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ZMT3 & PowerRoll


Wandering Ear

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I just received 2 ZMT3.5 transmitters, and I was very surprised to find that they are not capable of PowerRoll.  I figured with the short battery life this would be a critical feature.  Was this included in other versions of firmware?  Does anyone have PowerRoll on the ZMT3's?  Or is this just incorrect info on their website?

My transmitters came with V2-25 software.

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First off, I'm pretty disappointed at the battery life in general. I've had a pair of these for a month now and I average just over 4hr at 50 or 75mW, let alone the 5.5hr runtime that has been repeated from Zaxcom consistently, or anywhere close to the competing product's "real-world" runtime of close to 6hr (granted w/o features like NC, Znet, recording, 75mW option). 

 

I have yet to need these tiny packs for an extended period of time, but purchased them with the idea that PowerRoll could extend that runtime, whatever it may be, further. To now hear that it will no longer be implemented has me contemplating exchanging these for full-size TRXs. Would be nice to have an official statement from Zaxcom on the matter.

 

 

 

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Since I recorded the Gotham video I decided to not include the power roll feature as it did not save as much  power as I expected it would at that time. Power roll is very effective with our TRXLA3.5 so it will continue to be a supported feature of that product. We do need to make sure the documentation is correct based on the final product specification.

 

Run time of the ZMT has been limited to about 5 hours. This of course has a lot to do with the capacity of the battery.

 

Glenn

 

 

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"Yup, I had an TRX3.5LT and it was funky and wouldn't transmit... I sent it in three time under warranty and was told the TRXLT3.5 were having issues and were to be discontinued."

 

There are no I repeat no "issues" with the TRX3.5LT.

 

It is simply that everyone now wants the ZMT3.5 so you go with the flow.

 

Glenn

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  • 8 months later...
3 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

axcom have not had a 25mW I believe ever.

Sent from my LG-US700 using Tapatalk
 

Power roll only switches from 50 to 125 on the LA's, but 25mw has been a menu option for many years now.  I have never measured to verify that it is an operational setting, but it's there on all LA and ZMT transmitters.

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1 hour ago, RadoStefanov said:

I have measured.

Sent from my LG-US700 using Tapatalk
 

How did you measure?  Did you have power roll turned off when you measured?  Power roll will over ride the tx power menu setting. Please elaborate.

 

I just put a trx900la next to my rf explorer and I see about a 3db difference between 50mw and 25mw.  About 3.5-4 db difference between 50mw and 125mw.   

I can also see a difference in signal level on a ZMT3 between 25mw and 50mw.

That looks to me like 25mw is working.

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How did you measure?  Did you have power roll turned off when you measured?  Power roll will over ride the tx power menu setting. Please elaborate.
 
I just put a trx900la next to my rf explorer and I see about a 3db difference between 50mw and 25mw.  About 3.5-4 db difference between 50mw and 125mw.   
I can also see a difference in signal level on a ZMT3 between 25mw and 50mw.
That looks to me like 25mw is working.
I mesuered it away from the transmitter. I don't know how you see a difference but there was never one on any of my transmitters.

Sent from my LG-US700 using Tapatalk

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27 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

I mesuered it away from the transmitter. I don't know how you see a difference but there was never one on any of my transmitters.

Sent from my LG-US700 using Tapatalk
 

Did you turn off power roll first (assuming a trxla)?  Power roll overrides the power setting in the menu.

Here is what I am seeing.  It's a clear difference at each of the 3 power settings.  I don't have an ssma to sma cable otherwise I would plug in directly and skip the antennas.

 

125mw

MVIMG_20180417_184008.jpg

 

 

50mw

MVIMG_20180417_183951.jpg

 

 

25mwMVIMG_20180417_183931.jpg

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2 hours ago, Wandering Ear said:

 

Did you turn off power roll first (assuming a trxla)?  Power roll overrides the power setting in the menu.

Here is what I am seeing.  It's a clear difference at each of the 3 power settings.  I don't have an ssma to sma cable otherwise I would plug in directly and skip the antennas.

 

125mw

 

 

 

50mw

 

 

 

25mw

Can you try on a newer 2.5 2.6 ?

I don't have a way to measure now.

When I tried was on trx2.5 and there was no difference between 25mW and 50mW. I even spoke to the mothership about it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I don't have any 2.5 or 2.6's on set with me, but I looked at a ZMT3 and it seems to show the same results.  The still photos freeze the RF peak level, when it's active in real time there is a fluctuation of about +-1db regularly, but it's accurate enough to see a clear shift when I change to each power level.

 

25mw

MVIMG_20180417_211623.jpg

 

50mw

MVIMG_20180417_211524.jpg

 

75mw

MVIMG_20180417_211501.jpg

 

I think I have too much free time on set today...... 4 hours of MOS so far.

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