Does the Internal
Clock Chip have a battery???
[Ian S. Piper] Yes. A 3V
lithium.
If so, how long
does it last,
[Ian S.
Piper] The manufacturer doesn't have a value listed in their
specification for the ROM version chip that we use. I'll contact the
manufacturer to get that information. Typically they last about
five years. Other support staff in the field might be able to give
you more info based on their typical
experience.
and is there a way to check how
much power is left in the battery???
[Ian S. Piper] There is no
capacity check. If the clock chip has failed or its battery is used
up, the only indications of the problem is that the "SET TIME/DATE"
function does not appear in the diagnostic mode or that no time/date stamp
appears on any of the printouts.
At the time the diagnostics were
written, the clock chip was optional. Since I've not known of any one
wanting a unit without that option, perhaps the non-existence of the clock
chip data should be a flag to the AV-OS unit that the clock chip needs
replacement. That could be written into a future version of the
firmware. Submit it as an RCR if you'd
like.
Also another feature of the clock chip
that the oscillator bit can be turned off conserving the clock chip's battery
power. A diagnostic routine could be written to command the clock chip
to power down, say after the election is officially over and after the unit's
main battery is charged up. You'd lose the time and date and have
to set it the next time you turn the unit on, but usually elections
require the time to be changed due to daylight savings. It would be
more inconvenient to have to set the date during the same routine you'd
normally just set the time forward or back an hour, but customers could
make that decision for themselves. Currently, the clock chip
battery is being run down while the unit is just sitting on the shelf between
elections. This clock power down function could also be an RCR.
Submit it if you find enough interest.
One of our
customers is asking this question, and I did not see it anywhere in the
Accu-Vote Hardware Guide.
[Ian S. Piper] This information should be included in
the documentation. It's already listed as a consumable, but
I'll CC Tracy Treat on the info, when I get it, so that she can add it to
the manuals.
Thanks,
Jeff Hintz
Diebold
Election Systems
405 N. 115th Street
Omaha, NE 68154
(402)
697-7171 office
(402) 697-7166 fax
(402) 871-3346
cell