OLPC produced a user-repairable (to a degree!), 2-watt laptop with built-in wifi, mesh networking, and a screen viewable indoors or out... so it's easy to see the ham radio potential.
I had mine on display at the NASA openouse outside in my Ham radio idisplay and had it hooked to a 1 watt solar panel. I was surprised when it went dead a few hours later (initial state of battery unknown)..
So overnight, I put it on a power supply and observed that the run current is 480 mA and the sleep current is 360 mA. That surprised me. At 12 volts, that is more like 6 watts than 2. No wonder my 100 mA solar panel didn't help much... Yes, the internal battery is runnning around 6 volts which means about 3 watts, but still you have to give it at least 11.8 volts or so before the switching regulator kicks in and draws much at all...
So to me it is a surprising 6 watts of etxternal power consumption to power it...
Still I love it. Bob, WB4APR
The laptops are designed for
children (ages 6-12) in third-world countries, the Sugar interface is a bit awkward, and there have been some serious blunders along the way. These have dampened enthusiasm in the USA.
The official website is at www.laptop.org. Solid information is in the wiki:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home
Unofficial but useful source: http://www.olpcnews.com/
The second 'Give One, Get One' (G1,G1) program starts in November and ships through Amazon.
73, Scott N1AIA
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