April 29, 2005 08:15
GPSNavX Wrote:I have started to put this page together showing all the pieces..
http://www.gpsnavx.com/html/navsolution.html
I will have a 12V power supply soon.
When you look at power supply options, you might want to consider the following too. I found an Apple certified tech, and below is the exchange with him on the topic of inverters, converters, etc. My query is quoted with the ">" marks.
Apple Certified Tech Wrote:I get this question a lot, actually... I would recommend using a good 300-watt inverter (The Mac mini pulls a maximum of 85 watts.) and in between the inverter and the Mac mini power supply a good quality surge protector.
If space allows I would supplant the surge protector for a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) such as APC's ES series. The UPS doesn't have more than 7-15 minutes of run time, but its electronics will smooth out the sine wave output for you.
I too have thought of a 12v DC to 18v DC converter, but from what I can tell Apple is actually pumping in 3 lines of voltage through their special connector (I can't share the Apple-supplied pictures, but you can get an idea here: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,12411024 ). The next time I have my hands on one, I'll have to take a voltmeter to it.
Hope that helps.
--
On Apr 29, 2005, at 12:53 AM, Dan Hinckley wrote:
> ------------------------- FEEDBACK -------------------------
>
> I'm looking at using (a mini) on my sailboat (in Maine). There appear to > be two ways to go:
>
> - an inverter: easy, straightforward, benefits from retaining the Apple
> power supply unit. Do you think it matters if an inverter (good
> quality one,
> mind you, not one of those Radio Shark units!) produces modified or
> pure sine wave output?
>
> - a DC->DC converter: here's where I wonder if the mini has any voltage
> regulation or stabilization onboard. I'm checking to see how well
> buffered
> the output of such converters is against voltage drops, surges or
> spikes (as
> when you start the boat's engine, for example), but I'm curious to
> know more
> about what's onboard the mini itself. In a tiny package like that I
> can't imagine there's much.
>
> Regards,
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Dan Hinckley