[opendtv] Battery-operated receivers

From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:18:27 -0700
The Winegard announcement of a battery-operated DTV converter got me
thinking about how, basically, foolish, this is.

 

Over a year ago, I bought an Eton battery/ac/windup radio for backup.  It's
become my main radio at home, and I tend to listed to the radio more than 20
hours a day (even when sleeping.)

 

However, I've had to move some things around recently, and reception of the
local nipper affiliate is problematic, since it's two channels removed on
both sides from higher-powered Mexican radio stations, and I live about 12
miles from KPBS-FM, and less than 3 miles from the Mexican stations.  As a
result, the power cord has sometimes been in front of my feet. 

 

Several times last week, I got up, caught the cord with my feet, and sent
the radio flying, with a hard landing on the concrete floor or wall. Then,
one day, the radio stopped working (piece of crap, not designed for the real
world, but it was cheap, and comes with a siren.)  I looked at the unit, and
noticed that the dc connector was broken off within the radio.  It didn't
work.  A day or so later, I noticed that the nicads had flown into the
corner during one of the episodes, so I reinstalled them, and the radio
worked for that day.

 

Since that time, I've listened to the radio by winding it in multiples of
100 revolutions on the wind-up dial.  Depending on the station (much more
energy is seemingly required to tune into the FM station), I have to wind
about four or five minutes per hour (or more).  This is a lot or work.

 

I have a bias against emergency tvs, just as does the FCC.  You see, I
recognize in an emergency, like that occurring in Texas right now, when
there is no power, TVS ARE WORTHLESS.  

 

I think about this each time I wind up that radio.  I imagine the lower news
content of broadcast tv compared to news or nipper radio, the higher energy
use of the receivers.  I imagine what it would be like trying to keep a TV
receiver operating in an emergency situation.  I guess one could wind a
generator for the DTV converter box, and use another arm to wind a generator
for the tv itself.

 

If either actually had a generator arm. (Note that I didn't use the term
alternator, since we're talking about DC power.)

 

I can see utility for a battery-operated cheesebox in a recreational
vehicle, where there is plenty of battery power to draw from.  

 

How many high-current, continuously-charged batteries are there in your
home?  I suspect that I had more than most (at least before I sent the radio
flying) with a UPS, a cell phone, and the nicads in the radio.  Of course,
none of those batteries would be useful in powering a television set.  Sure,
I could use the UIPS.  At one time, I had serious power problems at my
apartment, and I found that the UPS would power my computer for more than 20
minutes if the 12" CRT monitor was turned off, but with the monitor on, I
had less than 5 minutes of UPS power.  

 

And, just who has a battery-operated analog tv set?  Every household with a
car has a battery-operated radio.  Hook up a television set and a cheesebox
to that car battery, and you may not be able to start the car if the
emergency gets too local.

 

I think battery-operated cheeseboxes are close to worthless in households.  

 

And, just in case you were wondering, my radio can be used to recharge a
cell phone battery.

 

John Willkie
[opendtv] Battery-operated receivers

Other related posts:
