$7.00 Digital Clocks Have Battery For Memory Backup, Why

[WildBoar]

My elderly (and very retired) parents watch
a lot of television. They've got a 9" hang-
ing from cabinets in the kitchen, two or three
13 inchers, and a 20 something inch model in
the living room. (Yeah, I ran all the cable,
etc.)<p>If the power is removed for any reason all
the channel selections, color settings, etc.,
vanish.<p>The procedure for programming these TV's can
be incredibly confusing, especially for
elderly people who hate computers.<p>I've breadboarded a zillion circuits over
the years, and have used the one or two
diode and a battery method to retain memory
in IC's.<p>Modern televisions are cheap and compact mainly
because they are built using tightly integrated
modules. Except for the CRT and a few other
components, they are essentially a TV on a
chip(s).<p>Is there a way to add a battery to your plain
vanilla, nine, thirteen, or twenty inch TV
that would retain the memory when the main
power is removed? <p>I even had the crazy thought of using a small
DC to AC inverter for each set in my parents
home, that would kick in when the main power
drops out. Like WC Fields once said, "when
I get the urge to exercise, I lay down until
the feeling goes away."<p>WildBoar

[Chris Smith]

A dozen TV's later..... Yes, it would be better to add in a UPS and tap it into the power line for a temp hold power, assuming there is no draw other than the TV? <p>You can tap into each TV module that controls the channel, mem, etc, but a dozen times this becomes tiring after the first five or six? <p>A thousand watt might even run the fridge, freezer, and what ever that happens to be running when the power goes off? Doubt it? <p>Problem either way,.... Is where to power it so that the house doesn't try to run from such a small back up temp supply? <p>6 of one, half dozen of the other? Either way, <p>You have your work set out for you?

[WildBoar]

OK Chris, you've convinced me that creating
a circuit to hold the memory settings in a
TV is a job best left to the manufacturers.<p>In my parent's neighborhood power outages
occur at least once a month, but they never
last for more than a hour or two.<p>I got the idea of using 50-to-100 watt
inverters (I've seen'em for as little as
$20.00), so I wouldn't get that monthly
call asking me to come over and reprogram
all the TV's!<p>Don't get me wrong, I care a great deal
about my folks, and hope they're around for
along time to come. I was just trying to
think of a way to avoid my monthly TV
reprogramming duties!<p>Thanks Chris.<p>WildBoar

[Chris Smith]

If it were only one TV, life would be Easy? You have two bad choices, and must choose the best one out of two. If you can re-route the circuit pannel to cover wall out lets that run TV's only, You could cover a wide base of different TVs with a single or dual units?

[dacflyer]

heres a even easier idea,,i have same problems too so i solved the problems with plain ol computer back up power supplies,,,
i got a ton of them free,,,all they needed was just new batteries.. they last about 1-2-3 hrs depending on load.. and i got one on my entertainment center
and one on my stereo /tv/vcr in my bed room,,,
i haven't had to reset the clock on my microwave no more either,,,or any other clock in my house for over 2 yrs now,,except for DST. adjust...
just a thought i wanted to share