Rechargeable Battery Pack

Geoff AB6BT

I need clarification on charging the battery in the rear compartment of a Maestro B.

I keep seeing that the battery must be charged externally and that the Maestro B is not capable of charging the battery.

But the manual (4.2.4 USB Power Banks for Maestro “A” and “B” pages 12-13) states:

"If the internal battery is completely drained, the Maestro “A” and “B” will shut off and will require charging
through the wall charger port on the back of the Maestro (up to 15 minutes may be required before
the Maestro will restart in this condition). "

Which is it?

Thanks.

Al K0VM

Geoff,

Both.. The Maestro A/B has two batteries. One that is a part of the DELL tablet the Maestro is built on, the other is the removeable battery. The Dell battery will discharge if the Maestro sits idle ( 30-60 days) and needs to be recharged through the wall charger port for a few hours before the Maestro can be used. The removeable battery must be removed for charging.

AL, K0VM

Geoff AB6BT

Hi AL,

OK, why then, is the statement I quoted, in the 4.2.4 USB Power Banks for Maestro “A” and “B” section of the manual?

If you read those 2 pages it seems to be discussing the rechargeable battery pack.

Nowhere in the manual does it state that the battery pack must be removed to be charged.

Thus my confusion.

Unless I missed it…

David Decoons, wo2x

Geoff

original design of the Maestro A was to allow charging of the extra “battery bank” pack inside the Maestro. Flex found too much inconsistency in the Chinese battery banks and are similar to e-bikes. Some can be prone to catching on fire. Flex even found different lot codes of same model battery bank were not electrically the same. So internal charging of external battery packs on A and B version Maestto was removed.

The Dell tablet battery in the A model can discharge to the point of not booting and requires disassembly of the Maestro to directly charge the Dell tablet if that happens. Instructions are on the Help Desk page.

I will look at the manual later today (Tuesday) and if there is incorrect statements, I will raise it with the documentation team to get it corrected.

The Maestro C uses an industry standard pack from RRC and the Maestro C will charge that pack inside the Maestro safely. Use a genuine RRC battery.

73 Dave wo2x

Geoff AB6BT

Dave,

Thanks for the thorough expalnation. I understand now.

The manual is confusing and does need to be reviewed. I kept hearing that the battery pack had to be charged externally. So… I thought OK, I'll read the manual. That only made things worse.

It certainly may be that I am misinterpreting the wordage.

Mike-VA3MW

Maestro A and B, the battery had to be charged externally. Maestro C will charge internally.

Geoff AB6BT

Mike, Got it.

But, the manual is unclear and misleading regarding the USB Power Bank battery.

Nowhere does it state the the battery pack must be charged externally, in fact, it suggests that it can be charged internally.

Thanks.

Mike-VA3MW

The C model can't use a USB Power Bank.

A and B are not able to. In the beginning, that is what FRS had hoped to do, but we found that the USB battery packs are not all made equal. They spent weeks trying to make it work.

Geoff AB6BT

Mike,

I understand all that.

What I'm saying is that the Maestro manual is incorrect and misleading. I tried reading the manual for clarification but only ended up with conflicting information

It needs to be revised. Read pages 12-13. This is the section discussing the battery pack and it states that if the battery is discharged it must be charged using the wall charger. This implies that the battery pack will be charged in place. All this should not be in the 4.2.4 USB Power Banks for Maestro “A” and “B” section

It never states that the battery pack must be removed to charge.

David Decoons, wo2x

Geoff,

I am reviewing the verbiage in the Maestro manual today. Thanks for pointing this out.

73

Dave wo2x

Presale Product Support

Geoff AB6BT

Dave,

That's what you get for reading the manual!!!

Thanks.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

The reference to use of the wall charger is to charge a drained internal (permanent) battery in the Maestro A/B, not the removable battery.