TV for fast moving things (rockets)
AV when I am out and about
M when using old lenses or I want to try and take "clever" pictures but usually fail

There is, coincidentally, a "mint" top plate for an MX on ebay (seller in UK) unfortunately it is a black one (ebay id 250849732589)

Mike 8-{>

Hi Kris

Ahhh that would be a bad thing . You will have let the "magic smoke" out that is the secret power source of all electronics .

In that case hack the lead off the fritzed charger / wall wart (at the charger end) and attach it to the circuit above. Interestingly, looking at mine, the stated output is 18V and 25mA. Somewhat above 10mA. If you would like PM me a snail mail address and I'll build the voltage regulator circuit K10D described above for you, pop it in a little box if I can find one knocking around. I have all the parts, some vero board and a power socket for the input side. No cost to you. Should be able to have something for you in the post on Tuesday/Wednesday. You will just need to buy the Maplin PSU K10D mentioned and find someone to strip back your power lead salvaged from the burnt out 110V PSU and solder it on to the vero board. I'll fit some pins to make that bit straight forward. The only thing left to do is figure out which pin is which on the power lead. That shouldn't be too hard to track down. I have to strip my battery pack anyway as the cells are almost certainly shot. So will probably be able to figure it out in the course of doing that.
Mike 8-{>

I can see your point but NiCd is no longer a viable, current, option.

In my case I want to refurbish my Power Pack M but with environmental concerns (and legislation I believe) for NiCd batteries they are becoming much harder to find too. In fact the batteries used in the pack, 1/3AF size, which, as far as I have found to date, are only available from Sanyo Cadnica are pretty much unobtainable. So we are already faced with the obsolescence problem you raise. With the rate at which compact power technology is being driven by the mobile electronics and car industries in 3 to 5 years there is bound to be something even smaller and more powerful around to replace whatever LiPo/Li-ion tech we are seeing now.

I stand corrected and defer to you greater knowledge. I wonder if either of these would be a better device for charging if considering your suggested future upgrade?

http://alshobbies.com/shop/lookupstock.php?pc=5355 or perhaps this http://www.gliders.uk.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FS-LX60BP

I assume the lowest charge current of 100mmA is probably too high still but they would appear to be smart enough to detect when the pack is charged ( the delta V detection you mention) so should not suffer with regard to your observations of being left on all night. Both will also charge LiPo packs and can also discharge packs which could be useful?

Is this something you have done yourself out of interest?

As 5 x 3.7V is 18.5V would 4 packs at 14.8V be better? Or can the Motordrive LX (or MX as I think they mutually share the M power packs?) and associated control circuit handle 18.5V OK?

Mike 8-{>

PS apologies for kind of hijacking a Classifieds thread.

I nave just acquired a Charge Pack M but I am afraid it is a 110V US plug one. US E-Bay acquisition along with Motordrive LX and Power Pack M.

I suspect the batteries are dead in the power pack, the NiCds wont have lasted this long, so I plan to use the info here: http://users.tpg.com.au/distudio/pentax_nicd_pack/ to rebuild the battery packs. I have found 1/3AA NiMH cells seem to be relatively readily available (Farnell stock tagged ones IIRC), the 1/3AF NiCds less so. With the lack of a UK charger I was planning on butchering a power lead to attach to a 3rd party charger. Modern chargers are much smarter than the old constant current OEM devices. However I need to get hold of a second lead having just got one from LennyBloke on here. (For which many thanks .)

Anyway, my thinking is why not just buy a multi cell NiMH/NiCd battery charger? The Power Pack M has 12 x 1.2 volt cells at 110mAH each (14.4 V and 1320mA) which seems well within the range of devices such as the two at the top of this page: http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_type/10/ALL/0/Battery_Chargers.html (other websites and chargers are available).

They claim to charge "... 2.4volts up to 14.4volts (2-12 cells) worth of Ni-Cad / NiMH batteries so it will do anything from 700mAh up to 5000mAh cells."

This would also give you additional flexibility should you come to replace the batteries in the Power Pack M with higher capacity ones, 1/3AF NiCd (225mAH) or 1/3AA NiMH (280mAH), at some point in the future.

These chargers look like they come with a Tamiya style 2 pin connector (available from Maplins and the like) which could easily be attached to a cut off Pentax M power lead making absolutely sure you get the right two wires connected with the correct polarity obviously!

Mike 8-{>

FA 50mm f/1.4 arrived this morning. It is like it has never been out of the box. Thanks very much indeed

Mike 8-{>

There is Stevenage Photographic Society. they meet at the Arts Centre near the Hobbycraft store on Roaring Meg retail park. Their website is here http://www.stevenagephotographicsociety.org.uk/sps/. They tend to have their meetings during the autumn / winter months. The idea being that folks are out and about with their cameras when the evenings are longer and there is more sunlight to be had. They sometimes advertise their meetings in The Comet local free newspaper in the What's on locally bit.

I think there is another club in Letchworth too.

Hope this helps.

Mike 8-{>

Another vote for optech.

The interchangeable ends are really handy as you can buy them separately and they are available in a range of styles to fit different body loops/links/attachment points. That way you can leave the ends on different bodies or larger lenses and swap the shoulder bits around as and when needed.

Mike

It now says July.....

Mike