We awoke at 6:00 by the alarm I forgot to turn off from yesterday. J got ready to go to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge later this morning. I decided not to go so that I can get some work done in the RV. The computer project is taking longer than I had thought and the power converter problem yesterday sucked up time. It's a perfectly clear morning — perfect for solar-electric power when the sun gets higher. I had my normal breakfast and J left at 6:40 in the Jeep by herself.

I turned on the generator around 7:00 for an hour and a half to charge up the house batteries while the power converter compartment was cool. I had the O2 Cool fan blowing air through the power converter compartment, and the Inteli-Power PD9160A power converter seemed to work adequately. While checking the output of the power converter every 10-15 minutes to make sure it was behaving itself, I selected and processed four images for the blog. Then I worked up the blog entry. J returned around 10:10. I looked into replacement power converters. J had mentioned the Inteli-Power PD9260C as a possible option because it has a built-in Charge Wizard to optimize battery charging. It'll also be easy to install it right where our Inteli-Power PD9160A is located. The Xantrex XADC 60A power converter looks like a good option too. I know the Xantrex name, and used one of their small TrueCharge battery chargers in my Suburban. The unit has a larger footprint than the Inteli-Power units, so more work would be required to install it.

I had lunch around 11:55 and talked with J about travel plans for early next year. I called Canon Parts to order an Ed-C adapter for the Angle Finder C. The Angle Finder C comes with two adaptors, the Ec-C, which I had been using with my EOS 1v and 1Ds Mk II bodies, and the Ed-D which is required for the EOS 1Ds Mk III. The Ed-D adaptor that came with my Angle Finder C is probably safe and sound in the original box which is carefully packed away in a much larger box in my storage unit. I looked for it the last time I went through my storage unit, but didn't see a large box labeled appropriately. [The next morning, I realized that I forgot to order two screws from Canon Parts for the TS-E 90mm so I can change the orientation of the tilt and shift movements. You may read about the great Canon TS-E 90 debacle on my blog entry for November 17, 2009.] I looked at how to install a vent in the power converter compartment which will require moving a bypass switch. It looks like I'll be able to move the bypass switch to the next compartment without too much trouble. Now I'll just have to find a nice looking vent that will fit. (For the record, the power converter compartment is vented through the top of the compartment into the compartment under the sink, and that compartment is vented through some space below the sink. However, the power converter ventilation will be greatly enhanced by adding an air intake near the floor so that the hot air can exit through the vent around the sink.)

An editor from Popular Photography magazine emailed to ask if I'd be interested in participating in an upcoming article tentatively titled "Secrets of the World's Best Wildlife Photographers." I sure would! :) I did some computer work.

We heard a strange noise outside around 4:15, so we looked outside. J saw a guy standing about 75 yds (70m) away, and I saw a hawk sitting on the ground maybe 10 yds (9m) away! Then the guy called over his bird — he was a falconer. Then he called over another bird that took off from the roof of our RV. It was the same bird that had made the odd noise — it had a bell attached to its jesses. How about that — our RV was attacked by a hawk! I think they were Harris's hawks.

I went back to the computer work and finished what I had been working on earlier.

We had dinner around 6:10 of J's Black Bean Burritos and fresh guacamole. After we finished eating, J prepared a "surprise," then I did the dishes.

I did some more computer work while "the surprise" finished baking. We had some of the "surprise" shortly after it came out of the oven — Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge brownies and cookies-n-cream ice cream. We turned the generator on at 9:10 for half an hour, in part so I could see how our Inteli-Power PD9160A was working. It was putting out 30-some amps which is reasonable, but only at 12.7VDC — it should be about 13.7VDC. I looked into the Inteli-Power power converters some more, and they make a special Charge Wizard for the PD9160A that's suited to AGM batteries like we have. AGM batteries require a different charging profile (volts and amps vary with time) than regular lead-acid or gell-cell batteries. (The Xantrex TrueCharge I had before had a switch on the unit to specify the battery type.) I checked eBay, and one seller has a floor display Inteli-Power PD9160A with a very cheap Buy-It-Now price. I ordered a Charge Wizard for AGM Batteries (PD9105GV) that will plug into an Inteli-Power PD9160A then went to bed.