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DIY Power Lavs with NP1 Battery


cmb1455

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hey guys

 

So my kit has two Sony UWP series Wireless Mic Kits.  These are only powered by two AA batteries.   I know higher end receivers can be externally powered by a DC cable and a BDS system, but unfortunately the Sony's don't have a DC power jack.

I'm wondering if there's a way to have a DC wire going into "dummy batteries" that would then power the receivers.  I could then hook up the DC to my BDS.

 

Here's what I'm working with:  NP1 style battery, Hawk-Woods NP cup/BDS  (Its the NPC-SQ4NS).  The NP then powers a Sound Devices 302, and Sound Devices 702T from the Hawk-Wood's 4 pin hirose outputs.     

I basically want a wire that goes from the Hirose output the Hawk-Woods connector to some sort of "fake AA" that will power the receiver.

 

Any suggestions?

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I've never seen a AA form factor battery eliminator --- 9v snap top type are quite common. The first thing you need to do is determine what the supply voltage is for these SONY receivers (Note: I would not refer to them as "Sony UWP series Lavs" since "lavs" refers to the microphone, not the transmitter and receiver set). 2 x AA could be 1.5 volts, could be 3 volts --- you need to determine this. A "dummy battery" can be easily constructed (I have done them with wood) to fill up the battery compartment, but if you feed the battery terminals on this dummy battery from your BDS putting out a nominal 12 volts, you will undoubtedly blow up the Sony receiver and maybe even start a fire. 

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If you're talking about powering your UMP series receivers in the bag, this may work.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/355456-REG/Sennheiser_DC2_DC2_DC_Camera.html/prm/alsVwDtl

 

(UMP series are not lavs but sony radio mics, please try to be more clear next time..)

 

Grant.

Good suggestion. This item is designed to replace 2 x AA with a DC to DC converter built in to allow for connection to 12 vdc.

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Well, thanks to those of you that actually tried to answer my questions. I see I also attracted the terminology police. :-)

To clear up confusion, here is a link to my wireless microphone kit. As you can see, it is commonly referred to as the Sony UWP series.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001EYPZAQ?pc_redir=1407283477&robot_redir=1

What I'm talking about is powering the receiver of this with the NP1 that powers the rest of my bag. The post that engaudio made was actually exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I will look into whether it could be used for my receivers.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

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Okay thanks, concern about the terminology noted. And for anyone who hasn't gotten it yet, yes I'm talking about the receiver unit. While I and others commonly refer to the whole kit as a "lav" for short, I understand that I'm in the company of dedicated sound persons who have a much more comprehensive vocabulary and use that on a more regular basis. I should have been more clear in my initial post, and for that I'm sorry.

But I think at this point, we've moved past it. So maybe future responses could deal with the actual task at hand and not a mistake I made about terminology when trying to describe said task?

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Maybe moved past, maybe not. I think most all of the initial replies DID offer up whatever help or info that could be offered regarding your task, but then also offered some guidance on terminology. It is not that so many of us are "dedicated sound persons who have a much more comprehensive vocabulary" it is more than lots of have learned that we have to be clear, to ourselves first and to others later, how we refer to the equipment and procedures we use in our work. Most people here who did comment on your mis-use of the word "lav" were merely trying to help out so that you would not perpetuate "commonly refer to the whole kit as a 'lav' for short". This is not only short, it is wrong and mis-leading.

 

So, now we move on. I think the link to the Sennheiser item is your best bet. I have not found any other AA battery eliminators (thanks, Grant)  http://www.bhphotovi...ml/prm/alsVwDtl

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Thanks ShastaPete and Eric. Both great suggestions that I think will work for my setup.

Jeff, I searched for similar terms to describe what I was looking for but the term "battery eliminator" did not come to mind unfortunately. My search terms led me to DIY battery kits and the sort but not what I was needing. And I did spend ample time searching before I posted here. The reason I came to this site is because of knowledgable and helpful people like yourself to help steer me in the right direction. Just knowing the terminology, as you have stated, is important and I was not sure how to even properly describe what I wanted.

Luckily with the help of yourself and others, I now know where to go with this to get the answers I need. Thank you all again!

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It was not necessarily obvious that the OP was in search of a powering solution for a receiver, as someone might need a battery eliminator for a transmitter (the perceived "lav" end of the system) for use as a camera hop. I am not familiar with the Sony UWP series, but in some Tx/Rx systems the solution to provide external power for the Rx may be the same as for the Tx.

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I thought Eric was making an Internet joke: "just go to batteryeliminator.com" but it's a real site. I think Eric has nailed it with this link:

 

http://www.batteryeliminatorstore.com/index.php?id_product=14&controller=product

 

attachicon.gifAA-eliminator.jpg

Joke?? Shy, quiet, self affacing, unassuming moi would make light of a serious question? Surely you jest sir. Vindication is mine.

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auxiliaryYou don't have to as there is an external 12vdc power connection built into the units.

This is correct.  And the Hawk-Woods unit I have has 4 auxiliary outputs (hirose 4 pin connection), so it's just a matter of having the hirose 4 pin at both ends of a cable.  The sound devices mixer and recorder have a wide range of acceptable voltage compared to the Sony Wireless Kits.

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our host:" why didn't the poster do the same Internet searching that so many of the members of JWSOUND have done for him (me included)?"

8)

 

also keep in mind that the little electrit condenser lav mic's need to be powered, which is what I thought the OP was asking about...

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Rick,  interesting.  I mostly use the Duracell Pro Cell AA's, and my experience with consumer-level rechargeables has been less than appealing.  Just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding, when you say "Endloops" you're talking about Sanyo brand Eneloop rechargeable batteries?  I've never used them but maybe I should give them a try.  While price of batteries wasn't really driving my decision, you make a great point.

 

I wish Sony made a kit like the Sennheiser has. On the Sonys, both the transmitter and receiver have a little AA battery cartridge that clicks in there.   Even if I used one of the AA battery eliminator kits that others have suggested, I would still have to make a modification to that battery cartridge to allow the wire to come through. 

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cmb: " Just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding "

I think you may be...

rechargeable AA options are regularly and thoroughly discussed (and tested) here on jwsoundgroup.net 

Well, a google search of "Endloop" batteries only returned what I said.   This is why asked for clarification.  Instead of constantly jumping in with snarky remarks, maybe you could just say "Endloops are....".   So far you've made 2 or 3 responses that have had nothing to add to the conversation.  Atleast Jeff Wexler often gave helpful info.  

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