battery distribution power options

[commpost]

With NP-type battery distribution, is it ever possible to power other DC devices such as notebook computers or video monitors? Is such further distribution even advisable, bearing in mind that my recorder is a 788T, which will need all that power throughout a day's shoot? Are there any unusual things in the kit that might be powered additionally by an NP battery distribution system?

thx

Commpost

[DecentSound]

I have a Marshall field monitor that I'm powering using an NP-1. Just made a battery cup xlr power cable that plugs right into my monitor and powers it.

[Vincent R.]

In theory all if the math works out. That is, A * V = W(att)h. So if you say your 788 uses one NP1 for a whole day shoot, everything else connected to the same supply will inevitably cut time from that. How much? Again, depends on the A * V = W sum. So it depends. Hawks Woods makes nice Apple magsafe adapters by the way. To use with 12/14.4 volt solutions.

[johnpaul215]

A 788T by itself will burn more than one NP-1 in a day, even before you throw in wireless.

If you are running a computer, do you need it to be as portable? A lot of people have much larger battery reserves on a cart.

This past weekend I used a 788T with 4xSRa receivers. I was using 5 or 6 NP-L7s in a full day. I don't know how old the batteries are, but that was my experience. It seemed a little excessive to me, and I am a little surprised.

[Vincent R.]

The feature I last did with a 788/c8 combo used about 2 np1s a 12 hour day. Only powered down during lunch for about 45 minutes. Swit 73w/h. No new ones for sure. Rx were on their own distro

[Saif and Sound]

I had a quick question regarding discharging of NP-L7S's. The JL-2 charger that normally charges them doesn't have a discharge function. And I've read around that it's better to always discharge them fully before you recharge them. This increases their lifespan is what im told. Will I have to buy another charger? Or are their other ways to discharge them?

[Jon Gilbert]

You don't need to discharge LIon batteries before recharging them, Nicad and NiMH yes, but not LIon.

JohnPaul, those batteries are clearly ready for the trash!

[daniel]

hi Commpost,

I use np1 lion batteries with a hawk woods battery cup giving me 5 hirose outputs. I have a spare battery cup with only 1 output lead that I am building a parallel system using hawk woods D-tap connectors. As reliable as the 4pin hirose have been for me I need more ouputs than are available on respective battery cup (5) and having the option of putting the recorder on a separate power supply i think is advantageous. Hawkwoods do a version of the D-tap connector that has both male and female connections in the 1 item (PCX3). This will allow me to add as many devices as the battery will allow (including another np1 battery in parallel). My other reasoning behind this idea is that D-tap seems to be quite commonly available on batteries for other kit (eg video camera batteries); they will sit nicely on the flat side of a piece of kit; the system is small when plugging 1 or 2 and is bigger only if you need more outputs. I also hope the connectors are a lot easier to solder than 4 pin hirose - so making it easier to add a device to the system.

Whatever the system, if you make up a power lead with a dc car accessory/lighter socket you can use some of the 'in car' accessories available for charging or powering devices. eg usb, ipower battery charger, light, gps, dvd, lcd, cell phone, laptop but probably not an air pump or fridge etc. It may not be advisable to charge or power some of these devices from the same supply as your recorder or even while recording.

dan.