Database Users

Wizard Car Charger

So I visited my local Walmart and discovered a car charger, designed for Blackberry 6200 through 7500 and Motorola RAZR series phones.
The connector is the same, mini USB B.
$25,000 Question: Can I use this to charge my TMO MDA? Same connection, just worried the voltage or wiring might not be the same.

The AC chargers that came with my Razr and MDA are the same voltage-wise (5V) but not the same Amps.
MDA is 5V 1A, Razr is 5V 0.5A, they are not the same
However, it shouldn't damage the battery, just charge slower.
Just so you know, USB ports output 5V at 0.5A as well.
Edit: Sorry, I realize I completely changed my post, but didn't want incorrect info out there.

Thanks...I figured that, but was just making sure.
I got it in case of emergency...I almost always charge via USB; just leave it plugged in all day.
But you never know.....
Thanks!

fuzzie said:
Thanks...I figured that, but was just making sure.
I got it in case of emergency...I almost always charge via USB; just leave it plugged in all day.
But you never know.....
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't expect it to charge if you battery is below 30-20% charge. I'm not sure why this is an issue but it has bitten me in the rear once already.
Does anybody know why it's a problem for "less-than-1amp" chargers to charge back from the low threshold?

boxwave.com sells a 1 amp car charger. It has a USB port, so you just use it with any cable that normally plugs into a USB port. Since my Globalsat GBH-820 BT adapter came with a cable with large USB at one end, and _two_ mini USB at the other end, I can charge the GBH-820 and my 8125 at the same time.

oconnor.jb said:
boxwave.com sells a 1 amp car charger. It has a USB port, so you just use it with any cable that normally plugs into a USB port. Since my Globalsat GBH-820 BT adapter came with a cable with large USB at one end, and _two_ mini USB at the other end, I can charge the GBH-820 and my 8125 at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not true,... if you use the VersaCharger like I do. This is where I learned of the "charging only" cable that Boxwave sells (how conveinent) and then they sell a Sync/charger for USB only. I have a Boxwave VersaCharger that I can't use without buying their "cable" to make it charge the 8125. I found this out because I have a Belkin retractable sync/charge cable that doesn't work with the VersaCharger as I had hoped. The cable that you have may work with 1amp charger but it probably won't work with theVersaCharger.
What is the output on the "min-usb" connector end of the cable? This sounds like the cable that I need for the 2 devices that I use.
...I wonder if they are putting some electronics in the cable connector...?

I bought the bundle that had a car charger (I have the regular; not the high output; not the Versa) and two mini-Sync (retractable) cables. I got caught by the fact that one of them is "charging only" when I was trying to use the "charging only" cable between my laptop and my TI-84plus calculator. I switched to the mini-USB cable that came with my calculator, and it worked fine, as did my phone with AS. That's when I looked closer at the two mini-sync cables and noticed that one was for "charging only". So, that mini-sync cable (the charging only) stays in the car, and works fine for charging my phone or my GBH-820. The really odd thing is that the "charging only" cable looks "thicker" than the one that works for syncing. Maybe lower gauge wire to help the higher current flow easier.
I have also used my other USB-miniUSB cables with my car adapter. E.g. the cable that came with the phone, the cable that came with my TI-84plus calculator.
My Bluetake headphones came with their own USB cable that has, for lack of any better term, an ultraminiUSB (or some kind of proprietary connector, cause it's not marked with a USB symbol like the other cables) plug at the end. I just plug the regular USB end of that cable into the car charger, and it charges the Bluetake's just fine.

Excellent car charger for Wizard
I have purchased and used the "Ecovell 4x USB" adapter on both a Wizard and a Universal. It provides a 2 Amp output which is equivalent to the AC adapter and works with any mini-USB cable. It will charge a Universal from absolutely dead which I have not been able to do with any other adapter. Here is the link to the item on Yes Depot:
http://www.yesdepot.com/product/ud0520.html
I've ordered from them and the service was OK. I haven't seen the item available anywhere else.
Regards,
Dave

Car Charger Question

Does anybody know what the power output specification for car charging is for the Tilt? The wall charger puts out 5v and 1mA, but I haven't figured out what car charger is necessary. Internet sites all list different outputs including the 5v and 550mA which is the same for the Razr.
I don't want to use one that will damage the phone. Will the 550mA work but just not as fast, or can it damage the phone?
I have been trying to read other posts on this subject, but none are conclusive.
I just bought a car mount but it came with the 550mA charger and they are giving me a hard time about it.
I also notice that the usb port which charges the phone only puts out a maximum of 500mA. I just don't know much about electrical stuff and I am hoping to get some insight from you all.

All I know is that I am using Moto chargers for my phone and they're working.

I use Moto chargers and they work fine, just not as fast.

Thanks guys.

Full Charge or trickle?

Is there any way to see if the unit is being fast or slow charged? It seems that the HTC charger uses an extra pin on the charger to enable fast charging and that MAY be why some aftermarket chargers (wall and car) do not seem to keep up with the battery discharge when running even if their plugged into a charger with sufficiant current capability. The HTC Wall caheger is rated as a 1 Amp charger. I have other chargers that use an external USB cable to connect, both rated as 1.5Amp (1500mA) chargers but seem to charge very slow. Soooooo I'm looking for the difference between the HTC charger and the aftemarket ones to see if I can make the ones I have work properly.
Thanks for any help
joe
<edit> in Looking at the Mini USB spec I find 5 pins labeled 1-2-3-x-4 with 1being VCC (5v), 2 & 3 being Data + & - and 4 being Gnd. Does the Advantage use the X pin to enable fast charging? How? Does it provide a second 5v line to cause/enable the Advantage to fastcharge? I think I need to look at the wall charger mini USB pinouts.

After talking to Pocket PC Techs and looking around online, it looks like the x-pin (next to pin 4(gnd)) is shorted to pin 4 to provide the advantage with a sense line to tell it to fast charge. The also shuts off the data lines in the unit AFAICT. Still don't know what the current capability of "Fast Charge" is or how to ask the unit to query the port for status. USB ports are generaly limited to 500ma and the stock charger is 1000ma (1A) so it seems that to ensure the MAX charge, the cable connected needs to have the x pin and pin 4 shorted. This is usefull if you are NOT wanting to do a data transfer (car GPS, stand alone charging, etc).
Here is a link to the connector http://pinouts.ru/PDA/pda_miniusb_pinout.shtml
Anyone can add to this?
Joe

I just received the Lil Sync DUO Mini-5 Adapter from PPC tech and it works perfectly. I'm now getting a fast charge from my PC (no sync) and I'm able to charge my S705 bluetooth headset.

Interesting news on the pinouts. I've never heard of any utility that shows fast vs. slow charge.

I wonder if anyone has a utility that can sense a gnd on the x pin (next to gnd) of the input connector. Does anyone have a schematic of the advantage side of the input power/data connector. It would me that there might be a pullup on that line sothe unit see's it as a high untill pulled low by a ground applied tothe x pin.

here you have "hot to do it"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=396053

ppa25 said:
I just received the Lil Sync DUO Mini-5 Adapter from PPC tech and it works perfectly. I'm now getting a fast charge from my PC (no sync) and I'm able to charge my S705 bluetooth headset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please tell me i need "PPC Techs HTC Advantage Lil Sync Extended Cable + mini 5 DUO" ( http://www.expansys.com.gr/p.aspx?i=145972) or ONLY "PPC Techs HTC Advantage Lil Sync DUO Mini-5 USB Adapter" (http://www.expansys.com.gr/p.aspx?i=145975) ?

How do I charge my HD ?

I'm going to look stupid here, but ...
Received HD today in USA and wanted to charge it. But I do not know HOW ???!!!!
I plugged USB cord into HD itself, and other end - into AC Adapter.
Now AC Adapter looks strange to me ... the pins are INSIDE of adapter, so I cannot plug it into the wall electric outlet !
I do not have any plug to put it into AC Adapter! It suppose to come with one ?
What do I do now ?

bogdatov said:
I'm going to look stupid here, but ...
Received HD today in USA and wanted to charge it. But I do not know HOW ???!!!!
I plugged USB cord into HD itself, and other end - into AC Adapter.
Now AC Adapter looks strange to me ... the pins are INSIDE of adapter, so I cannot plug it into the wall electric outlet !
I do not have any plug to put it into AC Adapter! It suppose to come with one ?
What do I do now ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you plug the power-pin adapter into the AC adapter? You have to put the wall-adapter onto the AC charger itself, then connect the usb cord to the ac adapter, then plug in the phone...
Petrov.

I just received mine today too. The piece that goes into the wall plugs into to piece that you plug the USB cable into. Now the plug that comes with the HD is for the UK or maybe Europe in general I am not sure. Mine came with an adapter that plugs into the two round pins that come standard with the HD. I hope that is clear. In other words if you did not get an adapter that looks like a regular two bladed electrical plug then you will have to get one or you will have to plug it into your computer for now.

mrpetrov said:
Did you plug the power-pin adapter into the AC adapter? You have to put the wall-adapter onto the AC charger itself, then connect the usb cord to the ac adapter, then plug in the phone...
Petrov.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That power-pin adapter which I suppose to plug into the wall AND into AC adapter ... it suppose to come with the package ?
Where can I buy USA plug that I can insert into wall outlet (one end) and other end goes to HTC HD AC Adapter ?

bogdatov said:
That power-pin adapter which I suppose to plug into the wall AND into AC adapter ... it suppose to come with the package ?
Where can I buy USA plug that I can insert into wall outlet (one end) and other end goes to HTC HD AC Adapter ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to bestbuy or circuit city or radio shack and purchase a wall charger for the motorola razr. that will work, too.

Just use the USB to charge off a PC

arfster said:
Just use the USB to charge off a PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
early on, some owners noted that the HD wouldn't charge that way, even though the display said it was charging.
Don't recall if we ever got to the bottom of if it was via direct USB socket on the PC, or via a USB hub - but basically the phone wasn't getting the full (5.5v?) voltage from the PC.
To charge the HD from the mains, you need 3 pieces of kit, which should all have come in the box.
1) the USB lead
2) a small box sized unit, about 5cm by 3cm by 3cm. It has a USB socket on one end, and the other end has 2 prongs inside a cut out section.
3) the plug bit. This should look like a regular plug, but on the back (the other side to the prongs), you have just a small box, with 2 holes in it. These holes align with the 2 prongs on item 2 above.
Slide 3 into 2, and 1 into 2 too
Depending on where the HD was sourced from, them item 3 may have 3 prongs (if its UK spec) - which obviously won't fit into a US socket.
The writing on item 2 seems to indicate that it will take an inout voltage of 100 - 240V - 0.2A 50-60Hz.
No idea if this means it will work with US mains voltage, sorry.

TTDegs said:
early on, some owners noted that the HD wouldn't charge that way, even though the display said it was charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine does, I've never charged it off the mains
Having said that, a lot of motherboards don't allow charging off them, for whatever reason. Maybe they shut down power if there's no data connection after a while, or don't provide enough current etc etc.

could be
Mine seems to charge ok off the (powered) USB hub - but some owners have reported that theirs didn't
I'm just paranoid about batteries (probably overly so!), and like to make sure that the very first charge is a blinking good one

Thats not an issue with lithium ion or lithium polymer batteries, they dont have a memory effect, the first change is not important.

TTDegs said:
early on, some owners noted that the HD wouldn't charge that way, even though the display said it was charging.
Don't recall if we ever got to the bottom of if it was via direct USB socket on the PC, or via a USB hub - but basically the phone wasn't getting the full (5.5v?) voltage from the PC.
To charge the HD from the mains, you need 3 pieces of kit, which should all have come in the box.
1) the USB lead
2) a small box sized unit, about 5cm by 3cm by 3cm. It has a USB socket on one end, and the other end has 2 prongs inside a cut out section.
3) the plug bit. This should look like a regular plug, but on the back (the other side to the prongs), you have just a small box, with 2 holes in it. These holes align with the 2 prongs on item 2 above.
Slide 3 into 2, and 1 into 2 too
Depending on where the HD was sourced from, them item 3 may have 3 prongs (if its UK spec) - which obviously won't fit into a US socket.
The writing on item 2 seems to indicate that it will take an inout voltage of 100 - 240V - 0.2A 50-60Hz.
No idea if this means it will work with US mains voltage, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that I'm missing piece# 3 - the plug. Is this some specific plug for HTC HD, or generic ?
If it is special for HTC HD - where can I find it ?

I recommend purchasing the TC P300 International Travel Charger Kit. It's available on Expansys or HTC's accessory store. It's the highest quality kit available and the TC P300 is the actual charge provided with the Touch HD. You only get the EU or UK plug. I could not find a kit of just plugs. A cheaper alternative is the HTC TC P200 International Travel Charger. Also, available from HTC accessory store or Expansys.

This is driving me nuts. Go to an electronics store Best Buy, Future Shop, Circuit City, and take your charger with you, they will hook you up. You might even be able to get a universal charger, I think the ones for Iphones have a USB attachment on them.

I have plenty of USB chargers, so I don't mind UK plug. You may buy a new 1000mAh USB charger here: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25 just for $5.25 or just adapter for $3.46 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.17840

My first project - Project GAMETRIX

Lapdock+Wii == Gametrix
So I have a spare Nintendo Wii and a lapdock (hopefully pick some more up if there are still any at Radioshack) and I am going to disassemble the Wii, reconfigure it to fit on the back "panel" of the Lapdock, and get the needed cords to create a Gametrix
My initial goal is to connect a Nintendo Wii to my Atrix Lapdock by... (with modifications)
1) a. Having the Lapdock’s Male Mini-HDMI plugged into a Female Mini-HDMI TO M / F Fullsized-HDMI converter. Thus allowing a direct HDMI connection from there.
This takes care of ½ of connections for both the Lapdock and the Wii.
2) a. Ideally I am looking to hook the Wii’s power supply directly to the Lapdock’s Male Micro-USB port, via a Female Micro-USB TO M / F Fullsized-USB. From there I’d need a USB to Female Wall Outlet (3 prong?) this would entail finding(unlikely...) / building one.
This takes care of power needs, (if it works) leaving only the unlikely usability of the Lapdocks built in keyboard and mouse / USB ports.
2) b. if number 2 section a (above) doesn’t work because of lack of volts traveling through the USB to the Wii, then I’d be left with connecting an external battery to the Wii and just taking advantage of the screen.
Hopefully if I have to result to section b then I’d at least be able to use the keyboard and mouse?
I will update with a Diagram of my plan “a” and “b” tomorrow after school.
This is my first Project, I'm still learning, and still planning so don't expect anything yet. I' moved this thread from Atrix thread, as it fits better here

I guess there should be no problem with using it as a monitor and keyboard/mouse, someone already done that, google: "Using a Motorola Atrix Lapdock as a HDMI Monitor and USB Keyboard / Mouse" (can't post URLs :/ ).
2a) USB won't be able to supply enough power. And you want to convert 5V DC to 110V AC?! Forget about it.
2b) Maybe you will be able to use Lapdocks internal battery (with some hardware modifications). I think it can store about 40Wh, so that should allow to run Lapdock and Wii for about an hour.

The wii's power cable is a 3 prong 12v wall outlet cable. The Lapdock is capable of outputting a total if 12v or so I've read, and the Wii requires 12 volts to boot, and it runs on 10v. Im not sure how many volts the Lapdock display will draw though so I'm still very hesitant on how I'm going to solve the power issue. I want to run everything off of the lapdocks battery. Is this possible? Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!

"Female Wall Outlet" - I somehow convinced myself that you mean Wall Plug, sorry about that Google says that power supply for Wii is rated for "DC 12V 3.7A". Even if there is a 12V rail on Lapdocks PCB it probably won't be able to handle additional 3A. You can try to build your own power supply circuit and connect it directly to Lapdocks battery, bypassing its internal circuits. Battery in Lapdock is rated for 11.1V. Do you have any experience with electronics (soldering, circuit design etc)?

No, this is my first project, I decided Im not going to get my feet wet with electronic modifications, instead I'm just going to dive right in If you have any info for me about dealing with circuits, inverters, and batteries that you could share, that'd be great as we'll. I can find any documentation for powering the Wii because I'm certain you can't just throw 12v at it, it has to be split right? Like a lot of consoles need 9v and 45v... it's a lot to learn so any help is greatly appreciated.

If you are going to use 2 pin power connector on the back panel of the Wii it's enough to supply it with 12V (one of the pins is +12V, other one is ground), but the hard part is that Wii can consume up to 4 Amps. Because you're not experienced in electronics I think you can consider:
1) getting a battery pack like this one, (unfortunately it can supply only 2A, getting 4A one may be difficult/expensive).
2) using 4 cell battery pack (for example: a laptop battery), which should give you something between 13V and 15V, and LDO (low dropout voltage regulator), like LM1084, to get 12V output.
[edit[
There are many other possibilities, it all depends on how much time/money you want to put into this project.

Let us know how it goes. I'd be interested in seeing the progress of this project.

I've had to put all electronics on hold for a bit, school and community service is pretty overwhelming ATM, but I guarantee that I'll follow through with this and finish it. Thanks for all the suggestions guys!