[MRCA] PRC-132 battery replacement

[W2HX]

Hello again, friends.

When we last left off, I had discovered that the battery holder was too thick to fit into the spare PCB slots of the PRC-132. In addition, I discovered that the holder was designed to hold two CR2023 batteries held together.
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/0719162033a.jpg  (too thick to fit!)

I now have the solution.  I purchased this different battery holder:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151802682353

This holder also holds two batteries but because they are side by side and not co-axial, the holder is thinner. I had anticipated that I would need to put some slug into the second battery space since I only needed 3V not 6V.

The unit arrived and much to my pleasant surprise, the unit is design such that with no battery in either of the battery areas, the contacts will close. So this holder will function either as a 3V or 6V source without a slug in one of the areas. Very nice! Here are some pictures of the project.

Pictures of the holder itself:
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-4.jpg
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-3.jpg
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-8.jpg

With the holder soldered onto the processor card of the PRC-132. This replaces the soldered-in battery on the PCB itself. Notice the note I made to myself so I can make sure to put the battery into the holder properly to avoid a big error which is easy to make.
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-9.jpg

Now with the card inserted and the battery holder squirreled away into a spare PCB slot.
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-7.jpg
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-6.jpg
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/battery-holder/holder-5.jpg

I am quite happy with the way this turned out. Now to get finish getting the PRC-132 up and running!

73 Eugene W2HX


From: MRCA [mailto:mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of W2HX
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 9:32 PM
To: milpack at yahoogroups.com; mrca at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [MRCA] PRC-132 battery replacement

Update here on this. Well, now that I have the holder, I realize it wont fit in the area I had hoped it would.
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/0719162033a.jpg
http://w2hx.com/x/PRC-132/0719162012a.jpg

But I also realize that the description of the item on ebay wasn't clear. It is mean to hold two CR2023 batteries (=6V), not one. So this explains why it is so thick and why a single battery just doesn't fit well.  I could put some washers together with the battery but ultimately the holder won't fit where I would like.

So I went a-lookin' for a more suitable holder. In order to get a holder that completely covers the battery and has leads instead of pcb pins, it seems I have to buy a 2-battery holder. There is another kind of holder that has the batteries side by side instead of stacked. I believe this will fit and I will resort to stuffing some washers in the second battery compartment.

Something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222032656548

There are many sellers of this item so I'll have to choose one. This one looks much slimmer and should fit.
For anyone who might have purchased the other holders on my suggestion, sorry about that, it is expecting 2 batteries in series.

Eugene, w2hx
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