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Re: Battery Woes

Subject: Re: Battery Woes
From: "Rich Peet" <>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:02:26 -0000
My suggestion would be to take Brians offer. He has more depth in this
area than I do.

But my 2 cents would give 6 cells is best. Wish I had the schematic to
determine the level of protection. Standard today in mfgs is to
protect against reverse connections because the cost is so low.
Standard is also at 50% over/under error but one companies definition
of a sin is different than another.

If you ask Mr. Battery, or whatever the source you choose, to silver
solder the six batteries together and apply a thick shrink wrap that
is not an expensive request.  Just understand that the shrink wraps
shatter in sub 0 f temps if they take a hit of even a small amount.
In warm temps they make great cases at almost no cost.

The wires should be color coded from the deck once you strip them as
defined in the link.  Then it should be easy.

On an off topic.  You did some great math work on time of arrival
location of recorded sounds.  I wish to put a triangle of mics on my
roof or yard with a continous record to locate gun fire.  My house is
nice but the locals do occationally shoot up the area and each other.
 Gun fire heard to 3/4 mile and I only care about handguns.  How far
apart do I need the mics to locate the source within 150 feet at a max
distance of 3/4 mile?

Also on an off topic do you have any Barn Owl recordings that I could
use for a volunteer one weekend presentation?  I would give you credit
but my current budget is all red and no black.

Rich=20


--- In  Steve Pelikan <>
wrote:
>
> Thanks, Rich. I should have thought to email you directly with my
> questions since you've given me help on related (electrical)  maters in
> the past.
>
> Your reply and link make me think I can pull this battery deal off...
>
> But here's some more examples of how uninformed I am:
>
> 1)  The batteries from EcoCharge are 6V lead-acid. The NiCd that came
> with the deck is 7.2V. Should I use 5 or 6 D cells (I'm assuming the
> NiMH D's are actually 1.2V as labeled)? Or doesn't it matter that much
> as long as the voltage  is in some (unspecified) range?
>
> 2) It looks like I can use the battery->deck cord that came with the
> ecocharge batteries except that the battery-end of this connector
> appears to be a male 4-pin XLR-type connector and I can't tell which
> pins connect to the red,black, and white wire in the DA-P1 plug (or
> +/-/ground which is what I really need to know). Is this something I
> should determine by 1) cutting the cord apart and trying to reassemble
> it, 2) looking it up somewhere on the WEB, or by 3) testing which of
the
> 3 deck-end connectors holes are hooked up to which 3 of the 4 pins (if
> so, how)?
>
> 3) Is there an easy way to determine which of the deck-end connector
> holes are supposed to be "+"? I can't see any markings on the plug, the
> DA-P1 case, and can't find a diagram with the information in the manual.
>
> 3')  Is this (+/-/ground possibly connected wrong) where I can end up
> frying the insides of the recorder or is the worst that'll happen
that I
> need to take the cable apart and reconnect it differently? I once
burned
> up a capacitor (I think it was, or a diode perhaps?) by putting it into
> a circuit backwards and would really hate to do that to the DA-P1 as I
> really like it a lot. We go back a long way.
>
> 4) I assume I'll  nail several 2 D cell holders to a board, hook the 5
> or 6 cells together + of one  to  - of the next and then stuff the two
> free wire ends  into the XLR-like connector on the battery->deck cord.
> Actually, I'll try to disassemble the top of the EcoCharge battery,
> recover the female connector that matches the battery end of the
> battery->deck cord, and hook my battery wires to the female connector.
> With (-) battery going to both (-) and ground pins on the XLR
thingy. Or
> would I be better off trying to buy a new female connector (meaning are
> they generally reusable?)
>
> 5) But really, I'll probably try to skip the board and the nails and
> find some kind of fairly rigid container to hold the Dcell holders and
> so I can mount the Dcell holders with nuts/bolts or screws and try to
> mount the female XLR connector in the side. Does it matter what
material
> the case is made from (from an electrical point of view)? Is there a
> standard name for such boxes that I should use when searching/
inquiring
> about them?
>
> There: See how little I know!
>
> Thanks ever so much ---
> Steve P
>







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