Station Presets

[freeworld]

I have a Rotel RX-1052 receiver, and all in all it's a very nice, great sounding unit. And I do listen to FM with some frequency, so this was my easiest option. I am now on my second unit. The first one kept losing the station presets when we had a power outage/interuption. Assured that a new one would solve the problem, Rotel was happy to make the replacement. Well, low and behold, today after a couple of power blips (the unit is protected by a high quality APC power strip) the new one has lost the station presets again. What's up with this? Am I the only one that's seen this more than once?

Thanks in advance.

[Kevin D]

APC power strip or battery backup? Most Rotel units will lose their memory when power quickly goes on/off. It's not the loss of power, but the low voltage as the power goes out. If you live in an area where this happens, you really need to have it on a voltage regulator.

If it is an APC battery backup, please keep in mind that not all battery backup's are voltage regulators. It will only switch to battery when the power is lost, not as it's dropping below 100 volts on the way out.

Kevin D.

[freeworld]

Interesting thought. Mine is just a surge protector. Rotel never mentioned that to me -- you'd think they would have known this before switching out my unit. And in my analysis of the problem, I was never able to recreate it simply by switching off or unplugging the power strip. That goes right to your point. It still seems kind of strange that it should have this behavior even with low voltage. Isn't the internal battery capable of maintaining the voltage for the circuit that keeps the data? I never had this problem with my old NAD unit...

So is a voltage regulator expensive? Any thoughts on which ones I should look at?

Thanks.

[GregLett]

This will do the trick.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=310

[Kevin D]

Interesting thought. Mine is just a surge protector. Rotel never mentioned that to me -- you'd think they would have known this before switching out my unit. And in my analysis of the problem, I was never able to recreate it simply by switching off or unplugging the power strip. That goes right to your point. It still seems kind of strange that it should have this behavior even with low voltage. Isn't the internal battery capable of maintaining the voltage for the circuit that keeps the data? I never had this problem with my old NAD unit...

So is a voltage regulator expensive? Any thoughts on which ones I should look at?

Thanks.

Even one of these would work:

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=307

You don't really need a battery backup, just a regulator. The cheapest H-type can be had for under $200.

I don't believe there's an internal battery, it just hard writes it to the eeprom. The low voltage situation triggers something that defaults the entire eeprom.

Not sure why they didn't think of it, but it is the first I've seen it on the 1052.

Kevin D.

[GregLett]

You will need the battery if your power blips out. I have the one without the battery, and it's great for my occasional over voltage condition, but when my power blips out it is of no use.

I am in the process of getting a few of the small UPS units with battery backup to solve my power blip problems. I hate it when the cable box resets :M

[freeworld]

You will need the battery if your power blips out. I have the one without the battery, and it's great for my occasional over voltage condition, but when my power blips out it is of no use.

I am in the process of getting a few of the small UPS units with battery backup to solve my power blip problems. I hate it when the cable box resets :M

That's for sure. My cable box DVR sometimes looses it's recording settings, and even the already recorded shows...

[freeworld]

So now I'm confused. Do I need a regulator, a regulator with a UPS, or just a UPS? It would seem from the description of what's going on that a UPS might do the trick if it can kick in quickly enough. And a small UPS is a lot cheaper than a voltage regulator.

[Kevin D]

That's the problem, a UPS generally kicks on when there is no voltage, not when there's low voltage.

A voltage regulator will kick in when there's high or low voltage. High voltage it just cuts down. Low voltage it will boost as long as it can. When it can't boost voltage anymore, it cuts all voltage cleanly.

A UPS/regulator combo will do the same as above, but will switch to battery to continue boosting the voltage. It will also run without power at all.

I've had units on a cheap APC backup that have still had their eeprom reset.

It's more of what's going on at your place. How often does the power go out? Is it just flickering or out completely? How long does it stay off?

If you are fine with not using the unit when the power goes off (for however long), a regulator should keep the eeprom from going nuts. If your power goes off for 2-5 minutes a lot and you want to continue listening, get a UPS/regulator.

A standard UPS might work fine in your situation. You could pick up a $20-30 to try out and just throw it on a computer if it doesn't help.

Kevin D.

[freeworld]

That's the problem, a UPS generally kicks on when there is no voltage, not when there's low voltage.

A voltage regulator will kick in when there's high or low voltage. High voltage it just cuts down. Low voltage it will boost as long as it can. When it can't boost voltage anymore, it cuts all voltage cleanly.

A UPS/regulator combo will do the same as above, but will switch to battery to continue boosting the voltage. It will also run without power at all.

I've had units on a cheap APC backup that have still had their eeprom reset.

It's more of what's going on at your place. How often does the power go out? Is it just flickering or out completely? How long does it stay off?

If you are fine with not using the unit when the power goes off (for however long), a regulator should keep the eeprom from going nuts. If your power goes off for 2-5 minutes a lot and you want to continue listening, get a UPS/regulator.

A standard UPS might work fine in your situation. You could pick up a $20-30 to try out and just throw it on a computer if it doesn't help.

Kevin D.

OK. Sounds like a UPS is not the best solution. I really don't need to keep listening if the power goes out for any time -- I just don't want to lose my pre-sets. We don't get a lot of real outages, but it seems every time the wind kicks up we get some blips and that's what's zapping the eeprom. It seems crazy that I should have to buy a $200 device to keep my $800 device functioning properly, but that may be my only option. Of course I could always just hit the surge protector toggle switch every time I'm done listening

Anyway, thanks for all the help.

[GregLett]

OK. Sounds like a UPS is not the best solution. I really don't need to keep listening if the power goes out for any time -- I just don't want to lose my pre-sets. We don't get a lot of real outages, but it seems every time the wind kicks up we get some blips and that's what's zapping the eeprom. It seems crazy that I should have to buy a $200 device to keep my $800 device functioning properly, but that may be my only option. Of course I could always just hit the surge protector toggle switch every time I'm done listening

Anyway, thanks for all the help.

No. You need the ups.you have the same situation I do. The wind picks up and the lights flicker. The ups will switch to battery during those brief interuptions and keep your equipment from seing that power loss. In the event that the power stays off you will have time to power down your equipment. As Kevin said a cheap ups should do the trick, that's the way I'm going.

[freeworld]

No. You need the ups.you have the same situation I do. The wind picks up and the lights flicker. The ups will switch to battery during those brief interuptions and keep your equipment from seing that power loss. In the event that the power stays off you will have time to power down your equipment. As Kevin said a cheap ups should do the trick, that's the way I'm going.

You and Kevin disagree on this. He said the UPS will only kick in when the voltage gets to zero. It sounds like somewhere between 110v and 0v the eeprom is getting zapped. It doesn't bother me if my equipment shuts off because of the power blip, I just don't want to lose my presets.

[GregLett]

You and Kevin disagree on this. He said the UPS will only kick in when the voltage gets to zero. It sounds like somewhere between 110v and 0v the eeprom is getting zapped. It doesn't bother me if my equipment shuts off because of the power blip, I just don't want to lose my presets.

Not really. He explains how the voltage regulator works. I experience what you are describing. I live on Long Island where I am served by overhead wires. bad weather caused problems. We are not talking about brown outs, we are talking about the quick one second or less power interruptions. The UPS will switch to battery very quickly sparing your equipment.

If you have low voltage, or in my case over voltage conditions then the voltage regulation come into play. I currently have the APC with Voltage regulation but no battery, so when the lights "blip" There goes the cable box and the PC. Those types of power interruptions will do bad tings to you equipment over time. I once had to replace an Cambridge audio CD player after one of my power blips.

It won't hurt to try a low cost UPS like the one like below. The run time doesn't matter, you just need the brief battery protection.

http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE550R-Back-UPS-8-Outlet-Battery/dp/B000KBG51W/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1221602146&sr=8-1

[freeworld]

Not really. He explains how the voltage regulator works. I experience what you are describing. I live on Long Island where I am served by overhead wires. bad weather caused problems. We are not talking about brown outs, we are talking about the quick one second or less power interruptions. The UPS will switch to battery very quickly sparing your equipment.

If you have low voltage, or in my case over voltage conditions then the voltage regulation come into play. I currently have the APC with Voltage regulation but no battery, so when the lights "blip" There goes the cable box and the PC. Those types of power interruptions will do bad tings to you equipment over time. I once had to replace an Cambridge audio CD player after one of my power blips.

It won't hurt to try a low cost UPS like the one like below. The run time doesn't matter, you just need the brief battery protection.

http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE550R-Bac...1602146&sr=8-1

Hmm..... that does sound like my situation too (I'm also served by overhead wires in an older neighborhood). A cheap UPS sounds like a much more palatable solution. Maybe I'll try that first. I guess I could put the UPS behind my current surge protector.