Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
Hey guys! I also progressed some with these usb battery charger project. Namely I bought three products: 1. GP InstantPower: http://www.alza.cz/mobilni-nabijecka-gp-instantpower-d94738.htm (it seems the fabrication has been stopped, so only surplus items are available on the market) 2. PowerGuy (original chinese manufacturer: sznjkj.com) http://sznjkj.com/cpintroduce.asp?cpID=37 I dunno chinese at all, but on that page it looks very similar to the PowerGuy M-100 product: http://www.powerguy.de/produkte/1/7/powerguy-m-100/ It has a very lousy USB plug which finally broke the USB connector in my Freerunner: I agree, the connector is not really good. In fact, we need to plug two rigid connector together, so it is not surprise, that brokes the freerunner's connector. (it is about 3-4cm rigid thing coming out of the phone). 3. 3700mAh Li-Ion battery charger, K005: http://sznjkj.com/cpintroduce.asp?cpID=90 They claim to deliver 240mA, but my feeling was rather 100mA. I made some tests. With the PowerGuy charger from a GP alkaline battery (1.5V) it charger more then 5hours long, and while the phone was in suspend at the whole time, it only charged 21 percent. I also made some tests with the Li-Ion battery charger: It charges about 40% to the phone. I suspect some problem here. Maybe I cant charge it via Freerunner's charger? (1000mAh) But it charges faster then the PowerGuy. Dunno why is it, because I didnt set anything on the phone (and the default should be 100mA). I will test more the Li-Ion battery charger, maybe I should recharge with different wall-charger, and report back more. Btw, with a 3.7V 3500mAh battery (K005 type), how many times could I recharge the phone? More then 2 full charges? Because something is clearly wrong with the charger. Maybe I will build the MintyBoost circuitry into GP charger. (the GP charger is really small in reality.). Best regards, Laszlo ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:29 AM, Rask Ingemann Lambertsenccc94...@vip.cybercity.dk wrote: The catch is that fresh off the charger, the voltage is nearly 5.6 V and the absolute maximum rating of the Neo is 5.5 V. Yepp, you need a comparator, which also waste power... Btw, what is the nominal input of the freerunner? Im asking because this chinese PowerGuy charger's output was 6.7V (without load). How big resistor should I test the charger? 50Ohm? Im planing to buy more chargers, until I find the true charger. I dont care if it is Li-Ion charger. or it works with AA batteries. Would be nice if it could charge itself and display (and also switch off) when he is fully charged. If it works with AA batteries, then should also charge it. Best regards, Laszlo ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:29 AM, Rask Ingemann Lambertsenccc94...@vip.cybercity.dk wrote: The catch is that fresh off the charger, the voltage is nearly 5.6 V and the absolute maximum rating of the Neo is 5.5 V. Yepp, you need a comparator, which also waste power... Btw, what is the nominal input of the freerunner? Im asking because this chinese PowerGuy charger's output was 6.7V (without load). How big resistor should I test the charger? 50Ohm? Im planing to buy more chargers, until I find the true charger. I dont care if it is Li-Ion charger. or it works with AA batteries. I have this one [1] but it only has 2000mAh which feels like just beeing enough for one full charge Would be nice if it could charge itself and display (and also switch off) when he is fully charged. If it works with AA batteries, then should also charge it. If you find one working with 4 AA cells that works with a Freerunner without additional mods this would be great (I have to carry a lot of rechargable AAs anyway). Best regards, Laszlo [1] http://www.vesalia.de/e_navilockusbpowerpack.htm ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Tue, Aug 04, 2009 at 08:35:12AM +0200, Laszlo KREKACS wrote: I would like to find an off-the-shelf solution of MintyBoost: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ What I want is a nice plastic box, ie proper product not a home-made device. So Im looking for more professional look, Im totally fine with the electrical content, the circuit seems really nice. (many commercial alternatives requires 4(!) batteries to operate, and I highly suspect that it has no special circuitry). Actually, that would be my preferred way of doing it: 4 NiMH cells in series and no special circuitry to waste battery power. Most NiMH AA cells will easily deliver 1000 mA and the nominal 4.8 V output is fine. The catch is that fresh off the charger, the voltage is nearly 5.6 V and the absolute maximum rating of the Neo is 5.5 V. -- Rask Ingemann Lambertsen Danish law requires addresses in e-mail to be logged and stored for a year ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Tue, Aug 04, 2009 at 01:47:03PM +0200, Radek Polak wrote: First the problem with AA charger is that when you plug it in Neo it probably gives just 100mA current and the phone seems to be slowly discharging. So i tried set chg_curlim to 1000 and turn of display. According to negative value in current_now the phone was slowly charging, but still that was not to keep the phone charged. You need usb_curlim too. -- Rask Ingemann Lambertsen Danish law requires addresses in e-mail to be logged and stored for a year ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
I would like to find an off-the-shelf solution of MintyBoost: http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ What I want is a nice plastic box, ie proper product not a home-made device. So Im looking for more professional look, Im totally fine with the electrical content, the circuit seems really nice. (many commercial alternatives requires 4(!) batteries to operate, and I highly suspect that it has no special circuitry). So Im looking to something more professional look, I want to buy between 10 and 30 pieces. So the home-made version is a no-go (no matter how nice electrical-wise). perhaps someone can suggest a website (which i don't know about) but visiting any nearest airport would usually give you the opportunity to touch and feel the products they have. i have seen about dozen of different ones... not sure about your country of residence... Hungary, guessing from your name, but IIRC Budapest airport didn't have much though :( Petr ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Petr Vanekvan...@penguin.cz wrote: perhaps someone can suggest a website (which i don't know about) I was in plenty shop here. Like in big electronic market, and specialized gsm phone accessories shops. So about twenty shops in total, but nowhere heard about a tool which can charge the phone from 2 AA batteries. So would be some help to search for specific model. Ordering from EU is not a problem either. I have found on amazon a Lenmar PowerPort Mini model: http://tinyurl.com/nxry2o Which can charge the phone (have an usb socket), but it has a *builtin* li-ion battery. So I need to recharge that battery too. It has its own charger. Im looking what MintyBoost is capable of. Charge the phone from *any* AA battery. no matter if its a rechargable battery, or a simple duracell battery. Would be a plus if it could charge the AA battery, if I plug it in a computer or on a wall-charger. (so no need to carry an additional AA battery charger). The workflow would be something like this: I carry with me 10 AA batteries, and use as many of it as necessary. Would be nice to recharge them only once a week. I would like to use freerunner without charging possibility for 10-14 hours continously. Best regards, Laszlo ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
2009/8/4 Laszlo KREKACS laszlo.krekacs.l...@gmail.com I would like to use freerunner without charging possibility for 10-14 hours continously. For my 8 day bike trip I took 2 spare Nokia batteries. The whole set of batteries lasted ~ 5 days of occasional GPS and GSM usage. If it's ok for you to swap batteries once in a while, it might be a better choice. That said, I'm also looking for a device like MintyBoost. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
http://www.outletpc.com/c6862.html http://www.boxwave.com/products/batteryadapter/ http://www.semsons.com/unbaexwiusbp.html rather not AA: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/iDowell/CHARGER/ -- Kind Regards Patryk Benderz IT Specialist Linux Registered User #377521 +48 22 538 6292 ERSTE Securities Polska S.A. ul. Królewska 16 Warszawa 00-103 KRS 065121 NIP 526-10-27-638 REGON 011136053 Kapitał akcyjny: 15.500.000 złotych (w pełni opłacony) This message and any attached files are confidential and intended solely for the addressee(s). Any publication, transmission or other use of the information by a person or entity other than the intended addressee is prohibited. If you receive this in error please contact the sender and delete the material. The sender does not accept liability for any errors or omissions as a result of the transmission. Email secured by Check Point ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On August 4, 2009 12:35:12 am Laszlo KREKACS wrote: Hi! So Im looking to something more professional look, I want to buy between 10 and 30 pieces. So the home-made version is a no-go (no matter how nice electrical-wise). Hey Laszlo, Energizer has the Energi to go series of products. http://www.energizer.com/products/energi-to-go/cell-phone-charger/Pages/cell- battery-charger.aspx Its basically the 2 AA battery power pack with and adapter for many different cell phone versions ( I'm sure I've seen one with a mini USB ). They sell for around $20 here. Angus ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
On Tue, 4 Aug 2009, Angus Ainslie wrote: On August 4, 2009 12:35:12 am Laszlo KREKACS wrote: Hi! So Im looking to something more professional look, I want to buy between 10 and 30 pieces. So the home-made version is a no-go (no matter how nice electrical-wise). Here is one, that I CAN NOT recommend: http://www.powerguy.de/produkte/1/7/powerguy-m-100/ It has a very lousy USB plug which finally broke the USB connector in my Freerunner: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/User:Blutsauger#Other_not_recommendable_charging_options Also the output current is very poor. They claim to deliver 240mA, but my feeling was rather 100mA. Alex. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
So Im looking to something more professional look, I want to buy between 10 and 30 pieces. So the home-made version is a no-go (no matter how nice electrical-wise). Here is one, that I CAN NOT recommend: http://www.powerguy.de/produkte/1/7/powerguy-m-100/ It has a very lousy USB plug which finally broke the USB connector in my Freerunner: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/User:Blutsauger#Other_not_recommendable_charging_options Also the output current is very poor. They claim to deliver 240mA, but my feeling was rather 100mA. thank you for the info, i was considering right this one! petr ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
Im looking what MintyBoost is capable of. Charge the phone from *any* AA battery. no matter if its a rechargable battery, or a simple duracell battery. I bought such charger in Czech eShop for ~ 7 euros: http://www.alza.cz/mobilni-nabijecka-gp-instantpower-d94738.htm Used it during my 5day on bike holidays. I had also cheap (~10 euro) solar charger, which i used to charge AA batteries during day. http://www.alza.cz/solarni-nabijecka-gp-solar-d94739.htm In the end i was quite happy with this solution, but it took me time to figure out a few things. First the problem with AA charger is that when you plug it in Neo it probably gives just 100mA current and the phone seems to be slowly discharging. So i tried set chg_curlim to 1000 and turn of display. According to negative value in current_now the phone was slowly charging, but still that was not to keep the phone charged. So i switched strategy and charged phone while it was turned off. This worked a bit better. I was able to use the phone twice a day to make calls and keep it charged with batteries from solar charger. You can see some pictures from the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.cz/psonek/20090802JesenikyNaKole Hope this helps Regards Radek ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Commercial alternative to MintyBoost
Im looking what MintyBoost is capable of. Charge the phone from *any* AA battery. no matter if its a rechargable battery, or a simple duracell battery. I bought such charger in Czech eShop for ~ 7 euros: http://www.alza.cz/mobilni-nabijecka-gp-instantpower-d94738.htm Used it during my 5day on bike holidays. I had also cheap (~10 euro) solar charger, which i used to charge AA batteries during day. http://www.alza.cz/solarni-nabijecka-gp-solar-d94739.htm In the end i was quite happy with this solution, but it took me time to figure out a few things. First the problem with AA charger is that when you plug it in Neo it probably gives just 100mA current and the phone seems to be slowly discharging. So i tried set chg_curlim to 1000 and turn of display. According to negative value in current_now the phone was slowly charging, but still that was not to keep the phone charged. So i switched strategy and charged phone while it was turned off. This worked a bit better. I was able to use the phone twice a day to make calls and keep it charged with batteries from solar charger. You can see some pictures from the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.cz/psonek/20090802JesenikyNaKole Hope this helps Regards Radek ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
