Re: battery powered setup (for the playa)

[Chris Chovit <cho@newdream.net>]

Sounds like a good setup!  What do you use the inverter for, if you are
using a DC (car stereo) amp? Is this for your mixer and looping gear?

I was hoping to keep my entire setup DC powered.  I was thinking of using
my Line 6 DL-4, which i have heard (but have not verified) works off of DC,
even though the P/S supplied is AC...  anyone know of any other DC powered
loopers?

How did your PA speakers hold up under the heat and dust of the playa?
Were they ready to be thrown out afterwards?

BTW, I just picked up a solar panel from realgoods.com.  $150-200 will get
a 1.1 amp, 16.5 V solar panel, which should be enough to keep the battery
topped off during the daytime...

If i make it this year, i'll keep an eye out for the portable looper w/
alien sculpture speakers.  But how will i recognize you, once i've narrowed
it down with that criteria....  ;-)

Cheers,
Chris







>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