Merchant Newsletter - September 30, 2006

Pocket Spectrum PLUS!



Pocket Spectrum gets our latest improvements


Merchants charging the Pocket Merchant and Pocket Spectrum have reported charging problems when using some 110 volt inverters in vehicles.

It seems that many 110 volt vehicle inverters put out enough "hash" to confuse the "brain" or CPU inside the printers charging system. 

 

Many of these vehicle systems are "Square wave" inverters, which put out 110 volts, at 60 cycles per second (known as "Hertz" instead of Cycles since the 1970's) in a pure "on/off" or square wave instead of the sinusoidal or "sine" wave put out by the power companies..  A square and sine wave are shown below:


Since a square wave is composed of an infinite number of higher frequency harmonics of the base frequency, there is a lot of high frequency noise in a square wave, overwhelming the little Pocket Merchant charger's CPU.

If you are having this problem, you can either charge your Pocket Merchant at home in the evenings, or you can get a Pocket Merchant Vehicle Charger.  If not, it is still a good thing to know if any other devices misbehave when used with a vehicle's 110 volt inverter.  Also, there are companies that make "Sine Wave" inverters if you have the need. Another note: remember these inverters are relatively low power, and they cannot operate items like heaters, blow dryers, etc.



The Pocket Spectrum has been updated to use the latest battery technology: Lithium Ion. This new printer / reader is now the Pocket Spectrum Plus+  Lithium Ion batteries have many advantages: 

  • High energy density - more uses between charges, and longer time of use.
  • Does not need prolonged priming when new. One regular charge is all that's needed.
  • Relatively low self-discharge - self-discharge is less than half that of nickel-based batteries.
  • Low Maintenance - no periodic discharge is needed; there is no memory.

While the existing batteries last far longer than a merchant could ever use in a single day, this new technology gives us the additional power for our additional enhancement:

Pocket Spectrum PLUS+ prints  30% faster!  using the higher voltage of the Li-ION cells, we are able to move the paper faster, while still heating up the dots hot and fast enough to maintain the same great print quality!

Unfortunately, Pocket Spectrum PLUS+ batteries CANNOT be used in the original Pocket Spectrum, and the older batteries cannot be used in the PLUS. 

We have been shipping the Pocket Spectrum Plus+ for a few weeks now, but we did not want to announce a new product before it was actually available.  The Pocket Spectrum Plus+ has proven to be as reliable and rugged as its predecessor. 

There is only one size of battery for the Pocket Spectrum Plus+, as the power in the standard Lithium-ION cell makes the old "double thick" battery unnecessary.  Pocket Spectrum Plus+ owners should make sure to order ONLY the Lithium-ion replacement batteries, as the batteries for the older Pocket Spectrum do not have the same voltage.


Six Flags Great America of Gurnee, IL is having a  Halloween-themed cockroach eating promotion. The park in Gurnee, lL., is joining other Six Flags parks in offering unlimited line-jumping privileges to anyone who eats a live Madagascar hissing cockroach. The bugs are up to three inches long.   Great America spokesman Jim Taylor says the bugs are nutritious, high in protein and fat free.

ORDER FREE MERCHANT MATERIALS HERE!!!

Copyright (c) 2004 Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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