AC adapter for PCMICIA Firewire 1394 card

Do you have one of these? http://store5.yimg.com/I/01dot_1741_263708

Well I do. If you want to try and find a power adapter for this, you'll need to know three things. And if you don't have this type of Firewire card, the three things still apply.

First the input voltage: From the folded slip of paper they call a user manual it says the card takes DC12V. That's 12 volts DC. NOT AC!

Second the polarity of the jack: Again from the slip of paper its says GND --(o-- DC12V. This means that the negative (-) voltage or GND goes to the outside ring and the positive (+) voltage goes to the center pin or tip of the power socket.

Third the correct size connector: Take the Firewire card, voltage and polarity info down to Radio Shack (gah, I know...) and ask them to find a connector that fits the Firewire card. They have a bunch of modular connectors to fit different sizes of power jacks. They call them Adaptaplugs I think. They probably have one to fit the Firewire card. Try different connectors in your firewire card (you did bring it right?) until you find one that fits snugly. Radio Shack sales people are often quite useless so you may just want to find the correct connector yourself though.

Get a Radio Shack AC power adapter that takes the Adaptaplug you've found. Make sure you get an adapter that puts out 12V DC. Again, NOT AC. Also make sure you have the polarity correct when attaching the connector to the power adapter. As far as what amount of mA to get, the more the better. The larger mA value means the adapter can power more juice.

You'll probably want the RadioShack 12-Volt 1500mA AC-to-DC Power Adapter, Catalog #: 273-1779 - $19.99
The iPod is supposed to draw no more than 1000mA so 1500mA should be more than enough. Unless you want to power more Firewire devices.

Now I haven't actually done this, it's just what I would do if I needed the AC adapter. Frankly, I just charge at home.

Just an FYI:

I have a CompUSA brand PCMCIA card that has a plug for an AC adapter. I picked up a RadioShack 12V 500mA power adapter (part # 273-1773) and their Adaptaplug "H" (model # 273-1711) which fits perfectly. I second xsfo and strongly suggest bringing in your firewire card to test out which plugs will fit. I wasn't sure 500mA would be enough but my iPod is charging off my firewire card as we speak. Total cost was around $15.00

Thanks for posting this question monkeyking84...I was looking for this exact information.