Yesterday was a perfectly sunny day here where I am. So I took advantage of the sunlight to test out several different solar chargers to charge up the same 50000mAh power bank. I thought you folks would find the results interesting. I certainly was surprised with the outcome.
One thing I had never done before when doing tests like this - which has always been a silly thing to overlook - is that I never before established how much charge the wall electric outlet in my house gives me within the same time frame that I am using to test these solar chargers. As you will see from the results, my smallest and lightest solar charger consistently performed the best and performed as well as my wall electric outlet. The larger watt solar chargers performed the least well.
The 15w solar charger is the smaller, two-panel in the picture. The 22w solar charger is in the background and contains a third panel. Obviously, smaller and more compact is better, especially if higher watt solar chargers don’t offer any advantage in performance.
50,000mAh power bank
30 Minutes each test
29% Charge on Power Bank to begin
15w Solar Charger
START: 29%
END 32%
22w Solar Charger
START: 32%
END: 35%
15w Solar Charger (again)
START: 35%
END: 38%
28w Solar Charger
START: 38%
END: 39%
Home Electric Outlet
START: 39%
END: 41%
Baofeng K63… I forgot to mention in the video that the battery has a USB-C charge port, so it can be easily recharged in the backcountry with a power bank or a solar charger. Also, the battery allows for something like 12 hours straight usage, and 22 hours monitoring.
Get yer’s here: https://a.co/d/ci7hOcA
I’ve been using AI to answer all my questions and learn these radios. Here is some of my conversations with my good ol’ buddy ‘Chatty’ George P. Tooley (some call him ChatGPT) for your benefit and so you can see where I started and how I began to learn the ins and outs.
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On your Baofeng radio screen, the two sets of numbers you see represent two different frequency channels, and here’s how they function:
Top Frequency (Display A):
• In your photo: 155.725
• This is the active transmitting/receiving frequency when you’re on “A” (upper) channel.
• It is usually the main frequency you’re using to talk or listen unless you switch to the other.
Bottom Frequency (Display B):
• In your photo: 471.665
• This is a second frequency you can monitor or switch to quickly.
• It’s handy for dual watch or dual standby — the radio can listen to both frequencies and let you know when activity occurs on either.
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Key Differences in Purpose:
Function Top Frequency (A) Bottom Frequency (B)
Primary Use Active/Selected channel Secondary or standby channel
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