Dave Williams Posted May 28, 2013 Report Share Posted May 28, 2013 The GMP batteries are rebranded chinese made batteries which I believe use japanese cells. I've been using the Vect branded ones and they have been really solid - not the best shape for my bag but heaps better run time than my np1s - I have however found the d-tap to be a weak point and have opened it up and resoldiered the connections and reinforced the cable output point, and the connection has become a bit sloppy over time, probably because of the less than ideal thickness. I get about 2 days out of the 95wH using a home made loom off the d-tap - have rarely had issues ( 1 or 2 caused by cable breaks rather than battery ) Thanks for the tips and experience Joel! I've always been an enthusiastic solderer so that sounds like it wouldn't be too trouble. I'm also planning to wire up my own power distro system, but it will be a while until I populate my bag with some QRXs, so have plenty of time to think about how I'm going to wrangle it all. -- Yeah cheers Vincent, I was also thinking of sourcing (or modifying) a compact and light v-lock adapter in the event that the D-Tap was acting up, or if borrowing one from camera dept... Regards. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundmanjohn Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Pulled the trigger on a Deben Tracer 8AH battery, which arrived by return. Comes with a soft case with belt-loops, a mains charger, a car charger and a couple of connectors, one of which you can specify at purchase. I asked for bare end and am building a simple BDS box to go with it. It looks good and feels well made, so I have high hopes that it'll do the job. When it's all together, I'll post pictures. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Are those tracer batteries avail in the USA? Online I only saw UK sources. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundmanjohn Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 www.tracerpower.com/tracer-battery-packs.html Regards, John Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taskin Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Went with the Tracer's also, got 2x22ah ones with the funny Tracer plug-->XLR. They look pretty solid, havent tested them on the field yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundmanjohn Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 OK, built my little BDS system out of bits I had lying around, so nothing very pretty (must get a set of needle files), soldered up a Hirose cable and ran the 788 in record until the battery warning came on. I had the low-battery warning set at 10.5v and got five hours and ten minutes out of the Tracer, with the screen showing the external voltage at 10.9v. There was still one green LED on in the battery's fuel-gauge, so I suspect I could have probably have gone for six hours. Here's a quick picture of the set-up with a standard NP1 for comparison. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Looks good! A set of needle files is definitely needed for installing those Hirose connectors properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundmanjohn Posted June 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Yes, I discovered the need for a notch, but the rather ragged hole for the slide switch also needs attention. I wll paint it when I get back. Regards, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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