Many thanks to the people at Webjam for a great product.

Hopefully the move will facilitate greater participation from our members.

Best,

DIYNGO.

We are attempting to charge the Asus Eee PC battery directly as the Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) Battery is not allowed on aircraft.

However, upon purchasing a unit which allows the Asus battery to be charged by 9-12 Volts we are obtaining an oscillating charge cycle.

In other words, the red LED indicating that the battery is charging is flashing on and off! Very frustrating, to say the least.

Experiments with both solar panels and the 12 Volt SLA batteries produce the same effect.

Before we spend even more money on pointless experiments, seriously, if you know what you're doing do let us know too!

The mains electric adaptor does not produce this effect. It outputs 9.5 Volts at 2.315 Amps.

Our only current conclusion is that both the solar panels and the SLAs are not producing enough power to maintain a level charge cycle.

Perhaps the next experiment will be to try this with a car battery. This should provide enough power then we will know that we will need more solar panels.

Thanks.

This should be of interest to those of you 'out there' interested in renewable energy.

A High Level meeting is taking place:

Interactive Thematic Dialogue of the UN General Assembly on the "Energy Efficiency, Energy Conservation and New and Renewable Sources of Energy"

It will be webcast from 10am EST. You'll need to tune in to Channel 1.

Thanks.

A quick update on our work in Africa:

Yesterday I received an SMS from 'Our Man' in Kenya that he is now demonstrating the benefits of solar power to both secondary and primary school children.

No further information at this time.

Luckily some networks are now forming in Kenya who aim to do precisely this. There is now a realisation that the sun can be utilised for all manner of purposes, from pumping water for irrigation to providing power for computing facilities.

Of course, there are political processes one must also grapple with besides the technical difficulties. There always are. But its worth persevering with for the sake of us all ultimately.

We can relate some of these activities as they progress right here. So, watch this space, as 'they' say.

On another note the experiments with the solar computer are continuing now that we finally have some sunlight in the UK. Unfortunately it looks like directly charging the battery from a low power solar array isn't working too well. So, as long as the sun lasts, the experiments must continue...

OK, so now we have a wealth of data and have to make 'sense' of it! Any ideas anyone?

We have:

1. Diary entries.

2. Photographs.

3. The Field Blog.

4. 'Field Notes'.

5. 'Interview'.

6. Lesson Plan.

We hope to put a sample of photographs online and maybe the same can be done with the other notes, etc. Then, maybe, this can help provide a rich picture of how the complex issues, etc. are all interrelated.

One thing which emerged is that it is certainly a complex object of study. That is, the original mission statement of:

"the use of renewable energy for Information Communication Technologies to enable education, healthcare and governance in Developing Communities"

may well have to be revisited. For, it seems, there are much more fundamental issues to be addressed in these communities. But, it does remain the case that renewable energy is certainly of use although probably for a much wider variety of applications than originally envisaged.

This is what it was all about. Here the Asus Eee PC is being powered by solar on Duncan's (pictured) solar set-up. His equipment is fairly standard and not at all unlike the kit we wanted to take to Kenya but weren't able to. A solar array on Duncan's roof goes through a charge controller to charge the huge twelve volt battery also pictured (bottom centre). The battery is then used to power light bulbs around Duncan's house as well as his radio and provides charging capability for his mobile phone. The dongle hanging out of a USB port on the Asus provides Internet connection through a GPRS/EDGE connection on Safaricom which is pretty much comprehensively available around Kenya we are told. So, this is "the first solar powered computer in the village".

We also used the HY Mini to great effect as reported on the temporary blog. It was used to charge the Palm Centro PDA which became the tool of choice for Blog Posts, SMSs and regular PDA features such as tasks and calendar. The Centro certainly came into its own during this time. Pictured here are a few pupils from Bogoria High School who were really interested in the HY Mini in terms of charging their own mobile phones as not everyone is hooked up to the mains electricity. It seems most people instead pay around 20 Kenyan shillings to charge their phone at the 'mobile phone charging shop'.

So, we're back in the UK and ready now to examine all of the 'data' (as Scientist put it) which should hopefully paint a picture as to the success or otherwise of this past Kenyan trip. Certainly, on the face of it, it looks like the trip was a great success since we met our mission objectives of 'championing the use of renewables to power ICTs...' although the qualifiers of 'to enable access to education, healthcare and governance' require further work. This will be something for a future more longitudanal study we suspect.

For now, we are happy that renewable technology was introduced to a rural Kenyan developing community demonstrating the usefulness of associated computing technologies.The picture though is quite complex, for instance, there may be other more basic needs which must be met in some communities before ICTs are ready to make an in-road. Although it may be that if the above qualifiers can be met and that, for example, an impoverished community can 'reach out' beyond its limited locale then resources and/or knowledge may become available which facilitate solutions to bridge 'basic needs' gaps? Let's consider all this carefully before jumping to conclusions though...

This is because webjam does not work in the Palm Centro web browser meaning we cannot make posts from the field.

The Palm Centro being the device of choice out in the field. 

So please readjust your bookmarks!

Thanks a lot!

Unfortunately, a key piece of kit to charge the Asus Eee PC battery (a desktop charger) did not arrive on time so we're not able to charge the ASUS by renewable energy. This is extremely frustrating given the amount of sun available here but fortunately there is mains electricity available at our camp at least. Beyond the bounds of our camp electricity is more scarcely available. We did come across mobile hone charging shops based around main electricity. Mobile phones do seem quite ubiquitous. So, right now, they seem the 'right' way to go for any kind of low cost 'intervention' (in terms of DIYNGO aims, at least).

Network coverage is quite adequate consisting of GPRS/EDGE with Safaricom. It is a slow connection when one is used to broadband but it is quite amazing that it exists at all.

To summarise, not having the full PC kit is proving frustrating but fortuitously the more mobile solution may prove to be the most relevant? Its still early days though so let's see what transpires over the next two weeks!

As such we shall be attempting to gather as much data as possible: interview/focus group results (if possible although in all probability not so formal at this stage), photographs and possibly a little video plus any quantiative data such as telecommunications bandwidths/deployment, etc.

The best way to approach this is with an open mind. Now that we are fairly certain of the parameters of operation for DIYNGO it is really now a matter of simply seeing how closely these match what is required 'on the ground'. Then of course, it may be that there is a need to either revise the operating parameters or reach the conclusion that DIYNGO would not function 'as is' necessitating a complete re-design or abandonment of the project.

At this stage though we shouldn't be too negative. Certainly, there is only so much one can envisage from the comfort of a relatively priveledged desk. Let's see what the true picture is like in 'the cradle of mankind'. Fittting, at least. Here, we may have an opportunity to reorient humankind along more sustainable lines if we truly cherish our species. Making the most of opportunities is a corner stone of innovation. Innovation of the highest degree is now required in order for us all to benefit from the more positive aspects of human development.

Let us capitalise upon these positive aspects of our human character before it is too late for the majority of us and our species reaches a rather untimely demise.

Pictured is the HYMini together with the supplied bicycle kit which fitted nicely onto a rig we had from previous DIY experiments. So, the additions are a piece of dowel which slots into the bicycle kit which is then placed inside a metal tube to allow it to turn. Next the tail fin from Windy Cindy 2.0 is presently blu-tac'd on in this humble prototype. Given what little time we have left before setting off for Kenya this should improve.

The HYMini looks pretty neat upon first inspection. It comes with a range of power adaptors so it can charge the usual mobile phones and PDAs etc. It outputs the usual USB voltage of around 5V as do the supplied solar panels.

We'd like to experiment with having a completely hybrid solution, i.e. having the solar panels in place as the turbine spins. This shouldn't be too tricky.

At least things are starting to get really interesting now. We're just awaiting the arrival of a desk charge for the Asus EeePC battery which we can use with a new, much more portable (but lower power output) solar panel.

This is all fairly close to the wire now but that's the really exciting part! :-)

We're starting to feel a little happier about how things are progressing though. There's a little more hope in the camp and we're starting to work together as a team. This was always going to be difficult as we're spread over several continents but its nice to see things reaching fruition. Although I guess its still early days yet.

Once again, many thanks to HYMini for being absolutely supportive of the DIYNGO enterprise all along and understanding how difficult it can be to get something like this off the ground.

Bravo, bravo to all.

Now that we find that the most used battery on the planet for solar set-ups, the Sealed Lead Acid battery, is not only hard to dispose of safely but is also considered "dangerous" on aeroplanes then we're back to considering PDAs again.

Let's face it: they are small requiring less power, more ubquitous in impoverished communities (or at least their cousin the mobile phone is; which all seem to be getting 'smarter' anyhow) and these days can run an enormous number of applications. In other words, there is actually quite an incentive to be exploring PDAs/Smartphones further.

Our hand may be forced at this juncture and we do have to go down the PDA route. But, still - philosophically - its been an interesting route to get here.

So, there's still more work to do and only 6 days left now! Let's hope a rabbit can be pulled out of the DIYNGO hat before next Saturday 11th!

Its all close to the wire and we know we should have considered this earlier but, hey, no one's perfect, right? :-)) Its all new to us too!

One simple solution is to wait until we get to Kenya then try to source a 12v rechargeable battery there. We were talking about the commonplace motorcylce battery in Vietnam just yesterday. Maybe something like this could provide a good alternative?

We've also been considering using camcorder batteries but they hold little power and so wouldn't sustain much of a computing session.

When the sun comes out in the UK we will experiment with charging the Asus EeePC internal battery directly and in situ. This wasn't attempted previously as the idea was to be putting an independent unit in sunlight. For example, this may allow interchangeable battery packs to be used so that the PC could run on one while the other is charging. Its pretty unlikely it will work though as the current solar array does not produce much current.

Any bright ideas anyone? :-(

We therefore now have a Constitution which details responsibilities, values and membership expctations, etc. Hopefully we can all agree on this soon. I am really hoping we can do this before the first Mission to Kenya (Genesis) which is our chance to test the feasibility of some of our approaches. Its also a chance to 'sound out' people as to what kind of things they'd like to see us doing. We should be led by the needs of those who may require our services rather than agendas of our own.

On the technical front we are hoping to soon acquire the HYMini by one means or another. Hopefully we can prepare the legal documents in time to obtain sponsorship from HYMini themselves to obtain a MYMini deluxe. We are also experimenting with a smaller version of Sol-1 with PDAs in mind. For now, Windy Cindy has been 'placed on a back burner' (do people still say that?) as the main mission is looming. We're counting on there being plenty of sunlight in Kenya!

By-the-way, it is also looking possible that we could obtain satellite connectivity for this trip but due to a few legal reasons together with (and because of) the infancy of our project this is looking unlikely for Genesis. We really do thank all at Sintel for trying to make this a reality.

So, the bags are out and our destination has been set. From now on its all systems go for Lake Bogoria, deep in the Kenyan Rift Valley!