cigarette lighter adaptor question

[cbearw]

My cigarette lighter adaptor (the male end) that is coming with my I Finder Hunt apparently has a built in Voltage regulator that will convert 12 Volts say from a 12 Volt boat/car battery to 3 volts which is required for the I finder Hunt. My question is can I hook up this way to a 6 Volt motorcycle battery and will it convert the 6 volts to 3 volts. :confused:
My unit is arriving today in the mail and would rather not fry it :dizzy: right of the bat. I have a 6 volt motorcycle battery but no 12 volt battery. I'll probably use AA alkaline batteries until I can find out for sure.
Another question is can I use Ni MH recharables even if the output is 1.2 Volts on each battey rather than 1.5 volts. These batteries I know last a very long time in my daughters cd player.
Thanks in advance :) .....................Tom

[hitechman]

on the I Finder Hunt, but my Garmin says it will take from 3-18V input. I guess that means the voltage is regulated in the unit itsself.

I use NiMH batteries in all of my units (Garmins) and I have not seen any degradation of operation. The Garmins do have a menu where you select NiMH batteries as the power source though (or alkaline).

Contact Lowrance and ask your question: http://www.lowrance.com/support/contact/default.asp

Steve

[cbearw]

Thanks Steve for your response. I did e-mail Lowrance last week but have not heard back from them yet. I can't really see a problem but better safe than sorry. Take care .....................Tom;)

[res]

I contacted Lowrance several months ago and they did get back to me on the mails but it took about a week. I also called their customer service number and waited for a person for about 15 minutes. Once I got the guy on the phone he was VERY helpful and did everything he could to help me with my older mapping unit. It was irritating waiting for 15 minutes but that is my issue. I give the tech credit for helping me through several software issues that took a couple of reloads to fix. Rick

[cbearw]

Hey Rick: Thanks for the heads up with regard to getting hold of Lowrance. It hasn't been a week yet for my e-mail to them so I 'll wait awhile longer before I call. I got the unit today with the 160 page manual. Well I can turn it on and a little more but not being to techno savy I can see its going to be a challange. :tdo12:
No doubt I will have to talk to customer service at some point so will anticipate being put on hold when I do call. In the meantime I have a couple of alkaline batteries in there but I see the battery level indicator falls pretty quickly. First time for a GPS so just figuring out the thing probably will require lots of time and batteries. Fortunatly I don't have a mapping program yet to contend with and I suspect that will be a whole different can of worms.
Thanks again ..................Tom

[hitechman]

Tom--
Using the unit with the light on will do the batteries in real quick--so use the light only when needed. I believe your unit also has a practice (battery saver) mode where you can play with the GPS, but is is not searching for or locked onto satellites (great for practice and learning the functions of your GPS in your living room).. In the field your can also turn WAAS off (basically makes your unit not quite as sensitive--it takes a reading every 3 seconds as opposed to every second)

Read and play...read and play...read and play.

You might find the power requirements (for cig plug) in the back of the manual or on the plug itsself. Make sure you carry spare batteries with you (a must for all handheld GPS users).

Read and play....read and play.....

Steve

[chutta]

The device merely "clamps" 12v or any voltage less than/above 3v down to 3. Should be fine.

[Captain Tan Can]

I bought a cigarette lighter type power plug at Murrays Auto for around $5.00. It comes with battery clips on the end. I hook it up to either my Strikemaster auger battery or my Lawn tractor battery and sat in the house learning to use my Garmin 76CS. When done I hook my Battery Tender up to the battery and charge it. Pays for itself in saving lots of AA batteries while learning to use it. I also use this setup when transfering waypoints etc., anything that takes a lot of time.;)

[cbearw]

Captain Tan Can: Thanks for your response. I did get through to Lowrance on the phone and they said I would be fine to hook up to a 6 Volt battery. I guess most folks hook up to a 12 Volt battery but I only have 6 Volt. Thanks for your response. I haven't yet tried anything to do with way points yet as I am still learning the basics. Very impressed with the unit though but have a lot to learn :) .................Tom

[Due51]

CBear,
I have an iFinder too and use rechargeable NiMh batteries. I keep 4 spares with me when heading into the woods or water.

There's a video available for these iFinders that's supposed to be helpful. Bennett Marine produces them or you can go to eBay.

Good luck with the new toy. I really enjoy mine and learn something new about it almost everyday.

[cbearw]

Duo51: Do you find your battery level indicator reads full after installing a freash set of NiMH rechargeables. I know my panosonic rechargeables NiMH are labeled at 1.2 Volts. The unit is aappearently calibrated for alkaline batteries which put out 1.5 volts each so perhaps this is why my battery level indicator scale does not read full. I guess it comes up to three quarter or 7/8 full on the scale.
On different note when you are in the woods do you find yourself marking your vehicle location and shutting the I finder off until you need an update on your location? I guess this would save lots on the batteries but you would loose your back trail info. I guess it all depends on what you are doing but was wondering if this is fairly common practise. One hunter I spoke with recently manages to get a week or so from a set of batteries on a hunting trip!
Also do you think the carry cases offered by manufactuers of various units are a good investment, I have been just putting my unit in my shirt pocket. It stays warm there and is easy to get at but I worry about it falling out one day. :sad: Thanks very much for your response.............Tom:)

[Due51]

1) It seems the battery indicator NEVER reads full even after putting in new batteries. You said someone gets A WEEK from a set of batteries. WOW! I'm constantly using the menu and marking things so there's no way I'd get a week out of them.

2) I mark my starting point (where I parked) and shut the unit off UNLESS, of course, I'm trying to mark a trail. That's why I keep the extra batteries with me.

BTW< I think I read in the directions that regular disposable batteries will last longer than rechargables.

3) I don't own a carrying case. I put it in my pocket, as well.

[cbearw]

Due51: Thanks for your reply. Great information.:) .................Tom

[icemancometh]

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