> My EMeter has some odd behaviour when the %remaining drops below 0 (jumps > to a higher number, then starts counting down again). (yeah, I KNOW I > shouldn't do that!) > So I had an email chat with Xantrex, and they suggested that I send it in > for repair. At the same time I'm paying an extra $80 to have it upgraded > with the RS-232 option! > I hadn't realized you could just send it in to get it upgraded! (Actually, > I'm going to just drive it over there, since I discovered I work about 20 > miles from their factory/office.) > Now I need to get a cheap PDA with RS-232 so I can do data logging etc...
Try contacting I.T. departments at local businesses. Companies that supply PDA's for their employees often end up getting 'dead' ones, as the users don't have the same feeling of ownership that those of us who paid for our own have. What happens is, the batteries get run down in them, then after they try charging them back up, they "don't work". Many people don't realize (or read the manual) to know you have to hit the 'reset' button to fire them back up after the batteries have been completely drained. I picked one up on E-bay, complete with charger, cradle and manuals, for $25. I had expected to get just the cradle and charger working for that price, and have a paperweight or something to take apart. Palm V's and Vx's are notorious for this problem. Leaving them in the cradle connected to a powered down PC with the PDA charger unplugged is a sure method to run the batteries down. Another is a guy that goes on a trip and forgets the charger... (the "I'll get a new one when I get back" type). Worth asking around!
