Topic: 4.5v batt pack question??

[Kevin]

Ok you I went to the shack earlier today and bought a 4 AA batt holder and my question is this, If im using it to power an M1 (which requires 4.5v) if I stick 3 AA's in there(AA produce 1.5v) is that going to produce 4.5v? (im almost positive it does, makes sense to me) Also how long will it power it for and if it runs out will it move to the 2 AA inside the deck?
thanks in advance for the help,
Kevin

I think something along the lines of the above was posted somewhere but some of it is diff.

[Brian Skalinder]

First question that comes to mind is:  why bother running external power on an on M1/D100?

Anyway, yes, you could run 3 AA alkalines in a 4-AA sled to get 4.5v, but you'd need a dummy cell for the 4th.  Better option, IMO, is to run 4 rechargables for 4.8v.  But I think the Sony portable decks are BEST powered internally by rechargables - running 4xAA rechargable externals won't buy you much run-time.

I don't know for certain if the M1/D100 will rollover to internal batts after externals die, but I think not.

FWIW, I get 4-5 hours on my 2000 mAH rechargables.  Since the M1/D100 only take 2 AA, you can get a set of 4 and be set to run a looooooong time.  I actually have *16* AA rechargables that I use for a variety of devices, so I'm ready to run a looooong time if need be.  

[Kevin]

+T for the help, I also felt like it wouldnt buy much time but would maybe benefit if it rolled over but think that even if it did there would be a pause as when you plug the wal wart into the unit.

[RobC]

I use 4 AA recharagables in an external pack for my M-1 and get over 3 hours record and 2 hours playback on the same 4 batteries,  I'm sure that is better than 2 AA recharagables inside the deck will get.

[cpclark]

when you pull the power cord, atleast with AC power, it will automatically unload the tape , as i have done this many times at home and i would believe it would do the same to a DC source that is battery powered externally, hope this helps, and i agree with Brian that 2000mah recharables are the best way to go as i am about to switch over to recharables from alkalines(spending way too much money).

[greenone]

IIRC, the deck can't just switch from AC to DC - I tried leaving the AA sled in the deck in case the external power died when I first got a D-cell pack for my D8 but it failed. It sensed the AC plug still in the socket and kept trying to suck juice from there instead of realizing it had DC. I haven't tried since then (I don't particularly feel like hosing a recording intentionally!) but there's no rollover at all as I remember.

[Kevin]

thanks for the advice im actually going with a rechargable CD (heres the link http://www.pwrplant.com/cd.html