Cradlepoint CTR 500 battery pack options

will1234craig · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

hi there guys

just a quick question for all the cadlepoint users

i am look to get a battery pack for the cradlepoint ctr500

whats the best and safest option

i see the TEKKEON one getting used but i seen reports of exsploding routers

i am in the uk with a working cradlepoint router

any assistance would be fantastic

Alex · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:07 am Post subject:

i had good success with this one:

but it only lasted about 1.5hrs, and i had to make my own cable.

strollin · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:20 am Post subject:

I have the CTR350 not the CTR500, don't know what the difference is as far as power requirements but I made up a pack of 4 10,000 mah NiMH D cells that can run my CTR350 for 15 hours.

will1234craig · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

yea i think the power is the same on both items
i will have the tekkon power unit next week going to try that out with a FON router first as it has same power options as the cradle

was looking for something small that offers about 5-7 hours and can be recharged at any point -

my plan is to create a mobile hot spot offering internet access via a hsdpa connection

i have the software read and the hotspot web page created just need to power the router now

ccustine · EVDO Newbie Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

I just bought the PM550C (which is listed as Bat-PM55 on the bixnet site). However it does not appear to power the CTR 500 properly since I never get any indication of power on the CTR, but the battery blinks its light and then apparently shuts down. It works fine on any of the other devices I have tried it on.

I notice that the battery pack says it outputs at 5V and a max current of 2000mA. The CTR power supply says it output 5V and 3.0A, so could this be the cause?

Thanks,
Chris

will1234craig · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

that is strange mate

the guy who recomended the jbox

on its we site it states

# Output Voltage: DC 5V
# Output Current: 1700mA max.

so if that can power it so should yours

have you tryed it with out an express card or usb modem attached

Hardware · EVDO Heavy User Joined: 07 Dec 2007 Posts: 141

Well most of the time the voltage on a device is at it's highest on startup, so I'd recommend starting the router first, then plugging something in, and not doing it all at once.

That way the router can power up and settle down on power consumption, then plug a card in and let it spike and calm down on power consumption.

ccustine · EVDO Newbie Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

Yeah, I have actually plugged it in with no card, AND with the Wifi kill switch turned to off and still no luck. The pack definitely works because I can charge silly little things all day long. I think the specs might be exaggerated or something, but I bought it because it is just slightly larger than the CTR 500 and has 7200mAh capacity so it should have had good runtime.

If anyone else has any luck with this I would be curious to know, but I can't recommend the PM550C / Bat-PM55 at this point.

Alex · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject:

i looked at specs page for battery pack and could not see where it listed the "tip polarity"... is it center-positive?

ccustine · EVDO Newbie Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

I'm certain that it is center positive and I have tried it with some other devices that don't draw much current and it seems to work fine. I am assuming that there is a current limiting feature that is shutting down the battery pack. The sites I read stated that it has a max current of 2000mA but the spec sheet that came with the pack states 1500mA max. So I am thinking that the CTR 500 draws more than 1500mA at startup even with the Wifi hard switch off and no cards inserted. This must be causing the pack to shutdown.

thebfg · EVDO Newbie Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 2

I was using the following battery with my CTR350:
www.batterygeek.net/BG_6_12_44_Portable_DVD_Player_Battery_Pack_p/5-12-44_batterygeek.htm

However, it doesn't appear to work with the CTR500, which will blink it's power light on momentarily, then off, then try again a few seconds later, and keep repeating. There is a newer, 50Wh version of the battery, but they both say 3A tolerance, which is what the CTR500's AC adapter puts out, so I may be on the hunt for a different battery.

Dwayne · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: CTR500 Battery Options

I have tested two batteries with this unit. The first one is a bixnet PM85-44 (now replaced by the PM85-50). I was able to get between 10 and 16 hours run-time. The variance in the runtime bothered me, so I tried a second battery in case the first one was defective. I got the same results. I'm not sure why there's such a variance. I wanted something more predictable, so I moved on. Here's a link to it:
http://www.bixnet.com/mumiexbapaki1.html

The second battery I tested was also from Bixnet. 5v pocket lithium battery, available at: http://www.bixnet.com/5v7libapa.html. I got much more consistent results. The life on this is almost exactly six hours consistently with different types of loads on the router.

In both cases, I tested basic browsing, P2P, and streaming media. The P2P and streaming audio were left running whenever I was not using the computer, so that I kept a load on it at all times. I was able to fit the CTR500, the battery, and the cable bundled up all in the regular CradlePoint soft travel case. I simply folded the top flap into the rear pocket and placed the battery there. I placed the router in the front pocket. Put two small holes in the bottom of the case, to connect the power cord on the two devices. Works well. Doesn't even get too hot (a concern when running it in a neoprene case). I can clip it to a bag and go wherever I want.

While this isn't quite as convenient as a built-in battery like the PHS350. But the 350's battery life (about 2 hours) is way too low and the requirement to have a USB modem sticking out is a pain. I'd love to see Cradlepoint release an updated version of the CTR500 with a built-in battery (with a minimum 4 hour battery life). They should also offer an accessory battery pack for those who need even more run-time so we don't have to hack these solutions together. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen the CTR500 evolve to a new model yet. It seemed like the logical place to go since the evolution of the CRT300 to the PHS350.

Dwayne

dhenninger · EVDO Fledgling Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 20

Dwayne · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject:

I would agree on the variance if there was more variance in the usage. But:

(1) The usage between the two days was almost identical. There wasn't
enough variance in load to cause that much of a variance.

(2) The other battery model has *EXTREMELY* consistent results.

This is over a sample of several run-down tests per battery.

Dwayne

Dwayne · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject:

BTW, how did you get the correct adapter tip for the router with the BatteryGeek batterypack?[/b]