"industry-standard DC battery packs"

[-silent-sam-]

I am interested in picking up an Edirol R-4 or R-44 for doing field recording.

One thing that has stopped me from picking one of these things up is that they only get a couple hours of battery life on 4 or 8 (depending on which one you get) AA batteries.

Every time i find a description about the Specs and Features of this product I skim through it and it always says that you can use "industry-standard battery packs" or "industry standard external battery packs".... except they never really give an example of an "industry-standard battery pack"

Can someone point me towards some of these "industry-standard battery packs"?

[John Willett]

The only "industry standard" battery pack I know of is the NP1 - the cost of one of these and the necessary charger is about twice the price of an R-09HR.

[Sound Sorcerer]

I use Delkin 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeable AA's for my field gear. They last longer that alkalines and use Energizer 15min charger connected to the wall or car lighter socket...

Delkin 2900mAh NiMH AA rechargeable battery 4 pack

[David.H]

This was the one thing I was concerned about when considering the purchase of a portable machine. I purchased a Fostex FR2 LE with a Tamiya battery and charger. The cost was £40.00 for the battery and £50.00 for the fast charger. (rounded up figures) The charger will work from mains power or car battery.

I recently took the machine on a lecture tour of the Sound Mirrors in Sussex, England (the last for 2008) where if power failed I would be sunk. The machine was started at about 2.15 in the afternoon and was turned off about 6.00p.m. and I had loads of power left, the battery indicator hardly moved. The Fostex manual states 8 hours. On the tour a German girl had a new Sony model and I have e-mailed her to find out how much battery life she managed with her machine.

[-silent-sam-]

Originally Posted by David.H

This was the one thing I was concerned about when considering the purchase of a portable machine. I purchased a Fostex FR2 LE with a Tamiya battery and charger. The cost was £40.00 for the battery and £50.00 for the fast charger. (rounded up figures) The charger will work from mains power or car battery.

I recently took the machine on a lecture tour of the Sound Mirrors in Sussex, England (the last for 2008) where if power failed I would be sunk. The machine was started at about 2.15 in the afternoon and was turned off about 6.00p.m. and I had loads of power left, the battery indicator hardly moved. The Fostex manual states 8 hours. On the tour a German girl had a new Sony model and I have e-mailed her to find out how much battery life she managed with her machine.

I don't understand how i could use a Tamiya battery with the edirol r-4 pro.


Here are some pictures of the r4 pro.
Edirol R4 Pro Recorder

As you can see the DC in is some kinda 4 prong input.... kinda looks like a XLR male except with 4 prongs instead of 3.


The machine comes with an adapter as well to plug it into the wall.

Is there such a thing as a rechargeable battery that just has a output on it so you can just "plug into it"?


Kinda new to the whole location thing and i am tottally clueless on this....

[Karl_Lohninger]

You can put a 4-pin XLR on any battery that meets your voltage requirement. When I work in areas with no power or generator available I bring a number of car batteries put inside pelican cases. Drill a few holes, mount some 4-pin xlrs and voila.

The thing though is while these batteries last for a long long time and also are comparatively cheap, lead batteries are heavy! Lithium batteries come in all kind of forms and comparatively light weight, but tend to be expensive and the charger won't be cheap either.

So why not follow Sergio's suggestion and get rechargeable AAs....NiMh or Lithiums? Saves money over time and keeps your package small.

Karl

[-silent-sam-]

Originally Posted by Karl_Lohninger

You can put a 4-pin XLR on any battery that meets your voltage requirement. When I work in areas with no power or generator available I bring a number of car batteries put inside pelican cases. Drill a few holes, mount some 4-pin xlrs and voila.

The thing though is while these batteries last for a long long time and also are comparatively cheap, lead batteries are heavy! Lithium batteries come in all kind of forms and comparatively light weight, but tend to be expensive and the charger won't be cheap either.

So why not follow Sergio's suggestion and get rechargeable AAs....NiMh or Lithiums? Saves money over time and keeps your package small.

Karl

I think that might be the way I have to go..... However from my experience rechargeable AAs never last as long as Regular AAs.

This would mean that I wouldn't have to keep buying batteries yes, but how often would I have to change out the batteries?

The R4 pro has a battery life of 2 hours without phantom power or a pre record buffer....on 8 AA's

If i was using phantom power and a pre record buffer and I was doing like 8 hours of shooting.... I might have to change batteries more then 4 times.... which would mean I would need at-least 16 batteries.....does anyone know of rechargeable AA's that actually last longer then you standard none rechargeable AA's?

What i was kind of hoping for was to find something more similar to a camera battery that would last longer..... and even when it does die it would take me about a half a second to plug in a second battery.... Does anyone know of anything more like that? or am I going to have to make one or two?

[Sound Sorcerer]

Maybe cause you haven't tried 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeables. I run my Sound Devices 302 Mixer for over 10 hrs with a single batch & my Lectrosonics SM Transmitters for up to 4 hours with a single AA 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeable. BTW in Hollywood & NY AA 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeables IS the standard.

[-silent-sam-]

Originally Posted by Sound Sorcerer

Maybe cause you haven't tried 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeables. I run my Sound Devices 302 Mixer for over 10 hrs with a single batch & my Lectrosonics SM Transmitters for up to 4 hours with a single AA 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeable. BTW in Hollywood & NY AA 2900mAh Ni-MH rechargeables IS the standard.

what charger do you use to charge those bad boys?

[Sound Sorcerer]

I'm using Energizer's 15 minute charger, but you can get a better 8 bay charger/conditioner from Thomas Dist:
Maha MH-C808M AA - AAA - C - D Battery Charger
I actually use NP-1 lithium's for all my other compatible 12 volt equipment, but always have at least eight 2900mAh Ni-MH spares just in case...

[David.H]

I'm in England, Tamiya batteries seem to be the standard battery for model hobbyists (aircraft). I think Tamiya is the type of connector. They make a 12V battery which might suit, with you making a mod to the Edirol connector and battery. I would have thought with 1.2 amp drain it should last for hours. You would have to purchase a charger as well. Fast Flite*Stick Pack 12v 10-cell 4200mah with Tamiya Connector - CML DISTRIBUTION - 1st for Radio Control Models

[fifthcircle]

Much of the stuff out there that is made for carts has a 4 pin XLR for delivery of DC power. There are large batteries out there that specifically use those for distribution of power. Such devices include the Remote Audio MEON and Hotbox Eco Charge EC-90, PSC's power products and others... A look at stores such as Location Sound, Trew Audio, and Coffey Sound will give you lots of options.

Of Course, these batteries are cart-portable. Not exactly the kind of thing that you can lift if you are on the run.

--Ben