That is all I have. Just a sticker, basically saying to use the 270-1551. I do not want to invest ten bucks into something that is probably worth ten bucks. I do not have anything else that uses C cells. Yes, I do indeed have power supplies of all flavors. They are a bit hard to get to, and I would rather not break open the case. I would rather just use my crappy universal wall wart thing, if I knew the settings. -- Will

On 18 Jul 2008 at 22:15, William Donzelli wrote: Well, it's a good thing that they invented the "Internet" last year. According to this site, the 270-1551 is a 12VDC 3A auto cigar lighter plug-in gizmo: http://www.markdownalley.com/ShowItem.cfm?itemid=1458&catid=113 Cheers, Chuck

On Jul 18, 2008, at 7:15 PM, William Donzelli wrote: Okay, but.. like, does it plug into the wall? A cigarette lighter? Does it take the modern "Adaptaplugs" (the ones with two pins on them), the older friction-fit barrel style, or is it one of those "four plugs on the end of a wire, with a 9V clip" dealies? Again, usage of basic tools that anybody who is even remotely serious about collecting this stuff (a $5 voltmeter) would likely answer your question for you. Wow, what kind of gadget geek are you? I've got old freebie flashlights from Radio Shack that date back to the Reagan Administration that use C cells. And I'm not by far the oldest guy out here on the list. Also, you do know that in a pinch AA batteries and some duct tape make wonderful C cells. AAs are the same length and voltage: rolling them up with duct tape to make them thick enough to not rattle around works wonders in a pinch. Note that you'll drain them in a hurry, however. As a side note, many NiCd "C" and "D" cells (and more than one NiMH I've seen) are just AA batteries in bigger shells. One of the battery makers even sells a kit that includes the sleeves to turn rechargeable AAs into Cs and Ds. Supply. One. See my notes below: a junk drawer full of wall-warts is a poor substitute for a real laboratory power supply. Hang on a second, I want to make sure I understand your request, because in your haste to handwave my help you may have answered your own question. You have a device that takes 6 C batteries, which is of low enough value to you that you won't spend a pittance to purchase the proper batteries for. You have a power supply of unknown origin, that you think is a Radio Shack #270-1551. Is that the power supply you received with the unit and it does not work? Or, is that the power supply you have, and you want to know if it will work? I'm going to out on a limb here and assume that you are trying to use a variable power supply wall-wart with one of those little slider switches on it to do different voltages (is that the Radio Shack # 270-1551?). In this scenario, there's a 50/50 chance that the device requires the same voltage from the wall-wart that it would get from the batteries. I refer you to my previous answer. A "safe" answer would be to start at 3V, and step it up until you find the minimum voltage that would operate the device consistently. The polarity is a big question: you could do one of three things to determine that. 1: use a meter to attempt to find which side of the power plug on the back is tied to the negative battery terminal, 2: open the device and see which side is the likely "ground", and therefore, the negative, or 3: just plug it in, and pray to the gods that the polarity protection diode is still good enough to keep the unit from going "poof!" and flip it if it doesn't work. All this, of course, assumes that the original device doesn't have an AC requirement, or had "connector conspiracy" to require you to purchase a replacement factory supply. You still have a BIG potential problem. Just about all the wall-warts I've ever seen with the little slider switches from 1.5-12VDC on the front are 150mA supplies, at least up until a few years ago. Just about any "pong" machine (or similar device) would probably not function properly with only 150mA. Worse, most cheap supplies of this type will sag as the load exceeds the rated maximum: so while it might indeed be 9VDC at 100mA, at 175mA of load it can drop to 7.5V or lower. If you have any serious interest in classic hardware, you _MUST_ invest in a lab supply. You can mail order one for well under $100 (I use a Velleman one that cost me $50 at Fry's Electronics in Portland, Oregon), and if you live in a "major city" you should be able to find a surplus house with one for peanuts. If you fancy yourself handy, or want to learn soldering skills, Velleman makes a 1A kit power supply that is more than adequate for a lot of this kind of stuff AND has the bonus of being real easy and fun to build. It is $12.95 from Ramsey Electronics (www.ramsey.com). A proper lab supply will allow you to give anything you find the RIGHT power, cleanly, and with overcurrent protection that could save the device from frying. I think you might be laboring under a "false economy" here. You don't want to spend money on dry cells, but you are unwilling to "break the plastic" (which might not even be required anyway, there's more than one way to skin that cat)? Either the unit has value, in which case it is worth doing right.. or it doesn't, and who gives a load of dingo's kidneys if you snap the plastic to get at the terminals! What's the deal?

Please, before you fill up this list with your rant at him, could you do Will - and the rest of us - the courtesy of reading what he wrote. A multimeter will not tell him the voltage or current of the supply, because he HASN'T GOT the supply. What he has is: - A piece of kit he wants to test. - A sticker on this kit which says that the supply it requires is called 270-1551. - Various power supplies he might use to power it. He has stated that (a) he doesn't want to buy C cells for it and (b) the battery terminals are so arranged that it would be difficult to connect directly to his bench supply. Rather than break open the case (this is presumably a sealed unit), he has asked whether anyone knows what voltage, current and polarity the machine would expect from a 270-1551. Armed with this information, he can choose a suitably rated supply and set it to deliver the right voltage at the right polarity. I can't answer his question, but I think it's a perfectly reasonable one. (That said, I'd probably buy some cheap C-cells from the local pound shop. Or even some decent C-cells for stock - they're bound to come in handy.) Philip.

Did I? I still do not know what to feed this thing. Considering it has a VF display, I can't assume anything about this, since there is probably some sort of high voltage stuff going on in there. And recently with a TR-606 I got at a hamfest, I found that sometimes the power plug and battery of these types of things are not the same. This project pretty much ended up in the "aw...fuck it" category. -- Will

On 21/07/2008, C. Sullivan <feedle at feedle.net> wrote: Who's this "we" you keep referring to? Certainly you don't pretend to be speaking for me in this unneccesarily rude tone, are you? Looking back on the thread, it has been quite clear what exactly the question was from the beginning, there appears to be no reason whatsoever for your condescending tirade. .tsooJ

Hey, that veiled insult there was about a subtle as a sloppy fart from an opera singer. I make no attempt to hide that, YES, I am a dealer of old technology, both computer and radio, and yes, I AM out to make a buck. I am the guy that goes out and buys literally tons of equipment at a time to gets it to collectors. I bet there are at least a hundred customers of mine on this list, and many are regulars. Reasonable collectors understand this relationship. Now if you want to paint me as the "typical evil Ebay dealer", black top hat, waxed mustache, permanent mischievous smile and all - go ahead. Just look up the term "blowback". So do us all a favor and unsubscribe from this list. You are not making a good impression of yourself. Oh, and I opened the game up. It wants AC. And another thing - this game was part of my father's estate. Yes, a buck would have been nice to make for my brother and I. -- Will

Mr Ian Primus wrote: Hey, speak for yourself! ;) To be honest, I feel like nobody here should never be afraid of asking a question that might also be answered by good ol' research elsewhere. Talking about the things that we do is what keeps the hobby (and this list) alive, and there's *always* going to be questions asked that have been covered in the past. cheers Jules

"C. Sullivan" wrote: This is un-called for, as was the rest of the message.

Yup, but the TR-606 wall wart is 9 VDC, yet uses 6 VDC from batteries. -- Will

Yes, the innards are not picky, but considering how finicky 606s can be, and there value on the market, the less time fooling around inside the better. -- Will