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#4514 - 02/27/02 11:29 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
Anonymous
Unregistered


I still use a Palm III type with AAA batteries extras of those take up little room. I do not bother to carry my rechargeable Palm into the wilds, your right that is too much trouble.<br><br>Clive

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#4515 - 02/28/02 12:29 AM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
RayW Offline
Addict

Registered: 12/06/01
Posts: 601
Loc: Orlando, FL
For a good text converter for PDA's use MakeDocW. It is easy to use and it's freeware, download it at http://www.cognitiveroot.com/downloads.htm

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#4516 - 02/28/02 01:19 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
Anonymous
Unregistered


Have a look at this homepage. Maybe it is what you search. I don't know if it works on your palm pilot. They write they have a download for handhelds.<br>http://www.gamecamp.org/disaster.htm<br><br>Dieter<br>Stuttgart/Germany

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#4517 - 02/28/02 03:43 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
billvann Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/10/01
Posts: 780
Loc: NE Illinois, USA (42:19:08N 08...
The lithium battery in my Palm Vx lasts all week at Scout summer camp. I don't use it much while camping, to be honest. I have all of the Boy Scout rank and merit badge requirements, a HandDbase database I track progress on the merit badges I run, Planetarium (real cool app that doubles as a compass), Weather Radio channels & frequencies for WI & IL, and misc. info. (recipes, songs, skits, survival tips). I also have a travel kit that includes a power adaptor that I can use to recharge the battery. It requires AC power, which is usually available, or I can plug the adpator into a power invertor I carry in my car. But I haven't had to go to that extreem yet.<br><br>Summer camp is not wilderness survival by any stretch of the imagination. But if you have your PDA in a true survival situation, and it survives whatever catastrophy that opit you in that situation, it can be an excellent addition to your survivial gear.<br><br>It may not last much more than a weeki. But by then you should have used it to plan and prepare for your survival efforts ahead. Remember the STOP acronym? A PDA can help you through that process. Gleen from it the information that you will most likely need for your situation. Perhaps you would even transfer some key info to paper.<br><br>By the end of the first few days, you should be in a routine based upon your surroundings, environment and situation. You will not likely need to referrence the PDA again, except if you run into brain freeze. <br><br>After a week or so, after the batteries have worn down, you're into a long term survival mode and a PDA is not going to save you. At this point, you must have retained knowledge and experience on survival to get you through.<br><br>As an aside, if you do find yourself in a survival situation and you do have your Palm, remember to disable uneccessary applications that may consume power. I beleive some of the "hacks" I have installed may eat up power. Like the Afterburner hack I have that cranks up the system processor speed to boost performance. Ther may even be utilities available to conserve battery life. I'll take a quick look around the web latter today.
_________________________
Willie Vannerson
McHenry, IL

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#4518 - 02/28/02 04:22 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
Anonymous
Unregistered


>>As an aside, if you do find yourself in a survival situation and you do have your Palm, remember to disable uneccessary applications that may consume power. I beleive some of the "hacks" I have installed may eat up power. Like the Afterburner hack I have that cranks up the system processor speed to boost performance. Ther may even be utilities available to conserve battery life. I'll take a quick look around the web latter today.<<<br><br>There are- mostly overclockers that can also underclock to save power. It's very rare for the Palm's speed to be an issue.<br><br>First steps to conserve power would be to turn off beaming "auto receive", which eats a surprising amount, then set "auto off" to a minimum time (that's really no inconvenience, since it powers up instantly), turn off system sounds and alarms, and of course minimize backlight useage.<br><br>I almost always have one or two spare sets of batteries for the 3 series in my pouch- AAA doesn't take up much room, and of course there are compact solar rechargers for NiMH AAAs. Frankly, this is one of the reasons I haven't given away my 3 series yet. For the rechargeables, I know that there was a recharger for the Palm V that ran off of a 9v battery, and I'm sure there are other options.<br><br>I understand Palm's marketing decision to go rechargeable, but I sure wish they were removeable as well, so you could carry a spare, or an auxiliary power pack, as you can with a cell phone.

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#4519 - 02/28/02 06:01 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
billvann Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/10/01
Posts: 780
Loc: NE Illinois, USA (42:19:08N 08...
Thanks. I just got back from reading the blurb on my overclocking software that says that it can be underclocked too! Makes perfect sense after someone points it out. ;-)<br><br>Here's a link to the PalmGear page about Afterburner.<br><br>I need to re-read the instructions to make sure I change the settings properly. I'd also recommend testing the underclock scenario before you're in the wild in case the Palm freezes up and you lose data. It's easy enough to recove at home, not so easy in the woods.
_________________________
Willie Vannerson
McHenry, IL

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#4520 - 02/28/02 07:00 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
AyersTG Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/10/01
Posts: 1272
Loc: Upper Mississippi River Valley...
Battery considerations were important to me when I finally decided it was time to try a PDA. The form-factor of the m50x (thin and small) was a strong draw, so I compromised by going with the m500 vs m505, reasoning that the monochrome display would be less power hungry than the color one.<br><br>My concerns about battery life were soon put to rest.<br><br>In regular use my m500 easily (and routinely) goes two weeks with battery to spare, using no energy conservation measures. It for sure can go longer. If it was really important, I think it would be almost trivial to make a sled to use drycells for power. The transformer for the docking stations indicates a regulated output of 5vdc. A sled with 4 dry cells and less than $2 of off-the shelf parts (excluding the connector) would do the trick. With a little more effort (and a few more components) it could be done with fewer dry cells.<br><br>There are inexpensive solar rechargers readily available that handle 4 AA/AAA cells.<br><br>But to me, battery life is not anything to be concerned about in a survival situation. If the PDA survives whatever precipitated the situation and it has pertinent useful info on it, use it. If not, or if the batteries exhaust, do without. <br><br>An extended trip (intentional) with the PDA (and a folding keyboard) used for journal entries, reference, whatever is different. Then the rechargables vs the AAA powered might be important. A compromise Palm model, if one wished to use replaceable dry cells, is the m125. I imagine there are similar models in the other lines of Palm OS PDAs.<br><br>Meanwhile, I prefer to NOT do without my PDA, as others have stated. If I had listened to my brother more closely years ago... I had no idea how truly useful it would be until I (almost reluctantly) got this one several months ago.<br><br>just my 2 cents worth on PDAs and battery life<br><br>Scouter Tom

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#4521 - 02/28/02 08:12 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
Anonymous
Unregistered


>>My concerns about battery life were soon put to rest.<<<br><br>That’s good to know. Since I use the “desktop” software 90 percent of the time (at home and at work) as opposed to the Palm itself, and the Palm spends a great deal of time a cradle, I was sort of concerned that I’d never find out what the battery life was in normal use- only when it became an emergency.<br><br>>>I compromised by going with the m500 vs m505, reasoning that the monochrome display would be less power hungry than the color one.<<<br><br>That’s the way I’m leaning now- I have NO interest in a color screen except for the possibility of 100 percent black-on-white contrast for reading, which is an attractive thought. Unfortunately, the m505 screen was a disappointment, so may as well go with the m500.<br><br>>> I think it would be almost trivial to make a sled to use drycells for power. The transformer for the docking stations indicates a regulated output of 5vdc. A sled with 4 dry cells and less than $2 of off-the shelf parts (excluding the connector) would do the trick. With a little more effort (and a few more components) it could be done with fewer dry cells.<<<br><br>Well, that would depend on whether the recharging logic is in the cradle or in the Palm itself. I had assumed it was in the cradle since the price of cradles more than doubled when they went rechargeable, but I don’t really know... maybe it's just the cost of the brick-on-a-leash. Recharging LIon cells is trickier than NiMH (and more dangerous). If the logic is in the cradle, then what you’re proposing could be hazardous.<br><br>>>A compromise Palm model, if one wished to use replaceable dry cells, is the m125.<<<br><br>I’d much rather see a compromise of removable rechargeable cells, like a cell phone- so you could buy, charge and carry as many as you need to be comfortable for trips, without giving up the convenience of a rechargeable. This also covers the question of what happens if the cell starts to go bad…<br><br>>>Meanwhile, I prefer to NOT do without my PDA, as others have stated. If I had listened to my brother more closely years ago... I had no idea how truly useful it would be until I (almost reluctantly) got this one several months ago.<<<br><br>I got one for the lady of my life a couple of years ago.. she really didn’t want it, wasn’t that interested, but I was buying my third (not counting a Newton... and I wouldn't). Now she’s in a serious panic if she thinks there might be something wrong with it.<br>

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#4522 - 02/28/02 08:14 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
billvann Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/10/01
Posts: 780
Loc: NE Illinois, USA (42:19:08N 08...
Extensive use of a keyboard will soak up battery power like mad. I nearly drained mine in two days when I was on an off site trip. <br><br>re: Sled. <br><br>Let me see if I have this straight...<br><br>Get a spare serial connector that fits into the Palm slot and wire it to 4 AA batteries (1.5v each = 6v total). Additionally, a solar charger could be used to (a) recharge the 4 AA batteries or (b) wire into the Palm serial connector to charge the lithium battery directly.<br><br>>>>If I had listened to my brother more closely years ago... I had no idea how truly useful it would be until I (almost reluctantly) got this one several months ago.<<<<br><br>BTW, I bought my wife a Handspring this Christmas. The first words out of her mouth when she unwrapped the gift were, "What are you??? Nuts??? Why would I want one of these?" Needless to say, she's a techno-phobe and I returned the PDA. :-) Oh well.
_________________________
Willie Vannerson
McHenry, IL

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#4523 - 02/28/02 08:21 PM Re: PalmPilot Survival manual
billvann Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/10/01
Posts: 780
Loc: NE Illinois, USA (42:19:08N 08...
>>> I had assumed it was in the cradle since the price of cradles more than doubled when they went rechargeable, but I don’t really know... <<<<br><br>Could you connect the cradle to a drycell sled instead of using the DC converter that plugs into the AC outlet?<br>
_________________________
Willie Vannerson
McHenry, IL

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