3.6.2 Stacy Batterie

STACY Batterie

Den Stacy Computer an einem Akkupack zu betreiben ist ein recht kurzes Vergnügen. Es ist ein Stromfresser. Damit es überhaupt ein paar Minuten läuft sollte zumindest eine moderne sparsame Festplatte eingebaut sein. Sie sollte den Idle- und Sleepmodus beherrschen. Eine 2,5" IDE- Platte wäre wohl recht sparsam.

Als Versorgungsspannung reichen für den Stacy 15 Volt, können an der Netzbuchse eingespeist werden. Im Normalbetrieb zieht der Stacy ca. 1 A.

Nach meinem Kenntnisstand hat Atari selbst den Stacy nie mit Akkus ausgeliefert. Trotz Akkufach wurden meines Wissens nach keine eigenen Akkus verkauft.

Der Stacy ist kaum vernünftig mit einem Akku zu betreiben, so war damals eine halbe Stunde betriebszeit möglich. Andere Firmen haben trotzdem Akkus angeboten. Best Electronics liefert auch heute noch Akkus.

Mit der heutigen Li-Ion/Ni-MH Akkutechnik könnte ich mir eine brauchbare Lösung vorstellen - vom Preis einmal abgesehen.

Puffer- Uhrenbatterie

Die Batterie für die Stacy-Uhr, die Pufferbatterie, ist vom Typ her eine "CR2354".
Äusserst schwer aufzutreiben.

Nimmt man Standard-Knopfbatterieen, mit gleichen mechanischen Abmessungen, z.B von Conrad Elektronik, geht es auch und ist nicht teuer.

Batteries include ?

I have a STacy 2 on the way, and I've actually never seen one "in real life". I'm looking forward to receiving it. I read that it has a compartment for 12 "C" batteries. If these are ni-cad batteries, will the power adaptor charge them? Is battery life of 5 hours to be expected as the specs say? Are there any "weak points" in the STacy that I should look out for?

Some answers..

Don't use "C" cells! Atari tried it, and it doesn't work well (you get 15 minutes per charge). With some expensive high-amperage cells you can get 30 minutes, but internal packs just don't have enough juice!

Three solutions (in order of preference):

1

take 3 6V sealed lead acid cells and clip them together to make an 18V battery. At this voltage, you will use about 2 - 3 AH (Amp-Hours) per hour, so if the batteries are all 6AH, you will get close to three hours off of new batteries. Don't connect the batteries permanently since you'll need to charge them with a standard 6V charger.
 

2

take a really big 12V battery. The STacy has a 'power low' light that comes on around 11.5V. However, the STacy keeps running until somewhere around 10.5V, so a big battery will work. (A small battery will lose voltage too quickly, so you'll only get around half the battery's rated AH.) I used a wheelchair battery (13.8V) to power the STacy for over 24 hours a charge! It did weigh some 40 pounds though.

 

3

take a 'jumpstart' battery (which is really a sealed 12V) and an inverter. This is a bit inefficient, but if I had a STacy today, this is the way I'd probably do it so I could use the battery for things other than my STacy. In fact, I own a Mac Powerbook with a bad battery and use a 'jumpstart' battery to get many, many hours per charge for about the same cost as buying a new Powerbook battery. It's just heavier.

 
Try http://www.store4power.com/battery-integrated-products/battery-integrated-products.asp

 
If you need a source - the xPower 300 would be more than enough.

 

Before I go on, let me note that I haven't owned a STacy in years. I once posted the exact voltage figures to this discussion, but I'm going off of memory, so don't consider the numbers in this post to be precise.

Now for the weaknesses of the STacy. First of all, it uses a rather unusual SCSI 1 drive that is 1/3 height. They are quite difficult to find, so you'll probably have to treat it like a ST and use an external drive if you need more room. Secondly, the screen is not brightly backlit. Either use in bright light (I loved working on it outside with the backlight off) or use it in muted light. Typical room lighting is just enough to make it hard to read. Finally, there is a BIG trick to taking the case apart. You must remove the STacy decal under the screen to find two screws. With these screws removed, you can take apart the upper half of the case, thus allowing enough room to take apart the bottom of the case without breaking anything. Needless to say, taking a STacy apart without damaging anything is not trivial.

Believe it or not, I actually gave my STacy away - a move I now regret. Good luck!

Article by Galen