[aprssig] Considering buying a D7 - Some Basic Questions

[Steve Noskowicz]

Brian, Jason, Derek, 

RE:
> >  Not exactly correct.
> I guess technically, [snip] you're right and I'm wrong.

> ...can I transmit with, ...I've had my battery go dead 
> while on the charger factory wall-wart, with
> the radio and TNC on.

ITEM 1:
   Relax, friends.  There is no right vs. wrong.  I understand all the answers
that were given and the context in which they were given.  I saw no errors
except in the way I asked the question.  I appologize for seeding the
confusion.

These answers:
A - Can't Tx on the wall-wart
B - Can, on low power.
C - Charger jack is also external power.
D - on "EL" ...The 'net' current flow was in  favor of actually charging.
  Along with the fact that there are both a cig-liger adapter and a power cord
accessory tell me that the charging algorithm has to be something akin to a .1C
(or maybe .16C is a better estimate from the specs and info posted) constant
current type.

   The reason I asked this (poorly worded) question was because I see there is
a "Rapid Charger" listed as an accessory for the D7 - and wondered if the
battery was charged _in_ the radio or if the battery is normally put into an
external charger.  

    However, no one answered the question about the timing of the charge which
is something I was trying to determine.    The "Tx on charger" question was
just an afterthought to get some idea of the wall wart capacity.

The heart of my question:
Cadmium chemistries need managing, different from Lead and Lithium.  You can't
float them.

What determines when the D7 battery is charged and terminates the charge??  
A - Is there a third contact on the battery which the reado uses for charge
sensing?
B - Does the radio terminate the charge after some (16) hours?  and/or
C - Is the Ham required to manage battery charging (level vs. time)?

    Now, I well know that Li-Ions have a completely different charging
algorithim (I know what it is, so no need for anyone to explain)... However,
The TH-F6A uses LEDs to indicate when the battery is charging and they go out
when the radio thinks the Li-Ion is charged.  It has a Li-Ion charging IC to
manage the process, so I was wondering if the D7 has any charge management
capability, or os ot just constant current and time.



ITEM 2:
> [snip] the AA battery pack may not give you full power. ...

   Since it holds 4 AA's, this is a given (6v. vs. 9v)

>  ...you will never see the  difference...

  Also a given.


> [battery} (at least on the early models) died in not much over a year. 

   I wonder if this is/was related to the charging algorithm not being optimal.


Whew!



-- 
73, Steve, K9DCI


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Like movies? Here's a limited-time offer: Blockbuster Total Access for one month at no cost. 
http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text4.com