# Geek going to glasto (charging a smartphone in a field).



## grit (Apr 17, 2011)

Very happy that I managed to grab tickets in the resale this morning. I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to keep the phone charged, anyone got any experience with some of the solutions out there?

I think the best way to go about it is to get some sort of usb charger that operates off AA? Any idea the amount of juice in two AA compared to a HTC Nexus/Desire/etc?


----------



## marty21 (Apr 17, 2011)

you could buy some additional phone batteries, charge them up before you leave.


----------



## grit (Apr 17, 2011)

marty21 said:


> you could buy some additional phone batteries, charge them up before you leave.


 
Thats pretty expensive its 5 days.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 17, 2011)

Get this


----------



## Mr Smin (Apr 17, 2011)

I'll be digging an older phone with better battery life out of the cupboard and taking that. Glastonbury also has charging tents (normally run by Orange but anyone can use them) but be prepared to queue.


----------



## grit (Apr 17, 2011)

Mr Smin said:


> I'll be digging an older phone with better battery life out of the cupboard and taking that. Glastonbury also has charging tents (normally run by Orange but anyone can use them) but be prepared to queue.


 
I've been once before in 2009 and used that tent, thats the primary motivation of not having to put up with that. I dont have an old nokia otherwise that is the sensible option.


----------



## Santino (Apr 17, 2011)

Just use a healing crystal to charge it.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Apr 17, 2011)

grit said:


> I've been once before in 2009 and used that tent, thats the primary motivation of not having to put up with that. I dont have an old nokia otherwise that is the sensible option.


 
It's probably going to work out as cheap to buy one then look at going down the solar charger route.

If you must take a smartphone how about a USB charger that takes AA batteries? Failing that Marty's suggestion may not be as expensive as you think, have a look at the price of unbranded batteries on ebay and turn of things you don't need.


----------



## joustmaster (Apr 17, 2011)

you will take too much ket and throw your phone at shaun ryder.


----------



## marty21 (Apr 17, 2011)

grit said:


> Thats pretty expensive its 5 days.


 
depends - spare batteries are pretty cheap - maybe £10-20 a go - don't have the phone on all the time, a couple of batteries might last 3 days depending on the phone - or all 5 if it's an older phone.


----------



## Mumbles274 (Apr 17, 2011)

Veho pebble is way to go, I've got one for my phone and it does the trick. AFAIK it will charge a phone several times before needed a recharge itself (from USB)


----------



## Hocus Eye. (Apr 17, 2011)

I have just invented the Audio Charger. It picks up strong sound vibrations and changes them to electricity using a piezo electric crystal or similar technology and charges up a battery via an electronic circuit. It could be left on during the whole of the time while in the range of the big speakers off the rigs at festivals. I will also be working on one that charges up using traffic noise. That could be really useful. Free electricity from traffic noise.

Sadly this is only at the theory stage at the moment.


----------



## 8den (Apr 17, 2011)

Hocus Eye. said:


> I have just *invented *the Audio Charger. It picks up strong sound vibrations and changes them to electricity using a piezo electric crystal or similar technology and charges up a battery via an electronic circuit. It could be left on during the whole of the time while in the range of the big speakers off the rigs at festivals. I will also be working on one that charges up using traffic noise. That could be really useful. Free electricity from traffic noise.
> 
> Sadly this is only at the theory stage at the moment.


 
You just "imagined" the Audio Charger. Otherwise I've invented the light sabre/sonic screwdriver*





*Lets be honest It'd be _awesome_...


----------



## Crispy (Apr 17, 2011)

You don't need a smartphone at a festival. Use an old phone that will last the week without charging.


----------



## 8den (Apr 17, 2011)

Crispy said:


> You don't need a smartphone at a festival. Use an old phone that will last the week without charging.


 
If you haven't got a old phone Tesco do a nokia for about 20 quid with a battery that will last for about a week.


----------



## grit (Apr 17, 2011)

8den said:


> If you haven't got a old phone Tesco do a nokia for about 20 quid with a battery that will last for about a week.


 
Yeah but want it for a decent camera though.


----------



## tarannau (Apr 17, 2011)

Old Sony Ericsson cameraphone, load of cheap batteries off ebay and that's kept me going without fail for the last few Glastos. It's not an environment that particularly rewards big screens, internet connectivity and playing the odd game of Angry Birds tbf


----------



## 8den (Apr 17, 2011)

grit said:


> Yeah but want it for a decent camera though.


 
Bring a digital camera. Again something with a 10 mega pixel will be very cheap. Battery lasts forever as well.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Apr 17, 2011)

Carphonewarehouse are doing a couple of PAYG phones at £2.95-£4.95 (plus £10 top up)

see here;  http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/shopybyprice/10


----------



## dervish (Apr 17, 2011)

Airplane mode whenever you are not actively using the phone for calls or texts. You will use a tiny fraction of the battery by turning the phone radios off, you can easily triple your battery life. If you have an android phone you could then use something like tasker to turn the phone radios on every hour during the day so you don't miss calls.

You probably can do it with those ipone things as well but I don't know the app for it.


----------



## editor (Apr 17, 2011)

Crispy said:


> You don't need a smartphone at a festival. Use an old phone that will last the week without charging.


Bit rubbish if you want to do crazy modern things like share photos with your friends, take decent photos, shoot videos, check Twitter feeds to see what's going on, update Facebook, play music, get email, look up websites etc.

I recommend buying a couple of cheapo spare batteries that you can carry around in your pocket and also the Veho Pebble charger suggested above.
If you've an Android phone here's some tips on how to get a better battery life:
http://www.wirefresh.com/improve-the-battery-life-of-your-android-phone-info-and-guides/

And here's my review of the Pebbel:
http://www.wirefresh.com/veho-pebble-5000mah-portable-battery-pack-charger-review/

Oh and here's an article a wrote a few years ago about my festie tech experience which might be useful: http://www.urban75.org/tech/glastonbury-tech.html


----------



## grit (Apr 18, 2011)

8den said:


> Bring a digital camera. Again something with a 10 mega pixel will be very cheap. Battery lasts forever as well.


 
I'm going to be under the influence so I want the least amount of gadgets on me 

Editor, cheers very informative post. The pebble sort of idea seems to make the most sense, would prefer it using AA but 4 charges off the plug is decent.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 18, 2011)

To be honest as long as you time the charge tent sensibly(ie early or late) then its easy enough to get in without a queue.

dave


----------



## editor (Apr 18, 2011)

kained&able said:


> To be honest as long as you time the charge tent sensibly(ie early or late) then its easy enough to get in without a queue.
> 
> dave


Who wants to go to a festival and stand in a queue? There's _fun_ to be had, dammit.


grit said:


> Editor, cheers very informative post. The pebble sort of idea seems to make the most sense, would prefer it using AA but 4 charges off the plug is decent.


I always keep the Pebble in the tent and charge up overnight, and walk about with a spare battery in my pocket, so I'm definitely OK if I end up going for a late one.


----------



## gabi (Apr 18, 2011)

beyonce, u2, iphones.... yccch

a once great festival reduced to that ^^^


----------



## joustmaster (Apr 18, 2011)

I think i have seen grit on the desire thread(?). batteries are only a few quid each. get a few and charge them up.


----------



## Kanda (Apr 18, 2011)

I just went to the charging tent and had a nap.


----------



## mr steev (Apr 18, 2011)

editor said:


> Bit rubbish if you want to do crazy modern things like share photos with your friends, take decent photos, shoot videos, check Twitter feeds to see what's going on, update Facebook, play music, get email, look up websites etc.


 
You're at glastonbury. Why the fuck would you want to check facebook or twitter how much fun you're having? 



gabi said:


> beyonce, u2, iphones.... yccch
> 
> a once great festival reduced to that ^^^



 Remembers the days of getting lost and losing your mates... and having the time of your life with loads of strangers, and bumping into people you'd not seen for ages.


----------



## editor (Apr 18, 2011)

mr steev said:


> You're at glastonbury. Why the fuck would you want to check facebook or twitter how much fun you're having?


Perhaps to find out where your friends are, or to find out where the action is, or to locate a happening secret gig.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Apr 18, 2011)

Don't forget to pack your gas-heated hair straighteners too


----------



## Mapped (Apr 18, 2011)

I took my iphone last year and used a pebble and another cheapo ted baker charger that someone on efests was selling. It was charged all week even with my mate using it a few times to watch bits of the world cup over 3G.


----------



## gabi (Apr 18, 2011)

editor said:


> Perhaps to find out where your friends are, or to find out where the action is, or to locate a happening secret gig.


 
'secret' and 'twitter' dont really go together... 
using a smartphone to tag locations etc at a festie is totally missing the point of being at a festie. i guess im gettin old.


----------



## mr steev (Apr 18, 2011)

editor said:


> Perhaps to find out where your friends are, or to find out where the action is, or to locate a happening secret gig.


 
To me that's one of the ways glastonbury has gone down hill. Inevitable I suppose. Losing people, finding people, happening on stuff by accident, missing bands you wanted to see but ending up watching some band you'd never heard of that blow you away etc, is all a lot less likely when you're in contact with everyone all the time, and checking online for constant updates.... and you can guarantee that that secret gig will be absolutley rammed cos every fucker knows about it! I prefer a bit of chaos.


----------



## fredfelt (Apr 18, 2011)

I'm planning to use this for an upcoming cycle tour.

It's a dual charger - meaning from a standard USB charger cable you can charge up AA or AAA rechargeable batteries. (mains or USB socket)

The clever bit is that you can then put the charge that you put in your AA batteries into things which charge from USB - such as phone and mp3.  You can also buy AA batteries and put this charge into your mobile.

http://www.batteryvault.co.uk/extreme-500-dual-aaaaa-battery--gadget-charger-199-p.asp

I think 4 high charge AA rechargeable batteries should give 1 or 2 charges to a smart phone battery.



Nice


----------



## grit (Apr 18, 2011)

Its simple really I want to be able to call/sms mates to find them and take some pictures.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Apr 18, 2011)

BigPhil said:


> It's a dual charger - meaning from a standard USB charger cable you can charge up AA or AAA rechargeable batteries. (mains or USB socket)
> 
> The clever bit is that you can then put the charge that you put in your AA batteries into things which charge from USB - such as phone and mp3.  You can also buy AA batteries and put this charge into your mobile.


 
I had to read that, slowly, three times before I understood it - but finally got there


----------



## Sunray (Apr 18, 2011)

I just bring one of these







Problem is sorted. 

Your welcome to call me and and I can stick it on charge if convenient (pm for number). Should meet up at some point as I am surprised we've not crossed paths.


----------

