Trickle power to ramboxe et al

[PeterP]

Inspired by Diego’s USB cables to power the HP41 i was wondering if something similar could be built to provide a rambox with a trickle power to avoid the internal buffer battery going dead. I have a number of them in my display and would love to find a way to power them discretely - like a plug similar to that PCB in the Clonix programmer - connected to some USB like power so it retains the OS.

Now I’m concerned about plugging a USB connected PCB into a rambox directly given it provides 5V as if the calc is turned on. Or am I overthinking this? How would the EE geniuses here solve this elegantly? Ive got 2 weeks at home with no where to go and need a good reason to tell my kids that I’m busy with something incredibly important at least some part of the time...

[MeindertKuipers]

Hi Peter,

I do not see many potential issues here. Maybe add a small series resistor to limit the current or an LED to light things up. I would actually expect that most ramboxes would have some kind of backup battery installed, so I doubt if it is really necessary to keep the devices power.

[PeterP]

Meindert, thank you for your kind answer, glad to hear that there should not be a problem. Yes, many/all of the Ramboxes have a buffer battery but it is getting long in the teeth and as such might be empty, or getting empty, which then destroys the OS. trying to avoid that (has already happened on a CY for me...)

I like the LED idea actually a lot...

Hope all is well,

[Jurgen Keller]

(12-28-2020 06:39 PM)PeterP Wrote:  [...] which then destroys the OS. trying to avoid that (has already happened on a CY for me...)

You can restore the CY operating system easily in a few seconds using my RB2INI software.

[Sylvain Cote]

(12-30-2020 09:03 AM)Jurgen Keller Wrote:  

(12-28-2020 06:39 PM)PeterP Wrote:  [...] which then destroys the OS. trying to avoid that (has already happened on a CY for me...)

You can restore the CY operating system easily in a few seconds using my RB2INI software.

And it work like a charm!
I even dedicated one of my Clonix modules just for RB2INI and use it to restore my W&W devices (41CY, RB32, RB64).
THANK YOU! Jurgen
Sylvain

[Jurgen Keller]

(12-30-2020 04:44 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  

(12-30-2020 09:03 AM)Jurgen Keller Wrote:  You can restore the CY operating system easily in a few seconds using my RB2INI software.

And it work like a charm!
I even dedicated one of my Clonix modules just for RB2INI and use it to restore my W&W devices (41CY, RB32, RB64).
THANK YOU! Jurgen
Sylvain

Glad to hear it works for you! I never got much feedback so the only confirmation I had was from my own testing.

[Sylvain Cote]

(12-30-2020 05:06 PM)Jurgen Keller Wrote:  

(12-30-2020 04:44 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  And it work like a charm!
I even dedicated one of my Clonix modules just for RB2INI and use it to restore my W&W devices (41CY, RB32, RB64).
THANK YOU! Jurgen
Sylvain

Glad to hear it works for you! I never got much feedback so the only confirmation I had was from my own testing.

Oups! I thought that I had posted something about it, but it seems that I never did, sorry, so ... I confirm that it works!
Before your solution, I had W&W devices in my collection but unusable because the device’s internal battery were dead.
I should definitely take time to replace these batteries before one of them leaks thought.

[rprosperi]

(12-30-2020 05:06 PM)Jurgen Keller Wrote:  Glad to hear it works for you! I never got much feedback so the only confirmation I had was from my own testing.

Your article was super helpful for me as well, I guess I never gave you feedback, but it's never too late to say thanks!

By complete coincidence, I acquired a RAMBOX 32 at just the same time as you published your document and RB2INI, and though I did not need to rebuild my OS, the excellent and clear document helped a huge amount to better understand how it works.

So, many thanks for an unintended but still appreciated documentation gift!

[Jurgen Keller]

Sylvain and Bob, thanks for your feedback! Although the project was fun and challenge enough to pay for itself it's good to hear that it helped others, too. :-)

[PeterP]

(12-30-2020 09:03 AM)Jurgen Keller Wrote:  

(12-28-2020 06:39 PM)PeterP Wrote:  [...] which then destroys the OS. trying to avoid that (has already happened on a CY for me...)

You can restore the CY operating system easily in a few seconds using my RB2INI software.

It took a little while to overcome numerous PEBCAKs (Install VirtualBox on my Mac, set up a VM, install Windows 10, realize I need Oracle Tools also to enable USB ports, do file sharing between my OS and the VM, download the files, get the new Pickitv2 from Diego working, programming it but using the 4.2 utility as its a Clonix and the Clonix-d was fickle, getting frustrated that its not working, until I realized that I had downloaded the RamBox64a and B from TOS as they are not part of Monte's list, but then forgotten to make them 8.3 names, etc) but after a night of play I can happily report that your wonderful module works like a charm and my 41CY is back to live, including both X-Memory modules which were installed inside as well (its packed in there...)

Thank you for another wonderful piece of SW!