Re: alternative power sources: can't fool the R2

--- In [email protected], Dan Jacobson <jidanni@d...> wrote:
> Tired of changing batteries, even "only once a day with NiMH's",
> disregarding the advice of elders,
> 
> >>>>> "Bob" == Bob Parnass, AJ9S writes:
> 
> Bob> You will probably destroy the IC-R2 if you connect an AC 
transformer
> Bob> to the DC battery contacts.  DO NOT do it.
> 
> young Dan (a/k/a me) proceeded to... <ZAP>... well the radio is OK
> still, but my conclusion is: one cannot fool the R2. It can tell 
real
> batteries from any fake baby pacifier you try to give it.
> 
> Sorry, I didn't give it 120 V AC, as _I_ am college educated.
> 
> I did try a "1.5 VDC 300mA" "wall wart" that gave the same 2.2 VDC
> reading on my tinseltown multimeter as does a pair of NiMH.
> 
> I recall beeps even before hitting the "on" button... and then 
refusal
> to turn on.  Not enough juice? OK, then:
> 
> I also tried "3 VDC 800mA" from a "automobile cigarette lighter 
wart".
> 
> More beeps and flashing of LCD... never with real batteries does one
> see anything before hitting the on button.  With my 'alternate power
> source' it thinks I never turned it off or something.
> 
> All in all harrowing experiences.  The R2 is no simple light bulb
> apparently.  It can tell real batteries from non-batteries.  And
> supposing one does come up with something that resembles a battery 
to
> the R2, one must still weld or use alligator clips, etc.
> 
> I've got fist sized 6VDC gel batteries as found in emergency lamps.
> Do I just add one resistor to make this a 3 V power source for the 
R2?
> 
> How about a 12V car battery?  Question 11 (35 points): The Martians
> have attacked, stealing the world's supply of AA batteries, and
> kidnapping the battery bunny. Your mission is to monitor Martian
> communications and rescue the bunny in time for Easter.  However, 
all
> you have is a 12V car battery.  What circuit do you rig up to power
> the R2?
> 
> P.S. I'm reading and posting this on
> gmane.recreation.radio.hardware.icomr2 of http://gmane.org in far 
away
> Norway. Like nifto, man.
> -- 
> http://jidanni.org/ Taiwan(04)25854780

If you don't mind doing a little soldering work, you can use a trick 
that I have to power the R2 and save some money for a regulated 
supply (fun to find in the right output voltage/amperage, unless you 
want to buy a benchtop supply for $$$)

If you recieved the factory NiCad battery charger with the R2 like I 
did, you have almost everything you need. All you have to do is 
solder wires to the + and - terminals (make sure you connect to the 
active terminals near the wall plug side, not the series-connection 
dummies on the other end), and connect these wires to some contacts 
on top of a set of battery sized dowels. I color coded my dowels to 
make sure I never cross polarize the power and fry the radio. Now, if 
you connect up like this, you'll get the same results you had with 
the other power bricks you used - beeping/flashing/etc because of low 
output. Here's the trick: put two batteries into the charger! If you 
soldered the connection carefully, the batteries fit just fine (which 
is important, unless you own a spare charger, since you still need 
charged batteries, right?). And you get two added benefits from this: 
your batteries charge while you listen to/use the scanner, and the 
Res/Cap load that the batteries create for the charger eats up any 
ripple (no hum on your radio)!

I went whole-hog on my setup for the R2 at home. I had an old docking 
booster for a PDA that got broken, so I modified the plastic base to 
fit and hold the R2 erect. I modified the input (computer com plug) 
cabling wires to connect to my power supply dowels and a mono speaker 
plug so that when the R2 is docked on my desk, it is powered and the 
audio outputs to a 3" 1 Watt speaker that can be easily heard of most 
of the house when at 4 bars on the volume control (which my wife 
often complains about). And it tops off with a coax input to my SMA 
adapter from either a rooftop scanner antenna or longwire antenna. 
All cabling is secured to the docking bay to prevent strain on the 
R2's connectors. Great for hours of listening to comms while charging 
my batteries for use when I'm portable. I own 2 sets of batteries 
(standard NiCads 1000mH, not NiMH) and it's very rare that I run out 
of power now that I have a charge/listen at home setup - I find that 
I have about 12-14 hours of portable time, sometimes more, and it 
isn't often I'm away from home longer than that.



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