A LOT of stuff runs on 6 volts (4 "AA") batteries these days. But if you
choose to run a zener diode in series you lose any regulation you might have
had. If a car is charging it's battery correctly it will be at 13.8 to
14.2Volts. Six volts worth of drop would yield 14.2V- 6V=8volts! NOT a good
way to go.
A better way to go is to use a 7808 (they do exist,but a 7806 does not) and
place two 1N4001 diodes in series on its output. 8Volts-1.4v(diode
drop)=6.6volts. DO NOT float the ground ref on the 7808 as the tempeture
charactoristics of the diodes will come into play.If you decide to go this
route, remember to place a 10Mfd AND a .1Mfd fliter close to the 7808 to
prevent it's possibility of generating any noise.
If you MUST use a "Zener" type regulator, Motorola does make a family of
them rated at 50 watts in a TO-3 style case..Eddie

"Burr" wrote in message
link.net...
Cool,
What runs on 6v's now days?

WShoots1 wrote:
There's a simple voltage reducing trick that Drake used in at least one
model
of an emergency marine receiver. To make the 12-volt powered receiver
operate
on ships with 24 volts (Europe), a Zener diode was put in series with
the d.c.
input. It was installed inside the cabinet, which had plenty of room.
Because
of the current requirement, it was a hefty top hat type.

That could be done for civilian SW units, to operate off readily
available
regulated 12-volt power supplies. I recall that, after a couple of Zener
failures in customers' receivers, we installed two or three smaller
values in
series instead of a single 12-volt Zener.

So, for a 6-volt/500 ma (1/2 amp) receiver like my DX-392, I would use,
say,
three 2-volt/1 amp Zeners in series between the power supply output and
the
power input to my receiver.

Bill, K5BY