trouble shooting dectalk express

[Jayson Smith]

Actually you don't need to go to all that trouble if you have a radio shack
or equivalent nearby.  Once I went on vacation and somehow managed to leave
behind my Dectalk transformer.  Fortunately there was a radio shack nearby
so I just went there.  My dad had found out by using a voltmeter that the
Dectalk transformer was 12 volts DC.  So I took the Dectalk into the radio
shack and they fixed me up a transformer that would run it.  Take the unit
to the store with you for testing.  If, when it's plugged in, it gives a
battery status then it isn't getting power from the AC transformer.  If it
says "external power on" then everything should be working.
Jayson.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Ervin at Home" <GlennErvin at cableone.net>
To: "cris" <filastin48 at hotmail.com>; "Speakup is a screen review system for
Linux." <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 7:34 PM
Subject: Re: trouble shooting dectalk express


> GWmicro may have some DecTalk power supplies.
> I was looking into this when I thought mine was bad, as it was doing the
> same thing.
> I found it to be just a bad power supply connection, and a wiggle of the
> wires made it work.
> But I was prepared to find another power supply, and cut the cable off of
> the DecTalk power supply and match the polarity and re-connect the wire to
> another power supply of the same voltage.
> You can still get the polarity from a dead power supply, as it will only
> read in Millie amps, but if it is reversed from the cables on the V O M,
it
> will read as a negative value.
> Once you cut the cable off, if you lose track of which wire came from the
> plus or minus on the power supply, you can use the ohm meter of the V O M
to
> determine which part of the plug matches which wire.  Total resistance (0
> ohms) means the wire you are connected to at one end does not connect to
the
> part of the plug you are testing.
> The plug on the DecTalk seems to be different from most, and make sure if
it
> is post positive or not before cutting off the wire.
> Glenn
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "cris" <filastin48 at hotmail.com>
> To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 6:45 AM
> Subject: trouble shooting dectalk express
>
>
> Hi folks,
> My dectalk express suddenly stopped working.  When I turn it on it gives
the
> message that battery is low, and then it starts making weird noise and
stops
> talking.  It gives this message even when it is connected to external
power.
> In the past, the message i got was "dectalk express is ready, external
power
> on."  Could this mean that the battery needs to be replaced, or is it that
> the power adapter is no longer working?  Does dectalk express work on
> external power alone, without battery?  If the battery is to be replaced,
> can I get it replaced in a regular store, or it can only be replaced by
> dectalk?
> I would appreciate any help.
> Cheers,
> Cris
>
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