Bluetooth counter ?

[Loler]

When will we able to buy this kind of counter from the online shop ?

I have been thinking about buying 2 powerballs, but now I think that I could wait If i can buy them with at least 1 bluetooth counter.

Do you know something about this ?

Regards

[Sayex]

When will we able to buy this kind of counter from the online shop ?

I have been thinking about buying 2 powerballs, but now I think that I could wait If i can buy them with at least 1 bluetooth counter.

Do you know something about this ?

Regards

Well, ive heard that when the new powerballs.com home page is avaiable, there will be new products, as the bluetooth counter.. =P

[Loler]

Hmmm, also, 2 days ago, I heard something like "The new powerball web page is going to be opened in 2 weeks" :p

I hope It is true :D

Regards

[Sayex]

that would be nice =p

[Enda]

Hmmm, also, 2 days ago, I heard something like "The new powerball web page is going to be opened in 2 weeks" :p

I hope It is true :D

Regards

That's what we are hoping for anyway Loler!

I have most of the site ready but am just working on part of the cart and various submission sections at the moment.

The cart has been completely revamped, and will include all of the new products. The (long awaited) parts packs will be available also.

Regards

Enda
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[Loler]

Ok, I will wait patiently then :D .

Regards

[Autolupus]

Now the Bluetooth counter's available, can we have some feedback from all of you that have already bought and used it.
The price is a little off putting but I'm definitely interested.
It'd be nice to know what all you super addicts think. ;) You know who you are! :p

[Sayex]

I tried one on the contest the other day, its a little bigger than the normal counter.
Its Great thought:D

[W. Irving]

Is the price (of the BT counter) expected to drop over time?


Bought a BT interface in 2001 - cost me £130 and supported very few services. Replaced it a few months ago.. £24. :mad:

[Enda]

The cost for the BT counters is admittedly a little higher than we would have hoped but the are quite a costly item to produce.

Of course we cannot speculate on price at present though I would expect the prices to remain constant for the foreseeable future. We have actually absorbed the development costs for the counters here and are not passing these on to customers as we feel that the BT counter will be a significant boost to the overall competitive nature of Powerball itself!

Regards

Enda
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[timmorris]

I've just received mine and it came with a European plug. Is that correct?

Can you use a USB lead to charge it?

Tim

[W. Irving]

Tim, if there's a USB connector on the counter, it's alright. USB operates at 5 VDC, 0.5 A. If this is what it says on the adapter too, then you're alright. If not, I'm sure you can report the manufacturer to USB Implementers Forum.. :p

Enda, the price of the BT counter is not excessively high, considering the price of BT headsets and BT adapters. But it's still an investment. I doubt the BT interface chips are very costly to produce nowadays, so I expect the (relatively) high price of the counter stems from the fact that it's produced in small series.

More info would be highly appreciated! Such as if you have to remove the counter to charge it, and how long it'll run on a full charge.

[Enda]

Hi Tim,

Please ensure that you don't connect the counter to your PC using a USB cable. It is not a USB device.

All of the counters are supplied with European adapters but you can get an adapter for approx Eur2 (or less) in any hardware store as the adapter is rated AC 90-240V.

When you want to charge the counter, simply plug the supplied adapter into the counter unit (there is a small 'socket' on the side so there's no need to remove it) and you will need to charge it for 2-3 hours.

This will allow over 3 hours of continuous use. There is a green LED which illuminates when the counter is active also.

Please see http://www.powerballs.com/bluetooth/ for the manual.

Regards

Enda
--

[timmorris]

The adapter has an input voltage but no output voltage on it, and my multimeter doesn't have small enough probes to measure the voltage without destroying the plug.

It seems to work fine without charge on my signature series ball, either there's some residual charge left in there, or there is a small coil on the PCB. The manual mentions nothing about charging.

One thing that is slightly annoying is that on my PC (two 7800GT Nvidia graphics cards in SLI mode) the screen flickers everytime the screen redraws in graph mode.

Tim

[timmorris]

Our posts crossed. Are you sure that it isn't looking for 5Vdc that a USB cable would provide. Seems a bit dangerous to use a USB socket for power that is incompatible with the USB standard.

Tim

[W. Irving]

Do not leave the counter charging overnight as this will affect battery
performance over time.

Er, using NiCd cells? :eek:

CAUTION : Do not connect the USB connector to a PC or to other USB device
as you will possibly damage the PC or other device

Well then, that's sorted. Although I wonder what the technical reason behind this is. Perhaps it draws more than half an amp. It should be alright though, I frequently do it to my BT GPS receiver, but there's no reason not to be careful!

Now I'm faced with a real dilemma; Metal PB - or BT counter? *sigh* Life is cruel. :(

[timmorris]

I've found a software bug. When you press the clear button to clear the scores in strength mode, it sets it back to zero, but when you press start again it recalls the previously recorded figure and starts counting from there. The only way to completely clear the strength counter that I've found is to quit the application and then re-launch it.

The connection procedure is slightly different if you use the Widcomm rather than the built in Microsoft Bluetooth stack. My Logitech diNovo Bluetooth hub works much better with the Widcomm stack for some reason. I'll boot into the release version of Vista later to see if that changes anything. I'm using the MS Bluetooth stack under Vista.

Tim

[W. Irving]

The Microsoft stack is pants. I've had lots of problems with it. I was absolutely fuming until I found out how to get rid of the vicious Microsoft BT Enumerator and revert back to Widcomm's driver.

[timmorris]

Apologies - the manual does mention charging - I missed it in my haste to see it working. I'd be very surprised if the manufacturer used a USB connector that wasn't USB compatible. In fact I'd lay odds on it being so, if I knew the pinouts I could jury rig something to check the voltage and current draw using the mains charger.

Tim

[W. Irving]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb#Mini-USB_signaling

Here's a table and pinout of the mini B connector. If you're prepared to slaughter a poor defenceless USB cable, you could also find out how much the counter draws when charging (EDIT: which is exactly what you said you wanted do.. damned caffeine). ;)

[Enda]

I've found a software bug. When you press the clear button to clear the scores in strength mode, it sets it back to zero, but when you press start again it recalls the previously recorded figure and starts counting from there. The only way to completely clear the strength counter that I've found is to quit the application and then re-launch it.

Hi Tim,

I actually reported this alreafy to the developer and am waiting to hear back on the next release.

I'll post here and let you know once I know, and also keep an eye on http://www.powerballs.com/bluetooth/ for improvements.

Regards

Enda
--

[timmorris]

I found that just before you posted it! I would have a go but my nephew has nicked my multimeter. The only one I have at the moment is a clamp meter designed for working with high voltages and currents. To do it properly I'd need a lead with a mini USB plug and socket on it which I don't at the moment. I'd like to check to see what happens when plugged into the charger before I even think about going near a USB lead with it!

Tim

[timmorris]

Hi Tim,

I actually reported this alreafy to the developer and am waiting to hear back on the next release.

Regards

Enda
--

I thought I was going mad for a moment. I'll see what happens with Vista later on, and also post some instructions for pairing with Widcomm (though I expect that most people who have gone to the trouble of installing an alternative stack can find their way around the software).

The device is quite bulky, I actually find it easier to use the powerball upside down, I just have to be careful not to burn the palm of my hand.

Tim

[W. Irving]

You could also check the data leads of the connector, to see if there's any voltage present.

[timmorris]

Enda,

Is there any way you can let us know what the cell chemistry/configuration is? I've got a VERY sophisticated battery charger that will charge any battery on the market, I just need to know its make up. By using my own charger I'll be able to extend the life of the battery considerably. As the charger takes three hours to charge for three hours use I'd guess that it is using a relatively high charge current, if I can figure out the chemistry and structure of the cells my charger will charge it at the optimum rate. I fly radio controlled models and when you have £1,500 worth of kit in the air you make sure that your batteries are in peak condition...

Tim

[timmorris]

As I hardly ever use my Bluetooth counter I thought I'd plug a USB cable into it and hook up a multimeter. The battery had about 10 minutes charge in it from the mains charger. I measured the voltage across the battery terminals - 3.77V. I then plugged in the USB lead and the voltage remained exactly the same. That means that the battery isn't charging - when you hook it up to the mains charger the voltage rises to around 3.9V.

It could be that when the voltage is very low the counter doesn't handshake with the USB port to turn on the output or it could just be that it just doesn't handshake full stop so there's no danger hooking it up to a USB cable, but no point either.

Tim

[timmorris]

The bug that I reported almost a year ago is still present in the package at the download location referenced in this thread.

Given the price of this item I think it reasonable to expect that it is fixed. How much longer are we going to have to wait?

Tim