Philip Perkins Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 I checked out the Lectro SSM via the banner ad on this site. I was surprised at a few things I found: --proprietary rechargable battery, only? Proprietary charger, not a fast charger, of the sort usually sold as "travel chargers", that are usually pretty slow and hard to crowd into an AC strip in numbers --a Lemo mic connector, (not TA5F). What? This is a Lectro, right? phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Wait, what? That wasn't an April fools joke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Olle, after years of Lectro April Fools jokes, that's what makes it such a great joke: it's for real. Info, link to manual, etc. here: https://www.lectrosonics.com/US/SSM/product.html Phil, ya, those things popped out at me too (cause the SSM's small size and wide band is pretty attractive). Is it a proprietary battery? When I google the Lectro part number + description (40098 3.7V lithium-ion battery pack), I get results suggesting that there are some cell phone batteries that **might** be compatible. Not that I'd try anything like that without Lectro's OK...but it might mean that Lectro didn't design their battery from the ground up and it might not be so expensive. Still, not AA, AAA, or 9V. And the manual says something like 4 hours of life off a battery...ya, would be nice to see a two-battery charger or something that'd fit into an AC strip a little better. As for the Lemo... a space issue? Just a WAG. Kind of a bummer to buy or rewire some lavs to work with a transmitter that I won't own a bunch of... But enough of my dumbass punditry. Would love to hear from Lectro about their thoughts on the SSM design choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 How do you spell awesome? SSM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 some questions: In the manual it says contact the manufacturer regarding "CP"s 3, 6 and 7 - so of course i thought i'd ask here first :-), will these allow similar compatibility as previous lectro systems? Eg sennheiser HiDyn (not hdx) . The belt clip suggests the TX is designed to be used 'upside down' (therefor not upside down)? I generally try to keep (TX & RX) antenna pointing upwards if i can as i suspect a drop in performance when not doing so - are my suspicions unfounded? thanks, dan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 The data sheet says "Lithium-ion 3.7 V 800 mAH DLF40 battery pack", and an Amazon search shows a bunch of them. I'm pretty sure they are the same batteries that go in things like some small point & shoot cameras. I don't know if there are multi chargers out there, but this doesn't seem to be a proprietary battery.... Unless it has some custom firmware or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Ray Harris Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Lemo is a deal breaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Lemo is a deal breaker Agree. Having to have separate lavs wired for Lemo is an unnessary expense. OTOH if Lectro provided a TA 5 to Lemo short jumper cable with each unit sold that would be acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Maybe Lemo is the future and they will be switching over time? I remember a thread on here sometime in the last few years where, I think it was Larry, mentioned the need of a smaller connector down the road and wanted some user feedback over the options. One nice thing about the Lemo is that you can have a waterproof version of those same connectors (cross compatible). I think the spec sheet says this one is considered water resistant? Future waterproof transmitters using the same connector as other transmitters would make life a lot easier. Complete speculation there. I did a show in 2014 where I carried COS11Ds terminated for Zaxcom, Lectro TA5 and Lectro waterproof. Reduce that to 1 or 2 versions and I would be happier. I realize I was in a unique situation, but even if my kit was 100% Lectro, I carried MM/WM mics too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Not approved for Canada or Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 A couple of thoughts on the design decisions made while developing the SSM: 1. The only way to get this transmitter smaller than the SMV/SMb was to change the connector and the battery. This unit is 2/3 the size and 2/3 the weight of the SMV. 2. The NP-40 type battery is not proprietary, it is widely available and not expensive. The one (two, actually) we supply with the unit were sourced from Lenmar and have proven to be fairly consistent and of decent capacity, yielding 4+ hours of run time. We do recommend that you purchase spare batteries from us, but in a pinch, you can get NP-40 batteries from a wide variety of vendors. 3. The Lemo connector is an industry standard, has proven to be tough & reliable, and is used on several bodypack transmitter models. Ours is wired the same as for Sennheiser and Zaxcom, so there are ready stocks of microphones available from all manufacturers and in rental pools. 4. It has been submitted for IC and will also be for EU/CE but generally, these take longer than the US certifications. 5. Antenna down is preferred in many cases because it helps keep the antenna away from the body, and also any moisture/sweat that runs down the mic cable drips off before getting to the connector. Because of the small size of the unit, however, we anticipate that it will be placed in sewn-in sleeves, Neopax straps, hidden in wigs, etc., i.e. not using the belt clip. 6. The SMV/SMb will still be available because it has features the SSM does not, specifically the isolator, and for US versions, the higher RF power (up to 250 mW). We see the SSM as a specialized product, even more so than the SMV/SMb, to be used where size and weight are at an absolute premium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryF Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 A few things to add to Karl's post. The Lenmar brand battery from B&H, Amazon or Lectro is a solid performer. Ninety percent of the other battery brands out there are counterfeit. The Lemo is small, rugged, water resistant, small, available from the usual dealers, small, widely used and further, it's small. We have configured the transmitter to change bias voltages, polarity, resistor loads, and line level input to match all popular mics without having to put resistors in that hard to wire Lemo. Choose a mic by name on the menu and go. We allready have an adapter cord to go from TA5F to Lemo. Of course we do. All the testing for the FCC is done and the file is being submitted to the Feds for dotted i and crossed t cross checking. We hoped to have approval at NAB and we still might, but you know how approvals can drag out. Since we have finished all FCC and SARS testing, Canadian approval will be straightforward and quick, a matter of days. Best Regards, Larry Fisher Lectrosonics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feeley Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Karl and Larry, thanks for you responses here. Quite helpful. See you in Vegas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 We allready have an adapter cord to go from TA5F to Lemo. Of course we do. BOOM! * Drops the mic and leaves the room * Excellent points. I expect no less from Lectro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 I'm sure the Lemo is a great connector, I've had other TX that used them over the years. They are a pain in the ass to fix, esp compared to TA5F. The TA5F was one of the reasons I went with Lectro way back in the CR185 days! I'm sure Lectro had to do what it had to do, but I'm hatin' on that connector. I also really don't like the addition of a battery that, proprietary or no, in my world will ONLY be for that TX, can't last a day of work and has no alternative (unless they are planning a AAA sled for the thing in the future). For movies with a very organized sound dept that has a routine down, ok. For stage/live work, sure. For other sorts of doco--scrambling kinds of jobs, esp. 1-man-band, I'm not sold. I don't want yet another battery type to manage. 3 Blocks wide is mighty cool though. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 I'm sure the Lemo is a great connector, I've had other TX that used them over the years. They are a pain in the ass to fix, esp compared to TA5F. The TA5F was one of the reasons I went with Lectro way back in the CR185 days! I'm sure Lectro had to do what it had to do, but I'm hatin' on that connector. I also really don't like the addition of a battery that, proprietary or no, in my world will ONLY be for that TX, can't last a day of work and has no alternative (unless they are planning a AAA sled for the thing in the future). For movies with a very organized sound dept that has a routine down, ok. For stage/live work, sure. For other sorts of doco--scrambling kinds of jobs, esp. 1-man-band, I'm not sold. I don't want yet another battery type to manage. 3 Blocks wide is mighty cool though. philp I think the target market for this transmitter is theater, where the size, connector and battery life are either ideal or pretty much standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek H Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 No one seems too miffed about it being only 50mW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Goldberger Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 I personally love the tiny rechargable battery, and I hope that at some point someone will develop a better system for recharging a ton of them at once. That they are square and could stack up saves a lot of space in an already crowded sound bag. Karl/Larry: Are these wired 2-wire (like Zaxcom), or 3-wire (like Sennheiser). My understanding was that it had to be one or the other... e. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 The SSM will work with either 2-wire or 3-wire mics. For instance you can wire a COS-11 either 2-wire or 3-wire (lower sensitivity and lower distortion) and both work with this transmitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 And speaking of adapters….can we see one? Is it a cable with two connectors or a hardware lump a la YPA? philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 PN# MCATA5MLEMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks, ok, but hmmm…. Do these TX respond to the phone/dweedle tone control? philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlw Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Yes, dweedle tones work with the SSM. In fact, there is an update to Lectro RM coming soon that has new settings in it specifically for this transmitter (25 mW, for instance). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAB414 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 No one seems too miffed about it being only 50mW Yeah it's weird. I work in NYC and use 100mW as a minimum. Kind of surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Nice little RadioShack project box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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