"Andy Ball" bravely wrote to "Greg Mayman" (19 May 04  21:14:12)
 --- on the heady topic of "SILICON CHIP ON LINE"

 AB> Hello Greg,

 GM> ...I bought a 3x AA cell holder for $2.50 from Dick
 > Smith Electronics, and a pack of AA alkalines...

 AB> For low-current, long-life applications I tend to go for Zinc/Carbon
 AB> cells.  Was there a reason that you chose Alkaline ones
 AB> (convenience?)?

For low current applications one should use the shelf life of a cell
as a figure of merit. IIRC Z/C cells have a shelf life of a couple of
years. In addition the Z/C cells will have a constantly decreasing
terminal voltage during its shelf life. Compare this to alkaline cells
which have a 5 year shelf life while the terminal voltage will be
practically a flat line. Subjectively, I've measured alkaline cells
that were over 10 years old and still had a decent terminal voltage.

 Mike
 ****

... That was a fascinating period of time for electronics
--- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30