At 04:53 PM 19/02/2002 +1300, you wrote:
> > The device has to last 5 years on a battery and I didn't want
> > to spend time calculating which would be the best solution
>
>As I found out/realised recently, diodes use power. If you
>drop the 6V battery voltage by ~15%, that's  ~15% of battery
>power wasted. Are you able to get the micro (eg an LF) to
>run on just one battery that requires no voltage dropping ?

But it still makes no difference to the mAH rating right?
It just means that the battery is 4.8V at the same current
rating as far as the micro is concerned. The current drain
on the battery is still exactly the same. The *power* (V x I)
consumption from the battery will be higher than the micro
uses - the diodes make up the difference. Only a switching
regulator will reduce the current on the battery side of the
voltage dropping circuitry. (not counting the switching reg's
current requirements) All up, the diodes way may be the
best/easiest way to go with a 6V battery.
Regards...

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