Power Alarm

[Rich Schaefer]

I have created temporary a homemade solution to using third party batteries. Knowing the amazing response of the Red team, they will provide a long term solution. For now here is what I am doing. It is a 12 volt DC battery alarm. I found it online:

http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-products/LOWBAT-XL.html

I put on a Lemo and some velcro. It seems to work well. The light is green when all is good, then when it is running low it flashes Red & Green, then Red & Yellow. Then an audible alarm sounds when it goes below 12 volts. I tested it today and it works!

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/richcam1/REDcarmt-11.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r224/richcam1/REDcarmt-21.jpg

I know it is kinda ghetto, but I would rather my Red be a bit ghetto than deado! :watsup: :)

Cheers,
Rich

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

but I would rather my Red be a bit ghetto than deado
Brilliant braVE IDEA . :biggrin:

[vincelucero]

Very cool man. This will help many until RED finds a solution. You gotta cut em a break as they're focused on image quality and enabling options as opposed to worrying about 3rd party power. The RED batteries work just fine.

[R. Gonzales]

Yo Rich,

That's cool, Do you mind posting the wiring specifics for this little beast? Please... :biggrin:

[Harry Clark]

That's HOT!
Harry

[Rich Schaefer]

Knowing the amazing response of the Red team, they will provide a long term solution. For now here is what I am doing.

The wiring is per the Red ops manuel: Pin 1 is Negative and Pin 4 is Positive. The soldering is a tad tricky, the pins are small.

I hope this helps, that's why I shared.

[Jarred Land]

now thats what im talking about.. nice work rich.

[I Bloom]

Maximum Respect:spidy:

[Dylan Reeve]

I'm guessing that hookup wire is quite a lot heavier than necessary, if anyone were worried about the heavy-duty look of it all.

These types of kits are often sold for automotive purposes, so you could probably find a lot of others like it if you look around. I know there are ones available in NZ with LED voltage read out, and smaller ones also.

[Rich Schaefer]

the wire is way bigger than necessary. It amped out @ a 0.02 amps draw (I am fairly sure I read it correctly, it flowed through my meter) The wire is snug in the Lemo.

I hope this helps,
Cheers,
Rich

[Finner]

Really cool Rich.

Your kickin ass lately with all your posts.

[Jarred Land]

3rd parties like Rich who make products to work with 3rd parties, really helps us ease the burden of making everyone happy while we make sure our base is solid before we dive into the requests.. thanks Rich.

[Wes Printz]

Good find Rich, Shall I cease working on my In line LED read out? I can't compete with that device at US$30.00.

How loud is the beep? You would not want an angry sound recordist coming over and ripping that off your camera. Is there a hole you could muffle with a bit of tape?

[Rich Schaefer]

Pana-tech this is a lateral pass to you buddy! (superbowl reference). Take this thing and run with it! So far it looks good to me.

It is kinda loud, but by the time it sounds you have bigger problems than the take, the camera is 20-40 seconds from quitting.....maybe hard! You could muffle it, but I would not.

Check one out, or I will use it on a shoot this upcoming weekend and let you know.

[Wes Printz]

Thanks Rich, I'll look into it, but if it only gives you 20-40 seconds... could be imporoved on. I'll keep on with what I'm working on. Main thing right now is my day job has been keeping me a bit busy down here, along with making a few cables... have a few other ideas as well on things.

[Rich Schaefer]

Pana-tech, I don't want to discourage you from building anything better!!!! This is basically an idiot light with a buzzer (automotive term).

the 20-40 seconds is with the buzzer sounding with one of my dionic 90 batterys. it's 2.5 minutes of the flashing lights.

What do you have cooking?

[Wes Printz]

That's why mine will have a GAUGE.. (LED Bargraph) never did like idiot lights... Always seemed when the idiot light came on it was too late.. you had run out of oil.

[David Wyatt]

Nice work, guys! We'll definitely be in the market for something like this. Maybe the beep could be intermittent (every 30 seconds or so when the voltage is low)? If it's quiet-ish and comes out of the back of the camera it shouldn't interfere too much with the sound (and essentially it is a fail-safe in case the camera crew fail to monitor their 3rd party battery voltage). When the voltage is about to fall below 12V the LED could begin to flash Red (that should be enough for most people to notice), then the beeps could start as it approaches 11.5V as a last resort warning? Keep up the good work!

[R. Gonzales]

That's very cool of you Rich, Thanks very much.

Method

[Rich Schaefer]

Any one thinking about making one?