Prior to the analog v. digital signal change I used a Vector portable TV for entertainment and NOAA severe weather warnings (which I still use)during hurricane events. Its car adapter has a tubular power jack on one end and connects to a standard cigarette lighter jack on the other. I noticed that my Coleman portable fan had the same plug, but its power pack was 6 D cells for 9v. At the time I had just changed the battery on my HD Sportster, and the old battery was still in pretty good condition, so it looked like a good power source for both TV and fan but no way to plug it in. A trip to Wall Mart and I found the missing link... female cigarette plug one end and "battery charger clips" other end in the boating section. I had planned on adding a resistor to drop the voltage for the fan, but found it wasn't necessary. I routinely change out my car batteries about every 3 years, and keep the old ones for hurricane season. Thought I would pass this idea along.. regards Les

I had the same requirement to output a battery SLA voltage to power multiple low power devices. I found that this works quite well but is probably a little more expensive at $30 than the female cigarette battery adapter.



Sunshine Multifunction Charge Regulator.

It also allows you to charge the 12v SLA battery from Solar PV.

The box of tricks gives 3 12V outputs one being a Cigarette type and 2 audio jack types. A single 5V USB output and 3V 6V and 9V on mini audio jack connectors. You can also monitor the battery voltage important for not discharging to much to save battery life.

You can see the Charge regulator in operation here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caeEyhJZnTs