PSR-410 Battery question

[ryradio]

Hi- I see a PSR410 can run on 4 AA's. I was wondering if plugged into the adapter and power is loss, do the batteries kick on as backup? Would be helpful during storms/outtages.

cant seem to find that info on the wiki.

 

[GTR8000]

I'm not sure where you saw that, but it's incorrect. The PSR-410 is a base/mobile scanner that runs off external power only.

The PSR-310 is the handheld version that runs off AA batteries.

 

[ryradio]

I read it in the description at scannermaster, my mistake, it was probably refering to the 310 handheld.

 

[GTR8000]

Ah okay I see it. Yeah it's a mistake, they likely used the same template for the 310 and 410 since they're more or less identical, and forgot to edit that part out.

The obvious route to go for backup power would be a small UPS, which you can get for around $50 and the scanner by itself would probably run for 24 hours on it.

Or you can be creative and make use of something you probably already have. If you have a cordless drill that uses 12v or 14v batteries, you can run it off those. Just take the DC cord that comes with the scanner and attach some quick-connect terminals to it, which will slip right over the battery's terminals and keep the wire in place.

 

[gmclam]

Psr-310

Hi- I see a PSR310 can run on 4 AAs. I was wondering if plugged into the adapter and power is loss, do the batteries kick on as backup?

No. None of these scanners do that that I have found. I agree that they should do that but it typically requires isolation diodes which effectively lowers the usable voltage range (in other words less battery run time).

 

[GTR8000]

No. None of these scanners do that that I have found. I agree that they should do that but it typically requires isolation diodes which effectively lowers the usable voltage range (in other words less battery run time).

To clarify, are you talking about the base/mobiles or the handhelds? Your post is confusing because you edited the OP's post to 310 instead of 410.

 

[gmclam]

Psr-310

To clarify, are you talking about the base/mobiles or the handhelds? Your post is confusing because you edited the OP's post to 310 instead of 410.

I am talking about the PSR-310 which is a hand-held model.

The PSR-410 has a 12v input, and 4 AA batteries only gets you up to 6 volts. The idea of running some external battery pack would probably be more ideal with the '410 as one could use a lead-acid gel cell or something to that effect. But it is still not an off-the-shelf solution to what is being asked. And considering how many of us use our scanners, there should be some factory built in option so that they can be run from external power and will automatically switch to internal batteries upon external power failure.

 

[GTR8000]

I'm still confused by what you're trying to say lol.

I took your original post to mean that the handhelds will not automatically switch to battery power if AC power is lost. I can't speak for the 310, but that's not true with my 346XT, which keeps on chugging along on either AC or DC. It switches automatically between external power and internal batteries without turning off or resetting.

Obviously the base/mobiles have no built-in batteries, so there's no possibility for any native DC backup. If you lose AC power, the scanner turns off.

 

[Halfpint]

Well... *If* the PSR-310 is like the old PSR-300/PRO-97 if you loose the external, AKA `WallWart', power and you have batteries in it it will complain about `low voltage' and require you to turn off and then back on to resume scanning. (You can *occasionally* get lucky and pull the external power plug *fast enough* that it will continue but, the trick is `fast enough'. Just having the power diappear because of an AC `outage' does *not* qualify as *fast enough* as what you are dealing with is a switch in the external power jack.)

 

[GTR8000]

Ah okay, I wasn't aware the GRE handhelds behaved like that. I'm used to my Uniden handheld, which doesn't make any fuss at all when switching between sources.

 

[buddrousa]

I run an ELK-P624 - Power Supply & Battery Charger and a 12 volt 12 amp burglar alrm power supply and battery I get plenty of backup time for my scanners. The scanner runs on the 12 volt power supply and if power fails the power supply switches to the backup battery on its own. This works great for storms for weather and Police and Fire traffic. ELK Power Supply/Battery Charger - ELK-P624 - SmartHomeUSA.com
to make this work you use a 16.5 volt 40 volt amp transformer and you choice of back up battery

 

[gmclam]

Battery power automatically upon AC failure

I took your original post to mean that the handhelds will not automatically switch to battery power if AC power is lost.

That is what I said, and is the way the PSR-300, PSR-310, etc work. If there is a plug in the EXT PWR jack, the batteries are disconnected from powering the scanner.

I can't speak for the 310, but that's not true with my 346XT, which keeps on chugging along on either AC or DC. It switches automatically between external power and internal batteries without turning off or resetting.

Nice. I haven't seen one that would do that in years.

Obviously the base/mobiles have no built-in batteries, so there's no possibility for any native DC backup. If you lose AC power, the scanner turns off.

But many have an EXT PWR jack and you could rig up a battery .. although I suspect that plugging into that jack kills power from the AC source.