Comments on: More alternative-energy innumeracy

Glaskowsky takes on the latest loony idea for energy generation.

[vreelin]

camera recomendation

Hi Peter,

I know you from Jerry's site. I'm "Phil". You asked about cameras a while back. I've been using the EOS20D for 3 years. I've got little ones and the DSLR's capture those "moments" that the point and shoots can't. Canon just released a new pair of pro and pro-sumer DSLR's. The EOS 1D Mark III and the EOS40D respectively. You can get EOS 1D Mark II's on Ebay for about 2300.00. If you look carefully, you can find another avid amateur trying to sell up to the Mark III who has a low shutter use Mark II for sell. You should be able to find one with 10K shutter actuations or so verses the Pro's selling up with 100K actuations. I did. After receiving my Mark II, I can tell you that it is what you want. Fast and built like a tank.

On lenses. Get Canon L glass. The 24-105 F4 L is a great start.

My 3.14 cents worth.

Phil

[Peter N. Glaskowsky]

Thanks for the tip

I'll look into it. :-)

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[gayathrib83]

A highly recommended site is elfingo.com for online auctions. They are the new ebay. They have a lot of items for sale.. Check whether you can find a camera... One more reason I like elfingo.com is because they don't take a part of the sale at all. No commissions or final value fees. A+++ http://www.elfingo.com

[secretvid]

Without arguing the specific merits of the windbelt idea, Peter's dismissal of the technology is a bit misleading... he says that "It would take at least 5 watts of power to produce enough LED light to replace a kerosene lamp". While this may be true, the fact is that all that power doesn't have to be produced at the same time. Just as Peter recommends solar cells, which collect power throughout the day to be used at night, the windbelt (or any other wind powered micro-generation unit ) only has to collect enough energy to be used for the few hours before the family goes to bed. And if the wind continues blowing at night, then all the better! Also, a single kerosene lamp is not a particularly efficient light source in the sense that it's light coverage is indiscriminate and single-source. Rechargable LED headlamps for each member of the family would consume LESS power than the kerosene lamp since all the light produced would go toward lighting each individuals specific needs..