Re: battery powered setup (for the playa)

[Simran gleason <simran.gleason@Sun.COM>]

The system I used last year worked like this:

I got a bright pink suitcase at goowill (ten bux)
a wheelchair battery from the battery shoppe (eighty bux)
    (make sure it's sealed gell cell deep cycle so it 
     doesn't leak fumes and so you can turn it upside
     down without sufferin)
a car stereo amp from fry's (130 bux)
a 300 watt inverter (60 bux)
a bunch of cables and 1/4" jacks and a switch from radidio shacque
(another ten or so bux).

Then I bolted the amp into the suitcase, drilled holes
by the handle, mounted the jacks, and the switch,
hooked it all up, and walla (midwester pronunciation of voila): I have a
four channel battery powered setup that
also powers most of my band.  (I reached the limit two months ago when I
added a vocoder and exceeded the 
wattage on the inverter). 

All you need is speakers (I have alien sculptures that
are also bi-amped PA speakers), and you have your burningman setup.
Total cost: about 300 bux. You can charge the battery
with a small car battery charger (make sure you get one with
two amp or less current so you can charge the deep cycle gell cell). 

Of course a drawback is that you need a little mixer for 
the front end, so you can turn the volume down ;-)

It's pretty heavy, though, so this year I'm going to make a smaller
version:

12 volt battery pack from Target (39 dollars)
50 watt car stereo amp from radidio shacque (49 dollars)
   (or maybe I'll get a used amp on the net)
300 watt inverter (60 dollars)
more assorted jacks and switches. 
an old laptop case (another 10 dollars)
  -- warning: these things are very attractive to 
     those who like to acquire laptops through the
     car window at the midnite computer company. 
This system is smaller and lighter. The battery pack has
its own recharger. The price is lower, and for some
reason it's measured in dollars rather than bux. Perhaps
that'll make for an easier conversion to quid for our 
englisch contingent. 

Simran