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Battery upgrade for Whites Eagle Spectrum

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dl1098

New member
Hi gang, I have seen a few references for a battery adapter for the Eagle,so it could use AA's, but have been unable to find out any more than they exist. Anyone have plans, schematics, part #'s for these things. I like to tinker and build things, and it would be nice to cut down on the number of different batteries needed for a days detecting.

Thanks, Bill
 
How to make you Eagle Spectrum fly on AAs! I posted this when I had converted my Eagle and it will still run rings around some machines.

The Eagle Spectrum is still a great single frequency detector I use my Eagle as one of my backups or loaner. It's only drawback was being 6 volt and poor battery packs (C-cells and low capacity NiCads); so I converted the old gal to double A’s using NiMH 2300mAh batteries. For my old Eagle Spectrum to use AA batteries (alkaline or NiMH); I used two (2) flat four cell battery holders that I obtained from a local electronic supply. Each four cell supplies 6 volts and I paired the two 4 cell AA packs in parallel to increase capacity. I use NiMH 2300mAH batteries so the two 6 volt four cell packs in parallel provide 4600mAH capacity and will run the Eagle for several hunts. I also used the same charger that came with the Eagle Spectrum and adapted the new battery pack with female plugs like where on the original White’s 6v NiCad packs. I always use the slow charge setting for overnight or fast for a quick short boost. I also opened up the detector to solder a male plug and leads to the connections for the old spring battery contacts to plug into the new packs. BE CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN CORRECT POLARITY. A little foam block to keep the pack from shifting around in the battery compartment. The detector works better and a whole lot longer than it ever did on the old NICAD packs.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks, this is great. As I dont have the oem 120v charger, can you tell me is it just a 6v charger, or something more exotic.

Bill
 
You can use any 6 volt DC 250 to 500mA charger. I also use one like this since it works on 6 and 12 volt packs.

Wildgame charger
 
An additional notes: This pack will run the Eagle with only 4 batteries loaded into one of the holders. The NiMH chargers that plug into the wall and charge 4 batteries at a time will also work. The design solution I came up with for my machine was so I could leave the batteries in the holder and not have to remove and replace the individual batteries each time. Using two of the four battery holders was just to give the pack more milliamp capacity. The Eagle could be ran on just a single four battery holder padded with more foam to take up the excess space.
 
I have the same machine (LOVE IT) I would like to convert to AA's....Which is the positive tab and neg tab on the machine side? THANKS
 
I did something similar for my old 6000Di-Pro (blue box) except I used off-the shelf "C" size NiMH and built a custom "smart" charger to go with it. NiMH batteries require special handling as they can easily be damaged by over-charging and will self-discharge (~4%/day) if not left connected to a small maintenance current. The charger loads them up with about a 100mA current until the battery voltage hits a trip point, then kicks down into "low gear" and maintains them at about 10mA where the literature suggests they are happy long-term.

The 4 C-cells can power the old "blue box" all day compared with the NiCads which pooped out after 4 hours or so. I'd always be putting the pack on the charger at night anyway, so multiple days of hunting aren't necessary for me. :super:

I realize the charger represents a degree of over-kill both in terms of cost to build and effort of construction but I was in the mood for a challenging electronics project at the time and this just kind of fell in my lap. I'd only recommend this particular design to somebody that has a significant amount of experience with electronic construction, knows their way around basic test equipment and likes to build complex projects for fun. :nerd: That having been said I'll happily share the schematics with anybody that is interested.

I have a pic or two I can post, but not at home, so next week I can put one up when I have access to the drive where they are stored.

-pete
 
I wish I was able to message Explorer so he could see this post...
 
Sorry I have not been checking the board recently and have been in and out of town. I used my old Eagle battery pack to figure out the pin polarity in the Eagle that contacts the positive terminal on the battery pack.
Looking INTO the battery compartment of my Eagle the positive pin is the one on the RIGHT SIDE. I do not remember if it is marked (+) where the spring connectors attach to the main board. Check and re-check all your connection.
 
Thanks!!!
 
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