DGT

Can I use battery power for the board?

The DGT e-board has an internal memory for about 500 moves. Moves can only be stored in memory when the board is powered, but the memory is preserved without power. With the DGT program Queen you can retrieve your games later.

You can use a wall-plug with a USB outlet for this purpose, but you still have to be in the neighbourhood of a mains outlet. There are also commercial battery powered power-sources for USB available. They are commonly used for mobile phones or personal music players.

Be sure that it supports mini USB. The one in the picture is not expensive and works with a single AA battery, preferable NiMH rechargeable.

Tests showed that with this simple device the chessboard is able to save your moves for at least 5 hours.

You can also build one yourself:

Try to get hold of a USB-A receptacle and connect it to a battery container for four AA batteries.

Take good note of the plus and the minus in the picture. Only the two outer connections are used for the power.

Only use rechargeable batteries, because the voltage should not exceed 5 Volts (in the end it is much cheaper too).

The board uses 35 mA. With 4 batteries of 2000 mAh this means about 55 hours of power.

If you are not able to buy a separate USB-B receptacle, then buy a cheap USB hub and take out the four receptacles. You can provide your friends with some too then. If you build a device like this, you do this on your own risk. DGT can not be held responsible for any damage due to homebuilt devices.