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Trx900LA for documentary film


Miguel Carretero

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Hi there, I'm shooting a documentary movie this summer and need 8 hours non stop recording, many of them with our talents so so far away from camera or sound set. It seems my only chance are the Zax LAs. Does anybody experienced with them recording 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, under severe temperature and dust conditions? Am I asking too much? We are about to star shooting inmediatly and still wondering If this gear will work at 60-70 degrees (ºC) for long periods....

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You can get that kind of time on the LA's.  I've used 16gig cards in mine that give me way more hours than I would need for most applications.  As far conditions, you'll just have to go for it and see what happens.  My LA's have stood up to a lot of different conditions indoors and out.  If they are hidden on talent, I can't see dust being a huge factor but checking them and cleaning any dust you find out of them would probably be a good idea during battery changes.  If you are indeed out of range most of the time, you won't know when your batteries bite it even with a QRX.

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I've used the Zax units in Afghanistan, I put them on soldiers at the beginning of the day, take them off many hours later. They worked well, not fault free, but well enough we were all happy with them. I doubt you'll be somewhere dustier and hotter than that! Lithium AA's are a must.

 

One problem, as Vincent alludes to, is you'll be generating a lot of audio files, I pity the person who has to log them!

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Miguel, the Zaxcom in the main worked well, but a recurring problem was that units would stop recording or switch off sometime during the day, when they're unchecked for so long, it's inevitable I guess. I had no breakages, and didn't bother with Aquapacks etc, if you're working with a fire crew, they'll be wearing clothing with somewhere you can hide the Zax. I always jammed the timecode at the beginning of the day and it more or less held all through the day. Let me have a think and see if I can remember any other issues.

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I never had a problem with trx900la recording. The only reason for not recording is low battery.

There is an option in the new firmware: low Batt stop. Set to never stop.

Set them up to "record on boot".This way the talent can change the batteries and just switch them on.

 

Trx900las with 2 lavs is a great solution for your situation. If one lav craps out or gets clothing noise the other one will be ok and will save your ass.

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I agree with all of u guys. Really good points Rado; I never thought about "record on boot" option, I really appreciate. Beyond the technical support and info netsharing, when I first met jwsound I felt sound crew could grow as a community and achive bigger things together. Cheers for that!

One last thing about powering the LAs; any estimated operating time using lithium AAs at 25mW???

Aaaaaand, I wouldn't like to forget one last thing: I dont often read any diary, but: I promise to subscribe if Mike "Senator" does the publishing :) You never miss a shoot Mike!

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Hi Dominique; good point! I´ve already ordered some aquapacs. Those are not Lectro but Ambient, I found them quick on ebay. Cheers!

 

And turning off the Tx is for sure the tip of the day Jason and Rado! This very morning after reading your posts I´ve gone through the entire manual and found that and some other cool features for this job, f. e. the Low Bat Stop. This one I think is perfect for long lasting recordings, I mean; if I´m shooting 8-10 hours a day, I just don´t care about missing last 3 minutes of my batteries lifetime, as long as I can be sure that files are properly closed and stored. This will keep me sane for the whole shooting!!

 

But here´s the deal right now; I´ve just put my hands on the first units I´ve rented, and the firmware Is a bit antique, so this very function still not implemented. I was just about to update firmware for TRXs and IFB, but, taking a closer look to the manual, it is clearly stated that if something go wrong during the process, the unit will have to be sent to Zaxcom to be reprogrammed. I definetily have no time for that. I´ve been in digital almost since the very first steps and I truly can tell that updating a firmware is one of those acts that can cause a random or unexpected error, even when things have been done properly, so..... what a deal

 

Can anybody tell me about his experience updating TRX firmware? Secure? I feel like I´m going ALL IN

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So embarrasing Jack but I just can´t find it anywhere around the menu....

 

During the startup many pages are shown in a couple of seconds and I would bet I can read Zax v 8.08 but... I´ll need to shoot a 100 ips detail of the screen to be truly sure

Hold the down button on boot up and the menu will be slower.

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Thx Justin! I've been in "Lectro Mode" for many years so its first time I put my hands over Zax trx. In my cart I use Deva which I love as recorder and matrix, but never made my mind about radiomics...

My firmware is 8.08. No risk in updating as far as I use the proper version?

Another important fact I wonder (I truly feel like a beginner) it's about generating a custom TC from the IFb 100. No explanation in the manual, no menu where I'm supposed to manually introduce the starting TC.... But I bet it's my fault tht just can't find It cause I cant imagine IFB not admitting a custom, manually introduced TC

Thx for all your help guys: btw: I'm in progress with my first autonomy tests, using different battery tipes. I'll give you the details very soon.

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Sure John but my cart and heavy gear will be milles away on a different unit. I would rather prefer the ifb to accept a manual entered TC. I guess I should carry an ambiet clock to feed the ifb, but, imho, I wouldn't espect from the "smart" zax tech that a tc gen would just jam from an ext sync, or began from 00:00..... Isn't It strange?

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I carry an extra Denecke sync box that I jam everything from.  First thing in the day I set the time I want on the Deva, then jam the Denecke box which I can easily carry from device to device and jam or re-jam during the day.  When I'm back on the cart, it feeds the Deva, so everything is either fed, or jammed, from Denecke boxes and the solid code they provide.

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Hi John! Yeah I've seen you use the Deneckes. I use Denecke slates but muy clockits are Ambient (same game). The fact is; if I need to carry the clock box to feed the ifb, I may feed the TRXLAs straight with the Ambient, and may save the ifb and an extra 12v batt for it. I will only feed them once a day, cause this unit will operate completely wild, with no sound guy in there.

Thx for an smart idea Simon. That should make my day but, so curious, this camera is not providing Tc output, neither input. It has tc gen, but the only way to exchange it is embebed on the HDMI signal so....

Anyone is providing tc to TrxLAs from an Ambient clock? We just made wiring today and will test it tomorrow

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We´ve got some results about batteries lasting on the LAs.:

 

Alkaline NiM AAs: 5 hours

Same but rechargable: 5 hours

Lithium 2800mA: 11 hours

 

These test are done in NO TX mode, just recording, and in a medium to quiet enviroment. I believe the more transduction of pressure made by the lavs, the more power consummed???? Not sure about this point anyone could confirm or disagree please?

 

Easy tests but, who knows, may help you to save some bats and time testing?

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