Today is pressing question, among other things, is how many batteries to take. The batteries that were purchased by my supporters and sponsors have already been installed and distributed. However, I need back up. Lots of it.
I can either take the charger and six nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries or I can take an equivalent extra 24 lithium batteries.
The one big concern is of course if the lithiums all die, I’ve got nothing left. That wouldn’t be good. But, the Ni-MH batteries do not perform that well at low temperatures. Also with the sun so low on the horizon, I can’t get a lot of power out of my solar cells to run heavy charging.
So, it is always a little delicate dance. I don’t want to run out of equipment and gear and power, but I don’t want to carry pounds and pounds of stuff I can’t use otherwise.
Also, I will be testing my satellite phones today to make sure they all integrated in. The Sim cards are active and everything seems to be working, it’s just figuring out how to get all the dialing done correctly. That way I can make sure to contact my supporters and sponsors from the South Pole.
