External power supply? - page 2 - General Help and Assistance on using CHDK stable releases - CHDK Forum

External power supply?

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Re: External power supply?
« Reply #10 on: 03 / December / 2009, 14:00:41 »
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what do You think is the best software to use to create good quality time-lapse videos from photos?

Later versions of VirtualDub that accept image-sequences as File input.

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is it possible to use the ixus 860 with power from the cigarette lighter in the car?

I am assuming that the car battery is 12V in most countries.
You would need a switched-mode power-supply module that accepted 12V input and generated a voltage close to 4.3V at 1.5 amps.

Alternatively, a sealed 6V lead-acid accumulator with a couple of diodes in series to drop the voltage to about 4.8V.






Thanks again David!! I'll be sure to download VirtualDub as I tried with some other softwares and the quality really sucked.

I just ran to the electronics store and came back. They had a power-supply module which accepted 12v from the car cigarette lighter (yes, 12V in europe also :), and the output was 1.5A and 3V or 4.5V. I didn't buy it as the salesman wasn't sure the camera would work with 3V or if it would break the camera at 4.5V. The ACK-DC30 I bought gives out, as you said, 1.5A and 4.3V, and the regular battery for my ixus 860 has an output of 1.12A and 3.7V. I also called a friend who is an electrician, and he said he wouldn't buy it as cameras tend to be sensitive and he didn't think 3V would be enough.

What do you think? Would 3V or 4.5V at 1.5A be good or would it do damage to the camera?

I really appreciate it!

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #11 on: 03 / December / 2009, 14:13:57 »
12V in europe also

I am in the UK.

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Would 3V or 4.5V at 1.5A be good or would it do damage to the camera

4.5V at 1.5A is perfect.

Buy a diode capable of handling 1.5A just in case you need to drop the voltage a little bit, which I doubt.

I would be interested in the details or a link to the store if it is a national chain.

David
« Last Edit: 03 / December / 2009, 14:15:28 by Microfunguy »

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #12 on: 03 / December / 2009, 14:37:43 »
Try it with the diode fitted to begin with.

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #13 on: 03 / December / 2009, 14:43:09 »
12V in europe also

I am in the UK.

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Would 3V or 4.5V at 1.5A be good or would it do damage to the camera

4.5V at 1.5A is perfect.

Buy a diode capable of handling 1.5A just in case you need to drop the voltage a little bit, which I doubt.

I would be interested in the details or a link to the store if it is a national chain.

David

Oh that's right, I misread that You said earlier "as we say in the US of A" but You said "they say" instead :)

The other locations for Clas Ohlson (store) besides Finland seem to be Sweden, Norway and the UK. Here is a link to the device on their page:

http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=135233728

So what would happen if I would plug the above device to the "fake battery" that was included in the ACK kit - could it break the camera or would it just overheat or what would happen if the 0.2V difference is too much? Can I try it without the fear of breaking the cam?

I'm also not sure how to use a diode, would I have to use a soldering iron or something? And is it because You think the voltage might be too much?

Thanks alot ! :)

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #14 on: 03 / December / 2009, 14:46:13 »
Try it with the diode fitted to begin with.


Would this reduce the voltage or what would it do? I'm not really familiar with diodes and how to install them, is it very difficult?

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #15 on: 03 / December / 2009, 15:03:30 »

Here is a link to the device on their page:

Very useful, I may buy one.

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what would happen if the 0.2V difference is too much?
At the very most the power-supply protection circuit would shutdown the camera.


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I'm also not sure how to use a diode, would I have to use a soldering iron or something?

Yes, you solder it the correct way around in the +ve lead of the power-supply.

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And is it because You think the voltage might be too much?

Yes, but that does not blow-up the camera !

Do you have an image of what this 'fake battery' looks like ?


David

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #16 on: 03 / December / 2009, 15:31:46 »

Here is a link to the device on their page:

Very useful, I may buy one.

Yes, and pretty cheap too!

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what would happen if the 0.2V difference is too much?
At the very most the power-supply protection circuit would shutdown the camera.

Ok, so no fear of breaking it even without the diode :)

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I'm also not sure how to use a diode, would I have to use a soldering iron or something?

Yes, you solder it the correct way around in the +ve lead of the power-supply.
Hmm, I may have to ask an electrician to do it

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And is it because You think the voltage might be too much?

Yes, but that does not blow-up the camera !

Do you have an image of what this 'fake battery' looks like ?


David

I'm not sure what it should be called, I mean the thing (farthest to the right in the image) that looks like a battery in the ACK-DC30 kit:

http://salestores.com/stores/images/images_747/1137B001.jpg

If I still dare ask one thing.. what if I use the camera with 3V, would it work? Does the voltage of the battery normally drop as the battery empties and then fill up when it's loaded? The regular battery is only 3.7V 1.12A.

Thanks again and alot David :)
« Last Edit: 03 / December / 2009, 15:34:32 by whatevertsunami »

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #17 on: 03 / December / 2009, 15:48:25 »
the thing (farthest to the right in the image) that looks like a battery in the ACK-DC30 kit:

That is perfect.
One of  the DC power plugs supplied with your 12V module should fit directly in.
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I use the camera with 3V, would it work?
No, but that is one of the outputs of the module so you can try that first.

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Does the voltage of the battery normally drop as the battery empties

There are many types of batteries but the voltage of the ones used in modern cameras hardly changes.


Too bad the shop is closed   :)

David

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #18 on: 03 / December / 2009, 16:24:54 »
the thing (farthest to the right in the image) that looks like a battery in the ACK-DC30 kit:

That is perfect.
One of  the DC power plugs supplied with your 12V module should fit directly in.

Yep! And it's hard to find a module with a correct plug when you don't know what the plug is called!


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I use the camera with 3V, would it work?
No, but that is one of the outputs of the module so you can try that first.

Ok, again without the fear of breaking the camera (you can correct me if too little voltage can break a camera)

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Does the voltage of the battery normally drop as the battery empties

There are many types of batteries but the voltage of the ones used in modern cameras hardly changes.

I see, I thought wrong!

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Too bad the shop is closed   :)

Don't worry, it will open in the morning there as well as here :D
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David

Thanks alot for all Your help David!! I will report how it works when I get something done! Now I will go play with my new ACK-DC30 :P

Re: External power supply?
« Reply #19 on: 04 / December / 2009, 11:23:16 »

Ok, so I went back to Clas Ohlson and to my surprise they had diodes. I used the U=RI formula to count that for a decrease of 0,2 volts I need resistance of at least 0,133 ohms. They had:

http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=135396765

It says 10 ohms to 1 megaohm, so I guess that is wrong? I have no idea where I could find suitable diodes, any tips?

Another thing: I tried creating time lapse videos with virtualdub using the DivX 6 codec. It worked fine for 640x480 images, but for 1600x1200 images it said: "compression error: the source image format is not acceptable. (error code -2)"

Does this mean that I can't create higher quality time lapses than 640x480 with virtualdub?

Help very much appreciated!

 

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