I wouldn't say shifty....cheap....maybe...
We gots some Lennox's in my family....try getting a bottle of single malt outta them for a reasonable price......

We call uncle Ewan "UNCLE!....YOU WIN!" cause nobody ever beats him in a negotiation.....

Keep your eyes open for specialized glass....
I got an 85mm soft focus, a 100mm macro,10-17 fisheye, 1.7 af teleconverter....
some lenses will hold thier value better than others. All lenses will hold thier value better than digital bodies.

so keep that in mind when you come accross something that looks like you might want to use.

I considered the 77ltd recently, but opted for the 100mm macro when shopping for a portrait lens... why? because they both take excellent portraits, but only one can get the brides face refracted through a droplet of watter on a flowerpetal in her boquet....

yep...I think there is only one way to settle this debate. Solar panel.
lol.
then the "scavenging waste" vs "costing fuel" debate no longer a debate.

I think a $20.00 solar panel will be cheaper than trying to scientifically resolve the other issue, and makes sense.

again, George you are right. You can hear an altenator cut in and out.
making power does raise the resistance needed to turn the altenator.
there is a voltage regulator that regulated the output on the altenator by grounding the feild coils. (effectively dumping the electricity that is being generated to prevent the battery and electrical system from overcharging).
I have a camper trailer, and when hooked up to my van, you can hear the altenator work harder...when you turn the lights, tv and other appliences. but an ipod, or laptop, or cell phone, or my battery pack won't do that, they don't draw enough power to exceed what the system has got under normal conditions.

there is a bit of a hump in the efficiency graph where at ilde speeds, your high beams and powerful stereo amps WILL stress the altenator. But there is also enough energy being generated (esp at driving speeds where the altenator is working at peak effiency, where there is ample power running through the system to charge a second battery without penalty, and that energy can either get stored or dumped to ground and wasted.

I think the only thing people are misunderstanding is this:
recharging this little battery pak won't draw so much power that your engine has to work harder, at ANY rpm.

wanna buy my yamaha engine? it's got about 130 horsepower!

Wow. I think my motorcycle cranks out more juice than that skoda....
I wasn't saying you're wrong, just that the alternator will speed up and crank out it's max juice EVERYTIME the engine rpms rise whether you draw that power or not, it just gets dumped.

ok here's how it works:
an alternator is a simple mechanicle device. wire coils (and magnets or feild wound).
wires wrapped around a core, which is spun off the engine by a belt.
yes the alternator will generate more power at higher rpm than it would at lower rpm. so they are designed to give optimum performance at driving speed.

the alternator reaches the voltage levels needed to recharge the battery, and run ALL the vehicles electrics, right at idle. the car has a circuit that stops the batery from over charging as the engine rpms rise. It dumps the surplus.

how much electricity is made is governed by number of coils in the core, (the strength of the magnets) and the size of the pullys on the engine. Those factors are constant. The resistance does not increase as you draw more power to any significant amount. your gas mileage would not drop 10% for tha,t anymore than it would drop 10% from turning on your left signal, or your headlights....

overloading an alternator won't increase your fuel consumption, it'll metlt the wiring in the core. that's why people with huge stereos need to upgrade thier alternators (or change the gear ratios with different pullys) and yes a larger altenator will be harder to turn,
but even that wouldn't rob you of mileage, the amount having one tire underinflated by 5 psi would.

and Georges sugestion also doesn't use lead baterries!
true.
but my idea does have it's merits, especially for guys like me that need the power on the go!

George I think you missed the point.

most people drive thier cars every day. Those alternators are generating enough spare electricity to charge one of these, whether they use that electricity or not. topping up this unit, then bringing it into your home takes a bunch of electricity wasters off the "Grid" AND scavenges a free source.

like Clarky said, it;s handy, portable go anywhere power, now if Clarky put his unit in a box, and stuck a power strip and a bunch of chargers in there, he wouldn't have a mess of cords dangling around when he uses his power supply.

now if I only had a solar panel kicking around.....

how many people have a tangle of powerbricks, and adaptors, messing up thier desks?
how many people realize these "Walwarts" power packs draw energy even when they aren't being used?
why not take these energy wasters and fix it so you can recharge all your rechargable gadgets for FREE!!! (ok nothings free, but I had all the stuff lying around, bought seperately you'd be looking at about $100.00 cdn)

Borrowing an idea from my robotics project (not convenient to bring the robot everywhere).... I'd came up with this idea!
It's pretty easy, so many will be able to build it themselves.

Here's how it works:

get a toolbox.
get one of those power paks that have a 12 volt battery and ac inverter (auto supply store).
get a 3 into one cigarette lighter adapter.
get one surge protector.

dissassemble the power supply (optional, you can leave it intact, mine was old and had a broken airpump built in, so I gutted it to get it into a smaller toolbox.).

plug the surge protector into the ac inverter.

drill a hole through the toolbox and run a double ended ciarette adapter through it and into the 3 in one cig adapter. plug that into the 12 volt power pack. (you can now plug the other end into your auto cig lighter to recharge the pack, when ever you are driving(unplug when not driving)).
some hotglue/velcro strips/zip ties to tidy it all up.

you now have free recharges for life.....from your car.

next take your battery chargers (I got a Pentax, Sony, Energizer, Nokia, and 12 volt flashlight) and plug them into the surgeprotector.

I drilled one more hole for the ac recharger that charges the power supply (incase I want to recharge it from a hotel ac outlet).

now I can recharge a bunch of stuff, keep my desk tidy and save energy.

my toolbox even has dividers/organizers for storing all my batteries! for my still/video cams and flash units!(and more wall warts, all labled and I can recharge whatever I need!)


I can still get ac or dc power in the feild when needed.

I want to feel sorry for poor Clarky, with all this Aussi-bashing. I really would.
But over here, in North America, we have never forgotton (nor should we forget).... the unprovoked, psychological, tactical, assault on our sensibilities from the eighties.... started with "Crocidile Dundee, then escalated with "Yahoo Serious".... only ended after the U.S. threatened a tactical nuclear response...luckily we Canadians settled the matter, by agreeing to import "Fosters" beer.....

(ah, who am I kidding...we were never sensible).