Make:

• Make Projects - Volume 07
• Send GPS data to your computer without a microcontroller
• Homebrew iPod remote allows for easy control for the visually impaired
• Eglantine lamp
• Multitool keys
• HOW TO - Mod a VGA screen into a Chumby

I am failing to see how a bought inverter, battery, and power strip are in any way a 'Make' article.

Not only that, this is a manual system. The power goes out, you lose all power.

A much better solution (and previously on Make) would be to take a 'dead' UPS that is fairly beefy (APC1500 or better) and connect a bog-standard SLA Battery to the charge terminals so that you would get hours of runtime out of the unit rather than minutes.

Taking it one step further, a PV controller and a battery bank would let you charge your batteries from the mains, a PV array, or a generator.

Also, replacing that monitor with a LCD would save a bunch too.

Captain Obvious, away!

As a south african who experience load-shedding almost everyday, I can appreciate something like this. Although as the previous poster pointed out its not a perfect solution but it's a start. It's projects like these that get other makers thinking about improvements and other solutions. It's already got me thinking about some ideas and btw, load-shedding sucks ;)

I use a automotive booster pack with a 200 watt inverter plugged into the DC Jack. It works GREAT! I use my laptop with a 17ah SLA battery and it runs for a solid 8 hours with max battery on. Then the 8 hours of internal battery life.

Although this is not a perfect system, it is still very cool.

When I was working up north as a recreation leader, I used a system similar to this on a golf cart to run two strings of icicle Christmas lights for a Christmas parade. It ran for about 3 hours, but the strings were 50 watts each, so this put a big load on the batteries. I now have two booster packs and a few loose SLA batteries that were recovered from scooters and this is a cool way to keep something running for a while.

(btw, this was not my golf cart and I didn't want to go tapping into the battery system...)

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