Favorite Pricey Not-from-ci-accessory

[Sweeney]

I bought a Starlink Mini a month ago and used it camping once. It's a fantastic piece of tech. It worked great with a partial view of the sky. It has a built-in wifi router and can be powered by AC or DC. I ran it off of my Ecoflow and it worked great.

If it could just handle trees! How much sky do you really need open to get decent speeds? If I were in the 'big rig' I doubt it would matter --- but in the teardrops, I'm looking for shade --- so I've got an immediate conflict of needs...

 

[SLO Camper]

I was surprised that it worked where I was. It was just a relatively small opening in the trees. I've also tried it at my house because I also purchased it for internet backup if the cable or power goes out. I have tree cover to the west, and my house is to the north of where I had it, and it worked well. Here's the campsite where I used it. I had it on the picnic table that you can see.View attachment upload_2024-11-7_12-30-26.png

 

[Sweeney]

I was surprised that it worked where I was. It was just a relatively small opening in the trees. I've also tried it at my house because I also purchased it for internet backup if the cable or power goes out. I have tree cover to the west, and my house is to the north of where I had it, and it worked well. Here's the campsite where I used it. I had it on the picnic table that you can see.View attachment 11165

Thats impressive --- it has come along way! I know its good for home use, my brother in law uses it and is really happy with it. A lot better than the DSL he had before.

The ironic he lives in Shelby County Kentucky -- one of the wealthiest counties in the united states. Horses that have ran in the Kentucky Derby call this area home for pete's sake. DSL. Astounding!

 

[SLO Camper]

As someone who has been using GPS signals professionally for 30 years, I have been very impressed with the coverage in areas with partially obscured sky visibility.

 

[GlampingOn]

I travel with 3 sogens. Small, medium and large. They fit different needs. On my recent 3 week trip I started using the small one (Jackery 300) to run the Dometic fridge at night and not be a drain on my AGM battery. The medium (Ecoflow River Pro) runs an egg cooker and makes coffee. (The coffee maker can also make instant oatmeal.) The large one (Ecoflow Delta Mini) is mainly for running a microwave I travel with. Very handy.

While car charging is slow, I find that with some reasonable planning, I can plug one into the car while I cruise around the parks I visit, and they will charge during the day. Even if not charged fully, they charge enough to keep me going. No need to use solar to charge even though I do travel with solar charging options.

Thanks, John! I remember seeing one of your photos of a couple of perfectly cooked eggs and thot "how'd he do that?".
I like the simplicity of your approach- keeps the focus on camping to enjoy the outdoors plus be comfortable at a cost and time effective way.
PS: I'm on my way to pick up one of those Husky kneeling pads. Genius.

 

[Randy]

Thanks Randy! Thats def the way to go I think-put the extra power in the TV if you are gonna keep the Dometic in TV too. And feed it from the TV alternator on cloudy days, like the CTEK does in the CI with solar. I cannot feed the battery inside the sogen direct as its not controlled by the battery monitor, for DC to external DC.
So I'm noodling on another way...

Thanks for the Anderson plug reminder- I recall that on another thread and can confirm the Dometic cigarrette plug working loose is a pain, too.

What "DC to DC" box model and maker, pls? I recall an earlier thread on this, but cant recall if you filled us in then.

Victron 12-24-15 DC to DC charger

For the Goal Zero I had to put it in “Power Supply” mode instead of “Charger” mode and program it to send 20~30 volts.

 

[GlampingOn]

Victron 12-24-15 DC to DC charger

For the Goal Zero I had to put it in “Power Supply” mode instead of “Charger” mode and program it to send 20~30 volts.

Thanks Randy- program the Goal Zero, or the charger? What make/model did you choose?

I've got a Victron and I suppose I could experiment with the Outlaw72, see if I can set it on fire...

J/k but then "I "need" a new sogen, honey, see?"

 

[GlampingOn]

As someone who has been using GPS signals professionally for 30 years, I have been very impressed with the coverage in areas with partially obscured sky visibility.

Thanks SLO! I looked at the first Dishy and found the AC only to be too costly in power use when off grid. Have to bring a genny to run the thing, plus the antenna with post was awkward to stow.

The pics I see of the Mini set on the TV dash plugged into cigarette plug are the way to go, assuming the TV's cigarette plug circuit can handle the current draw. If you have a sogen as pony battery for Dometic or other things, iphones, ipads, PCs doing remote stuff then thats a non issue as most sogens have good DC out these days.

The nice thing about having it in the TV is you can temporarily park the TV in a sunny place and do your work, maybe download a couole of movies to whatever device, and park TV back close to the CI in the shade when done...
Hmmm...

Honey! Got another on the XMAS wish list!

 

[JohnC]

Thanks, John! I remember seeing one of your photos of a couple of perfectly cooked eggs and thot "how'd he do that?".
I like the simplicity of your approach- keeps the focus on camping to enjoy the outdoors plus be comfortable at a cost and time effective way.
PS: I'm on my way to pick up one of those Husky kneeling pads. Genius.

You're welcome.

The kneeling pad is absolutely one of the best items I've purchased.

 

[Sweeney]

PS: calling Sweeney...ready to do some remote (electrical) consulting on non-OEM CampInn mods? Whats a volt, again?

You know it

Before we hijack this thread, open a new one --- lets see what we can do

 

[JohnC]

Hey Kevin.
We have an EcoFlow Delta 2 which has a 1024Wh capacity, and as Randy mentioned about the similarly powered Yeti 1000 it will run the Dometic for about 3 days without recharging depending on enviromental conditions, and if that is all it's used for, but sometimes a toaster gets plugged into it, and re-chargeable devices etc. which can bring that recharge time down to considerably less duration. I agree, the cigarette plug charger is painfully slow for recharging, which is the result of the limited current capacity of the lighter plug, so up until recently I would charge with solar, or AC if available, or our generator.
EcoFlow recently came out with a 800W DC to DC Alternator Charger for TV's that will charge the sogen in a little over an hour, but seemed somewhat overpriced. EcoFlow 800W Alternator Charger | 800W Alternator Charger | EcoFlow
Early in Sept. I happened to run across a kind of flash sale they had, and was able to snag one for $199 which was about 1/3 of it's normal price. EcoFlow does that sort of thing quite often with their products, especially when they come out with new products, but that was quite a bit larger discount than I'd seen before, so I decided to grab one.
The downside of EcoFlow (and this may be true of other sogens as well) is that they tend to use proprietary connectors, and also, you run their products though an app you install on your phone that they have developed for their products. The app works well, and gives you a lot of adjustability with their products like charge rates and charge limits along with monitoring the SOC, and real time charge input and discharge output of the sogen, as well as hours of charge remaining at current discharge rate etc..
So it's very nice in that way, but because of the brand specific app, I don't think the 800W Alternator Charger could be used with any other brand sogen without a real tech geek somehow hacking it. I did a temporary installation, with the cord for the charger hooked to the battery and ground then coiled under the hood, and the charger & sogen are hooked to it only when recharging is needed. Then it can easily be removed for installation into another vehicle if desired. The downside of that type of installation is it isn't available while driving like it would be if installed as intended with the cord entering the TV cabin and the charger mounted inside at a place where the sogen can sit. It's still relatively new to me, so I don't have enough experience with it yet to give an informed review, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Dustin, can you tell me what kind of connectors are included with the Ecoflow 800W alternator charger? Does it come with alligator clips to attach to the TV 12V battery? I'd really only be interested in attaching it in a non permanent way.

I'm considering upgrading my largest sogen to the new Ecoflow Delta 3 Plus. The alternator charger is currently only $200 more in the bundle.

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Series Portable Power Station | EcoFlow US | EcoFlow

Get next-level battery safety & performance with X-Core 3.0 Technology. Fast-Charge using Solar, Grid, 800W Alternator, Inverter Generators.

us.ecoflow.com

Thanks!

 

[dustinp]

Dustin, can you tell me what kind of connectors are included with the Ecoflow 800W alternator charger? Does it come with alligator clips to attach to the TV 12V battery? I'd really only be interested in attaching it in a non permanent way.

I'm considering upgrading my largest sogen to the new Ecoflow Delta 3 Plus. The alternator charger is currently only $200 more in the bundle.

EcoFlow DELTA 3 Series Portable Power Station | EcoFlow US | EcoFlow

Get next-level battery safety & performance with X-Core 3.0 Technology. Fast-Charge using Solar, Grid, 800W Alternator, Inverter Generators.

us.ecoflow.com

Thanks!

It doesn't have an alligator clip. It has eyelet connections meant to be permanently attached to the vehicles battery & ground. They could maybe be replaced with alligator clips as long as you had a good connection. I leave mine permanently attached to the battery & ground,(which took about 5 minutes) but leave the cable that attaches to the charger coiled up under the hood, then when I charge the sogen, I get the charger from the trunk, attach it to the cable, and then the sogen to the charger. If you wanted to change TV's it would be about another 5 minute job to take it out, and put it in another TV. This is a pretty simple installation, but the downside of using it that way is that you can only use it when stationary. If you want to use it while driving / traveling, you would need to have the cable installed so it goes into the TV's interior where there is room for the sogen to be stored while traveling.


I'll attach the schematic from the install manual, and a link to the entire manual here: https://manuals.ecoflow.com/us/product/alternator-charger-800w?lang=en_US

View attachment 1731284163201.png

 

[Randy]

Thanks Randy- program the Goal Zero, or the charger? What make/model did you choose?

I've got a Victron and I suppose I could experiment with the Outlaw72, see if I can set it on fire...

J/k but then "I "need" a new sogen, honey, see?"

The Victron DC to DC charger via the Victron Bluetooth app. Could be unique to the requirements of the Goal Zero, not sure.

 

[JohnC]

It doesn't have an alligator clip. It has eyelet connections meant to be permanently attached to the vehicles battery & ground. They could maybe be replaced with alligator clips as long as you had a good connection. I leave mine permanently attached to the battery & ground,(which took about 5 minutes) but leave the cable that attaches to the charger coiled up under the hood, then when I charge the sogen, I get the charger from the trunk, attach it to the cable, and then the sogen to the charger. If you wanted to change TV's it would be about another 5 minute job to take it out, and put it in another TV. This is a pretty simple installation, but the downside of using it that way is that you can only use it when stationary. If you want to use it while driving / traveling, you would need to have the cable installed so it goes into the TV's interior where there is room for the sogen to be stored while traveling.


I'll attach the schematic from the install manual, and a link to the entire manual here: https://manuals.ecoflow.com/us/product/alternator-charger-800w?lang=en_US

View attachment 11171

OK, thanks. My battery is actually in the rear of the car (RAV4 hybrid) under the panel with the spare tire. I guess I should check to see if there would be enough room to store the cable there if I attached it permanently. I'd still have to get to it every time I wanted to use it but a permanent battery connection would at least simplify part of the process.

FYI, The Delta 2 is on super sale as I type this...$459. Very tempting but I really like the features of the Delta 3 Plus.

Amazon.com

 

[dustinp]

OK, thanks. My battery is actually in the rear of the car (RAV4 hybrid) under the panel with the spare tire. I guess I should check to see if there would be enough room to store the cable there if I attached it permanently. I'd still have to get to it every time I wanted to use it but a permanent battery connection would at least simplify part of the process.

FYI, The Delta 2 is on super sale as I type this...$459. Very tempting but I really like the features of the Delta 3 Plus.

Amazon.com

Nice price on either one, and it sounds like having your battery in the rear would make the permanent/temporary installation of the alternator charger and use while driving a pretty likely possibility without being too hard to remove for installation into a different TV. I was just looking at a youtube video of accessing your battery

, and that little alcove/cubby on the right side might be a good place to coil up the cable. You would probably need to make a hole in the plastic for the cable to leave the battery compartment into the cubby, and could maybe find or make a grommet to fill it when the cable is removed.

 

[JohnC]

Nice price on either one, and it sounds like having your battery in the rear would make the permanent/temporary installation of the alternator charger and use while driving a pretty likely possibility without being too hard to remove for installation into a different TV. I was just looking at a youtube video of accessing your battery

, and that little alcove/cubby on the right side might be a good place to coil up the cable. You would probably need to make a hole in the plastic for the cable to leave the battery compartment into the cubby, and could maybe find or make a grommet to fill it when the cable is removed.

Mine is actually a 2017 and the battery is in a bit tighter space. I looked at it today and there’s probably enough space for the additional cable although the positive terminal has some fuses attached and some kind of plastic cover over it that would require some work around required.

If I do buy an upgrade sogen I’ll probably spring for the extra $200 for the DC/DC converter. At that price it seems a bit hard to pass up.

 

[JohnC]

I bought a Starlink Mini a month ago and used it camping once. It's a fantastic piece of tech. It worked great with a partial view of the sky. It has a built-in wifi router and can be powered by AC or DC. I ran it off of my Ecoflow and it worked great.

How does the monthly fee work? Can you pay for a month at a time and turn the service off and on based on your schedule?

 

[SLO Camper]

How does the monthly fee work? Can you pay for a month at a time and turn the service off and on based on your schedule?

Yes, it's $50/month, and you can turn the service on and off when needed.

 

[JohnC]

Yes, it's $50/month, and you can turn the service on and off when needed.

Thanks. Being able to only pay for service when you need/want it makes it an attractive option.

 

[Sweeney]

Thanks. Being able to only pay for service when you need/want it makes it an attractive option.

$50 a month, though, is limited to 50 gigs, which is considerable but not "unlimited." If you are accustomed to YouTube, netflix, and tele-meetings, you may be surprised how much it takes....

I recently upgraded my router to a Unifi (Ubiquiti) Dream Machine and was shocked to realize how much data I use. 500 gig—guess again...more. But I suspect I would use significantly less for travel data.

I am planning on upgrading to StarLink in the future though -- especially if I find myself roaming around Arizona in February....