#: 50353 S9/Sharp Zaurus 19-Jun-96 09:02:27 Sb: Power Solutions for Z Fm: Lionel Ancelet 71641,1340 To: ALL Thanks to all those who answered my questions regarding external power supplies for the Zaurus. For those who are interested, here is what I did, and I am very happy with my solution. I found everything I needed at Radio Shack: (1) AC Adapter I bought a generic AC adapter (1.5-12V 300mA). It comes with a series of plugs, I selected the one that matches the Z connector, being careful to select NEGATIVE tip. I set it in the 7.5V position (which yields 8.5V). It is a good idea to check voltage and parity with a voltmeter before connecting it to the Zaurus for the first time. The reference is 273-1662, I paid $12.99 for it. It's a bit more than the Sharp one, but I saved a lot on Shipping & Handling... (2) Battery Pack & Charger I bought a Ni-Cd Turbo Racing Battery Pack, specified as 7.2V, 1200mAh capacity (meaning it could provide 300 mA for 4 hours, for example). I measured the voltage: 8.2V. Remember that, as with AC adapters, the voltage will drop a little when you connect a load (like a Zaurus) to a power supply. I bought the matching Battery Charger, which delivers 7.2V @ 100mA (that's a 12-hour slow charge with the above battery). Then I did some soldering. I first removed the "Tamiya" connectors from the battery pack and the charger, and replaced them with phono jacks (aka RCA or CINCH jacks). I placed the female on the battery side and the male on the charger side, because this way the battery contacts are much less exposed, and it can be dangerous to short a NiCd battery, while shorting an AC adapter will at most toast it. I then made a short adapter cord to connect the battery pack to the Zaurus (male phono jack on one end, and connector matching the Zaurus on the other end --- for that one I cannibalized an old AC adapter, but you can find matching ones at Radio Shack). This way I have a very clean and convenient solution: I can recharge my battery pack overnight, and use it during the day for modem connections. The modem I finally use is the Compaq SpeedPaq 144/P (supports cellular direct connect). The back of the card states that it draws 220mA @ 5V, which is a little more than 1W (1.1 W). With the 8.6Watt-hour pack (7.2V x 1.2Ah), I can theoretically get nearly 8 hours of modem operation! The reason I don't use the Battery Charger to power the Zaurus directly is that it yields 100mA only, and the Zaurus plus the modem obviously need more. The reason I don't use the other AC adapter to charge the battery pack is that it yields 300mA, which would give me a fast charge, but fast chargers need to shut off automatically, otherwise NiCd batteries tend to overheat, boil, vent, explode... which can be pretty messy... Tonight hopefully I'll make a digital picture of this contraption and post it on the forum. References: 23-230, $19.99 for the battery pack; 23-241, $9.99 for the Battery Charger. That's a total of less than $30 (plus some change for the phono jacks). To be compared to the $149 the Sharp battery pack kit retails for... Oh, and for those who wonder how big my battery pack is: 5 1/4 x 1 7/8 x 1 (inches). I don't know how big is the Sharp thing. Bye for now. --Lionel #: 50614 S9/Sharp Zaurus 20-Jun-96 13:44:53 Sb: Zaurus External Power Fm: Kable Singh 100434,2542 To: Mike Ziegler 76506,2353 Howard, I know you've had other postings on this, and Sebastian's rig sounds a lot like mine--except my brain isn't organized and I went through about three "incarnations" before I got it right! Here's how mine turned out. I used: Radio Shack Enercell racing battery pack 9.6v 600 MAH $19.99 Radio Shack 7.2v battery charger ?$9.99 approx. clipped male connector off and heat shrink wrapped it to: $8.95 Zaurus power supply CE23 male plug, clipped off of transformer Radio Shack 9.6v battery charger $19.99 I think I had real trouble with the Radio Shack male connectors--they're real delicate to work with, and I did not get the rig to work with them. I think I used the wrong inner diameter plugs. Be sure you use the one Sebastian said, they come in different sizes. I am very happy with how mine turned out. I have been using it for days now on the first charge I put on it. No signs of slowing down yet. And it powered the modem for at least 6 2-page faxes just today. I love it! Hope you get one going. Mike Z #: 12949 S9/Sharp Zaurus 06-Jun-95 21:09:56 Sb: Zaurus DC Power Fm: Harvey S. Laidman 70335,1255 To: All As you know, the Zaurus requires an external power supply to operate the fast PCMCIA modems and the cellular modems. I have found that the Radio Shack heavy-duty DC adapter (Model 270-1562E, $16.99) will power the Zaurus from a cigar lighter jack. I have used this same unit with CD players, etc, and the DC it supplies is very clean. Of course, you will be using it at your own risk and please be careful to set the voltage at 9V, make sure that the inner sleeve is MINUS and the outer shell is PLUS, and use the BLUE plug. Tape over the voltage switch to make sure it's not tampered with... #: 26271 S9/Sharp Zaurus 02-Jan-96 05:51:31 Sb: #26143-#Zaurus External Power Fm: Kable Singh 100434,2542 To: Bo Lorentzen 74673,2401 (X) Bo, I understand that even the Sharp adapter for the Zaurus feeds it 8.5 volts. UK adapters work at 7.5v (but not lower). Last week I was in Italy and the adapter I bought there worked at 4.5volts. I wish someone from Sharp would explain why NONE of the adapters (even Sharps's own at 8.5volts) will work at the 3 volts that the Zaurus works on when on battery power. regards, Kable #: 26800 S9/Sharp Zaurus 06-Jan-96 22:59:03 Sb: #26778-Zaurus Power Supply Fm: Kable Singh 100434,2542 To: John Hodson 102570,1145 (X) Jon, I am using a universal multi-voltage adaptor at 7.5 volts NEGATIVE centre-pin. That is what you should look for. 3 volts will NOT work and the Sharp EA-23E adaptor is rated at 8.5volts 350mA. regards, Kable #: 32194 S9/Sharp Zaurus 25-Feb-96 00:13:47 Sb: #32183-#VT-100 Terminal Access Fm: Bo Lorentzen 74673,2401 To: Daniel L. McCracken 71241,600 (X) Dan The Zaurus will run VT100. BUT it will not go any faster than 14.4 with a PCMCIA modem, you have to find a way around the 19.2 problem. Are you sure that is not 9600? (I know stupid question) If it is you would be fine. The Z2 is labeled as ZR-5800 on the box. at the moment you can only get it from the sharper image in the FX version which includes a 2400 bps modem, of cause if you plan to use the Zaurus only at high speed you may want to offer the modem for sale on the forum, however the standard modem have the advantage that it uses almost no power, great for faxing. I have a "homemade" external battery supply, it is a 6AA clip from a electronics store and a cable with a pluck pre-molded onto the cable, the rig cost me $5.- the center pin is negative, the Zaurus requires from 6-9V external to work, the internal batteries is "stepped up" to run the PCMCIA card modem, if you plan for a long trip you do want the external power supply, using only the internal 2 AA's with a PCMCIA modem will give you about 20 minutes before you are out of power. Bo #: 34807 S9/Sharp Zaurus 17-Mar-96 12:52:37 Sb: Another Z Battery Pack Fm: James Fryhling 104065,2276 To: All Zaurus Battery Pack Plans Listen up Zed-Heads. Want to go mobile without going broke? Here's an easily built, refillable battery pack, you can make for about ten bucks. (Build one today in six easy steps. Fun at Parties. Amaze your friends) Stuff you gotta get or have already Radio Shack 8 "AA" Battery Holder (Cat. No. 270-407) (this is a black plastic battery holder) Radio Shack Heavy Duty Molded Battery Clips (Cat. No. 270-324) (these look like the connectors for 9-Volt Batteries) Radio Shack Coiling Radar Detector Power Cord (Cat. No. 270-032) (this has a cigarette lighter adapter at one end, and a 2.1 mm plug at the other end) Wire Cutters / Strippers Electrical Tape / Heat Shrink Tubing How to Assemble It 1. Cut the radar detector power cord about 1/2 inch away from the cigarette lighter adapter. This should leave more than an inch of straight wire before the coil starts. 2. Cut about 1/2 inch of the black plastic sheath off. Next strip the white and red ends of the exposed wire. 3. Thread the heat shrink tubing on the leads of the battery clip. (skip this step if you are using electrical tape) 4. Twist the white wire from the adapter cord together with the red wire from the battery clip. Wrap with tape or cover with the shrink tube. Connect the red wire from the adapter cord to the black wire on the battery clip. Note: The colors won't match. That's because the radar detector cord was wired center positive. The Zaurus is center negative. If you were to wire red-red and white-black, your beloved Zaurus would be molten memory. 5. Finally, snap the battery clip onto the top of the battery holder. Voila. Instant mobile Maniac. (batteries not included) #: 37768 S9/Sharp Zaurus 05-Apr-96 12:02:38 Sb: #37637-Another Z Battery Pack Fm: Reinhard Fischer 75704,156 To: Diane McCarthy 102540,3511 Diane Basically it's not to hard to build one. First i went to Radio Shack and bought a battery case for 8 AA batteries ( i did not find a 6 AA case) and a 5.5 x 2.1 coax male connector. Then I assembled the connector to the battery pack (center pin must be negative) and that's it. You can also use a 6 AAA case as well (just 9V instead of 12V) or you might go for an 9V block with snap on connector. Just solder the coax male to the snap on an you have the smallest possible battery pack. Right now i use a 6 AAA case with the coax male connector. I bought also a small box and put the battery case in. Look for the library file "ZPOWER.TXT" it gives you detailed instructions how to build a battery pack and show three different possibilities. Reinhard #: 50600 S9/Sharp Zaurus 20-Jun-96 13:07:05 Sb: #50426-Battery Pack for Zaurus Fm: Kable Singh 100434,2542 To: JPeelgren 104032,445 Jim, The AC-11E will not power the Zaurus as it only outputs 6 volts and the Zaurus ZR5000 certainly would not work on 6 volts when I tried it. The correct Sharp AC adaptor for the Zaurus is the AC-23E which provides 8.5 volts and has a NEGATIVE tip. The ZR5800 might just work with the AC-11E as mine appeared to accept the lower voltage ***but** certainly not if you place any load on it by connecting a modem for example. If you intend to get an I/R unit at any stage for the Zaurus then keep the AC-11E as that is the correct unit for the I/R interface. regards, Kable (Winchester UK)