Cool! What batteries did you use, and where did you source them?? Any pics?

 

No I didn't take any pic, but I would if hadn't already tape the pack up. I soldered them exactly like the ones in the original pack. I used 3800 mah 4/3 A batteries, and I got them from All-Battery.com | Tenergy | Rechargeable Batteries. Payed only 34.00 for eight batteries with tabs.

 

Thanks! Looks like I'll be getting some of those soon.

Cheers,

 

This is what I used for the second pack and it fits properly.

4/3 A 3800 mAh NiMH Battery - Flat Top-ideal for battery pack assembly

This is what I THINK I used for the first pack but different orientation is needed to fit it in the case.

4/3 AF 4200 mAh NiMH Battery - Flat Top (ideal for battery pack assembly)

or maybe it was this one??????
4/3 AF 4500 mAh Flat Top NiMH Rechargeable Battery - Ideal for battery pack assembly

17mm is the correct diameter but 18mm should work but will be a tight fit.

Plastic wrap and electrical tape will hold them together. Heat shrink if you have the large diameter.

bob gauff

 

I hope that I can get some help with an issue that I am having with my WDS.


First off, the docking station power supply took a dump, so I have been using the alligator clips attached to the battery while in use for power.


Then, the HDD on the hand held took a dump.


Started looking for a replacement power supply for the docking station and can't find one. Anyone know of a replacement with the P8, 6-pin connector?


Second option: Does anyone have a working Ford unit that would be willing to clone their HDD to mine?


I would really appreciate any help that I could get.

 

I shouldn't have stopped reading at page two. Lots of info here.


Wish I could have edited my first post.

 

Yes, there is! Read on.....

Back up there a ways is a good post on modifying a power supply for use in the WDS Docking Station, with pics.

Be sure to hit the New Member Forum and introduce yourself. That's always good.

Once you get enough posts under your belt send me a PM and we'll work on a way to get you reloaded.

Cheers,

 

Good read for sure. Got to thank everyone for posting all of this info.


Looks like I will be set after getting the docking station working. I have the Ford A-6, B-43 and C5-1/2 discs.

 

Shorting things out:
For the PSU ->
You need a 16 volt 2.5 to 3.5 amperes capable laptop charger - the plug doesn't matter. You need a standard atx computer power supply - 300 to 350 watts will do fine. Choose a "made in china" unit with lotsa space, as you will put the laptop charger inside. Take off your original psu' separate 4 or 6-pin header and and solder it to the laptop charger.

For the hdd -> You need a small 2.5'' IDE hdd - don't use ssd / flash etc. Old-fashioned mechanical disks 4 to 20 gb fit better. For the data on it you need the 2 disks that came with the unit (or a copy). They contain a ghost image of the hdd - fully functional. If needed the imaging process can be made on another computer - with all the necessary cables/adapters.

... I just wanted to summarize.

NOTICE: At least in my case, the busted psu caused significant damage to the host mainboard rendering it useless. So before wasting your money/time examine carefully the board for burned little thingies :-)

 

Things are looking good!!

 

She's a worker again. Huge thanks to everyone that posted in this thread.


Got everything loaded, battery conditioned and purring like a kitten.


Tomorrow I'll tear into it and see if this RAM that I have will work.

 

I just picked up 6 x 6.4GB hard drives that are fully tested and erased for £15 GBP at a computer fair today so I now have some spares to keep in stock. When I was looking at gadgets at the show I saw some 44 2.5" IDE to CF card adaptors so have also got two of them as they were very cheap. The next experiment is to try to load the CF card with the 3 cds and see if it works and what the speed is like. I have read that the CF cards read fast but are slower write speed but I am thinking that this would not be a problem as the older drives can not be that fast and most of the time the wds just reads data any way . I have never got a hard disk larger than 6GB to work as the next size I have is 10GB and that does not work. I and going to start testing with a 8GB CF CARD and a IDE adaptor to see how I get on.

Has any other members tested a set up with a CF CARD as a replacement HARD DRIVE on the IDE port ? and if so how well did this work ?

 

Interested to know how it works for you. As yet our two drive are holding up well. I need to be prepared for when something decides to take a dump.

Cheers,

 

I fitted a IDE to CF Card adaptor and installed a kingston 8GB Cd card and loaded the cds as normal to ghost and load wds program + data. This all loaded as normal and works fine with just testing the wds booting up etc and programs runs fine. The CF card i used was a cheap card and so it does not even list the MB/S speed so expect its very slow but i think it still looks a little faster than when using a hard drive. I then removed the CF card and made a GHOST image file of the card and stored it on the PC . I then formatted the CF card and restored the card with the image file from the GHOST file stored on the pc. The CF card was then fitted back into the WDS and again looks like it boots up and runs the program fine . I have not connected the WDS to a car but can not see why it would not work as all looks normal so far.

i have now done a search for CF cards and the best i found was a Read /Write speed of 120MB/S so have now ordered one and when i get that will load the same image file onto and see if i can see any speed change from cheap to quality CF cards.

Has any one made a dual boot system as unsure how to do this as when i load the discs does not give and option of a dual boot and just wipes the disc with the new loaded discs.

 

Hi All

Need a bit of help!

I have got my hands on a WDS that has not been used for many years.

The aim is to get it working again as it was dead.


Right first I looked at the base station, the power supply was missing!

Completely stripped the whole thing cleaned it & rebuilt it using an old computer ATX power supply. The two confirm 12V supply LED's light up on the main board & when I fit the PTU I get the two lights come on which are by the socket's on the side.
Thanks to what I read here I fitted a 16V supply & now the 16V confirm LED comes on as well. Drives open close & the base station appears to be O.K now.

Now on the PTU the only light that comes on is the green one to confirm an external PS is connected. If I try to switch it on, the red fault light blinks a few time & that's it. Nothing else happens.

I completely stripped the unit & found a small amount of water inside but no sign of damage from it or anything burnt out etc.
I checked the board battery & it was just under 1v so I have a new one on it's way as it should be 3V.
Then I looked at the main battery cells, they are completely dead! No reading at all!
So again waiting for some new ones to turn up.
Other than the above I could find anything else wrong yet.

So fingers crossed.

Now onto disc's

This is where I have no idea what I need.

This is a U.K Ford WDS & below I will list all the Cd's I have.

Question is do I have what I need to install a fresh install if need be?

B-21
B-21E
B-25
B-26
B-29
B-30
B-31
B-32
B-36A
B-39
B-39A
B-41
B-43
B-44A
B-45

C-2
C-4 (2 CDs)

Thanks in advance.

 

I forgot to say I want to use it as a Ford WDS for euro cars.

Cheers.

 

You are missing the 'A' disc (A6 is the latest GHOST disc).
The C5 disc set is also the latest.
They are loaded in alphabetical order A6, B43, C5-1, C5-2.

bob gauff

 

Thanks motorcarman that seems simple enough!

So I need a copy of an A disc preferbly A6 if I can.

Is there a link to a download or anyone willing to share a copy?????


I guess you pop it in & it should start up by itself?

Then I use my B45 disc & C4 disc's after & the WDS is ready for action?


Cheers

 

I can only copy the CD and mail it to you but there are folks on this forum that can upload an image file for you to download and make a useable CD.

Maybe a forum member can get in contact with you about file sharing over the internet.

bob gauff

 

I too have recently added a compact flash and IDE adapter to my WBS. The adapter that I bought was the same size as the HDD so fitment was perfect.


So far, working just fine.


The battery isn't lasting as long as I would like, but it doesn't get much use so I don't think I'll replace them unless they won't take a charge anymore.