Anyone used the iPhone on a long tour? Now it has maps, the LocateMe service, and of course unlimited data. You can even update your CrazyGuy tour via email, complete w/ photos from the iPhone.

However, I'm concerned w/ battery life. All that typing, uploading, plus the three hours of surfing I must do every day , will use up the battery very quickly.

Any suggestions for charging? A quick google didn't show anything useful.

I haven't tried it, but there are solar chargers available for the iphone. Here's one.

Although, I'd probably also take the plug in charger to scavenge power from regular electric outlets that I could potentially access on the road.

Hope this helps.

If it can be recharged via a USB port you can use this circuit with a dynamo.

The dynamo may be any standard bicycle type dynamo rated for 6-volts at 3-watts or 500mA.
The 4 diodes form a bridge rectifier to convert AC to DC. S2 electrically disconnects a hub dynamo and should be included with mechanically disconnected bottle and bottom bracket dynamos as the diodes can allow the batteries to drain very slowly discharging them after a week or so. The 4 Ni-MH batteries act as voltage and current regulators providing clean power for the USB port connector and devices connected to it. S1 should be open when recharging and powering whenever any devices are connected to the USB port. After dark you would simply disconnect any devices from the USB port and operate them from there internal batteries. Closing S1 allows the 1-watt headlight and LED taillight to be powered from the batteries with the dynamo supplying power to keep them recharged. This design had 120mA of excess current recharging the batteries while the LEDs are on so they continue to operate at stops or hill climbing. If traveling where your not stopping simply disengage the dynamo for 15 minutes of every hour to prevent overcharging the batteries. In the event you need to rapid recharge batteries simply disconnect any devices pluged into the USB port and open S1 allowing full 500mA to recharge the batteries which is the suggested current for rapid recharging of Ni-MH batteries.
I use a Palm TX and Bluetooth GPS unit and keep both charged and operating on my touring bike.

What is the state of dynamos these days. Short of rebuilding your wheel w/ a new, expensive hub, are there decent, non-intrusive dynamos available?

I found some test data on dynamos in this thread. As far as dynamos online, I've found the Dymotec 6, which is, unsurprisingly, a 6-volt source.
Evidently all dynamos are AC, and need to be rectified to get to DC (and then maybe "smoothed") before use.

Another random comment I found on the web says that USB is 5 volts, meaning that the current probably needs to be limited somewhere before it gets to the iphone. And another comment says "CONNECTING YOUR PHONE DIRECTLY TO THE DYNAMO WILL DAMAGE YOUR PHONE". Probably true.

A side-wall generator and something like the PedalPower+ sounds good, but they don't even have prices online. Anything similar in this hemisphere?

This sounds like it just needs very simple circuitry. Why isn't it widespread?

Correct. Bicycle Dynamos are very simple devices. Just a rotating magnet surrounded by steel poles and a coil of wire. Construction is very much like a transformer except the primary winding is replaced with a rotating magnet.
Correct again! Power on pins 1 and 4 in the USB connector is 5 volts DC plus or minus .5 volts. Four Ni-MH 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries work fine for powering and recharging any device through a USB cable. These 4 batteries do a nice job of regulating the voltage of a bicycle dynamo. As the voltage approaches 5-volts across 4 Ni-MH rechargeable batteries the batteries impedance load the dynamo to the point where it can not exceed 5.2 volts DC. Thats perfect for recharging the batteries and for devices connected to the USB port. A bicycle dynamo also appears to be a constant current device limited to about 500mA of current. If the load connected to the USB port draws less then 500mA excess current will be forced into the device damaging it. The rechargeable batteries absorb this excess current as recharging current so any devices connected to the USB port will not be damaged and will only draw the required current from the batteries.
I purchased a Schwinn dynamo kit at an X-mart store on sale for $7.45. It came with everything including lights an a bottle type or sidewall dynamo. The filament bulbs burned out after a few hours of use and were replaced with LED lights. The dynamo is still in use and functions fine. It does have higher drag when engaged than a hub dynamo but has no drag when mechanically disengaged from the tire. All hub dynamo have some drag with the lights turned off.

See my circuit above. It is very simple.
Dynamo lighting is not as bright as most battery powered lighting. The vast majority of people only ride a few hours at night and can easily recharge there batteries at home or at work. For these people dynamo lighting is unnecessary and does not provide very bright light as can be found with high power rechargeable systems. Also GPS receivers and cell phones may be recharged at home or at work as well. The only cyclists needing the ability to recharge and power there GPS, phones, and pocket computers or PDA is the cyclist that will be on a self supported and camping tour over the course of several days, weeks, or months. Consequently, there is not enough demand to make the above circuit a commercially produced product. it's also so simple that almost anyone could build it and install it on a dedicated touring or long distance commuter bike.

1) What about overcharging the batteries. Would leaving them there once fully charged be a problem?

2) To put this together, you'd just need the four diodes, wire, breadboard of some type, maybe a box to put it in, and a soldering kit? It's been a long time since I soldered.....


Thanks,
pete

You can overcharge the batteries but considering how long it takes to recharge them you really must make an effort to do it. Most everything with a USB port has a battery charge indicator on it. It's simple enough to disengage the dynamo and look at the charge indicator. If it shows fully charged just leave the dynamo disengaged so you don't overcharge your device and the batteries in the circuit. You may leave the device connected to the batteries allowing the device to use the external batteries and it's internal batteries. When you see the device batteries needing to be recharged simply engage the dynamo recharging both the device and the batteries in the dynamo circuit. If the batteries in the dynamo are very low or almost completely discharged you can rapid recharge them by engaging the dynamo, disconnecting all devices from the USB port, and open S1 so the LED lights are not on. This will allow 500mA of current to recharge them. Most AA Ni-MH batteries can be fully recharged in 2 hours at 500mA. It's hard for most people to ride continually for two hours without stopping, especially when you need to cross roads and deal with traffic. I keep up with rapid recharge time by reseting the trip timer on my cycle computer and when it reads 2 hours I know the batteries should be completely recharged. The trip timer will stop and restart automatically so you need not try and keep up with how much time was spent at stops. Riding at night requires the LED lights. Usually 120mA is just enough to maintain a charge in the batteries as there being discharged into the LEDs at stops or moving very slow in traffic. My batteries are rated at 1.8 amp hours which will run the LEDs for several hours without the dynamo engaged. One other note about the circuit. The 470mF capacitor across the headlight LED is not required when used with batteries. It's only there in the event my batteries are damaged, lost, or stolen. Having the capacitor allows running the LED lights directly from the dynamo. Of course you can not plug any USB devices into the circuit without the batteries. This would most likely damage the device. Running the LEDs directly from the dynamo will not damage them as they can withstand more current than the dynamo can produce. This will at least allow you to travel at night to your next scheduled stop. Most dynamo lighting systems do not have batteries nor do most riders with dynamos want batteries as they went with a dynamo lighting system to free them selfs from needing to worry with batteries!

You don't need a box to house the stuff in the circuit. It's actually spread out all over the bike!
Here is a photo of the 4 diodes soldered to a terminal strip mounted to the front reflector bracket.

My dynamo is the type that is grounded to the bicycle frame so the mounting tab provides contact to the frame ground with the other dynamo lead being the yellow wire. You can see the red and black DC wires going to the headlight.

This is a photo of my headlight. The resistor and capacitor is located behind the heat sink in the light and S1 is located on the handlebars.

This is a photo of the batteries strapped to the rear rack and a terminal strip with S2 and the resistor for the LED taillight. As I use a bottle type dynamo S2 is only used to disconnect the batteries to prevent slow discharge when the bike is not in use. If I were using a hub dynamo S2 would need to be located on or around the handlebars. This terminal strip is where I attached a modified USB extension cable for powering USB devices. This allows me to place the devices in a rack trunk bag where there well protected. I modified a 9.6-volt RC battery pack so 4 wires lead from the batteries to the terminal strip.
You will probably note that nothing is contained in water proof containers except for the headlight. All the components are passive devices and low DC voltage so nothing is harmed if it get wet. Nothing electrical in the headlight would be damaged if wet but the optics would get messed up as the water evaporated.
This is a photo of my dynamo.

It's mounted where I can easily engage and disengage it while riding.

I know thi thread is a bit old, but I do have a source for commercial adaptors to turn 6V AC dynamo generators into DV voltage to charge phones , GPS devices, MP3 players, etc. email me if you want more info.

Can you give us your source for this charger / battery buffer thingie?