[J Thorpe]

SN 163 is now functioning well. I did make one change that greatly improved the power issue. I went to a three cell battery holder “4.5 volts”. As expected the standby current “from the battery” is .18 amps and the peak current is significantly lower. The LEDs would dim with the audio with two AA cells they are stable with 3 cells. The 5 volt regulation is much better with the higher supply voltage. Also the battery life should be somewhat better. I am very happy with the performance now.

[J Thorpe]

I checked the discharge characteristics of alkaline AA batteries and they should last about 2hrs at a 0.5 amp rate so the batteries should work fine, I was just surprised by the current draw. I suspect my meter is reading peak, I need one of my old VOMs to get an average reading. So far everything seems to be working OK. Every once in a while it acts funny during turn on. Then I have to turn it off and start over. I will be happy to pay for the Arduino and shipping, just let me know how much.

Thanks
J

[J Thorpe]

Progress!! A friend programmed a new Arduino for me. The unit now functions. The turn on sequence seems different so I’m not sure the software is completely correct. Also, it seems to draw a lot of current, .25 amps at 3.0 volts during standby. The current jumps way up during turn on when all the LEDs come on. The unit is basically not usable with the AA cells. External power works fine. Any comments or suggestions.

[J Thorpe]

There is no activity on the i2c lines, they stay high. The nano reset does not change anything. I will try to monitor the nano on start-up, I’m not sure how to do it but I will give it a try. The batteries are fine.

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