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| MINI WIND TURBINE |
The Postman delivered a small parcel this morning. That's it above - a mini wind turbine.
Now I am not a great supporter of wind turbines - well not the ones that they erect on the top of many decent hills in the Lake District ...Scotland...Wales..Devon....Cornwall...etc...etc...On the one hand they might produce a certain level of power harvested from the wind but on the other hand I feel that they do destroy the beautiful landscape of these areas.
I heard only last week that the Dutch developer ENECO plans to build a wind farm 8 to 10 miles off the coast here at Bournemouth. These will be 900 -1200 megawatt turbines and could power up to 820,000 homes. On the face of it this all sounds good stuff BUT there will be between 150 - 250 of these monsters and they will certainly be a 'blot on the seascape'.
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| HY MINI WIND TURBINE NOT AS USED BY ENECO |
Now, my turbine is a lot smaller than the one's that ENECO use and it certainly will not be a blot on anyone's land or sea scape. I have been using mini solar panels to power various devices when I go backpacking or cycle touring for a couple of years and for the most part they work quite well, but you have to have sunshine and in the good old UK that can be a bit of a rarity sometimes. Now don't misunderstand me I haven't run out of power yet- but I have come close. The gizmo that uses most power when cycle touring is my Garmin bike computer/GPS. When fully charged I get about 15 hours of power which equates to about two days worth of use. Even on 100 mile fully loaded cycletouring days it will last for a couple of days. However if the weather is overcast I have found myself struggling to harvest enough solar power to recharge it fully, hence my new purchase. My plan is to now use both wind & solar power. I first saw these mini turbines last year when a guy I know cycled across Europe. Two of these supplied all the power he required. (He had no solar panels). The turbine is supplied with various connectors for different electronic units and it can also be charged from the mains or from your computer via a USB cable. You then download the power to your device ie Garmin...Phone...MP3 etc.
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| DO NOT EAT |
Using a mini wind turbine on a bike works quite well by all accounts. The main reason for this of course is that you are creating your own 'wind' by the very act of cycling forward. Even on a day when there is no 'actual wind' no worries. You will be creating enough wind force just by the act of cycling along. I think that supplementing my solar harvesting with some wind power harvesting will keep me fully powered.....We will see and I will obviously report my findings to you all on this blog. As usual I had to read all the instructions and that included everything on the box as well. I wasn't surprised to read that the makers don't recommend that you hold the turbine in your hand as you cycle along (see above photo). The manufacturers supply a bike fitting kit with all the other bits and pieces in the box. The guy who rode across Europe last year had his fitted on the front forks of his tourer- one each side just below the brakes. I think that is probably where I will site mine in the end but not until I have played around with trying it on various parts of my touring machine. What I was surprised at was that the manufacturers suggest that you 'DON'T EAT' your wind turbine. What a disappointment - I had already prepared mine ready for lunch with some HP sauce to improve the flavour.
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| READY FOR LUNCH - DON'T FORGET THE HP SAUCE |
22 comments:
Simply too many legal people involved! I imagine that, had they though of it, they'd also advise you don't use the device in various other body cavities as well, but I hope neither of us get more specicific.
Seriously, I hope you will advise us on the power output. Myself, I'm looking for something low drag that will keep my iPhone fully charged and giving me London traffic reports as I ride to work in Texas.
I zapped off my own inquiry to Uniross; namely:
"You note that this has a USB connection. Is it compatible with charging a USA specification iPhone 3GS? I have noted that many USB charging devices do not work with the phone."
I did not feel it necessary to inquire as to why they felt it necessary to warn us against eating the thing. Their web site did not indicate how we might procure their device short of a long airplane flight over to the UK, but I did not inquire as to whether it might be also available to English speaking peoples outside the UK. First, let's see if it does anything I'd care about! For THAT, I look here to see what future developments indicate.
*Steve A*
Hi Steve..
I will certainly report back on this blog on how good or otherwise this gadget is.. I must say however that my friend cycled just over 2000 miles across Europe and only had good things to say about it....we shall see - my first short touring trip is in 4 weeks time(long weekend trip).
Much interested!
Awaiting full review.
Enjoyed my first read of your blog. Always a pleasure for any hungry mouth to find someone on the verge of lunch-taking.
The manufacturer's warning [DO NOT EAT] must be a veiled acknowledgement to the resourcefulness of bikers, the fertility of their minds.
*limom*
Living where you do I thought that 'Solar power' would be the way to go...Ha..Ha
*Goodman Manyanya Phiri*
Welcome...I am glad that you enjoyed your first read here at the purpletraveller blog. Thanks a lot for your comments and taking the time to make them.
Hi Trevor, how are you feeling? I hope better! :) Your blog is great, the wind turbine is very interesting and It looks promising, as I hope it works very well for you in your travels....We have the big turbines up in Mars Hill , Maine and I remember when pieces of them came through downtown Bangor on flat beds...They made news...I love your photo of the "interesting" lunch plate, very creative....Thanks for your kindness on my blog, it is really inspiring, cheers, Linda :)
*Linda*
Thanks Linda...Those big turbines really are BIG..! Some job too putting them up..the guys that put the blades on need a head for heights..!
As you are a keen photographer a visit to my photo blog at www.auraofpastshadows.blogspot.com might be of some interest. (Assuming you haven't visited yet)
I too am interested in how this works for you. And, by the way, I think if you deep fried it, you could eat it in a pinch. ;)
*jeff*
Deep frying..you could be right - it always hides the reality of what we are eating...
That warning, "Don't eat", made me laugh out loud! Please do let us know how you like the product further down the road.
Peace :)
I reckon if you drank that bottle of sauce it would create a fair bit of wind power too!
Sounds a good idea
And I loath the big wind turbines too - Wales is being ruined by them. Sad to the point of tears
Cool. My journies are getting longer. I need some source of charge for IPOD, and Cell PHone. I wait your report. Thanks
Dave
Interesting device - even if not edible....
This is a very useful equipment!
Funny warning: do not eat!
Is there anybody who want eat it? :))
This post has alerted my mind... We have plenty of sun in Africa, but we utilises it to the least! I am a changed man, starting to invest in solar energy.
Cheers Trevor!
Hello Trevor:
Thanks for your nice and wonderful words. You must know, it is also great to see you again. Your support means a lot to me, thanks indeed!!
Keep well and have a nice nice day, and be so happy.
See you and my best regards to you.
un blog muy bueno de bikes, saludos desde españa te invitamos a que nos conozcas y te hagas seguidor de nuestra pagina .saludos
Complimenti....ottimi lavori,,like mari
I seem to notice a lot more wind turbines these days on my travels.I go now in, I seem to notice more and more and wind turbines. Not that they obstruct the tourist views in the National parks but more on the fringes of the "areas of outstanding natural beauty" where the connoisseurs go for a bit of peace .... Northumberland, Scottish Borders, Pennines, West Cumbria. I hope you find yours useful.... make sure you don't leave a window open when you are having your tea, you might cut your tongue !!
What is the power rating/power output on this turbine?
*Nordic Tony*
Output is 5V.
Ok for devices such as mobile phones...PDAs...Digital cameras....MP3 players....etc
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