Fasting BG 2020

[walkerwally1]

Yeah, there are a lot of choices for a power bank but it isn't as hard as it may look.  I agree with Tamagno that I have always had good luck with Anker products and that is a plus but others are good also.  The main thing is that the larger the capacity (mAh) the more charges you will get from it so bigger is usually better but is also more expensive and heavier.  I would go for the largest capacity that is available for how much you want to spend but if you want one to carry around then weight will probably be important.

[bigskygal]

Thanks Wally, another question. If my power goes out, can I plug my wifi into it and be able to get online? My phone and iPad can get LTE so it isn't a serious problem, but just wondering... I'm clueless about all this maybe that is a dumb question...

[skb]

Wally, your numbers are very impressive.

Power banks are basically encased batteries and therefore higher the charging capacity, heavier they are. I have one that can charge my iPhone 5 times (about 10k mAh). Such a thing comes in handy when you travel a lot and have no option of recharging the power bank. For home use a smaller bank would be better because when you have drained out the batteries, you can easily recharge the bank and be ready for emergency use. I'd go for one with an add-on feature like a small LED torch in built.

119 today morning number.

[skb]

Thanks Wally, another question. If my power goes out, can I plug my wifi into it and be able to get online? My phone and iPad can get LTE so it isn't a serious problem, but just wondering... I'm clueless about all this maybe that is a dumb question...

Not with a handy power bank. You'd need to go in for something like an inverter. If power outages are very frequent, only then would you need something like that. In which case you'd also be able to have some lights and other stuff on.

But even with no power your cell phone should be able to connect you to the internet via hotspot.

[bigskygal]

I'm sorry to be such a dummy about this. The worst power outages here in the winter are somewhere around 4 days. What size power bank should I get to keep my iPhone 7 and iPad Mini2 charged through that time? I guess it wouldn't charge my MacBook Pro? To have this would give me a lot of peace in powerless times.To be able to stay connected to others, I just don't know how much power I need...

[skb]

For that you'd need a UPS Power Back Up (uninterrupted power supply). Think of it as something in between a power bank and inverter. It all comes down to size.

A power bank is handy and mobile. It can be carried around and has only limited power to be supplied.

A UPS is a small 6-8 inch box that is constantly connected to a power source and takes over in a power outage but supplies power only to the computer (and WiFi router if you like)

An inverter is like a 12 x 6 inch box (pretty heavy) connected to a battery like your car battery, and this set=up is always connected to the power source (for charging). It will take over once the power goes out and will supply power to the entire house, or at least a couple of rooms. You can use most things except an air-conditioner or heater as these requier a lot of power.

[bigskygal]

Holy cracker barrels there is even more to all of this I don't even begin to understand! I don't care about powering my house or part of it at at that point. I just want my phone to be charged and my iPad active so I can reach out to you and my other online peeps.

[Tamagno]

182 this morning.

Glad your labs were good, Wally!

I've got three UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) devices on my network that will maintain Wi-Fi and give me some outlets for portable phones, etc. during power outages. These are fairly expensive, heavy and take up some room. They only last a couple of hours at best but at least give me time to get things ready if there's a long blackout. We have no cell service here, though, so I can't rely on using a phone either for calling the utility company or as a Wi-Fi hot spot.

If you're just keeping a phone and laptop charged I'd go with an Anker charger with around 15-20,000 mAh capacity that should be more than enough and not very costly.

When push comes to shove, my car has a built-in electric outlet so I can run an extension cord from it to the house for whatever. Still costs me in gas, though.

Lately, though, power outages here are simultaneously knocking out phone lines and cable, so there's not much you can do until that's fixed unless you've got your own generator, but that won't help if cable lines are also down.

[Grammabear]

105 this morning.

It is interesting to learn about these technical things of which I know very little.  You guys seem to be in another world (no disrespect meant in any way). 

We have had almost 4 inches of rain in the past few days.  I think it is too bad that the areas hit by wildfires that need the rain are not the ones receiving it.

[walkerwally1]

93 this morning.  I'm enjoying the cooler weather right now and even though it is going to warm up a bit it will still be nice.  Wildfires still are causing major problems in western states and smoke is a problem in a lot of areas.  Here we are seeing some smoke but not as bad as it was a few days ago.
Yeah Barbara, like SKB said, the power bank is good for your phone and tablet but nowhere enough to power the things like your wifi modem or anything you plug into an electrical outlet. 
I haven't mentioned my 3D printer for a bit mainly because I haven't been printing much.  I am always tinkering around with things and that is part of the fun for me.  This printer is quite good for the price but it can always be better so I have been playing around with some upgrades to try and make it "better" !  Right now I am working on an automatic bed leveling system which is available on most more expensive printers but it will be on mine soon.

[bigskygal]

95 this hazy morning.

75° was yesterday's high, today's forecast is 84°/46°. Definitely feels like Fall these days.

Thanks for all the input re the power supplies. I have a better idea of what I need now.

As much as I don't want to, I need to make a quick PO run today to pick up the few bills that aren't on auto pay.

[Grammabear]

Wally - A friend of mine was tinkering with his 3D printer and made a 'mask extender' for the Covid masks we all wear.  With the extender you hook the mask loops over the end and then the loops are not hanging off your ears - which sometimes becomes annoying.

[skb]

Didn't check today as the eating was quite bad yesterday.

The subject of power back up can be confusing to begin with but that confusion will soon disappear once you delve into it.
In simple terms, when you have (electric) power, you try and store some of it for later use. Therein come Batteries. Now these are going to become bigger and heavier, the more power that they can save.
The smallest ones would be the round coin shaped ones that go into clocks, BG meters and the sort. But these sort are not chargeable and need to be thrown when out of charge.
Then come the regular cylindrical batteries that go into most gadgets and are a couple of inches in height. These are available as chargeable or not, and costs depend on that option.
The next higher version are rectangular types which go into cameras etc. Slimmer ones go into cell phones. They are all rechargeable, and last for a much longer period of time (because of size). A power bank belongs to this category. It can be sized like a small cell phone to like 3 phones packed together. More power means bigger size and heavier in weight.
Then the UPS and the battery/inverter and so on and so forth. The inverter basically converts the current from AC to DC or vice versa. The storage is always within the battery. DC is form of current in batteries, and AC the power supplied to your house.

    Hope you don't start pulling your hair.

[Tamagno]

129 this morning.

Cold here this morning; time to get out my electric blankets!

Wally, I've always loved tinkering with things as well. Sometimes my "improvements" prove successful and other times I just make more work for myself. Recently I worked through all the connections in my LAN to weed out unused or those too hastily done - that in itself was quite an adventure but I was able to streamline things considerably and get rid of unused/unnecessary old power cords, etc. Yesterday, I got in my head to do a fresh install of Mac OS on my now ancient MacBook. I'm still pondering whether or not that would be a wise project. The thing still runs adequately for my uses and it could be best to just leave it alone.

[Grammabear]

86 this morning.

This morning is definitely a "sweatshirt" morning as it is 55 deg F and still raining.  It feels like a day late in October or early November.

Enjoyed the explanation about batteries skb.  We seem to have all manner of batteries at our house.  We don't like to run out of power especially because we live in a rural area and the nearest store requires a trip via automobile to the nearest town for replacement of batteries.