Got this old Tektronix 422 here which still works. It has the battery optio n. Of course the batteries are no good at this stage of the game.
I am considering replacing them with more modern batteries. As such it woul d require at least modification to the existing charging circuit, though si nce things have changed so much since this wasn't close to boat anchor mate rial, we might just be talking building a charger from scratch.
I am fairly sure it is 12 volts. I will make sure before actually setting d own any money for anything, but I am wondering about the options. Cost vs. capacity and all that, and the complexity of the charging circuit.
Could go Li-ion, Nimh, whatever. But what would be right for this ? It is a cathode ray oscilloscope so the current drain is not trivial.
Ideas ? I think it would be nice to have a battery powered scope. I do find occasion to want to use one on a car for example. Actually fixed one once with another 422, found the crank sensor was cutting out when hot resultin g in a stall and no hot restart. The car was a 1990 so it did not throw a c ode for that. Well 12, which means no pulses but then with the engine not r unning it always reads 12. But there are other times here and there, and ev en if I do a road call and think I might need a scope, it would be nice to have one less cord, like when I would take my laptop sometimes on the job. One less cord is a good thing in alot of places.
In fact maybe a cordless soldering iron would be nice as well. I know they already have them. Lights ? Need I say more ?
At any rate, who knows, I might be able to find some cellphones that have m et with some not-so-pleasant fate and stack up a few of their batteries. I' m sure the Tek will be tolerant of a little different voltage if necessary. Also, I figure to just tap right Off the AC mains to feed the new charger circuit. The system they got in there is too cumbersome. It's a selector th at works kinda like the voltage selector on some PX type equipment. Like th e kind you pull the fuse and then part of the holder is a plug that rewires it for 240, 120, whatevr, just no fuse in the middle. (I could be mistaken , maybe it just turns) I don't plan to use that, and if I get my way it wil l simply work and charge whenever plugged in.
I think it also has a 12 volt input. I know you can't charge 12 volts with
12 volts, and I am just not sure I want to mess with trying to put a boost convertor in there and then deal with all that.I know these modern batteries have temperature sensors in them and all what ever else. Looks like some of them have enough pins to charge the cells ind ividually, but not sure if they do., They probably should. If the circuitry is cheap enough I might be inclined to do that.
Throw some ideas if you're so inclined, even wacko ideas. I like wacko idea s.