to find something else...

 

[Brandon Pattison]

Tell me bout these external optical lenses I see or are they adapters? Good or junk?

 

[Elkfitness]

I used the the goal zero guide 10 last year on 2 hunts. I thought it worked like a charm. I got it as a gift but it was slick. While glassing or taking a break I would use the solar panel to charge the battery pack. Then I'd plug the iPhone 4S to the panel. Back at the tent at night I would plug the battery pack into the phone if it wasn't a full charge. I still think its pretty amazing it works. I have a spot unit for the iPhone and this is the only way I can solo hunt for 7-10 days and still make my wife be comfortable with it. Always good to text each night and then send the success text. Plus I have it just in case something "bad" happens.

 

[ChadH]

This is a really helpful thread. Has anyone used the Spot Gen3 or the new Spot SAT phone? I am trying to decide between the Connect and the Gen3... then the SAT phone comes back in the mix.

 

[Mark at EXO]

This is a really helpful thread. Has anyone used the Spot Gen3 or the new Spot SAT phone? I am trying to decide between the Connect and the Gen3... then the SAT phone comes back in the mix.

I tested the phone and wasn't really happy with it. It was hard to hold a signal long enough to make a call. I'm using the Connect now and haven't had any issues.

 

[ChadH]

I tested the phone and wasn't really happy with it. It was hard to hold a signal long enough to make a call. I'm using the Connect now and haven't had any issues.

Thanks for the help. I was thinking the connect would be best, but saw that the Gen3 was rechargable via USB, so it would work with a backup pack. I don't need all the advanced tracking though (I don't think anyway).

 

[Mark at EXO]

Thanks for the help. I was thinking the connect would be best, but saw that the Gen3 was rechargable via USB, so it would work with a backup pack. I don't need all the advanced tracking though (I don't think anyway).

The main advantage of the Connect is the ability to send custom, "on the fly" messages. If you only need tracking, SOS, and are happy with a "canned" message, then a Gen3 may be best for you.

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

Not sure if you guys saw the article we recently posted, but I noticed a few questions pertaining to some of the info...

http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-09-42/optics/263-smartphones-for-today-s-smarter-hunter

DC

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

Coop, you got a link to the bear snout video?

I haven't posted it up yet... when I do, I'll let you know.