Hooking new GPS/finder to battery

[reddog]

Can I mess around in the house with my new machine (HBird 997) simply by hooking it up to a 12V 2a battery charger, or will that be too much juice in. For what they cost, I certainly dont want to do anything stupid.

Or, should I just buy a dry cell Vexilar battery and hook it up?

[Hookmaster]

Do you have the cigarette lighter adapter? If so I think you can buy an adapter that plugs into the house outlet and has cigatette outlet on it. Changes 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC. When I'm doing stuff with it in the house, I just use batteries. They last a long time if the backlight is not on.

[waskawood]

I don't recommend using a battery charger as a DC power supply. Most chargers don't rectify the AC wave form to a pure enough state for my liking. I recommend buying a low amperage DC power supply for that purpose. At the price of todays electronics why gamble with your expensive toys.

[reddog]

Thanks guys/

Waskawood, The Hbird requires a 3 amp fuse inline. Shuld I look for a DC power supply in that range or slightly larger.

Where would I go to find something like that.

TIA

[waskawood]

3 amp will be more than sufficient. Radio Shack will have them.

[Tom7227]

I've taken the power cord and put a couple of alligator clips on it. Hooking it up to a gell cell or the battery from the riding lawn mower has worked really well. If the thing I want to use has a cigarette lighter plug I have made an adapter by buying the female half at a auto parts store and wired it with some electric cord and alligator clips and then onto the battery. Putting a fuse in it probably wouldn't be a bad idea.