FR4x Reed Comparison template/set

[Ventura]

First of all you need to get your Java FR4X Editor
loaded onto a computer, working, and connect
the FR4x to it with that old style printer USB cable
that plugs in the low side of the accordion next
to the power and midi and audio sockets.

once you are connected, learn how to switch the sets
by jumping or just scroll through the sets until you find
an empty one (probably around set 68)

unzip and transfer this file i created
comparison.ST4
to your computer where you can find it easily

in the Editor, pull up the Tools window and
IMPORT comparison.ST4
to the empty set location you are currently in

you might also want to write this set so you don’t
have to reload it every time you turn the box back on

once the set is loaded & saved, close the tools popup.
on the editor main screen, right side, accordion line,
click the small button to the far right and open the reeds screen

now you should be by default in the A bank, on shift #1
you can see the reed config is marked L, and the Classic
reedbank is being used for sound

play a few notes

press shift #2, you might notice a small change has been
made to the settings

play a few notes

between shift 1 and shift 2 you are hearing the same sound out,
then in cassotto

shift 3 is LMH
shift 4 is LMH cassotto

shift 5 is M
shift 6 is M Cassotto

shift 7 is Piccolo
press the bank shift to toggle the B bank
shift 8 is L M (dry tuned)
shift 9 is L M Cassotto (dry tuned)
shift 9 10 11 and 12 are M Jazz tones and Jazz Meusette

NOTE: all crappy key noise and bellows belching and lazy reed
detune velocity idiocy has been castrated from this test set
so that you can hear the raw, natural reed tone

i did select a better Reverb and Chorus so the sound is expansive
just twist the reverb knob if you don't like it

at this point, you can now also audition each and every reedbank
in the accordion, and hear the basic unadorned tone of each one
so that you can find the ones you like the best and can select them
in future programming of YOUR favorite user sets

you probably should go back to bank 1 shift 1 or shift 5
with the accordion edit window still open, and now using the
active (on) solo reed line, step between all the reedsets
and you can play a few notes with each change to hear
the differences (including Balkan, Dallape, Alpine reed bin’s)
Bandoneon
Italian Folk (Beltuna)
Italian Folk 2
Classic (Pigini)
Cajun
Jazz (Excelsior)
French Folk (Maugein)
Deutsch Folk (Morino)
Organetto
French Folk 2 (Piermaria - SEM)
Classic 2
Studio (Scandalli)
Traditional (very old PaoloSoprani)
Sterische
Old Italian (Beltuna TC Amplified)
TexMex (Gabbanelli – SEM)
Trikitixa
French jazz
Classic 3
Bayan
Balkan a
Balkan b
Balkan c
Balkan d
Centenario
Liturgica 1
Liturgica 2
Liturgica 3
Super M 1865
Super M 2010
Organtone
Alpine

 

[Ventura]

if you have trouble getting the editor working on your usual computer,
consider just buying a cheap (under $200) Student laptop (windows)
like this (search for student laptops on Amazon)

https://www.amazon.com/Military-Grade-Certified-Dual-Core-Processor-BR1100/dp/B0B6GSJL1N/ref=sr_1_14?crid=WXRHAS2E4R43&keywords=student%2Blaptop&qid=1685232450&sprefix=student%2Blaptop%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-14&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.d977788f-1483-4f76-90a3-786e4cdc8f10&th=1

i use a Maestro with 4G-lte on T-Mobile, Windows 10S, and it runs
the editor flawlessly, has incredible battery life, is rugged, and was dirt cheap

after paying thousands for a FR Roland, a couple hundred more wasted so that
you can use their editor easily is a good investment, and gives you great backup
space on an internal SDdrive dedicated to Music stuff

just sayin'

 

[Tom]

Huh? Please excuse my ignorance, dear Ventura but I have no idea what is going on here. You're making it so you can hear the "original" different reed sets, in their register combinations, like Bandoneon, Italian Folk, etc. Which you can't do otherwise????? And why can't you use your regular computer? And I thought playing this dam accordion was hard enough!

 

[Ventura]

so i began to delve deeper into the Dale programming,
then i did a factory reset and examined the Roland programming

the glaringly obvious thing i noticed was that it is nearly impossible
for a new user/purchaser to actually hear the reeds in any meaningful
way. this is because most of the "sets" are not purely crafted.. they are
mixtures of various reed families (only God knows why)

you actually have to pass by like the first 10 or 12 sets just to find one that
is crafted on a single reedset.. and you won't know which ones are relatively "pure"
unless you have the editor on, and the reed configuration winedow open
(it shows as you step through the sets which reeds are being called on at a glance)

AND THEN the relatively few sets that use a single reedfamily still obscure the
natural tone with growls, noise, weird chorusing settings and other "tricks"
further obscuring what the reeds actually sound like

no wonder the collective opinion seems to be
"Roland V Accordions (still) sound terrible from the factory and the
best/easiest/quickest solution is to visit Mr. Noel's website..

while i have not shown sympathy in the past for this mindset,
i now have a better understanding why so many of you came to this conclusion,
so i kind of apologize

 

[Ventura]

the next thing i was doing was getting a rack of user programs ready
to gig. To do this i had to craft a few more accordion "sets", as the
UPG (user programs) will reflect back onto whatever set you start
to program from and share some global and common settings

as a result i spent a couple hours really listening to the unadulterated
reedsets.. to do this i altered the "comparison" reedset a bit to now
act as a "control" set - giving me an absolutely neutral starting point

i kind of wish Debra had been sitting in the Studio, because the
reedsets really do have personality, clear differences in tone,
and even enough authenticity that experienced Pro ears can
recognize what accordion factory and even model certain
sounds were based on/crafted from

there are some real quality tones to be found and used to
make your own sets, and there is enough power available to
manipulate these tones into meaningful and satisfying finished
and useable "virtual accordions"

in other words, the raw material is actually there and can be
worked with and brought to the forefront

yes, i admit some of the core reed-sets are poorly done and
compromised at birth.. during the FR7 period i reported how
the old "B" they used in the modeling studio had not been
tuned or repaired because there were anomalies trapped in the
actual reed samples like seriously painfully slow low reeds getting
up to pitch and high frequency metal touches and intermittent
valve leather flutterings from old dry valves and even a loose pallet

but some of the reed-sets have truly excellent and faithful raw tone

the added Dallape .bin reeds are noticeably different from the
original reedsets from 20 years ago
(and used in every V-Accordion ever built)
those Dallape tones have some real potential if you care to work with them

i post this opinion partly because i noticed our good Debra again
"....searching for a "polite" term" in another post, and i hope someday
he will fall into a used FR4x Roland because after you really listen to the
different reedsets in the Raw and spend some time with them

i believe you will find some Gold in there

i will also say that, so far, my overall opinion is still that the
original V-Accordions, from the second batch of the FR7/5,
were the most trouble free and reliable of all the models to date,
and were programmable to a fine level (though tedious)
and proved themselves on tens of thousands of Gigs by pro Players
here in the States

while the other models have their Fans, the main benefit, frankly, of
the FR4x is that is is still actually being made and is available.. today..
with a warranty

and is not huge or heavy and is easily battery powered

and while i like the new Editor and appreciate they finally added
a legitimate USB port, i still find the programming to be tedious
at best, and can understand if some of you just won't be able to
do it yourselves

i will also remind here of a short report i did on the new Lithium
imitation "AA" batteries now readily available.. i picked up
a third set from a different brand and they again vastly
exceed NiMh in direct comparison as used in this FR4x

i mean i literally never have a power cord plugged in for ANY of my
V-Accordions (FR7x, FR3, FR4x) whether in the Studio or on a Gig

 

[Tom]

So, if I understand correctly, you can't hear the "raw" unmodified reeds on either the Dale program or the stock factory accordion. Because even when you select them as a set they have been modified to death.

 

[Chris Laarman]

the next thing i was doing was getting a rack of user programs ready
to gig. To do this i had to craft a few more accordion "sets", as the
UPG (user programs) will reflect back onto whatever set you start
to program from and share some global and common settings

as a result i spent a couple hours really listening to the unadulterated
reedsets.. to do this i altered the "comparison" reedset a bit to now
act as a "control" set - giving me an absolutely neutral starting point

i kind of wish Debra had been sitting in the Studio, because the
reedsets really do have personality, clear differences in tone,
and even enough authenticity that experienced Pro ears can
recognize what accordion factory and even model certain
sounds were based on/crafted from

there are some real quality tones to be found and used to
make your own sets, and there is enough power available to
manipulate these tones into meaningful and satisfying finished
and useable "virtual accordions"

in other words, the raw material is actually there and can be
worked with and brought to the forefront

yes, i admit some of the core reed-sets are poorly done and
compromised at birth.. during the FR7 period i reported how
the old "B" they used in the modeling studio had not been
tuned or repaired because there were anomalies trapped in the
actual reed samples like seriously painfully slow low reeds getting
up to pitch and high frequency metal touches and intermittent
valve leather flutterings from old dry valves and even a loose pallet

but some of the reed-sets have truly excellent and faithful raw tone

the added Dallape .bin reeds are noticeably different from the
original reedsets from 20 years ago
(and used in every V-Accordion ever built)
those Dallape tones have some real potential if you care to work with them

i post this opinion partly because i noticed our good Debra again
"....searching for a "polite" term" in another post, and i hope someday
he will fall into a used FR4x Roland because after you really listen to the
different reedsets in the Raw and spend some time with them

i believe you will find some Gold in there

i will also say that, so far, my overall opinion is still that the
original V-Accordions, from the second batch of the FR7/5,
were the most trouble free and reliable of all the models to date,
and were programmable to a fine level (though tedious)
and proved themselves on tens of thousands of Gigs by pro Players
here in the States

while the other models have their Fans, the main benefit, frankly, of
the FR4x is that is is still actually being made and is available.. today..
with a warranty

and is not huge or heavy and is easily battery powered

and while i like the new Editor and appreciate they finally added
a legitimate USB port, i still find the programming to be tedious
at best, and can understand if some of you just won't be able to
do it yourselves

i will also remind here of a short report i did on the new Lithium
imitation "AA" batteries now readily available.. i picked up
a third set from a different brand and they again vastly
exceed NiMh in direct comparison as used in this FR4x

i mean i literally never have a power cord plugged in for ANY of my
V-Accordions (FR7x, FR3, FR4x) whether in the Studio or on a Gig

I admire your efforts in "delving deeper", and I respect your apologies in your preceding message.

On rechargable batteries: it's a field in rather quick development globally (well, most batteries seem to consist of one or more of the same actual cells and some more or less proprietary management circuit). I learned some of this when I hoarded battery-powered power tools "recently". The chemical components do matter, as they define the characteristics of the cells used. (In musical terms: think of the "ADSR" envelope.) So, different chemicals serve different uses. Another thing I learned from power-tool batteries is the "nominal voltage". Li-ion batteries (common in power tools) have a "Sustain" voltage that is some 90% of their "Attack" voltage. It seems that brands suffered from using either voltage as nominal (advertised). So, both 20V and 18V batteries may actually contain the same cells, even be merely renamed.

Anyway, for musical purposes, NiMH seems preferable. Progress: the AA-size cells that I bought from Thomann a year ago with my FR-1Xb have a capacity of 2100mAh have been succeeded by ones of 2800mAh. I have bought the latter for powering my recently purchased portable guitar and bass amps: Boss Dual Cube [Bass] LX. (Yes, they are related to the Cube models branded Roland.) I have also re-examined my AAA-size cells. So, these are rated at 1.2V rather than 1.5V. I'm fortunate to be able to use one brand of these in a "PockRock", a device just bigger than a headphone amplifier. (Yes, this is the electric-guitar department.)
I have just ordered a powerbank that might interest some of you: https://kse-music.de/produkt/megapower/. (There must be an English version of this German page.) This one is targeted at guitarists with a pedalboard of mostly 9V effects, but I'll use it to power my trusty old wind controller (Yamaha WX5 + VL70-m) (and play that through the AUX input of the Dual Cube LX). - For everything about wind controllers, I recommend https://www.patchmanmusic.com/.

Sorry for going so far off the topic of even this thread, but it may help you reconsider your possibilities.

 

[Ventura]

". Another thing I learned from power-tool batteries is the "nominal voltage". Li-ion batteries (common in power tools) have a "Sustain" voltage that is some 90% of their "Attack" voltage"

that is the key issue

drop voltage exists with NiMh as well

so the problem was originally, an FR3 would shut off as soon as
even one of the NImH cells in the 10 pack dropped voltage, as it
triggered the FR3's minimum voltage threshold

actually, the NImH pack in general could have 80% charge still left,
but the FR3 could not benefit from it

the "fake" AA Lithium batteries, on the other hand, each have an
internal voltage around 3.7 volts, while a tiny custom circuit controls
it's output to exactly 1.5 volts, and this holds true until the cell is
depleted literally down to it's last 10%..

so current at stated Voltage is a reliable constant of this new type battery

used in my FR3 these lithium batteries last 3 to 4 times longer than NiMh,
and since they will exhibit the same voltage at current characteristics
through the life of the cells, they eliminate the frustration over having
to toss a set of NiMh after 6 months because of deteriorating performance

therefore, an 8 pack of these new AA spoofers equals 12 volts
and does a great job in these V-Accordions that take AA batteries..
you just have to buy a couple 8 pack holders instead of the 10 pack factory holder

and now i have tested them in an FR4x as well, with excellent results

new battery info FR3, 4, etc. AA

hi i wanted to share some info on a new twist for rechargeable AA batteries based on Lithium technology first, the frustrating problem with traditional NiMh batteries has been the weakest cell in the pack dropping Voltage quickly, then the Roland accordions shut down because their voltage...

www.accordionists.info

 

[Ventura]

since i was editing to figure out that odd Drum set on the treble keyboard,
i thought i would do a couple quick sets to share

first is a totally stripped, everything zero'd out on the treble side,
no noises or bellows artifacts allowed Control Templates set

you can take this template to use for crafting and comparing your own original sets,
because you will hear first the raw pure tone, then add your reed mixes and
meusette strengths.. do 2 or 3 side by side with small differences in
reed mixtures, balances and such.. You can play a song and shift between the 3
flavors and make adjustments until you get the tone you want.. then finalize it

the second set is simply 14 shifts exploiting the 3 French Virtual reedsets..
1 through 7 are mostly full sounding for Tango, Pop, Love songs etc.
while 8 though 14 are meusette flavors some with suggested songs which
i had in mind as i made the blends

i hope these will be useful and enjoyable to 4x owners.. i reserve no copyright
on these and release them

 

[Tom]

since i was editing to figure out that odd Drum set on the treble keyboard,
i thought i would do a couple quick sets to share

first is a totally stripped, everything zero'd out on the treble side,
no noises or bellows artifacts allowed Control Templates set

you can take this template to use for crafting and comparing your own original sets,
because you will hear first the raw pure tone, then add your reed mixes and
meusette strengths.. do 2 or 3 side by side with small differences in
reed mixtures, balances and such.. You can play a song and shift between the 3
flavors and make adjustments until you get the tone you want.. then finalize it

the second set is simply 14 shifts exploiting the 3 French Virtual reedsets..
1 through 7 are mostly full sounding for Tango, Pop, Love songs etc.
while 8 though 14 are meusette flavors some with suggested songs which
i had in mind as i made the blends

i hope these will be useful and enjoyable to 4x owners.. i reserve no copyright
on these and release them

Super cool and very kind of you, Ventura. So many sets, so little time! As you know, I have the Dale Mathis sets which are better than stock, but how cool to make my own some day. Beholden to no one.

 

[JerryPH]

Super cool and very kind of you, Ventura. So many sets, so little time! As you know, I have the Dale Mathis sets which are better than stock, but how cool to make my own some day. Beholden to no one.

That was one of the things that I mentioned to you that you would enjoy one day, once you learned a bit of the basics of that v-accordion... they are a LOT of fun to play on and to play WITH.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Jerry! So I'm here now. I loaded up the template. No sounds. So, I noticed you (Ventura) set all the reeds to off. I guess so we could try loading up different clean combinations. Also, no organ sounds. Not sure about that. Experimentation continues.....

 

[Caps]

Thanks Ventura. I know you spent a lot of time on this. I have both the Mathis sets that the accordion came with and Noel's set. I like some of each and hate a few on each as well. (like the horrible bagpipe UPGs which I deleted). Right now I have modified Noel UPGs on it. My problem is that I find a UPG that I sorta like and go in to modify it to where I think it is perfect and then after a couple weeks I start to hate it. Guess I'm just fickle. As you mentioned the biggest problem with the factory sounds are all the artifacts that are distracting (like key clicks, Bellows sounds, etc) and the weird combinations of reed sets with orchestra sounds. Lately, with my joint pain I find that being able to lock the bellows and play is really beneficial. Lose the bellows expression of course but better than nothing. I am curious about the 1.5 volt lithiums that you are using. There are a whole bunch of different brands. Wonder if there is one you recommend?

 

[Thomas N]

Ventura -

What you did is exactly what I did a couple months ago. I had been using the same sounds on my FR-8X for literally years and in my exasperation to discover why MIDI Frame Errors were happening between my BK-7M and FR-8X I restored the FR-8X back to factory defaults, loaded the most recent version of firmware onto it, loaded the editor and connected the accordion to my PC.

I decided then and there that I was not going to meticulously go through the factory patches and find the three that I used to use all the time. So I started from scratch. Deleted all the superfluous effects and bizarre cross-accordion reed mixtures (you're correct - they are all over the presets!) and started with the bare bones minimum configurations.

I managed to create an entire bank of sounds that completely changed the instrument for me. Just pure, beautiful tones. I now have a bassoon jazz tone that I just love. I have a great Master and Musette for when I need them and a clarinet that sings. It really did change my perception of an instrument I had been playing for the better part of the past decade. I backed them up and now will always have them.

It wasn't the Herculean task I thought it would be. The drop-down boxes on the editor make it pretty simple to select the reed types, and there are check boxes for things like noise, effects, etc.

I also managed to find a jazz bass guitar sound for the left hand side that I never knew existed. I replaced my long-standing upright bass sound and it is so much deeper and smooth sounding during my preferred left hand walking bass lines. The difference is night and day!

 

[Ventura]

have used the deleepow brand longer (2 years fr3 then fr4) and reliable
so far. Lithium also hold charge much longer stored, which is nice.

Amazon.com : Deleepow

the price fluctuates, i started with 2 sets of these

https://www.amazon.com/Deleepow-Rechargeable-Batteries-Lithium-3400mWh/dp/B08YY9Z4QQ/ref=sr_1_7?crid=4LL1YAP38B5C&keywords=Deleepow&qid=1701536792&s=electronics&sprefix=deleepow%2Celectronics%2C259&sr=1-7&th=1

as i liked the chargers and the price was discounted, then i added 8 more batteries a few
months later for a spare pack

can't use NiMh chargers as the maximum voltage a LiPo can take is very limited,
and they never worried much about Voltage back then, just Current on the old style chargers

that's why Solar charging has to be with a controller too, if you rig something up,
as overvoltage puts LiPo into a coma

got some of these too

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXHBHPPV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

so far so good

some other brands and types have a USB recharge port on each battery,
but that seemed like a potential mess of wires to me

i also have been converting much of my portable PA stuff to LiPo,
and strangely enough the best deals are buy a cool new flashlight get 4
or 8 neat button top 18650 LiPo batteries with it, or again 10 batteries [plus a charger
same price or less than just buying 8 batteries somewhere else

some of the new Pyle wireless stuff is coming with 18650 (removable) rather than
a built in little custom size LiPo pack you are stuck with

and the newer Tailgaiter PA portables have largely switched from 5 amp LeadAcid
to a 2 or 3 pack 18650 in parallel at 3.7 or 7.4 volts, with simple recharging
using any 5 volt USB supply

i powered probably half of the lighting and FX this last halloween from LiPo,
while the 110 remote convertors ran off my spare 12 volt car batteries for a
few older things. The main difference was i simply didn't need to swap fresh
battery packs in on anything this year, which was nice. so keeping the Bubble
machines and Smoke machines filled up was the main chore

i see the future using LiPo as more and more reliable and simple and
much less frustrating than NiMh

 

[Ventura]

Ventura -

So I started from scratch. Deleted all the superfluous effects and bizarre cross-accordion reed mixtures (you're correct - they are all over the presets!) and started with the bare bones minimum configurations.

cool !

i am glad you found your way through to doing this.. as you noted
once you get going it really isn't that hard and after everything is cleaned
up. OMG, the sounds really sparkle

my trick for bass with MIDI accordions was to layer the main Upright patch
i liked with a fretless patch an octave lower and just barely audible in the mix,
as i too play left hand like a Bass player, not an accordionist. Will have to look
for that Jazz Bass patch you mentioned and try it.. i need my Bass line/rhythm section
to be so rich that you can sing over just that when you need the right hand
to stand down and get ready for the next riff

 

[Caps]

have used the deleepow brand longer (2 years fr3 then fr4) and reliable
so far. Lithium also hold charge much longer stored, which is nice.

Amazon.com : Deleepow

the price fluctuates, i started with 2 sets of these

https://www.amazon.com/Deleepow-Rechargeable-Batteries-Lithium-3400mWh/dp/B08YY9Z4QQ/ref=sr_1_7?crid=4LL1YAP38B5C&keywords=Deleepow&qid=1701536792&s=electronics&sprefix=deleepow%2Celectronics%2C259&sr=1-7&th=1

as i liked the chargers and the price was discounted, then i added 8 more batteries a few
months later for a spare pack

can't use NiMh chargers as the maximum voltage a LiPo can take is very limited,
and they never worried much about Voltage back then, just Current on the old style chargers

that's why Solar charging has to be with a controller too, if you rig something up,
as overvoltage puts LiPo into a coma

got some of these too

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXHBHPPV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

so far so good

some other brands and types have a USB recharge port on each battery,
but that seemed like a potential mess of wires to me

i also have been converting much of my portable PA stuff to LiPo,
and strangely enough the best deals are buy a cool new flashlight get 4
or 8 neat button top 18650 LiPo batteries with it, or again 10 batteries [plus a charger
same price or less than just buying 8 batteries somewhere else

some of the new Pyle wireless stuff is coming with 18650 (removable) rather than
a built in little custom size LiPo pack you are stuck with

and the newer Tailgaiter PA portables have largely switched from 5 amp LeadAcid
to a 2 or 3 pack 18650 in parallel at 3.7 or 7.4 volts, with simple recharging
using any 5 volt USB supply

i powered probably half of the lighting and FX this last halloween from LiPo,
while the 110 remote convertors ran off my spare 12 volt car batteries for a
few older things. The main difference was i simply didn't need to swap fresh
battery packs in on anything this year, which was nice. so keeping the Bubble
machines and Smoke machines filled up was the main chore

i see the future using LiPo as more and more reliable and simple and
much less frustrating than NiMh

Ventura,
I just bought a set of those deleepow AA lithiums and just now put them in my FR4X. I didn't get an 8 battery holder. I just used the 3D printer to make a couple dummy AAs and used the regular 10 battery holder. Easy and quick - no mods required. There are several templates on Thingiverse. I can make you a couple if you want them. I am curious to see how they compare to the NiMh that I have been using.

 

[Ventura]

I didn't get an 8 battery holder. I just used the 3D printer to make a couple dummy AAs and used the regular 10 battery holder. Easy and quick - no mods

you always come up with cool solutions..

a couple lightweight dummy AA would be a handy thing in everyone's emergency kit..
i keep a pair of perfectly sized round head steel bolts handy..

hope you have good results from the lithium stuff.. did i mention i
finally grabbed a deal on the 9 volt Lithium virtual batteries.. just
started using them on a few gigs in the Line 6 wireless Tx

so far so good.. much longer run time..

i really like the doors Lithium battery tech is opening up for us,
but i still hate built-in batteries, so prefer the AA and 9Volt and
the 16650 button tops that newer equipment is designing for

and prices just keep coming down !

have you noticed the Lithium powered "virtual emergency generators"
coming to market ? so handy and easy to keep topped off and ready
with a solar panel. not gonna replace the Propane Generator in the shed,
but i can grab it and go with my little 110 volt chain saw anywhere !

happy holidays !

 

[Caps]

you always come up with cool solutions..

a couple lightweight dummy AA would be a handy thing in everyone's emergency kit..
i keep a pair of perfectly sized round head steel bolts handy..

hope you have good results from the lithium stuff.. did i mention i
finally grabbed a deal on the 9 volt Lithium virtual batteries.. just
started using them on a few gigs in the Line 6 wireless Tx

so far so good.. much longer run time..

i really like the doors Lithium battery tech is opening up for us,
but i still hate built-in batteries, so prefer the AA and 9Volt and
the 16650 button tops that newer equipment is designing for

and prices just keep coming down !

have you noticed the Lithium powered "virtual emergency generators"
coming to market ? so handy and easy to keep topped off and ready
with a solar panel. not gonna replace the Propane Generator in the shed,
but i can grab it and go with my little 110 volt chain saw anywhere !

happy holidays !

Interesting. Yes I have seen those "Virtual" generators. Still a bit pricey for me. I have a 15V 50 AH lithium battery pack that came from a scrapped electric vehicle that I use to run a trolling motor and with a 750 watt inverter for small emergencies. Also I have a gas generator that is good for 2800 watts that I used just the other day after the electric went out for 8 hours due to a small tornado near here. Properly charging the 50 AH battery is an issue but I have a programmable lab type supply that I use when it needs charged. I definitely will let you know how the 1.5V lithiums work in the FR4X

 

[Caps]

Interesting. Yes I have seen those "Virtual" generators. Still a bit pricey for me. I have a 15V 50 AH lithium battery pack that came from a scrapped electric vehicle that I use to run a trolling motor and with a 750 watt inverter for small emergencies. Also I have a gas generator that is good for 2800 watts that I used just the other day after the electric went out for 8 hours due to a small tornado near here. Properly charging the 50 AH battery is an issue but I have a programmable lab type supply that I use when it needs charged. I definitely will let you know how the 1.5V lithiums work in the FR4X

you always come up with cool solutions..

a couple lightweight dummy AA would be a handy thing in everyone's emergency kit..
i keep a pair of perfectly sized round head steel bolts handy..

hope you have good results from the lithium stuff.. did i mention i
finally grabbed a deal on the 9 volt Lithium virtual batteries.. just
started using them on a few gigs in the Line 6 wireless Tx

so far so good.. much longer run time..

i really like the doors Lithium battery tech is opening up for us,
but i still hate built-in batteries, so prefer the AA and 9Volt and
the 16650 button tops that newer equipment is designing for

and prices just keep coming down !

have you noticed the Lithium powered "virtual emergency generators"
coming to market ? so handy and easy to keep topped off and ready
with a solar panel. not gonna replace the Propane Generator in the shed,
but i can grab it and go with my little 110 volt chain saw anywhere !

happy holidays !

Ok, I have the deleepow 3400 milli Watt hours and have run them thru two cycles in my FR4X. They may get better after a few more cycles - I don't know if lithiums do that or not. Compared to my Tenergy 2800 Milli Amp Hour ones they seem just about the same run time give or take about 15 minutes. The Deleepow seem to hold voltage well but drop really fast when the low battery notification comes on. The NiMh give a couple extra minutes before going belly up. The lithium ones are lighter - 5.8 oz for 8 of them as opposed to 11.5 for 10 of the NiMh. When I get time I am going to put an ammeter and voltmeter in line with the batteries and measure the load the Fr4x puts on them and then time the discharge of the batteries with a standard resistance load. Should be an interesting exercise.
Have a Great new year!