Monthly Archives: January 2015

POWERBANKS

HOT SELLING ITEM – OR TOO HOT TO HANDLE

If you travel in USA and in Far East it is quite common that at check in you are asked “do you carry a power bank in your luggage sir?”

Airlines do not like Power Banks. For those who do not know what a power bank is: It is a battery!

The modern battery technics make it possible to store a lot of energy in a battery. There are all kind of Lithium based batteries, most famous is Lithium-Ion. A lot of power, small seize and low in weight. That is exactly what people need now a days for their smart phones and other electronic devices.

By law airlines can carry only a certain number of kilos of these batteries. If this kind of battery is damaged it might cause a fire. If not packed carefully in your suitcase and hit by a second suitcase it is possible the power bank is damaged.

Too many of these batteries can cause a huge fire that might destroy a plane. Safety comes first for airlines so they might stop your power bank from boarding or ask you to pack it correctly before entering the plane.


NEW TECHNICS – MORE POWER

The first power banks were basically backup batteries for your electronic devices. Empty phone? – connect to a power bank and recharge!

Now a days the power banks have lots more power. Even so much that you can start your car with a modern power bank. Some can deliver 200 Ampere and even 400 Ampere as a peak current!!


MIDLAND ENERJUMP

Recently Midland introduced their ENERJUMP. The dimensions are just 131 x 75 x 25 mm. It can be used to charge electronic equipment, it can be used as a flashlight and and it can be used to start a car when the car battery is empty.

Read what the Midland people say about the new product.

YOUR STORE OF ENERGY!
NEVER GET STRANDED
WITH A DEAD BATTERY!

Enerjump Photo

MIDLAND “ENERJUMP” p/n C1184

If the battery of your vehicle or electronic device goes dead, you have a new equipment to face up the emergency! Nowadays we can no longer do without a reserve of energy for all our electronic devices that we daily bring with us.

ENERJUMP is a powerful powerbank with USB port, able to recharge several times all portable electronic devices ‐ such as smartphones, tablets, BT Intercom equipment, XTC action cameras , mp3… every where and without the need of a main socket.
It completely recharges your i-Phone up to 3 times!

Enerjump charging phoneEnerjump charging a phone

But the extraordinariness of Enerjump is the capability to jump‐start your battery without the need of another vehicle!

No matter if it’s about your car, motorbike, quad or camping van, you don’t have to ask for help to anybody, anymore!

Despite its reduced size and thanks to its 12V output with a high peak current, ENERJUMP has enough power to jump start your vehicle when the battery is dead.
Just connect the jumper cables and its clamps (red +/ black ‐ ) supplied in the packaging to the vehicle’s battery, turn on Enerjump and start your car!

Enerjump used to jumpstart a carEnerjump in action to jumpstart a car

ENERJUMP is also equipped with a powerful built‐in Led flashlight, able to light up SOS emergency signalling (intermittent flash) .
Enerjump Flashlight FunctionEnerjump used as flashlight

The 5‐led charge indicator clearly shows you the charge level.
ENERJUMP is ideal for everyday use or roadside emergencies; so remember to take it always with you, in your daily activities or adventures!


WHAT IS IN THE BOX:

‐ Enerjump
‐ Jumper cables with clamps
‐ 12V car charger
‐ Wall charger
‐ USB to micro cable
‐ User manual

Enerjump Packing IncludesContent of packing


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

‐ Nominal capacity: 8000mAh
‐ Input: 12/14V ‐ 1A
‐ Output: 5V ‐ 2A
‐ Car starter: 12V
‐ Starting current: 200A
‐ Peak current: 400A
‐ Weight: 300g
‐ Dimensions: 131 x 75 x 25mm


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I must admit I love this product. It comes in a handy carry case, it has so many possibilities and it gives you a more safe feeling.

But there are also some remarks to make. At cold weather (more than minus 5ºC) it is not advised to leave the Enerjump in your car. But that are also the best nights to charge the Enerjump to make sure you have power.

Second remark is that I did not find out yet what is the self-discharge of this item. The used Lithium-Cobalt battery has low self-discharge, but it also depends on local temperatures and charging disciplines.
If you need power it and you have it: “GREAT!”
But if you need power and the Enerjump is empty it is: “GRRR”

And while I start charging my Enerjump you can watch a funny video from Midland Italy about this product.

Detailed information about this product on the Avera website: ENERJUMP

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW IN LAS VEGAS

01
Every year the first important show for consumer electronics is the CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is one of the few cities in the world that has so many hotel rooms that it is no problem to house a show with 200.000 visitors plus thousands of exhibitors and regular tourists.

At the Hong Kong version of CES you will find much more suppliers for communication equipment than in Las Vegas. But at CES some of the brands have a more impressive booth than in Hong Kong.

COBRA

02Cobra active on CB, Marine, PMR, Radar Detectors, Dash Camera
and Power products.

Each year at CES, Cobra has an impressive booth. End of last year Cobra was sold to an investment company. That companies also purchased BELL, a big name in radar detectors. Within the industry there is a lot of speculation how long it will take before they will make it one brand and most of all: which brand will win the battle?

03At the Cobra booth an impressive car with Cobra equipment

04Radar Detector, Dash Cam and Smart Phone for easy driving


COBRA CB: HARLEY- DAVIDSON

05

For the American CB market Cobra took the Cobra 29LX and turned this model in the 29LX HD version. For Harley-Davidson freaks a must have in the car or on the motorbike.
Cobra is leading on the CB market in USA, but at CES they did not show many models. Let us hope they will have real news on CB next year.

COBRA MARINE: FLOATING MODEL

New for USA marine market is the HH500 FLT BT. Expected is that a similar model for European market will be introduced soon.

06Floating VHF Marine Radio

MIDLAND USA

07Midland Booth at CES, displaying CB, Action and Dash Cameras, GMRS/FRS and Blue Tooth applications.

Midland USA is the number 3 for CB in USA. But they are leading for action cameras and GMRS/FRS, this is a quite similar standard as the European PMR446 regulation. Also the Blue Tooth applications for motor bike drivers are very popular in the USA and Europe.

08Blue Tooth applications from Midland, quite similar to European series. On bottom a few types of CB Radio.

At CES Midland did not show many CB radios, they gave more attention to Blue Tooth products and Action and Dashboard Cameras.

09

10Midland has a wide range of portable radios


MOBILE GMRS/FRS

In Europe we have PMR446 portable radios. For us it is not allowed to have mobile versions of PMR446. In USA Midland introduced at CES a new mobile GMRS radio. It is a very compact radio and we can only dream about changing the European standard for PMR446.

11Mobile version of USA PMR446 version

UNIDEN HAS NO BOOTH AT CES

Uniden is the number 1 in USA for scanners and number 2 for CB. But since some years they have no booth at CES. The sales persons are available at CES to talk to customers but not on their own booth. For the industry it would be great if they decide to have booth at CES again.

But you can find Uniden products at the booth of CB Distributing. These people are always present with a booth to meet their customers from the West coast of USA.

12CB Distributing showing CB and scanners from all USA brands

CBD showed from Uniden two new radar detectors. These were brand new on the market. But also the new Cobra 29LX HD could be seen at the CBD booth.

13Rene from CBD proudly shows the Harley Davidson Cobra CB

GRE / WHISTLER

GRE used to be the number 2 for scanners in USA. Over 1 year ago they went bankrupt and were purchased by Whistler.

14Whistler showing their GRE scanner models. One of the models is linked
to a laptop. On the laptop a file from “Radioreferences” to transfer data
to the scanner.

Whistler is still using the brand name GRE and they still are 2nd on USA scanner market. Some models are also available on the European market. But on European market Uniden is by far the most popular brand for scanners.

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW

At CES you find a large variety of all kind of consumer electronics. Consumer communication products are hard to find at this show nowadays.
But for those interested in electronics it is a unique show in a unique city.