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Reviews For: Jackson Harbor Press Battery Saver Kit

Category: QRP Accessories

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Review Summary For : Jackson Harbor Press Battery Saver Kit
Reviews: 1MSRP: 4.50 + $3.00 shipping & handling
Description:
* got a project that eats 9V batteries ?
(or any other battery from 3 to 14 volts)
* simple hardware timer
* pushbutton activated
* shuts off the power after a 17 or 37 minute delay
(approximate - selectable with resistor change)
* good intro to surface mount with two easy to solder
surface mount parts and four through hole parts
* low standby power (less than 1 ua at 9 V)
* small size ( .9 by .6 inches)
Product is in production
More Info: http://home.att.net/~jacksonharbor/batsave.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
AB9EI Rating: 2009-02-22
Excellent accessory for QRP projects! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have built Jackson Harbor Press Battery Saver and installed it in my OHR WM-2 wattmeter. I was always forgetting to turn the meter off after use. Since I usually run the meter on batteries, my carelessness cost me several 9V batteries. Now I don't have to worry about this. I have found online descriptions of a few variations of the battery saver idea (all of which rely on a capacitor drain time) for the WM-2, but the JHP kit seemed to have taken development a step further than the rest by using an IC to make a clean switch between on and off states.

The installation is really quite simple, though it is easy to get confused by some of the variations to be found on the Web. I had some trouble due to this, so I wrote to JHP for clarification, and Chuck WB9KZY responded immediately with the following, which worked for me:

=== Begin quote ===
If you haven't, take a look at the hookup diagram:



First you disconnect the 9V battery snap of the WM-2. Then connect the two wires of the 9V battery snap to the battery saver kit as shown, then connect the output and ground of the battery saver kit to where the 9V battery snap was previously connected to the WM-2.

The positive lead is switched, the grounds are connected together all the time.

One thing to avoid is shorting the mounting hardware to the positive side of the battery.

=== End quote ===

So, I rate this a great kit (also quite easy to build), and give Jackson Harbor Press high marks for great customer service.