From: Hornstein Subject: Power consumption of the Sony TCD-D8 Date: Fri, 15 Mar 96 15:39 +0100 and Tue, 19 Mar 96 17:29 +0100 Hi Dat-heads, finally I got myself a Sony TCD-D8. Thanks from here to all who gave me their advice on DAT-portables. Power consumption of the TCD-D8 =============================== In the digest were several opinions upon the power consumption of the D8. To give these opinions a more solid basis, I did measure the current (DC), taken from an external 6.0 Volt stabilized power supply, connected to the battery terminals of the D8, D8 operating in battery mode: D8 Status Hdphn OFF Hdphn ON ===================================== Off 0.35 mA 0.42 mA (!) Stop 170 mA 210 mA Rec 180 mA 220 mA Play 190 mA 230 mA Rec+Play 200 mA 240 mA >>, << 230 mA 270 mA Light additional 12-15 mA Notes: "Hdphn ON" means, a plug is inserted into the headphone/line out jack, with little or no effect 1) of the adjusted volume or 2) the load resistance of the headphones or 3) the position of the phones/line switch. The inserted plug activates the entire output circuitry, which takes approx. 40 mA, regardless of the current flowing out of the jack (I did not test extremes). To get most out of your batteries: ================================== > Insert a headphone/Line out plug only when needed. > Switch OFF the D8 with "Stop, Hold" when done, instead of waiting for the timed-out off. > Use the light briefly. > Use the power supply whenever possible. :-) The built-in battery meter ========================== For those interested I also measured the boundary voltages of the battery-meter. These voltages are only rough measures; the circuitry seems to take the time-dependancy of the battery voltage drop into account. E F === ========== ========== ========== === ========== ========== ========== 4.7 4.8-4.9 5.0-5.2 5.2-6.0 Volt +up Below 4.7 V the display blinks with "battery", below 4.6 V the D8 goes into Sleep Mode (off). Some folks commented my measurements (thank you). I won't repeat all comments here, but David Brown was right when he wrote on March 17: >I think what he's [thats me, uh] referring to is the time lag in >the battery indication. I did the same measurements on my D7 and >it takes a while for the indicator to register a change in >voltage. One reason for the time lag is a 470 uF Capacitor parallel to the battery poles. But IMO there must be an additional logic in the circuitry of battery segment lighting. For example, if I increase the voltage again after a period of drop, the segments do not react correspondingly, as they would if they would be doing plain comparison with fixed (time-invariable) voltages. All these make the measurements unsafe. Happy DATing, with greetings from Freiburg, Germany Ulrich Hornstein - From: alex douglass Subject: Re: Voltage Levels of Ni-MH batteries Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 18:11:01 -0600 I'm not sure what the batt. levels are on the D8, I've only heard that they are the same as the D7: When the voltage is 6V: Full indication When the voltage is 5.06V: 3 "bars" full indication When the voltage is 4.76V: 2 "bars" full indication When the voltage is 4.47V: 1 "bar" is indicated When the voltage is 4.2V: Battery indication starts blinking This info. comes from the D7 service manual which I am looking through right now. Also be sure that the D8 can accept Ni-MH batteries. I say this because most Ni-MH rechargeables are flat across the + terminal of the battery, as opposed to alkalines which have a tip. The battery holder in the D8 may not be able to make contact to the + terminal. I know it doesn't in the D7. -Alex Douglass