A very excellent question. I checked with my friend who told me that he was able to replace them, and he couldn't remember specifics, but he said he got them from Batteries Plus. He suggested I open it up and get the model info. So, I did. If anyone's interested, the battery in the DECtalk is a nickel cadmium. Haven't seen one of those in a while. It's 7.2V 650mah. The battery in mine was manufactured by EAC who boasts a no longer existent website that used to be at eacnet.com. There are two numbers on the battery, neither of which netted much from Google. One is 240002-195, the other is 4600. Since I plan to ship this one, I didn't go as far as calling Batteries Plus myself to see what they could find. But I'm skeptical, even though my friend has successfully done this replacement. Mind you, it's been a few years since he did. I have two more DECtalk Express synths sitting on my desk at work which is 600 miles away; I generally work from home and won't be getting back into the office for a visit until after COVID. But once I do and get them, he said he'd try replacing them. That won't be for a few months, but if anyone's interested, I'm happy to report back on how that goes. Sadly, those are government property, and I won't be offering those to ship to an interested party. Keith -----Original Message----- From: Karen Lewellen <klewellen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 1:00 PM To: Keith Wessel <keith@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: 'Jayson Smith' <jaybird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 'Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.' <speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: [DECtalk] Fw: Looking for a home for a couple of serial synths Keith, Can you ask your associates sharing specifically just where they found those replacements? Kare On Thu, 9 Sep 2021, Keith Wessel wrote: > Interesting. My mileage differs on both of these points. > > > > 1. The older DECTalks won't power up when the battery is totally dead. > They aren't wired to take AC power first. > 2. I know at least two individuals who have replaced DECtalk dead > batteries and gotten them working again. > > But perhaps Tom's experience was with a different model? > > > > Thanks for sharing, > > Keith > > > > > > From: Jayson Smith <jaybird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 8:18 AM > To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux. <speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Subject: Fwd: [DECtalk] Fw: Looking for a home for a couple of serial synths > > > > Forwarding this response from the DECtalk list. > > > > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > > > Subject: > > Re: [DECtalk] Fw: Looking for a home for a couple of serial synths > > > Date: > > Thu, 9 Sep 2021 06:08:26 -0400 > > > From: > > Tom Kopec <mailto:w1pf@xxxxxxxxxxx> <w1pf@xxxxxxxxxxx> > > > Reply-To: > > DECtalk <mailto:dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> <dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > To: > > dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > > A DECTalk Express should power-up OK on external power with a dead/missing > battery. > > The battery uses 600mAh prismatic ni-cad cells, which are very difficult to > find.. I don't think they are in current production. > I have seen some Chinese NiMH cells that might sort-of work, but the charger > circuitry is not compatible with NiMH cells. > > There isn't a lot of room in there to hack in another solution. With > significant hacking it is might be possible to convert to a lithium battery, > but that's not plug-and-play. > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:18:07 -0400 > From: "Jayson Smith" <mailto:jaybird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > <jaybird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Subject: [DECtalk] Fw: Looking for a home for a couple of serial > synths > Message-ID: <20210907.201807.235.1@TRENT > <mailto:20210907.201807.235.1@TRENT> > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Wessel" <mailto:keith@xxxxxxxxxx> <keith@xxxxxxxxxx> > To: <mailto:speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> <speakup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2021 15:14:16 -0500 > Subject: Looking for a home for a couple of serial synths > > Hi, all, > > I hope this isn't off-topic, but I know there are a lot of hardware synth > enthusiasts on this list, and I've got two that I'd rather find homes for > than send to electronics recycling. > > Those of you on the brltty list saw my post a couple weeks ago about looking > for a new home for a serial braille display. My cleaning has now lead me to > two serial synths, both of which I'd be happy to let anyone have for the > cost of shipping. > > One is a Doubletalk LT (speakup_synth=ltlk). This was the Doubletalk that > could either be run off of a 9-volt battery or an AC adapter. It has a > hard-wired cable that goes to a DB9 serial plug. It's in perfect working > condition, and I have the AC adapter that I'll include. > > The other needs a little work. It's a DECTalk express, complete with case, > AC adapter, serial cable, and headphones. However, it won't power up > presumably because the internal battery needs to be replaced. Anyone handy > with a soldering iron should be able to tackle this, and last I checked the > battery was a type that's available from Batteries Plus and various on-line > sources. > > I have no need for either of these any more since I no longer have a desktop > with a serial port. If you're interested in either of these, email me > off-list at keith@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:keith@xxxxxxxxxx> . > > Thanks, > Keith > > > _______________________________________________ > Dectalk mailing list > Dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Dectalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > https://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk > >
