I went on the webiste and nowhere does it mention that it needs a seperate power supply... It is just a rebadged B6 charger that is common from china.. I have one and it works very well... the strange symbols you are getting happen on mine occasionally.. they look like chinese writing mixed with english.. what I've done is unplug the charger and plug it back into the power supply.. don't power up the charger with the batteries connected, or plug in the charger lead first.. power up charger to power supply, plug in balance taps then plug in discharge leads(the larger wires).. when I follow these steps the charger works great.. I won't tell you what I paid from Hobbycity for mine with the power supply.... I've seen the losi charger on horizons website and I can't believe what they charge for it... One thing about this charger is that it works well when you finally get the bugs out of it... I've checked the voltages against several other methods and it balances fine.. for the price I can't complain... Its not surprising that Losi can't figure out the charger.. .they didn't make it... almost forgot... the chinese original one comes with a manual that is not good, but it does explain basic charger functions... I guess whoever translated the manual gave it their best shot...