RE: GPS Units - hand held battery life.

["Gould, Terry [IBM GSA]" <>]

Hi folks,

One issue that has not been raised with GPSs is the battery life when
hand held.  My understanding is that the most of the units use 2 or 4 AA
batteries that have a hand held life of between 7 and 20(+)  hrs (using
alkaline batteries).  Some units can be configured for *battery saver*
mode where the current location is updated every 30 seconds or so,
rather than the usual 1 second update, and this extends the battery life
into the 15 - 20 hrs range.  If rechargeable AAs are used, the life is
drastically reduced by at least half.

This is not a problem while the unit is on the power pack in the car -
the internal batteries are disconnected and power is sucked from the car
battery.  But when you take it for a walk, each set of AAs has a finite
life.

My question - do any of the power packs or GPS units provide a battery
charger facility for recharging AA NiCads from the car battery ?.
240VAc  is a bit hard to find out in bush camps.


Regards
Terry Gould