Topic: External battery pack for MT2496?

[silentmark]

here is a easy option:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5818145620&fromMakeTrack=true

Brad

wow guy wins it for .01 then has to pay $23.99 shipping
that sucks

If it really shipped from Hong Kong, I don't think the s&h is that off, but I do hear what your saying ...

[blindman]

Full set of pictures...
http://fecundswamp.peanutonastring.com/usb_batt/index.html

I made my own last night. All I can say so far is that it powers my MT. It outputs +5V on pin 1 and Ground is on pin 4 of the Female USB jack. From all I could read, that is all any of the new USB powered devices need. I hope it doesn't hurt the unit in anyway.

I used a Female USB "A" to PS/2 adapter I got with a mouse or keyboard. It had some rubber around it, after removing that is was easy to find nice wires. I got a 7805 +5VDC Voltage Regulator (1 amp) from Radio Shack for $1.59, part# 276-1770. I had a Sucrets container that seemed to fit the bill.

I also bought some 10mm Insulated Standoffs (Part# 276-1381), $2.79. I used one standoff to attach the 7805 to the case. The USB I hotglued to the case. This was suppose to be a quick and dirty test to see if it works. It does.

I followed the pinouts frm here http://pinouts.ru/data/USB_pinout.shtml and connected the positive lead form the batteries to the Input of the 7805. I connected the negative lead to the Ground of the 7805. The Output of the 7805 goes to Pin 1 of your USB Female Type A jack. Pin 4 of that jack then goes to the Ground of the 7805.

I used Two 9 Volts, the 7805 can handle a total of 35VDC, so that isn't a problem, I just don't know if you really need two... but WTH, more is better!!!!!

I am no rocket scientist folks, correct me if you are trained... all I possess is the power to read and some soldering skills. Here is another reference I used...
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000270029372/

I will be testing the record time soon, using MP3 @ 128 my 2GB CF card says it will record for 35 hours... I thought I would leave it run till it shutdown, but do I really care if it will record for 35 hours? I mean, if it will stay on for a night of recording and listening in the car ride home, that would be enough.

I imagine the real advantage would be if you were not going to be ear a AC outlet for a weekend or if you are recording festivals.

Digi-key has some 7805's that look much than the RS one, and you can get PCB mounted USB jacks too...
1     10     497-2947-5-ND     IC PREC REG 1A 5V TO-220            0     0.97500     $9.75
2    10    ED90001-ND    CONN USB RECEPT TYPE A PCB         0    1.04000    $10.40

And I think the next version might have a nicer case, a Serpac M-6 http://www.serpac.com/products_m-6.htm

I hope to hear any suggestions or warnings you all might have.

be well

[F.O.Bean]

so who has ran the VRBox/JuiceBox>MT yet

[Brian Skalinder]

so who has ran the VRBox/JuiceBox>MT yet

Patience, young grasshopper.  Even though the MT provides enough juice for most single-evening recordings (> 4hrs digi-in), I have a JuiceBox on the way b/c I don't like cutting it even remotely close on battery power - running out of juice is such a dumb, inexcusable reason to fail to capture a recording.  I'll post preliminary results after I get the JB.

[F.O.Bean]

so who has ran the VRBox/JuiceBox>MT yet

Patience, young grasshopper.  Even though the MT provides enough juice for most single-evening recordings (> 4hrs digi-in), I have a JuiceBox on the way b/c I don't like cutting it even remotely close on battery power - running out of juice is such a dumb, inexcusable reason to fail to capture a recording.  I'll post preliminary results after I get the JB.

+T ska, I read thru the runtimes pages and found it weird that a decent amount of folks seem to be running at least toddr's juicebox w/ the MT and didnt see any postings I did look in the right section and did research tho cause i truely am interested in this little thing

I'm sure the seamless track fix will be out before i can afford this anyway

yeah ska, I would trust just the internal yet for sure, only about 3 hrs w/ phantom OFF I hear

[Brian Skalinder]

yeah ska, I would trust just the internal yet for sure, only about 3 hrs w/ phantom OFF I hear

Did you mean wouldn't?  I definitely trust my run-times with the internal batt, since I've run a few tests.  But for some single-evening performances, I'll still get a little too close to max run-time for my tastes.  I *hate* having to sweat about whether I'll have enough power, so generally go overkill on my batt situation.

[F.O.Bean]

my bad, meant I wouldnt trust it i usually have WAY overkill in power as well, and it usually saves my ass

[JasonSobel]

so who has ran the VRBox/JuiceBox>MT yet

Patience, young grasshopper.  Even though the MT provides enough juice for most single-evening recordings (> 4hrs digi-in), I have a JuiceBox on the way b/c I don't like cutting it even remotely close on battery power - running out of juice is such a dumb, inexcusable reason to fail to capture a recording.  I'll post preliminary results after I get the JB.

+T ska, I read thru the runtimes pages and found it weird that a decent amount of folks seem to be running at least toddr's juicebox w/ the MT and didnt see any postings I did look in the right section and did research tho cause i truely am interested in this little thing

I'm sure the seamless track fix will be out before i can afford this anyway

yeah ska, I would trust just the internal yet for sure, only about 3 hrs w/ phantom OFF I hear

I am using Todd's "juice box" with the MicroTrack.  I've got a 9.6V, 5 amp-hour NiMH rechargable battery for it.  so for, I've only used the setup once, at Yonder Mountin last week.  I'll be using it again at Club d'Elf this Thursday, and at Kottke/Gordon on Friday.  It worked great at Yonder, 1 hour first set, 1.5 hour second set.  I didn't power down the unit between sets either, so it was going the whole time.

I haven't had the chance to run a test at home to see how long it'll go.  but honestly, I'm not too worried.  While I'm not sure of the MicroTrack current draw when recording via the S/PDIF, the AC adapter that came with the MicroTrack is rated for 1 amp.  so it's got to be less than that.  others on this board have speculated that the current draw when recording from S/PDIF is 250 - 500 mA (pure speculation, I believe, but also reasonable speculation).  assuming it's 500mA, then theoretically, I've got 10 hours of record time with my 5AH battery.  if the actual current draw is around 250mA, then in theory, I've got 20 hours of record time.  either way, it's way overkill.  and that's exactly what I wanted.  Way overkill, so I don't even have to worry or think about battery power while I'm recording.

when I do get around to running a test for total time, I'll post my results.

[BLOODYJACK]

Here is the rechargeble 5volts battery I found you can see the hacked cable to USB and i even found a case logic case that fits it

[F.O.Bean]

+T thanks jason

[plucks]

so far Todd juice box & the dvd batts from ebay seem to work!

[ice8888]

i popped open the cover on one of the usb battery packs... this thing will be trivial to attach to a 6V SLA and get a lot more runtime than the 4-AA's would afford us.  it's all one small pcb with a usb plug already built in.

[BLOODYJACK]

A couple of people have emailed me on how to wire the Fred Myer battery I use so here it is
pin 1 = 5 volts
pin 4 = ground

[Chris K]

red wire for 5v power?
blackwire for ground?

 

[mwz]

since i'm replacing a jb3 w/ the MT one of these:
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=919
@5V DC USB should power the box and a strapon?