OK, so I'm going to the Amersfoort meet. I'm flying from Orlando, FL through London (both airports - yecch) and into Dusseldorf. I don't know if this qualifies for the distance prize, since I'm officially going to visit my girlfriend in Germany, and bringing her along.
Anyway - my question is this: Am I going to have a big hassle trying to carry on the empeg, powered by a portable 12V 4AmpHour battery? I know I shouldn't, as It's essentially no different from a laptop on the inside, but should I expect to have a problem either getting on the plane in Orlando or going through Customs in Heathrow? I'm sure that the empeg is not on the list of FAA approved devices, but what are your experiences?
Thanks,
Jason

My empeg's gone through the xray machine 6 times since 9/11. I have never had a problem. That kind-of scares me.

My empeg has quite a few airmiles under its case and i have had no problem, the battery might raise a few eyebrows but do take a 120/220 power supply so you can boot it infront of them.

Also i carry a allen key incase someone gets too noisy so i can open it insted of them hacksawing it open, but it has never even been looked at.

My empeg has never been examined, but Roger and Peter got checked at Heathrow. It's a very good idea to have an AC adapter handy to power it up. Thinking about it, I have had both my laptop and empeg swabbed for explosives a couple of times at SFO - no big deal though.

Rob

Is the empeg in the same emission catagory as laptops? will you be forced to be mp3free during parts of the flights?

Flying from SC to Dallas, we had no problems with security, but the attendant did ask us to stow it during take off and landing. Also you can get a inflight adaptor to save on the weight, if your flying a large enough plane to have electrical plugs in the seats. Overseas I would assume you are.

Flown three times between Atlanta and Washington Dulles and never a problem. Ive even been searched at the gate twice too. Even in the pelican case I have it they dont seem to be to worried and never asked me to turn it on.

Top tip don't take any marizipan with you on x-ray it looks exactly like plastic explosive.

It is a very cruel trick to play on fok you don't like.

Another semi popular trick on ships is the shim brass gun. Cut out a shape of gun/knive from shim brass and then stick it in intended victums bag hidden in book or something.

The most popular is the heavy bag. Just before intended victum leaves ship normally a large lump of metal is inserted and lots of giggling as person sturggles off with bag. Some poor victum flew all the way home with a 12inch steel blank in their bag.

My empeg has never been examined, but Roger and Peter got checked at Heathrow.

Yeah, but that was because of Roger's shifty expression, not because of the empegs.

Peter

Personally, I think you are more likely to have trouble with the battery, especially if it is wired up in a manner that looks "home made".

As I mentioned in this thread A Universal auto/air adapter works great with tip #3 for some in-flight groovin. That way you don't have to carry a heavy battery and worry about it running out of juice.

Question:

Will you be listening to it on the plane / have headphones that will work with the line level output or a headphone amp?

No, the battery doesn't look "rigged" in any way. It kind of looks like this, but the case is red and doesn't include the 110v inverter. Just a 3"x3"x5" 12v battery in a red carrying case with lighter socket built-in. I figured the battery would be my biggest problem, but I'm pretty sure the planes I'll be on don't have 12v power. I am also bringing my airplane socket converter, just in case.

I'm not just bringing the empeg for the meet; I want to listen to some audiobooks on the way, too. I figured I'd just keep it in my backpack along with the battery, and shove it under the seat in front of me, and listen through a long-wired set of headphones that I've got. The battery's been tested by me to power the empeg for about 9 hours, which should at least get me through the leg over the pond.

Yeah, the headphones work great with nothing more than an RCA-to-1/8" headphone cable and a 1/8" female-female coupler.

Very cool! You might want to check with the airline to see if they have a power source on the plane for you to tap into, in case the battery proves an issue.

I'm gonna double-check the model of the airplanes, but I'm not very optimistic.

ISTR that lead-acid batteries weren't allowed on planes - tickets say "no wet-cell batteries". You may need to go for a NiMH/NiCd solution.

In my experience (United, BA, Virgin) you don't get laptop power feeds unless you're in business class... which I only ever get to go in if they accept bloody air-miles upgrades on my ticket type (which invariably, they almost never do).

If you can get mlord to add it quickly, a "display off" setting in hijack (actually turn the display totally off, back to blinking LED) this will help your battery life a lot - it's the major power consumer in the system.

Hugo

I had questions about this as well, I am flying cross country (USA) soon and later this year I am flying to Italy. I INTEND to carry on in two bags the following; a laptop, a Soundblaster Extigy, my Zaurus (SL-5500) with all the adapters and such, the empeg of course and all the stufff for it, A Sony NETMD walkman, a USB hub and a digital camera. Primarily I want to carry these items on as I am not very trusting of airport employees of any kind and I will refuse (as much as possible) to check them. Ok honestly I am not very trusting of anyone and I am paranoid ba$tard. LOL

By the way the Extigy and the Empeg work great together. The Extigy definately will power a set of good digital monitor headphones if you have the power plugs available. Once in Italy I don't intend to have anything for a stereo other than the Extigy/Empeg Combo and a good set of 5.1 speakers, the laptop and the Sony MP3 player. (The 5.1's are primarily for the DVD's via the laptop)

StaHi

Can you just set the info and visual to off? Or use hijack's screen blanker?

>If you can get mlord to add it quickly, a "display off" setting in hijack (actually turn the display totally off, back to blinking LED) this will help your battery life a lot - it's the major power consumer in the system.

Mmm.. I just had a quick go at this, but turning the display off appears to also stop the music a few seconds later..

?

Turning the display off turns the amp remote off, IIRC. It shouldn't affect the AC mode, though. Unless there's something odd going on.

Well, that must have been it -- my amp takes a few seconds to drain the power supply.

But this is in AC-Power mode (which is how my player is used 95% of the time). And I like having the player automatically turn the amp on/off in AC-Power mode, so please do not fix it.

Cheers

-ml

I don't think it's anything they CAN fix. As I recall, the "display off=ampremote off" is a physical hard-wiring, not a software thing.

So would you mind including this feature in Hijack? Maybe just a menu option to turn off the display until it's rebooted? I guess pressing a button could also wake it up, but seeing as how it'll be in a bag with other stuff, a button might get pressed without my knowing it until the battery dies...

But as for Paul's question, will simply turning the visual and info off conserve any power? My guess is "not much", as the heater filament would still be powered, right?
Thanks,
J

tickets say "no wet-cell batteries".

Yes, but a sealed lead acid isn't a wet cell battery, it's a gelcell. The rules are, as far as I know, designed to stop anything that could spill corrosives on the aircraft, which then fizzes and falls apart. Same reason mercury thermometers aren't allowed (mercury on aluminum in the presence of moisture dissolves it remarkably fast).

I'm sure I've come across something about gelcells being permitted, although to be completely safe it might be a good idea to check with the airline.

Patrick

Well.. it's bloat for a very rare occasion, but.. just for you, I'll put out Hijack v275 shortly (say, 10 minutes or so).

-ml

Okay, Hijack v275 is out, and now has a "Screen Blanker Action" item on the menu.

-ml

Just a quick note - when the screen blanker cuts in and you've chosen to have the display switched off rather than just blank, the LED goes back to standard pulsing, ignoring any custom hijack LED flashing that has been configured.

Cheers,

A.

Yes, that's how it is supposed to work.

Cheers

-ml

May I suggest the Hijack labelling for this function be changed to "Screen power down", since the power saving aspect is it's essence...

Thanks a lot, Mark. This works great!

Tony's right. This "rubbing the lamp" thing works pretty well!

Good. I hope your trip goes well.

Cheers

I may have spoke too soon. It seems that the player stops playing (remote screen in web applet goes blank) - I think it's going into standby mode - after about 34 minutes of playing. I can't find any settings with this time value in them, and this only happens when the screen blanker is active, whether it's set to blank screen or power off.
If there's anything else you need to know, please tell me. Would a savearea dump help? If so, which page(s)?
Thanks.,
Jason

It's a feature, not a bug!

Place this into config.ini:

[hijack]

standby_minutes=0

Wow, cool! I had no idea there were so many other features in Hijack. I should read the FAQ more often.
I'll let you all know how much extra play time I get with this display hack as soon as I can.
Jason

I was really impressed to see that my little 4 Amp-Hour battery powered the Mk2 for 18.5 HOURS, without the display on. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to test it with the display on, but blank, nor with the display on fully. I'll run those tests when I get back from Europe. Needless to say, 18 hours is plenty to get me through a couple flights!

Thanks again, Mark.
Jason

With a hat like that I can't say I'm surprised

The up side is pretty soon you wont need the led button kit.

>18 hours is plenty to get me through a couple flights!
>Thanks again, Mark.

Great! Have fun!