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SSM transmitter battery life


LarryF

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The 4 hour battery life on the SSM was the drawback that kept being repeated (politely) in threads and posts. We found a different battery that is 10 thousandths thicker but has 40% more capacity. At the same time, we added a new power supply chip that can run both buck and boost. So it can provide 3.3 Volts whether the battery is a fresh charged 4.2 Volts or nearly run down at 3 Volts. Note that one voltage case is higher than the desired output of 3.3 Volts and the other case is below. Hence a buck and boost power supply. That additional range gives us about another 10% of battery life. All in all, the SSM battery life is now 6 hours and 1 minute, worst case drain. We fought for that minute so the sales hawksters could claim "more than 6 hours". We had to scrap the original cases and start machining all over again since the contacts are spaced a little differently and this will add 2 weeks to the release.

I would have added this to the previous thread but JWS is a little confusing today.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Lectrosonics

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Indeed. I told my better half Saturday, that I had a 20 minute project under the sink. Two days later and many trips to multiple hardwares, I'm putting the tools away. I'm glad it was a three day weekend 

Your site up date has to be worse. Best of luck and thanks for all the hard work. As Hofsteder said, projects take twice as long as you plan even when you plan on them being twice as long as you plan.

LEF

p.s. The SSM is one of those twice as long projects.

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Indeed. I told my better half Saturday, that I had a 20 minute project under the sink. Two days later and many trips to multiple hardwares, I'm putting the tools away. I'm glad it was a three day weekend 

​I'll tel you a story someday about replacing a toilet in my apartment...  had no idea I might have to rebuild the FLOOR to do the install.

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>We had to scrap the original cases and start machining all over again since the contacts are spaced a little differently<

oh man, I bet that was a fun meeting

question - curious, are you able to recycle those cases ?

​They can be recycled by melting them down and starting all over. 

LEF

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That's great news Larry, do they have a Sennheiser compatability mode so they can be received by 3000-series receivers?  If so, they may get very popular in the Theatre market as well. The only thing missing is a multi-bay battery charger.

​We have a 12 up rack mount on the drawing board.

LEF

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That's great news Larry, do they have a Sennheiser compatability mode so they can be received by 3000-series receivers?  If so, they may get very popular in the Theatre market as well. The only thing missing is a multi-bay battery charger.

​Yes, they will play with the Sennys.

LEF

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Larry, great news on the battery.

Any chance of this thing running a 100mW now?

​Hi Derek,

There are no plans to increase the power. Fifty mW is the maximum for Europe and other countries and it is usable without a license in the US. Further, the small size would get a little warmer at 100 mW. On top of that, because of output stage compromises, battery life would suffer even at 50 mW. We'd definitely lose that 1 minute of battery life and more. Changing power would also mean about $30,000 in retesting fees and engineering time. There are permissive changes that are easy to get re-approved but changing power levels is just like changing frequency ranges; it requires retesting.

On top of all that, we already have an SMv that is also a very small transmitter with standard batteries and with 3 power levels of 50, 100, and 250 mW. We see the SSM as a specialty transmitter just like the WM waterproof. In both cases they are flexible enough to fill in for a standard transmitter but your kit normally is not built around them.

Best Regards,
Larry Fisher
Lectrosonics

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Thanks, Larry. These changes may well get me on board with the super miniature transmitters. The Lemo is a factor I love as it will work with my 2000 series Senny and Zax stuff. The 6 hour battery life is a critical change that really puts this into something I could take advantage of in unscripted work. 

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Larry thank you for providing the community with this innovative product.

i will be ordering some from Roger Patel at Everything Audio.

They are perfect for those rare occasions when an SMb isn't small enough and I can see my team using them in bra's,armpits,taped to the neck under hair and in hats/helmets.

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