The CREG journal is a publication of the British Cave Research Association - Cave Radio and Electronics group. It is published quarterly and has interesting articles mainly on cave radio, but also on other cave related electronics stuff. If you're interested in this field, you should have a look at the CREG journal!
In each issue, Peter Ludwig publishes interesting links he found on the internet. For your convenience, I put them here in this list. Enjoy!
Some of the links (mainly the older ones) are invalid. Maybe I remove them if I have time. On the other hand, they still might hold some information, like the company or product name (so I might just leave them).
WebWatch 76
An inflatable solar light:
http://www.indiegogo.com/LuminAID
The links says it all, this is a camera with a trillion frames per second:
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/284344,mit-camera-boasts-trillion-frame-per-second-video.aspx
or shorter: http://tinyurl.com/7tm6crt
An new technology makes recharables last longer:
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2011/pr-longlife-power-storage-112311.html
or shorter: http://tinyurl.com/cvsqbt7
Quite interesting technology to repell water and mud:
And, how to make non-waterproof devices a bit waterproof:
A nice Laser:
http://wickedlasers.com/lasers/S3_Krypton_Series-113-63.html
A new camera, quite interesting idea. Focus it later. Maybe all cameras will be like this in future.
Killing Mosquitoes (unusual method, good video) http://intellectualventureslab.com/?p=653,
Toshiba makes a small Li-Titanal cell:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071212/144076/
Again, link says it all: nanotechnology means longer battery life
A quite interesting way to use solar power:
http://www.coolenergyinc.com/solar.html
And a correction:
The battery helmet link had a typo in the last issue:
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_5-2-2010-10-26-39
WebWatch 75
Additional to these:
Surpringly MS holds a patent for a battery case:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/01/microsoft-announces-instaload-battery-technology-never-insert-a/
Long life batteries:
http://www.gizmag.com/electric-car-batteries-demonstrate-180000-plus-mile-lifespan/10491/
CMOS Sensor, highly sensitive:
http://www.canon.com/news/2010/aug31e.html
The battery helmet had a typo in the lat issue:
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_5-2-2010-10-26-39
New, improved Eneloops are around:
http://www.eneloop.info/home/the-new-improved-eneloop.html
Maybe this technology has a use for caving:
Instead of a helmet camera:
Control with your thoughts:
Eye spectral response:
http://www.telescope-optics.net/eye_spectral_response.htm
WebWatch 74
An interesting free software for pcb/electronic designers:
http://www.designspark.com/pcb
New lithium-polymer cells for drills and other high current applications. New is, thex can be charged in 12 minutes.
http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/g3lipo/
Nanometre 'fuses' for high-performance batteries http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8556656.stm
Flicker and LED lights:
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/7/3/11
A 200lm/W LED:
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/7/2/7
Even Wikipedia has something new
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Battery_Power/Lithium_Ion_Batteries#New_technology
A Sony 360 degree camera:
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/news/Sony-Bloggie-360-Pocket-Camcorder-rivals-Flip/283307.html
A selection of new waterproof cameras:
Pentax, Highlight: microscope mode
http://www.pentaximaging.com/digital-camera/Optio_W90_Pistachio_Green/
Olympus: USB chargeable
http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_digital_camera_mju_tough-8000_20624.htm
A 'paper' cell:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/12/04/0908858106
Nanocomposite solar cells:
http://portal.tugraz.at/portal/page/portal/TU_Graz/Forschung/CD_Labors/cdLabSolar
The helmet could be the battery?
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_5-2-2010-10-26-39
A nice 'tiny' torch:
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2010/03/29/500-led-flashlight-is-a-photon-bazooka/
New solar cells:
http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13325
360° Panorama: Has anyone tried cave panoramas?
http://www.gigapansystems.com/
WebWatch 73 - December 2009
A nice tracking device:
http://www.adventuretradingpost.co.uk/
The name says it, pinouts for many connectors:
A funny robot, maybe for other unaccessible passages?
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/01/rovio_wifi_enabled_surveillance_robot_by_wowee.html
Cree introduces a new LED:
and
http://www.cree.com/press/press_detail.asp?i=1241094842732
The huge PhlatLight LEDs:
http://www.luminus.com/content1507
An old paper, but shows quite exicting 'records':
http://jjap.ipap.jp/link?JJAP/46/L963/
A ridicolous claim:
http://gizmodo.com/5350345/german+engineered-die-nachteule-is-the-worlds-most-powerful-reading-light
A very useful UV LED:
http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/240024/NICHIA/NCSU033A.html
A nuclear battery:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8297934.stm
Are Li Ion cells safe?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4204202.html
Flashcells and an application:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4223118.html
Nickel Lithium cells look promising:
http://gas2.org/2009/10/06/new-nickel-lithium-battery-has-ultrahigh-energy-storage-capacity/
Very fast charging cells:
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/2009/03/14/charge-your-electric-car-battery-in-5-minutes/
WebWatch Issue 72
Another very fast charging Li Ion cell:
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090311/full/news.2009.156.html
and
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/10/thermal-nitrida.html
New low discharge Eneloops in C and D size:
http://www.sanyo.com/news/2008/08/08-2en.html
Something about high load Li cells:
http://www.mpoweruk.com/lithiumS.htm
http://batteryuniversity.com/partone-5A.htm
Li Nano titanate cells:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7081
http://www.nextenergynews.com/news08...ws7.9.08c.html
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/01/12/electric-cars-nanotech-tech-sciences-cz_as_0112nano.html
Advice on how to store a Li battery:
http://www.motorola.com/testservices/article1.htm
A simple home made wind turbine:
http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/3phase_turbine_kit.htm
The new electronic cave survey techniques need rugged PDAs, but only a few are affordable:
http://www.aceeca.com/home/mez_comparison_NEW-20090225.php
or maybe use a protective case:
An interesting article about light colour:
http://www.soluxtli.com/edu13.htm
(So our carbide lights were not so bad)
An interesting RC helicopter for air photos, made for professional use:
A torch which can be charged in 90 seconds (not for caving, but it shows the possibilities):
http://www.ombexpress.com/p_FL611.aspx?source=151INCP1
Now that laser rangefinders for longer distances (>600m) are becoming common and affordable (a good supplement for a Disto) http://www.naturegear.co.uk/optics/laser_range_finders/laser_range_finder_1200_1500.php
WebWatch Issue 71
A small wind generator, maybe useable for charging in a windy cave:
Another LED breaktrough?
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/led-lights-technology-breakthrough-purdue-university.php
A Plasma light bulb:
http://www.physorg.com/news125238861.html
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGsM9pplUs
this is probably a sukphur type:
which is finding AV applications:
http://www.proavmagazine.com/industry-news-print.asp?sectionID=1608&articleID=602992
The quarterly fuel cell tales:
http://www.ultracellpower.com/sp.php?xx25
and even 'worse', a nuclear generator:
http://www.exec-eng.com/eenag/
An exciting new rotary hammer with only 1.1kg:
and
http://www.bosch-do-it.com/productspecials/diy/uneo/za/en/
It needs probably modification for an additional power pack.
Li Poly model car cells for it:
http://m3shop.com/product_info.php/info/p1630_HELLPOWER-Lipo-Akku-14-8V---4000mAh-10C-NEU-OVP.htm
Or adding four or eight cells in paralell of the same type:
WebWatch Issue 70
Better Leds from salmon sperm (!):
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2007/09/24/better-leds-from-salmon-sperm/
How light can damage your eye:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3931/is_199901/ai_n8827580
How to improve your WLAN and other devices (which may be used for caving):
Ultimate Night Vision Headlamp (at least it's creator thinks so, I'm not convinced):
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Night-Vision-Headlamp---500%2b-lumens-with-/
It looks like Oldham is still here:
http://www.gilgray.com.au/miners_caplamps.php
The sience of silicon photovoltaics science is NOT simplistic, If you want to have a deep understanding of all factors that govern a PV source, bookmark this link:
http://www.udel.edu/igert/pvcdrom/index.html
Good article about ultra-capacitors:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5636
The electric vehicle forum has lots of interesting things for us:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/
Nichia reaches 169 lm/W
http://jjap.ipap.jp/link?JJAP/46/L963/
and a good full-color spectrum is possible from white LEDs http://flashlightnews.org/story1048.shtml
A good looking cord pull generator:
The URL says it all, but the interesting part is, that it contains disassembly info for Petzl lights (search for Petzl):
A fast charge, long life cell:
Water powered phones (actually using a small fuel cell):
http://crunchgear.com/2007/10/12/water-powered-phones-by-2010/
And some more fuel cell news:
http://physorg.com/news118683361.html
How to measure 'pupil lumen':
http://www.lvdlights.com/learn/pupil/index.htm
An finally an article about air travel with primary Li cells:
http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html
WebWatch Issue 69
http://www.betavoltaic.com/betavoltaic.html
A quite interesting report from a Sanyo representative about the Eneloop cells:
http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/sanyo_eneloop.html#response
A fuel cell driven bicycles
http://www.horizonfuelcell.com/
Not really about cave electronics, but this movie shows the FoxFury lights in action:
http://lonewolfdg.com/caves/index.html
Lumileds is keeping up with Cree:
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/4/7/15
http://www.philipslumileds.com/pdfs/DS56.pdf
And their new Lumiramic technology:
http://www.luxeon.com/newsandevents/releases/PR77.PDF
A tiny generator powered by natural vibrations:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6272752.stm
Profinaus has interesting UV Leds:
http://www.profinaus.com/
It looks like Sanyo is no longer the only one offering low self discharge cells:
http://www.gprecyko.com/en/index.html
Nave you ever wondered what 'full spectrum' for a light source means?
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/NLPIP/lightingAnswers/fullSpectrum/lightSources.asp
A battery with a 20year shelf life:
http://www.quakekare.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=47
New nickel zinc cells:
http://www.powergenixsystems.com/
How is life and capacity of a LiIon cell influenced by cahrging voltage:
http://www.planetanalog.com/design_library/%20ad/pm/OEG20030528S0035
Part 2:
http://www.planetanalog.com/design_library/%20ad/pm/OEG20030528S0033
Float charging LiIon cells:
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2006/02/01/37528/Float+charging+lithium+ion+cells.htm
WebWatch 1/07
A new Li-Ion system which should beat all others or maybe it is only a hype?
http://www.a123systems.com/html/home.html
Not alle new cells are Li based, zinc seems to be close:
http://www.zmp.com/
A polymer based LEDs may be the future:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9596_22-6151515.html?tag=nl.e589
In the last months, Seoul and Cree LEDs had been the latest in LEDs: Cree was mentioned in the last WebWatch, and is available at:
www.cutter.com.au
Seoul LEDs:
http://ledsmagazine.com/articles/news/3/12/2
http://www.seoulsemicon.co.kr/_homepage/home_kor/product/spec/W42180.pdf
http://www.zled.com/_homepage/home_eng/asp/main.asp
Even when it looks impossible, Lumileds has interesting promises to beat
the obove mentioned:
http://www.lumileds.com/newsandevents/releases/PR64.pdf
Leddynamics makes the famous LuxDrives, the base for simple lights:
http://www.leddynamics.com/
And LedFil has optics for the latest LEDs:
http://www.ledil.fi/sputnik_z.pdf
WebWatch 03/06
A 160lm LED from Cree, very promising:
http://ledsmagazine.com/articles/news/3/10/10
and
http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp7090_xre.asp
and
http://www.flashlightnews.org/story339.shtml
They are already available for us end users.
Through-the-earth communication:
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php?fuseaction=home.story&story_id=8776
Throught the earth communications network:
http://www.vitalalert.com
Photosynth for your pictures:
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/default.html
When you look for a small submarine:
http://www.exomos.com
A nice idea to charge your AA and AAA cells:
http://www.usbcell.com/
Scientific Equipment and Supplies:
http://www.unitednuclear.com/
Pionics is working on a nonflammable battery to counter the current
issues with lithium-ion cells:
http://www.eetimes.com/issue/fp/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193100367
If the article requires an account, find one at:
http://www.bugmenot.com
The new Power generation (comparing new generations of AA cells):
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1954287,00.asp
Interesting optical products (Optics)
http://www.maxmax.com/
Optics for LEDs:
http://www.polymer-optics.co.uk/
Osram has introduced the Ostar 15 Watt LED, capable of a 420lm output at 38lm/W:
http://tinyurl.com/gg9hx
Additional documentation:
http://tinyurl.com/f3nxh
The quite famous paper on white LED aging got updated:
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/solidstate/pdf/SPIE3938-39_Narendran.pdf
From the same author about how to imptove efficiency:
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/solidstate/pdf/narendranSPIE2005.pdf
If you do not have enough toys and too much money to spend, the ultimate underwater scooter, but it has a few interesting electronic details:
http://www.delfjet.com/
And for the same reason, there is finally an outboarder which could be used in a cave (as it can be folded for transport):
http://www.torqeedo.com/
They use an interesting battery chemistry, brushless high rpm motor with gearing and an overall smart design.
WebWatch 02/06
An interesting article about new Li-cell electrode materials:
www.powerelectronics.com/news/electrode-materials-li-ion
Changed electrodes allow NIXX like charging speed of Li cells:
www.molienergy.com/Press%20R...lease040117.htm
Then there are the special Toshiba Li-Ion cells from early last year,that are rapid charge, which use a nanotechnology in them:
www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm
Quite interesting for hsitorical reasons, Apple could have owned the Li-Ion patents (remark at half way down):
news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6057057.html
Living viruses create flexible battery film
www.eetimes.com/news/design/technology/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=184430290
Carbon nanotubes boost ultracapacitor storage density
tinyurl.com/klmys
Finally a fuel cell torch:
www.angstrompower.com/products_a2.html
And a fuel cell 'generator':
www.oksolar.com/0_n_cart/htm/72490.htm
Already mentioned in Speleonics, about small wireless communications:
www.rfdesign.com
Nichia claims 100lm/W for their latest white LEDs:
www.theinquirer.net/?article=29472
http://qurl.com/drqgb
or the same long:
www.planetanalog.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=181503424
Diana Electronics now has the looked for Seoul LEDs:
www.dianaelectronic.de/led/led28.htm
4-W white LED delivers 120 lumens
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?FileName=hlap02.apr2006.html
LED family emits up to 5 W
tinyurl.com/zt2pz
White LEDs serve as daytime running lights
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?FileName=hlap08.mar2006.html
LED lamps replace MR16 incandescents:
tinyurl.com/h2bty
Superbright LED light engine delivers 'warm' glow of incandescents
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?FileName=hlap04.mar2006.html
3-D LED array delivers 330 lumens
tinyurl.com/gwgsx
WebWatch 01/06:
Optics for big LEDs:
www.khatod.com/k52_zpower.htm
Improving White LED Yield with Two Types of Yellow Phosphor:
neasia.nikkeibp.com/neasia/002536
7000lm LED:
ledsmagazine.com/articles/news/2/11/11?alert=1
A white LED based on a UV one:
www.geconsumerproducts.com/pressroom/press_releases/lighting/gelcore/high_power_white_led.htm
1000 times brighter then a LED:
msn.com.com/2100-9584_22-5961029.html
A RGB LED:
optoelectronics.perkinelmer.com/content/datasheets/ACULED.pdf
Butterflies grow photonic crystals
www.abc.net.au/science/news/tech/InnovationRepublish_1511351.htm
The Li-Ion 'standard' cell, the 18650 form factor has a new leader with
2.6Ah:
www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertext4-eng/0505/0526-1e.html
Exploring Caves With Hopping Microbots:
www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-05zzzl.html
A candela/beam angle lumen converter:
led.linear1.org/lumen.wiz
A quite large LED (array):
ledsmagazine.com/articles/news/3/1/28?alert=1
When tinkering with Li-Ion cells, we all know that unbalanced discharge and deep discharge is a problem, there are some products helping with that:
www.balsapr.com/view.asp?id=A0320075&FormPost=yes&SearchText=lvd
go to
www.balsapr.com and search for 'lvd'
www.rcmodelworks.com has a few.
www4.mailordercentral.com/heliproz/prodinfo.asp?number=335444
A balancing ciruit and tiny charger:
www.dualsky.com/main.asp?mainset=19
Seoul LEDs are now available even in small quantities (with a link to the shop):
www.ledsmagazine.com/press/11228
The store itself:
www.zledstore.com
WebWatch 04/05:
Again and again, generating electricity while walking:
http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/9/6/1
A powered ascender, will it work as advertized?
www.quointech.com/PowerQuick1.htm
Quite interesting article about cave lights, but biased:
www.bostongrotto.org/Grotto/White_LEDs_Suck.pdf
How do we perceive Light and colour:
www.du.edu/~jcalvert/optics/colour.htm
Super-bright LED kits enhance Maglites
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage1.asp?FileName=hlap01.sep2005.html
A phosphor-free LED creates whiter light
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage1.asp?FileName=hlap03.sep2005.html
An Osram 3-chip LED:
www.osram-os.com/news/news-MultiLED.php?lan=eng&id=93
This LED module handles up to 350 mA
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage1.asp?FileName=opap06.sep2005.html
Hi-output LED breaks performance milestones (Luxeon K2):
www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage1.asp?FileName=hlap07.sep2005.html
A 3W 90 Lumen power module:
www.ledsmagazine.com/press/9973
About new Quantum LEDs, which might lead to better efficiency:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9777070/
www.sciencenewsdaily.org/story-7421.html
http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu/news/news_quantumdot_led.htm
Something interesting about Cree und Luxeon LED relyability:
www.cree.com/products/pdf/XLamp_Reliability.pdf
www.luxeon.com/pdfs/RD25.PDF
www.lumileds.com/newsandevents/releases/PR42.pdf
Everything you alsways wanted to know about measuring lights (I apologize for some of the less civilized units):
www.led.net/pages/downloads/light_measurement_terms.pdf
www.forester.net/gx_0105_lighting.html
Quite a nice summary about which white power LEDs are available:
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~fine/Tech/powerled.html
A new 200lm and 400lm LED:
http://ledsmagazine.com/articles/news/2/10/19/1
WebWatch 03/05:
What we always wanted to have: A torch with a built in camera and other gadgets:
http://www.miiflashcam.com/
A helmet mounted camera, might be cave proof:
http://www.i4u.com/article3182.html
Another try of a caving light, looks promising:
http://www.stenlight.com/
And the already mentionex Foxfury has a new webpage:
http://www.foxfury.com/
New LEDs come to the market:
Korean LEDs look promising:
http://www.essc.co.kr/_HOMEPAGE/home_kor/product/product.asp?topCODE=2&midCODE=4
Hongkong enters the LED market:
http://ledsmagazine.com/press/8893
Nichia announces leds with higher light intensity:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20050415/103802/
Tungsten photonic lattice changes heat into light:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-05/dnl-tpl043002.php
http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2003/other/planck-lin.html
A very good and comprehensive document about LED efficiency and a
roadmap:
http://lighting.sandia.gov/lightingdocs/OIDA_SSL_LED_Roadmap_Full.pdf
Title says it all:
http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2005/061505/Lens_boosts_LED_efficiency_Brief_061505.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/9qpw8
After some other high end car manufacturers, BMW offers IR night vision
devices for their cars. As they are far IR, they could be interesting
for finding caves, maybe in a few years we could get the devices
inexpensive:
http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2621784
http://www.thermal-eye.com/productcatalog/product_NIGHTDRIVER.html
A battery that lasts very long:
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050513_new_battery.html
This quarter's fuel cell tale:
http://www.medistechnologies.com/products.asp?id=132
and some some fuel cell theory:
http://www.visionengineer.com/env/fc_efficiency.shtml
WebWatch 02/05:
How to enhance your wireless communications, but I have not tested the product up to now...
http://www.j-walk.com/other/wifispray/
This quarters fuel cell tale (does anybody still believe in them?):
http://powerelectronics.com/news/fuel-cell-output/
LiIon cells are fine, their only drawback is their slower charge compared with NiXX cells, now there is a fast charge LiIon cell:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7081
Getting the most capacity out of your LiIon cells:
http://powerelectronics.com/mag/power_charging_liion_batteries/
A new electrode material for Li Ion cells:
http://www.nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb05/MSC23114.html
Nice fast charger for AA cells (works well!):
http://www.uniross.com/UK/info/pages/chargeur_sprint.htm
How to measure battery charge state:
http://powerelectronics.com/mag/power_measure_battery_capacity/
A good and simple approach to test rechargeables:
http://www.techchallenge.com/page2.html
What influences rechargeable battery cycle life?
http://www.motorola.com/ies/MPTS/article1.htm
Diagram for high temp behaviour of a high end SubC cell:
http://www.ruschkowski.se/Battery_Measurements.htm
New Phosphor for white Leds improve efficiency:
http://www.sslighting.net/lightimes/?date=2005-03-08&id=5221#top
Cree improves LED efficiency:
http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/highlights_cree.html
and:
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/resources/news/pressreleases/spemethod.asp
A nice try for a home made caving light, but given data is unrealistic (there is still some homework to be done):
http://ascii.pdp10.org/snickersnee3/
Finally the lead acid thin metal foil cells appear again, incredible power density:
http://www.gpbatteries.com.hk/pic/100TMFSC_TDS.pdf
Tadiran introduces a very high power AA cell:
http://www.tadiranbat.com/pressrel/pr7.php
Toshiba reports about a fast charge LiIon cell:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0503/05032903tosh1minbatt.asp
or http://tinyurl.com/4bqvf
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_03/pr2901.htm
It is said that Stuart Cody is the powerman genius:
http://www.automatedmedia.com/
New PIC released, specifically designed for making power supplies:
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2022&mcparam=en022187
or http://tinyurl.com/cjkfe
An electrically conductive adhesive solder:
http://www.devcon.com/pressdetail.cfm?pressrelease=2004_12_01_104027_352217pr.cfm
or http://tinyurl.com/9k4on
A heat-conductive, electrically insulating adhesive:
http://www.tra-con.com/products/tpb.asp?product=2151
A very good discussion of night lighting, mainly for cars, but of some
interesting for caving:
http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf82/176157_web.pdf
Good explanation about the influence of scotopic vision at lower light
levels:
http://www.electrolink.co.nz/Electrolink/Magazine.nsf/0/f0f4ff9debdda1f5cc256a1c0082cf32?OpenDocument
or http://tinyurl.com/822nd
Slovenian cavers use underground Radar:
http://dar.zrsvn.si/d/sli/jsp/23_dec_2004/index_en.html
WebWatch 1/05
A patent claiming the possibility of a 500+ lm/W LED, although I have my doubts:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6686691.html
November 4, 2004...Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina USA has announced
that their XLamp 7090 white LED product.... Cree's stated metrics are
40-60 lumens at 350mA....They were already sampling and targeting volume
production in December.
http://www.cree.com/News/news210.asp
A good lighting online magazine:
http://www.sslighting.net/lightimes/
And also (the name says it all):
http://ledsmagazine.com/
Notes on LEDs:
http://www.gizmology.net/LEDs.htm
A good correction chart for different light temperatures:
http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/filters_for_still_photography/temperature_chart/
(probably outdated, but gives an idea about different light source's light temperature).
Brightstar offeres a few HID search and dive lights, but you probably
need to order a couple of them:
http://www.brightstar-hid.com/
Similar for
http://www.jennfeng.com
And they are available in Europe at:
http://www.luxen.it
A reported good store for LEDs
http://stores.ebay.com/Chi-Wing-LED-product-shop
and
http://stores.ebay.com/LCK-World-Trade-Centre
There are several reports from people using this 26cd LEDs to improve older LED torches with awesome results.
They claim to have the brightest 5mm LEDs, but some people think they are just the same as above:
http://www.lsdiodes.com/
And a good source for LEDs from not so far away:
http://www.led-supply.com/
The latest 18650 Li Ion cell (as used in many devices) with 2.55Ah:
http://physorg.com/news2310.html
About glowpaints:
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/radioluminescent/radioluminescentinfo.htm
They have their use as the last emergency light nad to mark equipment.
A datasheet for Panasonic Supercaps:
http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/components/pdf/ee242_eec_al_dne.pdf
A new rechargeable Li chemistry with promising data:
http://www.sionpower.com/
maybe evem for powertools.
A funny dynamo torch:
http://www.quality-items-flashlights.com/dynamo-flashlight-cell-charger.htm
It looks like silicon nano crystals promise a bright future:
http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/rd/EnhancedOpticalEfficiency.html
A new AA cell charged in 8.5 minutes:
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/114090.html
About general LED lighting:
http://www.edn.com/article/CA490413.html
http://www.edn.com/article/CA490413.html?spacedesc=staffFeature
Finally phosphate cells are available, much safer than other LiIon
cells, very stable volatge, but lower capacity (at least in the current
development state):
http://www.valence.com/solutions.asp
The INQUIRER Guide to Exploding Batteries
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14417
WebWatch 4/04
Their data seems not to be too accurate, but it looks as a nice light for cave video and search: http://www.proxenon.com/add_cart_frm.php?product_id=53
Actually made for a not so nice purpose, but this product enhances the grip on slippery surfaces: http://www.brookstactical.com/Pages/whtsagrp.html
A very good and comprehensive slide show about LEDs;
http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/TP41_IESNA_Buffalo_6-04.pdf
A very good service for making small pics available on the Web:
http://tinypic.com/
Finally there are deep UV LEDs: http://compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/news/8/9/3
Spinach power: http://www.physorg.com/news1181.html
A Nuclear power plant for cave electronics:http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/sep04/0904nuc.html
A LED used as a photo flash:http://www.lumileds.com/newsandevents/releases/LuxeonFlashProductRelease_100604.pdf
A nice try of a German cave radio:http://www.hoehlenfunk.de/CaveRadioStory/CaveRadioStory.html
Martin Melzer has a new cave light project: http://www.melzer.ch/html/radon.html
and we have all WebWatch links available online on Martin's homepage:
http://www.melzer.ch/html/creg_journal.html
(you figured that already... - martin)
WebWatch 3/04
There was something to read in CREGJ about the mil specs for rugged equipment, this is the doc:
http://www.sandia.gov/doe-oss/documents/mil-std-810f/810f.pdf
New LED breaks 100lm/W barrier:
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/news/8/4/24/1
One of the LED inventors honored:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15541
A funny chinese site with miner's lamps and other information (take it with the grain of salt): http://www.li-ion-battery.com/
A very good document about the roadmap to future LEDs, but pretty large (> 100 pages!):
http://lighting.sandia.gov/lightingdocs/OIDA_SSL_LED_Roadmap_Full.pdf
New battery doubles laptop computer runtime (Zinc Oxide cells):
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news _view&newsId=20040609005162& newsLang=en
or better: http://tinyurl.com/4rcjz
http://www.zmp.com/
http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5016.html
or the next generation of rechargeables for higher current use (rotary
hammers?):
http://www.everspring.net/product-battery.htm
An intersting application for high power LEDs:
http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/LED_pocket_illuminator.PDF
Are quantum dot LEDs promising?:
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/news/8/6/26
This quarters chapter of the never ending fuel cell story:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04062401toshibafuel.asp
http://www.mtimicrofuelcells.com/news/article.asp?id=163
http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednmag/article/CA419564
Lumileds has revised their binning:
http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/protected/AB21.PDF
Nichia has new LEDs:
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf/CID/onair/asabt/news/315541
ISP Korea has released a bunch of new Power LEDs including 5mm (100mA) and 8mm (150mA) with amazing mcd for the size:
http://www.powerleds.com/
Museum of hoistoric discharge lampe:
http://www.lamptech.co.uk/
especially the graph at the botttom from:
http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Images/Illustrations/SO%20Lamp%20Efficacies.jpg
or shorter: http://tinyurl.com/2ltwr
Sometimes one needs a specific size of Li-Ion cells. There are lots of new laptop comnputer power packs available on ebay and from other sources, but who knows which pack uses which sells? The following site helps: http://www.energy-tec.sk/en/produkty/packs/index.html
A new device to test cells and batteries:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/CBA.htm
Phone battery flames injure teen: http://makeashorterlink.com/?K5B241CB8
A tiny camera. maybe for this very small passages....
http://www.spie.org/web/oer/august/aug00/cover2.html
WebWatch 2/04
They have nice torches and LiIon cells which replace CR123 cells:
http://www.pilatorch.com/
As it turned out that not all cheap AA battery holders are good for currents above 1A, this ones are:
http://sales.goldmine-elec.com/prodinfo.asp?prodid=7327
More and more devices run on CR123 cells; inexpensive ones are available at:
http://www.botac.com/
New dry cells look promising:
http://www.eetimes.com/issue/mn/OEG20040202S0055
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/68699/1/.html
This time's fuel cell tale:
http://powerelectronics.com/ar/power_micro_fuel_cells_3/index.htm
For people who tinker around with LiIon cells, something about safety:
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/cmte/PES-SBC/Downloads/sWM04_LithiumBatTech-Valence.pdf
and the INQUIRER Guide to Exploding Batteries:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=14417
http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/lithium-ion.html
http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/battery/oem/images/pdf/Panasonic_LiIon_Charging.pdf
and an IC for monitoring the cells:
http://www.seiko-usa-ecd.com/intcir/products/power/pdf/s8261_e11.pdf
For charging them, Linear Technology has the best range of ICs: http://www.linear.com/ going to 'power' in the products menu.
Adding some glow to cave electronics will make them easier to use:
http://www.extremeglow.com/
http://glowlady.com/Strontium_Aluminate/Glow_Powder.html
http://theindigoedge.com/Glow1.htm
http://www.glowinc.com/
How to display cave maps, the Heliodisplay:
http://www.io2technology.com/index.htm
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=14551
There is a 'cold heat' soldering tool patent:
http://tinyurl.com/2xvch
they are to buy at:
http://coldheat.archway.com/
Cordless charging:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2861987.stm
Piezo Shoes (I've heard that idea several times at caving events) and lots of other amusing stuff:
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Piezo_20shoes
Baking soda is good for polishing plastic and glass lenses:
http://www.frugalfun.com/bakingsoda.html
British LED lamp source:
http://www.wavicle.biz/
The description and basics of the new NEC cell, it made it through the news on April 1st (not a godd date to be taken serious):
http://www2.electrochem.org/cgi-bin/abs?mtg=012&abs=0186&type=pdf
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154125
Some new or not so new supercapacitors:
http://www.maxwell.com/ultracapacitors/products/BCAP0010.html
http://www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?SECTION=3700&PRIMID=&FileName=hlrr1.jun2004.html
or http://tinyurl.com/2fjt4
Some people want to replace Li-SO2 or Li-SOCl2 D-cells with L-Ion cells and I was told that they are hard to find:
http://www.saftbatteries.com/130-Catalogue/PDF/VL_D.pdf
WebWatch 1/04
A remarkable discussion at the caving BBS:
http://www.caves.org/cgi-bin/ubbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000048
or shorter for the same URL: http://tinyurl.com/392yl
Something about DC earth resistance:
http://galitzin.mines.edu/INTROGP/notes_template.jsp?page=DC%20Resistivity%3A%20Note%20Outline&url=RES%2FNOTEOUT%2Fresoutline.html or shorter for the same URL: http://tinyurl.com/384vm
Cave detection with earth resistance:
http://www.agiusa.com/2Dvoids.shtml
Sells Luxeon parts for tinkerers:
http://www.geocities.com/george_tlc/led.html
A very interestic site at all, especially the different chemistries:
http://voltaicpower.com/Electrochem/Cell.htm#Examples
sometimes their links do not work and you have to try:
http://voltaicpower.com/
instead and work you through the according pages.
A funny battery (I have no idea about a caving application now), but not as good as the discontinued Border cell, just when peak current is the question:
http://www.batcap.net/
This site compares different rechargeable AA cells:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
Incandescent bulbs are still anoption:
http://www.donsbulbs.com/
Some new LiIon cells for electric vehicles may be useable for rotary hammers:
http://www.edan.com.tw/Product-2002515153759.html
http://www.splendidbattery.com/Product/EN/product_detail.asp?productid=734
or shorter for the same URL: http://tinyurl.com/3xtr9
How to make power packs (e.g. for rotary hammers):
http://www.slkelectronics.com/battery/
They offer ruffed PC components:
http://www.man-machine.com/
At least I waited for the AAA Li-Fe cells:
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=ENR&script=410&layout=-
6&item_id=482046
or shorter for the same URL: http://tinyurl.com/2expr
The latest leader of the AA NiMH capacity claims:
http://www.aventrade.com/asposu.html
WebWatch 4/03
In my opinion the probably best charging system now, deverloped for medical devices:
http://www.bticcs.com/
Finally LiPolymer cells with the best capacity/weight ratio and high load behaviour):
http://www.kokam.com/english/product/battery_main.html
There should be also 7.5Ah cells available soon. Looks like it could be feasible for a ratory
hammer drill.
They are available in the EU at:
http://www.wes-technik.de/English/Battery.htm
(If you find a better source, please tell me)
Thunderpower offers also LiIon packs for high load applications:
http://www.thunderpower-batteries.com/
The only question: who makes the first rotary hammer for caving using them?
They have several different butane powered soldering irons:
http://www.solder-it.com/
It alway amazes me how far they push a simple AA cell in capacity (remember the time when
450mAh was 'high capacity'?)
Currently leading AA rechargeable cell ist the Hähnel with 2350mAh:
http://www.hahnel.ie/index.cfm?action=displaybatterygroup&mbid=94
The next fuel cell articles:
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=5808
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030922S0023
Actually we read a lot about small fuel cells now for many yearsm, but I cant see no real apllications.
Very inexpensive solar cells may be available 'soon':
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/10/02/solar.cells.reut/index.html
Nichia and Luxeon offer now warm-white LEDs:
http://www.nichia.co.jp/info/news/new-warmwhite.html
http://www.lumileds.com/newsandevents/releases/Oct_27_2003_LuxeonWW_PR.pdf
WebWatch 3/03
A new 10W LED with high claims:
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/magazine/article/8/12/2/1
New process for brighter blue, green and white LEDs:
http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2003/elect-semi-sensors/cantilev.html
Watching AA rechargeables 'grow' in capacity:
http://www.lenmar.com/PressReleases/NiMH_AA_05-21-03.asp
The Kokam charger is said to be suitable for many Li-Ion cells, the also carry cells in very interesting sizes:
https://www.fmadirect.com/site/products.htm?cat=28
The Mirco Illuminator beats all expectations:
http://home.mchsi.com/~lambda/microil.htm
Actually it is brighter than my 24-LED (very, very old) light on the highest setting! If anybody knows a torch with a single AA cell where I could fit in these pill, please tell me!
Good article about night vision:
http://www.corvus.com/kniffen.htm
Some interesting big survey equipment:
http://www.riegl.com/
which had been used in Mammuthoehle:
http://www.riegl.com/3d_appl_notes/IceCave/Dachstein_general.htm
and another laser survey tool:
http://www.cyra.com/
And now it is a good time having (again) a look at the leading LED caving lights:
http://www.hdssystems.com/ActionLight.htm
http://www.lupine.de/en/stirn/stirn/index.html
http://www.speleo.co.uk/NOVA.htm
Which one is your favorite? If you know any other lighst playing in the same league, please write me!
WebWatch 2/03
WebWatch 1/03
Huge Li Ion cells, good for making rotary hammer power packs (just in case somebody has too much money): http://www.powerstream.com/LL.htm
Actually a bout a smart battery chip, but it explains self discharge:
http://www.powersmart.com/products/p3-cellmodexplain.pdf
A good article about power connector selection:
http://powerelectronics.com/ar/power_demystify_current_ratings/index.htm
A good site about bulbs and against some myths: http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html
Has a nice FAQ about battery chemistries: http://www.powerstream.com/
Just in case somebody wants a nice little light for caving (when the cave is large enough) http://www.xenonics.com/Products/products.html
WebWatch 4/99
Not really a caving issue, but Benefon announced a cellular phone with integrated
GPS in amazingly high quality and small package: http://www.benefon.com If you prefer to make your own GPS look at http://www.sirf.com/ for parts. Unteressant? Wookey? A lot of information about GPS systems and how they work and from there their errors come are at:
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html
Crane offers a bunch of small lights, many LED lights among them: http://www.ccrane.com/flashlights_and_lanterns.htm
A Swiss diver made
his ultimate diving light, maybe something to learn from for us:
http://www.iqe.ethz.ch/~eckner/keldan.html
Lots of battery related links can be found at:
http://www.in.net/cooper-bros/bookdec.htm
For people who are seeking for a very lightweigthed
headlamp: http://www.trailheadlights.com has also parts available. Lots of links for bicycle lighting,wich may be useful for cavers, too. http://www.aukhawk.demon.co.uk/lights/headlite.htm
A better Li Ion technology, already available: http://www.electrofuel.com/ beats all other knows chemistries.
Cyra shows us where to go for future electronic mapping and 3D survey: http://www.cyra.com/
When looking for a simple constant current device, Ben Thompson mentioned some time ago, Henry Schneiker found a great diode FAQ: http://www.avtechpulse.com/faq.html/
If you wonder how long your incandescents will last, download that little software wich calculates it for you: http://www.gespectrum.com/inet/business/softw/hicalc.htm
They claim to be Europe's largest lamp center, but I have not tested it (sounds greek to me): http://www.lampcenter.com/
Hatten wir schon? Ja! http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_NiCd_Battery.html
Funny things (but dangerous ones) with electricity can be seen at: http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/amateur/capexpt.html nix:
http://www.goodearth.com/showcave/photo.html
One of the very rare real cave radio sites (at least I do not know about much more) can be found at: http://www.cancaver.ca/bccr/radio.htm
Batteries America has a bunch of batteries and chargers: http://www.mrnicd-ehyostco.com/
Relyable connectors can be found at Powerpole, some people claim that these are very good affordable ones: http://www.andersonpower.com/products.html
We all need switched on our electrical equipment and need to protect them: http://www.apmhexseal.com/
WEbWatch 3/99
A good article about battery maintainance:
http://www.azstarnet.com/~ludwig/bat_care.htm GP Batteries has several good NiCd and NiMH cells
(like the kind Chris Vernon used for his light): http://www.gpbatteries.com/nickel.htm
Benchmarq has several good circuits, one of them for charging cells:
http://www.benchmarq.com/prod/bq2004.html A good handbook how to handle a video battery:
tp://www.antonbauer.com/tech/handbook.html The NC battery clinic has also a lot of
informations how to handle Nicads: http://gnv.fdt.net/~redscho/ Here is an article about
recent developments in battery technology, although some two years old it ist still interesting:
http://www.mond.org/9618/961815.html Sensormag brings informations about any kind of electronic
sensors, several interesting ones among them: http://www.sensorsmag.com And the ultimate caving
light is to see at: http://www.hdssystems.com For people who want to stop all their tinkering and
just buy what they always wanted to design and build. But there are also some parts
available..... And David Herbert brought us the following ones: I've found a site that may be
useful to you when you want prototype PCB's http://pcb-pool.com They place many peoples PCB's
onto one sheet, to drastically reduce the set-up costs. A 3-D modelling site is at
http://research.gg.uwyo.edu/kincaid/3dcave.htm Warning it's very graphic intensive, so a fast
internet link is not bad for it. Orcad is giving away copies of a version of their software tools,
limited only by save size. You can get the free software download from the site
http://www.orcad.co.uk
WEbWatch 2/99
Reflectalite is aimed at bicyclists, but is very interesting for anyone looking for a
special lightbulb.. 'Identifies standard and upgrade bulbs for bicycle lighting and flashlights'
http://www.reflectalite.com/ One of the most efficent solar cells can be seen at an Australian
university, search there for it as their sub-pages change often: http://www.unsw.edu.au/ Lots of
circuits, hopefully some useable for cave electronicers are at:
http://www.darkportal.com/cc/index2.htm Feliks claims to have the largest collection of cicuits on
the net. Topbulb has bulbs for everything and everyone, ideal for tinkerers
http://www.topbulb.com/ A very good handbook about light and its measurement can be found at:
http://www.intl-light.com/handbook/ A good base for starting with lights to get physical
backgraound. Yet another 'new light' wich claims to be superior in several fields:
http://www.techass.com/el/el1.htm look and make your own opinion! Their slogan 'The last flashlight
you'll ever need' may have a not only positive meaning for cavers! A pretty good article about
white LEDs wich seems to be not influenced by only one manufacturer can be found at:
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/Ltgtrans/led/leds.htm
WebWatch 1/99
You Do It has a lot of electronic devices and tools: http://www.you-
do-it.com/ The same with CPC (and they are based in Europe!), they have some hard to find parts.
http://www.cpc.co.uk/ The next two are famous for delivering hard to find batteries:
Batterystation has more complete battery packs, also surplus ones http://www.batterystation.com/
And HOB also sells single cells, sometimes for useable for us:http://houseofbatteries.com/HOB/
About a decade ago late Frank Reid and Ian Drummond told me about a rechargeable Li cell,
something very new to us all. I contacted this manufacturer and got some info but they disappeared
later. Now it turned ou that they are still alive (or again) and have a website:
http://www.molienergy.bc.ca/index.html All Electronics have a lot of electronic parts and they
have a downloadable PDF cataloque. http://www.allcorp.com/ I had Nichia's web site already
mentioned, but they have updated it now and a lot of new information, especially a violet laser
diode: http://www1a.meshnet.or.jp/nichia/vlaser-e.htm And a comparison table for their LEDs (but
some of the letters are white on white so you have to mark it first or print ist for reading .-)
http://www1a.mesh.ne.jp/nichia/lamp-e.htm A real bonanza of good information is the repairfaq
site: http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/ Especially their HAM related link page:
http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_LINK_IN.html#LINKIN_009 Maha has some HAM related devices
and chargers http://www.maha-comm.com/products/ A website about how somebody made his own diving
light, maybe there is something interesting in it for caving electronics:
http://spiff.physics.mcgill.ca/scuba/light.html And if you wonder how a halogen bulb really works
there are two pretty nice explanations: http://www.sciam.com/0796issue/0796working.html and
http://www.spahn.de/english/ind-info.htm
WebWatch 4/98
This time many of these URLs are from the speleonics dischussion list, for
the simple reason that we had so many interesting things there. Apologies to the readers of this
list, as there is not much new for them here.... Steve Kurt build a LED light out of several
different coloured LEDS, he made it for a Bicycle, but anyway, his results at:
http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/user/brent/hvl/LED/ German caver(s) have a project to support computer
aided cave surveying, they use a 3com (US Robotis) PalmPilot for in cave caculating:
http://www1.stuttgart.netsurf.de/~andymon/auriga.html But this device is not that rugged that we
may use it in a cave, so some kind of cover is useful. Some people use this Handheld as a bicycle
computer and have therefore developed such a cover:
http://www.intergate.bc.ca/personal/wired/Pilot/bikemount.html An infrared device for locating
caves is found at: (but a little bit pricey)
http://www.raytheon.com/rtis/docs/thermal/palmir25.htm Supercircuits has a lot of cameras and
other interesting devices: http://www.supercircuits.com A report about the behaviour of 27 MHz
walkie talkies in lava caves can be found at: http://rschp2.anu.edu.au:8080/cave/cb.html Bosch
offers a new laser rangefinder wich may be of some interest for cave surveying, at least it is a
leap forward to a tiny and inexpensive cave useable rangefinder: http://www.bosch-
pt.de/pt/englisch/produkte/gw/measuring/dle30.html For people who want to construct their own
flourescent caving light, lots of circuits for 12V driven fluorescent lamps can be found at:
http://www.realgoods.com/
WebWatch 3/98
Swiss cavers have some information about cave radios on their web page:
http://www.hoellochforschung.ch/e/radio.html For people who look for unusual rechargeable cells:
http://www.dantona.com/ They carry SEALED nicad rechargables to 20AH! Sealed NiMH to 3.5AH and
rechargable Li-Ion to 1.3Ah. Also get this- regular Li cells to 35AH! For semiconductors try the
search page for Motorola semiconductors: http://www.mot-sps.com/sps/General/chips-nav.html If
you look for a battery packs for a specific device, try: http://www.batterycrossref.com/ If you
look for unusual lightbulbs you may find them at: http://www.bulbtronics.com Astroflight is
specialised in electric model airplanes, but they have a lot of interesting things for cave
electronics, too. Like high power battery packs and chargers: http://www.astroflight.com As we
know, Sony is leading in the LiIOn business, they have a lot of informations on their web site at:
http://www.sony.co.jp/ProductsPark/Consumer/BAT/ION/index.html For people who work on remote
caving camera Polaris has a lot of new cameras and other related stuff: http://www.polarisusa.com/
http://www.excess-solutions.com/ has several very good offers on different electronical parts.
For many applications where we designed complicated analog circuits for decades, small
microprocesors may be an easier solution: http://www.microchip.com/ has several intersting
microprocessors wich may be of some use for caving applications. batteries and rechargeables may
be replaced by fuel cells and tiny generators in future (although this was also told 20 years
ago): Shirt button turbines and generators: http://www.techreview.com/articles/jf98/reporter.html
and some more information about blue LEDs and their lifetime at:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/japan/www/atip/public/atip.reports.95/atip9 5.59.html
WEBWatch 2/98
In the last months many people got
interested in small video cameras for looking up cave passages. As there are now pretty inexpensive
ones available http://www.mars-cam.com/optical.html For people who are interested in experimenting
with cheap small video cameras, following information may be useful:
http://www.reality.demon.co.uk/tyco.htm GPS also improves and should get better and better, the
whole system not only our small hnadheld devices:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9803/30/gps.improve.ap/ A good source for many different kinds of
sensors: http://www.vernier.com/index.html Miscellaneous: Tomi Engdahl has a nice collection of
different electronics sources at his WEB site http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/index.html
Batteries: Ultralife has a lot of interesing informations about their state of the art Li cells at
their WEB site http://www2.ulbi.com/prdata.html but maybe they are obsolete soon due to new fuel
cells: http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/10044.html So we all hope to get this new
cells as soon as possible
Web Watch, 1/98
As many of us are mainly interested in communications, this site seems good:
http://www.uniserve.com/cariboo/ They offer repeaters for different purposes and they look
professional, that also means not too inexpensive. Also Data Logging is something many of us work
with, Onset offers several interesting units: http://www.onsetcomp.com/ For the HAMs around here
(I think more than 50%): http://user.itl.net/~equinox/ Another good source seems for me:
http://www.gatewayelex.com/index.html Getting an accurate position was a work with a good compass
and a clinometer, but becomes more and more electronic. In the first line are GPS and GLONASS
devices for loacting cave entrances: One of the best pages with GPS indormation is IMHO:
http://www.telson.net/ Much information about the Garmin devices are at:
http://www.bridge.de/~tom/garmin.htm It seems to me that Garmin got some kind of a standard among
cavers. A very good link page, unfortunately in German, but I think the links speak for
themselfes: http://home.t-online.de/home/bgalitzki/startpage.htm Not so electronic, but we need
some maps for variuos projects, man yof them can be found at:
http://www.cgrer.uiowa.edu/servers/servers_references.html
Web Watch 4/97
All of our equipment needs electricity, almost all is battery powered and it is very disappointing
when a high tech cave radio fails due to power failure. Last time at this space I mentioned
Phillip's new alkaline cells and it seems that the other main manufacturers are not far behind.
Everready describes a similar technology for making alkalines better at higher loads:
http://www.energizer.com/news/index.html Duracell offers data sheets for their cells:
http://www.duracellnpt.com/primary.d/alka.d/alkind.html As we know, are many problems with nicads
caused by overcharging, Sanyo has a new cell wich is less affected by that:
http://www.sanyo.co.jp/giho/data-e.html#no13 An excellent paper about Nicad batteries can be
found at: http://www.antonbauer.com/tech/handbook.html This is one of the best papers I have ever
seen about this topic on the net, beside:
http://www.paranoia.com/~filipg/HTML/FAQ/BODY/F_Battery.html Very interesting are the
specifications for the Smart Battery: http://www.MediaCity.com/~sbs/specs.htm Toshiba has a new
4/3 A NiMH cell with 4Ah, download the data sheet:
http://www.toshiba.com/taec/components/Datasheet/BT31910297.pdf Global communication is getting
better, The Iridium system started only a few months ago (mid-September) and is growing fast:
http://www.iridium.com Maybe we will use it soon for a cave radio- telephone link. At many cave
sites ordinary cellular phones will not work. And for the last, one not battery oriented web site,
but wich is an addition to my caving light article last Journal, a fluorescent lamp wich comes
pretty close to an almost perfect caving light when it holds its claim:
http://www.concentric.net/~Nevtek/lamp.shtml
WebWatch 3/97
Interesting things on the WWW: This time these column is pretty much
related to my lighting article, but next time other electronic sites will rule this space: Philips
just improved their alkaline cells. As many of us know we do not get out the rated capacity out of
our alkaline cells by far. A usual AA cell is rated around 2.8 Ah, but for example a Petzl Duo wich
draws 0.5 amps at high beam will work only around 3 hours, if even that. The reason is, that
alkaline cells have a pretty bad high load behaviour (much better than carbon zinc anyway). Philips
seems to got a big improvement: look at: http://www.lighting.philips.com/eur/news/press006.htm
Another interesting thing is a relatively new Zinc-Air cell with outstanding weight/capacity value.
Look at: http://www.aern.com/ These cells have higher energy density than Li-Ion cells, up to
some 220Wh/kg. They are inexpensive at the first look and have small self discharge (5% per month)
and rectangular form factor, but have currently a short life. Benchmarq offers several intersting
circuits for monitoring batteries: http://www.benchmarq.com/GGIC.html ICs with few external
parts give good estimations for remaining batetry capacity. With Smart Battery Standard many other
functions will be available. A very new diamond based lightsource is offered and gives 35lmw and
soon 50 lm/w but has diffuse light output wich may be difficult to focuse:
http://www.diamond.com/dfe/dfe.html Unfortunately I could not find any price information.
Polystor has one of the best Li Ion cells available: http://www.polystor.com/ Very high capacity
per mass rating and samples available. A very good source for light related information is Don
Klipstein's site: http://www.misty.com/~don/light.html For different informations on lighting
look at: http://www.webcom.com/~lightsrc/ A colection of some related information.