Supplying power for high altitude filming

[Jeremy Wiles]

Hi Folks,

I was wanting to hear some experiences and advice that you've had in keeping your camera batteries charged in high altitudes. I'm camping on the summit of Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey for 14 days and need to supply power to my 5 RED brick batteries. We'll be at an elevation of 17,000 feet. The last time I climbed this mountain, my generator acted strange and blew up my battery chargers. I suspect it was because the carburetor was gasping for oxygen and sent too much juice to the chargers.

How would you power your RED batteries at this elevation? Any recommendations on a high-altitude generator?

Thanks for the help.

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy_Sawatzky]

there always are solar powered options. you shouldnt have any problem finding some sunlight up there. - i know of a company, cant remember the name though. the sales rep quoted me 65watt out of a 6 by 6 foot foldable panel. and it weighed under 2 lbs. worth doing some research though.

 

[Jeremy Wiles]

there always are solar powered options. you shouldnt have any problem finding some sunlight up there. - i know of a company, cant remember the name though. the sales rep quoted me 65watt out of a 6 by 6 foot foldable panel. and it weighed under 2 lbs. worth doing some research though.

I've looked pretty extensively into the solar power option. According to the user manual for the RED charger, the power draw is 220 watts. It takes 190 minutes to recharge two batteries to 80% full. It takes 190 minutes x 2.5 (for 5 batteries) = 475 minutes to recharge 5 batteries to 80% full. That's 8 hours. The energy consumption is 220 watts x 8 hours = 1742 watt-hours. That's the energy stored in a 136 amp-hour LFP solar power battery pack. There's a $3000 solar power system called the LFP40 that's probably the most advanced and efficient solar system out there. The LFP40 battery pack is a 40 amp-hour pack. To recharge 5 of the Red batteries would require more than three LFP40 batteries. This is because of the unbelievably inefficient Red charger. So, you would need at least three LFP40 Sling Pack systems ($9000) to recharge 5 Red batteries each day.

Unfortunately, I don't think a solar power system is practical, without having to carry mega-size panels and many batteries to the summit. This is why I was thinking perhaps a generator is a better option.

Any ideas?