Yes, if you have an Optacon converted to AC adapter only power, you need to use
the charger that Richard supplies when he does the conversion. The reason, in
case some of you are interested, is that the original chargers supplied with
Optacons having batteries do not have the precise voltage regulation required
to safely power the internal electronics in an Optacon. Richard Oem told me
that he knew of a few people who simply disconnected the internal battery to
make their Optacon work only on an AC power supply but also used the original
charger. The risk is that the voltage from one of these original chargers can
run high enough to blow some components on the Optacon's circuit board. In
case you did not already know, a battery in a piece of electronics serves not
only as a power source but also for voltage regulation and stabilization. In
the original Optacon as configured by the factory, the battery provided enough
voltage regulation to allow TSI to use an adapter with regulation which is not
as tight as that which is required if you remove the battery.
The good news is that Richard has been able to find a charger which is not too
large and which works very well. His modification is a great idea if you want
to use your Optacon in a fixed location where it is always connected to AC
power.
By the way, if you happen to connect one of the adapters which Richard supplies
to an Optacon having a battery, it will power the Optacon, but it will never
charge the battery inside that unit. The deal is that in order to charge a
battery, you need a voltage at least slightly higher than the rated voltage of
your battery. But the adapters Richard supplies to run an AC Only Optacon are
regulated tightly so that their voltage won't go high enough to charge the
battery. Bottom line is that if you have both original Optacons and converted
Optacos for AC-Only use, you should keep the adapters strictly separated to use
each for its particular Optacon configuration.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, 19 March, 2020 6:02 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I'm not the card shark and freelists is the issue
I was told by Richard Oehm to use only the charger he sent for the Optacon that
has no battery.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Richard Turner
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 6:39 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I'm not the card shark and freelists is the issue
Thanks for the reply, but it isn't the smart phone app, it is whatever
Freelists does with those messages.
This is the only list anything like that has happened.
I wrote that previous note and this one from my computer since I am actually
home and using the computer.
I'm usually on my iPhone for these sorts of things.
Are the original AC adapters safe if the battery is disconnected?
Richard
🖖 Live long and prosper
Check out my web site at: www.turner42.com
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Noel Runyan
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 1:58 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I'm not the card shark and freelists is the issue
Richard,
Thanks for clarifying that you are not the obsessive card mechanic we thought
you might be.
Your last message has come through without the scrambling that was evidently
being added by your smart phone's braille keyboard app.
Regarding your comment about your own Optacon, as you probably already know,
Richard Oehm does a good job of converting Optacons to run off AC lines
directly, without a battery.
It is also possible to set your Optacon up to run without a battery by
yourself, without any tech assistance. What is required is to replace the
normal TSI unregulated AC adapter with an off-the-shelf regulated 5 volt AC
adapter. Additionally, the battery needs to be disconnected from the Optacon,
which can be done in either of two ways. If you can remove the screws on the
sides of the Optacon case and open it up, you can easily find the battery stick
and remove it.
The other method is to pop the circuit breaker that is the small button that is
next to the finger plate, just above and to the right of the finger plate.
Some of the circuit breakers buttons are easy to pull out with a fingertip, but
others may require grasping and pulling with pliers.
The battery needs to be disconnected so that it does not drag down the current
from the AC adapter.
The AC adapter needs to be a regulated 5 volt adapter so that it does not
permit higher voltage surges to damage the Optacon circuits.
Most often, disconnecting the dead battery is the most common reason that an
old Optacon appears to be totally dead.
If anyone has questions about this, feel free to contact me or Richard Oehm.
Cordially,
Noel
-
Noel H. Runyan
Phone: 1-408-866-7564
Email: Noel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-
At 06:53 AM 3/19/2020, you wrote:
First, to clear up one of Noel's comments, the Richard Turner, card
shark, lives in Texas, and form all the intereviews I've seen uses no
accessible technology, especially braille.
I am on multiple email lists and this one is the only one that has
scrambled my messages.
Those scrambled messages were written on my iPhone using an app called
MBraille, that allows one to use the screen like a braille keyboard.
All the other lists run by Googlegroups and groups.io receive those
messages just fine.
I've had an OPTACON since 1973, though I seldom use it these days.
I hope to get it set to AC only and set up a place where I can use it more.
I had attempted to send the web link to the Graphity when all this
nonsense started with my scrambled messages.
I hope whomever had not heard of Orbit
Research got their answers.
I'll go back under my rock now.
Richard
Check out my web site at: www.turner42.com<http://www.turner42.com/>
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