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Powering a Sirius radio with a portable battery

Started by Mind Flayer Monk, November 29, 2014, 10:58:04 PM


area51drone

Seems kind of expensive.  I got a lithium power to usb thing from a local store for $10 that would probably work just fine for you if you can run the radio off usb.   It's basically the same as the link you posted.

albrecht

I might be clueless but with my Sirius/XM you can use their app to listen on your phone, computer, etc also. Works well for me.) Not just car. Or buy cheap bluetooth speaker deal (or even FM deal) and feed it to that if you dont want to wear headphones. Having said that since no Art Bell and the Old Time Radio station (which is good, but plays too many repeats I dont know if worth service. Sports is nice but I can also deal with AM n some static for night games.


Quote from: area51drone on November 30, 2014, 12:47:43 AM
BTW, this isn't the one I bought, but it's similar:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5600mAh-Portable-External-Battery-USB-Charger-Power-Bank-for-Mobile-Phone-iPhone-/350950654986?pt=US_Cell_Phone_PDA_Chargers&var=&hash=item51b64a040a

I just ordered one. For $7 that is incredibly cheap. I can use a $4 cable to connect it to the Sirius unit as well.
Then the Sirius FM band output to play it in a cheap handheld radio.
I am interested to see how many hours of playtime I can get out of this setup.

area51drone

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on November 30, 2014, 12:58:13 AM
I just ordered one. For $7 that is incredibly cheap. I can use a $4 cable to connect it to the Sirius unit as well.
Then the Sirius FM band output to play it in a cheap handheld radio.
I am interested to see how many hours of playtime I can get out of this setup.

You sound like me in my car ..  I have my phone plugged into a 5 watt FM transmitter so I can listen to internet stuff on the radio.   I should just buy a new stereo but I think broadcasting old Dark Matter and Art Bell shows, Dark City and the Spec Sheet over Coast is more fun :)

This works well, I am able to listen to my Sirius camping now.

Total Cost: $25
Battery Life: 20 hours so far, still haven't run out of juice.

Materials:
Portable USB battery 10,000 mah ($17), USB to Sirius Cable ($5) = $22

The set-up is sort of unwieldy-I might try and make some kind of case for it.
Just needs a cheap FM radio and those have long battery life.

I might try and make an mp4 post of the complete set-up. I just need to get some time to drive to a remote area.

area51drone

I thought you bought the $7 one?   Which one did you go with instead?

Quote from: area51drone on December 09, 2014, 01:50:52 AM
I thought you bought the $7 one?   Which one did you go with instead?
I did, but it only lasted for 2 hours so I bought a larger capacity one from newegg.

area51drone

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on December 09, 2014, 02:15:21 AM
I did, but it only lasted for 2 hours so I bought a larger capacity one from newegg.

Interesting.   Probably another one of those battery lies from ebay.  If you are getting 20 hours out of the one from newegg, and only 2 from the $7 on ebay,  there's definitely something wrong.  You should have gotten at least 10 hours.  I would contact them and ask for a refund.   I ordered one up too but I haven't used it yet.   I was only planning on using it as a backup charger for the phone.   Link to the one you got?

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