RE: [DECtalk] Fw: Looking for a home for a couple of serial synths

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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
>
>






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