[Coco] Solar powered stuff

[George Ramsower]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Diggs" <kevdig at hypersurf.com>
>
> This thing has no other way to charge the battery so I believe it IS solar 
> powered. Your specification is somewhat loose. It does not explicitly 
> state that it must be solar powered while operating. Mark does not usually 
> lower himself into the mud of these OT wars-of-words. But perhaps as an 
> employee of a defense contractor he ... could comment on your 
> specification.
>
> kevin

 I tend to agree with this. If we were to be precise, a coco is powered by 
capacitors which are charged by household current.
 However, the original joke was about an Aggie that designed a solar powered 
flashlight that WAS powered directly from sunlight. It would not work in the 
dark.
 Reminds me of when I got a solar powered calculator(directly powered by 
light). Someone asked how was I supposed to use it in the dark?
 DOH! Couldn't see the danged thing in the dark, so what's the point?
 I was just thinking that a solar powered coco could be cool. Of course, 
using batteries to carry over during "Light Outs".
 I think it would take at least three or four 2a/12v solar panels to 
maintain a good sized battery. I can't remember the formula for making the 
solar power and batteries large enough to handle cloudy days and nighttime. 
That was a long time ago when I was doing offshore work on two way radios 
and telemetry( Ah, the good ol' Motorola days).


George