maximumkk Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Long time reader, first time poster!Currently have a 600d, thinking of getting an RH10. Questions for those who have an RH10...1. If the gumstick runs out, can you simply attach the sidecar w/ an AA, or should you remove the gumstick too? (IE will it try to charge the gumstick using power from the AA?)2. Any problems with loss of EQ settings, etc.. when using sidecar only while changing it's battery? (I have a Sony CD player and changing the sidecar battery causes loss of resume location & EQ setting.)3. Anyone notice problems with NiMH gumstick memory if top up charged?Thanks in advance to those who can enlighen me!Max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcTs Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 (edited) Long time reader, first time poster!Currently have a 600d, thinking of getting an RH10. Questions for those who have an RH10...1. If the gumstick runs out, can you simply attach the sidecar w/ an AA, or should you remove the gumstick too? (IE will it try to charge the gumstick using power from the AA?) You can attach the side battery slot to use as extra power.. it does not try to charge the gumstick.. if the gumstick is dead.. it is dead.. and you can open the gumstick battery door and remove the battery with no interruption in power from the side battery addon. I know as I do this all the time. 2. Any problems with loss of EQ settings, etc.. when using sidecar only while changing it's battery? (I have a Sony CD player and changing the sidecar battery causes loss of resume location & EQ setting.) It retains all settings with the addon.. at least as far as I can tell .. let me check.. yep. all eq settings are retained. 3. Anyone notice problems with NiMH gumstick memory if top up charged?I do not know exactly what you mean by this.. but I hope I helped you with the other questions..Thanks in advance to those who can enlighen me!Max Edited January 10, 2006 by AcTs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastianbf Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 I've always do a full rechage on my gumstick. I haven't noticed ant problem at all, and they still work like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximumkk Posted January 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 I've always do a full rechage on my gumstick. I haven't noticed ant problem at all, and they still work like new.Thanks for the replies. I've ordered my RH10 from Minidisc Canada. Hope to get it in a few days! What I was concerned about on the gumstick charging memory is that the RH10 will start recharging the battery when connected to a USB drive. If the battery is (for eg) only half-exhausted before recharging begins, some batteries will have a memory effect and only half-charge from then on no matter how exhausted the battery is.Anyone with a NiMH gumstick notice a memory problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 Anyone with a NiMH gumstick notice a memory problem?NiMH batteries do exhibit the 'memory effect' over time, though substantially less so than NiCd cells.I tend to take the NiMH battery out of my RH10 when plugging it in via USB, unless the battery is fully dead and I know I will be leaving it plugged in that way long enough to recharge it.For more complete info on battery types, see http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raintheory Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 (edited) I could be wrong on this, but I had asked a similar question about the AA actually charging the rechargeable a while ago, and the responses and information I got at the time stated that the AA does indeed supply a current to the rechargeable battery.Also, the RH10 manual states that the USB will only supply a supplemental charge to the recorder, and therefore shouldn't be used as the only means of charging. And that it will not supply a full charge. Edited January 16, 2006 by raintheory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted January 16, 2006 Report Share Posted January 16, 2006 I could be wrong on this, but I had asked a similar question about the AA actually charging the rechargeable a while ago, and the responses and information I got at the time stated that the AA does indeed supply a current to the rechargeable battery.My guess is that they are probably rigged in parallel, which would mean the dry cell attachment would indeed put current across the NiMH cell [and vice-versa].Also, the RH10 manual states that the USB will only supply a supplemental charge to the recorder, and therefore shouldn't be used as the only means of charging. And that it will not supply a full charge.As I have tended to avoid using the USB charging method, this hasn't been altogether relevant to me - but it goes to show that reading the manual can provide useful information. In practise, I almost always use either only a fresh AA dry cell or a fresh dry cell with fully-charged NiMH gumstick when recording. In combination, the total battery life [even with generic AA alkalines from bulk retailers] exceeds 8 hours recording time at HiSP [256kbps] with a HiMD disc [which consume more power for writing to than legacy MDs]. In this fashion I have successfully made test recordings to HiMD that completely filled a 1GB disc at HiSP [7 hours 54 minutes] and still left sufficient charge to write another complete MD80 [formatted in HiMD mode] also at HiSP [2 hours 23 minutes]. Your mileage may vary, of course.In the end, with some care the gumstick batteries give decent performance and life if properly cared for. The use of HiMD recorders' "quick mode" et al [which incur a constant low-current drain on the batteries in order to maintain disc memory] might also help maintain rechargable batteries by exercising them.I have no complaints about the performance of my RH10 with the gumstick, even if I do nearly always use the sidecar when recording.I could be wrong on this, but I had asked a similar question about the AA actually charging the rechargeable a while ago, and the responses and information I got at the time stated that the AA does indeed supply a current to the rechargeable battery.Added note:I've also had somewhat contradictory answers given on this. My understanding was that with some older models that used a sidecar, the internal rechargable was actually -charged- by the sidecar battery, and that the gumstick has to be inserted in the unit for the sidecar to work [whether the internal is fully charged or not]. Others have said that this is not the case. The RH10 [the only unit I can speak from experience on] can be operated successfully with the sidecar alone and no gumstick present.I could dig out the manuals for all units with sidecars, but in all honesty, I simply haven't the inclination to invest the time just to answer this question. I'm certain that what applies to the RH10 also applies to the RH910, since the only apparent difference between them is the display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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