Pro 106 Power supply

[Tramagod]

I just got my new Pro-651 and I'm having a few issues. The power supply I was give by the Rat Shack clerk was not the same one listed on the web site as being the proper one, but the clerk assured me it was of the same requirements. I did get the correct tip and set it for center positive as required. When I plug it in to the radio there's no indication the radio is plugged in, Shouldn't there be some sort of indication on the display that it's plugged in or charging? Thansk for your replies.

 

[retiredmich]

There is nothing to show that your DC is plugged in to 106, I have a 106 & have never seen any thing that shows it's plug in. If you have battery's in your scanner, turn off the scanner & take out battery's then turn on the scanner with the DC plugged in, it should work.

 

[Tramagod]

Thanks

 

[retiredmich]

Do you use battery's in your scanner ?

 

[Tramagod]

2400 mah Rayovac's.

 

[retiredmich]

Just ( F Y I ) there are 3 diff settings in the ( GLOB ) for diff types of battery's. Also , do not put the wrong battery's in the wrong battery holders. Not trying to confuse you, just a little heads up.

 

[Tramagod]

I'm aware, but thanks for the heads up.

 

[nepatitan]

I know this is a month old post. Having an issue with my pro 651 as well. Its not charging when using NiMH batteries with 9volt charger and "L" adapter from radio shack. I do have the setting set to NiMH.

 

[Tramagod]

According to the Radio Shack web site the B adapter is the one recommended for the 651, that's which one I'm using and mine charges just fine, and powers from the power supply as well.

 

[nepatitan]

@Tramagod
Thank you so much, the more i looked at the adapters online the more the B seemed to be the right one. Will be going back and swapping out for the B.
Thanks

 

[retiredmich]

tramagod, make sure your battery settings are correct in the GLOB setting, be sure the setting is set for rechargeable & not for regular battery's.

 

[Tramagod]

Did that as soon as I powered it up.

 

[MagicMan08]

I'm currently using this power supply on my pro-651. $5-7 on amazon shipped. http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/200032-pro-164-car-charger.html#post1764717 ***it comes with a car charger and ac adapter

 

[duenge]

Santa brought me a PRO 651 this year, and it would run about 2 days, with heavy monitoring, on alkaline batteries. I bought 4 Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, 2700mAh. Radio Shack sold me a charger with the correct tip, and the radio's icon does flash approximately once every second or so, as the book states it should. However, I have low power beeps after only a few hours use.

I suspect this may be the problem. The book states that the charger should deliver at least 400 mA's, the one they sold me is only 300mA's. Thanks. They said it would just take a bit longer to charge. I had it charging most of the evening, and all night. I got only 5-6 hours out of it before the low power warning. I would think the batteries would have been well topped-off during that charge.

I am using the yellow tray, and my battery setting in the Global Menu is correct, too. Isn't there something about setting the charging time???

Comments?....thanks. Happy New Year...Tom

 

[retiredmich]

In GLOB settings be sure you have the RIGHT TIME set to recharge your battery's .

 

[duenge]

651 charging issue

In GLOB settings be sure you have the RIGHT TIME set to recharge your battery's .

Thanks for the quick reply. I had seen this, but there seems to be no explanation of what this is. I assumed the speed of the batteries being charged is dependent on the amount of mA it is receiving from the charging unit. What does the setting of the charging time do? Can I tell it to charge in 5 hours, or 8, or 10?...Tom

 

[jfhtm350]

Well to start off with there have been horror stories about using the yellow rechargeable battery holder. There have been several users having a meltdown by recharging batteries in the Pro-106 models. Could the 651 be any different? My advice is buy a battery charger and charge them externally then put them in the black holder. A little more work but a good insurance policy.

My Pro-106 is using a 800ma Radio Shack supply and the book states a minumum of 500ma. Again not the "same" scanner but probably close enough. I believe I would go back and get one a little bigger.

There are some settings in the scanner that sets when the batteries icon will come on or flash by using the voltage number. I use software so I dont know where it is at through the scanner menu but its easily found in Win500. This is probably your problem. I thought someone else had a thread about this but I cant find it

 

[retiredmich]

I have had my 106 for 4 yrs now & have had no problem with keeping my battery's charged in the scanner. I have my GLOB setting set to 16 hrs for charging time, but I do use the battery's when unplugged & re plug them back when I get back from traveling. Like I said, I have not had any problems. Please read below info.


Charge Time (HH only) Allows you to set the battery charge time in hours. 0 = off. The battery charger charges at a current rate of 150 mA. The charger is disabled when Battery option is set to Alkaline. The default charge time (99) will charge 9 hours for Ni-Cd batteries and 16 hours for Ni-MH batteries. Warning: The scanner will charge continuously with the scanner turned off and plugged into external power. (External smart charger is strongly recommended).
Enter the number of hours, 0 - 16 the charger will charge.

 

[Spitfire8520]

This discussion makes me recall some words said by Ed & DonS in a separate topic regarding batteries.

My suggestion would be, get a good quality external charger and some new batteries.The batteries will last so much longer and get properly charged. Charging batteries in scanner is not a effective way of doing it, quick chargers are just as bad.

Yep - rechargeable batteries don't just die. They're tortured to near death, then they're murdered.

Ditto on the Maha C9000. In my PSR-500 and PSR-800, I routinely get 10 or 11 hours from 1900mAh Sanyo Eneloop cells. Monitoring a P25 system and, in the case of the PSR-800, recording to the SD card.

Anyways, since you have a power supply that has a potential of not supplying the correct amount of current, then it can be anywhere from 18 to 27 hours needed to fully charge 2700 mAh batteries from empty. The calculation is determined using (battery capacity) / (charging current) = (charging time) equation as well as the assumption that it's running between 150 mA (according to the Easier to Read Manual) to 100 mA (completely made up for a theoretical case of a low current power supply). Then there is silly things like charging efficiency and things like that which increase the time some more. It's also possible that the 2700 mAh batteries aren't 2700 mAh, but some value lower. It's hard to test for the exact capacity without some type of smart charger/analyzer.

I think one thing that should be heavily noted is that the scanner will charge regardless of settings if the scanner is turned off. It's a very weird quirk and could potentially lead to the horror stories of charging in scanners. I've left my rechargeable batteries in overnight and returned to find the batteries very warm to the touch because I forgot to unplug it.

 

[duenge]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. Off to Batteries Plus to get an external charger and a spare set of batteries.

Radio Reference is an awesome place to visit!

Tom