RadioShack Pro 197 Power Mods...

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Bugspro

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Hello,
I buy on Ebay,This power supply work great (pics #1). Good Voltage & amperage. One thing you need to know...The power plug(power plug) was NOT COMPATIBLE with your Radioshack Pro-197 Or Grecom and Whistler 1065( You need to do a power mods if you want to used this power sypply). See Pictures for more details. I do a power MODS for my Pro-197 (pics # 2-3-4). Pics #5-6 is the original power supply plug from Radioshack Scanner. Pic ( #6 ) is Whistler, GRE, Radio Shack, Realistic Scanner Power Plug Adapter to Uniden,and also available from ebay seller. Now I can use this power supply and i don't need to purchase expensive power supply. If you can find this adapter. Thanks for viewing! :)
 

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Nasby

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Great idea. But the only Uniden power plug adapter I could find on Ebay is $24.00 from Australia.

Add the $7.00 cost of the power supply and the total is $31.00!

One could almost buy two genuine WS1065 power supplies from Whistler for that price.
 

Bugspro

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Great idea. But the only Uniden power plug adapter I could find on Ebay is $24.00 from Australia.

Add the $7.00 cost of the power supply and the total is $31.00!

One could almost buy two genuine WS1065 power supplies from Whistler for that price.
Yes and Whistler was out of stock for power supply. :( For that reason i do my mods.
 

byndhlptom

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Another option....


$.02
 

jaspence

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Small power supplies are a throw away item, and even the ones that come with a device are not usually state of the art. I use two (one AC plug in and one with a car power adapter plug that can be set at the common voltages from 3 to 12 volts DC. They both use the same adapter plugs, and as long as you stay within current capacity, you should have no problems. If you need higher current output, a replacement computer supply with adapter plugs is not that expensive. I use one with 12 volts DC and 8.5 amps to run my dual band transceiver in my office.
 

Bugspro

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Another option....


$.02
Good info thanks! :)
 

a417

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I use two (one AC plug in and one with a car power adapter plug that can be set at the common voltages from 3 to 12 volts DC.
I gave up on those years ago when I could not find one that would stay within 25% tolerance of the set voltage when they got warm. One of them cost me (at the time) my beloved Pro-92, when it was set at 6v and was outputting 15.2v.

If i have a long term setup (like an installed device) I find a good regulated power supply, test it, and don't worry about it after plugging it in. Otherwise, it's a regulated bench power supply with pigtails.

[edit - fat fingers]
 
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jaspence

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a417, I have not had that problem, but I look for not only the voltage output but also the current capacity. If that is too low, it will overheat and can lead to problems. In over 50 years, my only problem came from a NiCd that shorted internally and melted the back of my Pro-96, and that was not due to failure of the external power source.
 

a417

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I've never trusted devices to charge batteries like that, i've always charged them in an off-board charger and then put them in the device.
 

Bugspro

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I gave up on those years ago when I could not find one that would stay within 25% tolerance of the set voltage when they got warm. One of them cost me (at the time) my beloved Pro-92, when it was set at 6v and was outputting 15.2v.

If i have a long term setup (like an installed device) I find a good regulated power supply, test it, and don't worry about it after plugging it in. Otherwise, it's a regulated bench power supply with pigtails.

[edit - fat fingers]
Before i used my 13.8 volt power supply...I used a original from grecom for a PSR400 and when i take output voltage, i read 19.6 volt from Grecom power. Is a to high voltage. Maybe power supply age is here. :)
 

a417

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Before i used my 13.8 volt power supply...I used a original from grecom for a PSR400 and when i take output voltage, i read 19.6 volt from Grecom power. Is a to high voltage. Maybe power supply age is here. :)
Did you put a load on it? Some cheap power supplies will fly wildly high with a tiny load like a DMM on it.
 

a417

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Yes, the may say they have the same voltage, but any circuit can be out of tolerance by a fair margin. The safest way I've found to check is get a suitably high wattage resistor (or an incandescent bulb in the same voltage range) and put a constant load on the power supply and then check the voltage across the leads before you hook up the scanner.
 
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