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Gear / Technical Help => Remote Power => Topic started by: bagtagsell on December 01, 2003, 02:03:39 AM
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Hey all. Just taped with my new righ and learned tons that I thought I would pass along. First lesson was powering my JB3. The creative battery costs like $50 and takes a while to arrive so I built this battery sled and it worked great!!! I ran it for 3 and 1/2 hours powering AKG 391s, sending an out to headphones, optical, coax, and rca no problems at all. This was a continous test I ran to make sure it would last. After knowing that 3 and 1/2 would be enough I removed the battery sled and the lone creative battery was at 3 bars (ie full status). I dont know how long it will last but it worked great for me. You need the following
1. A 6v 7.2 amp SLA battery (batteries plus intown 24.99)
2. Cigarette Adaptor from Radio Shack. It has 2 alligator clips on one end and a female cigarette end (what you plug the actual cigarette lighter into)
3. A cigarette power adaptor that has adjustable voltage on it (Specifically 4.5v). This will have a male end on it and will plug into the female end above. The other end was a power cord that has the two holes so any radio shack adaptor plug can fit on it. (I got it on Sale for 9.99)
4. Tip that is 4.0mm OD 1.7mm ID (4.99)
Simply hook up the gator clips to the corresponding ends of the battery (Red +, Black -) Insert the male connection into the female. Set it at 4.5v, connect the adaptor plug (check the polarity). Also due to the nature of the JB3 it pulls a lot of power when it starts up. The battery sled is not enough power to start it up. So first start the JB3 with just the battery installed, then hook up the sled it will think that it is plugged into an outlet. Thanks for everyone who gave me this idea and help. Hopefully someone can learn from this. Pics available and item numbers available upon request.
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+T for coming to that conclusion. Good work!
Don't want to rain on the proverbial parade, but FWIW, I tried the same thing and it worked fine... until the operating voltage from the 6v, through the VR dropped off below the JB3's cuttoff voltage. When this happened *during record* (it's not an issue at idle or during playback), the unit froze up and I had to do a hard reset, losing the file I was working on... of course this happened ~1:45 into a two hour set, so I was pissed. I imagine you'll be fine so long as you keep your 6v well charged and don't ever run it down to the wire. For me anyway, having the second creative battery is more than enough power to come home with the goods.
Nothing like a little DIY action, though. Glad you're getting into it.