Rode Wireless Film Maker Modification

[Michael Warren]

Some new toys arrived yesterday. Amongst them a Panasonic AG-UX180 and a Rode Wireless Film Maker kit.

I didn't like the idea of having large plugs and messy cabling all over the camera, and I will be leaving the receiver attached so I decided to reduce the footprint of the receiver. I also hate having to use batteries when there is a perfectly good power supply available, in this case the USB host port on the camera.

I drilled a couple of holes in the front side of the receiver to line up with the 1/2" threads on the camera's handle and used a couple of countersunk brass screws to attach it with a strip of 4mm ABS plastic in between to space it up a little so it didn't hit the curve of the handle.

Electrically, I found some test points I could connect to on the PCB for audio out and 5V USB power. I had to scrape some of the solder resist away to expose a couple of ground points.

The power supply needed filtering to remove a small buzz, which I did with a 12 Ohm resistor and a 2200uF capacitor.

Finally, I modified a plastic XLR plug to reduce its size and ran the cable out the side.

This setup work well and comes on automatically with the camera.

I was concerned about the possibility of reduced range because of the proximity to the antennas of the cables I added, but I could not notice any change from my tests before I started the modification.

[Andreas Jaeger]

Very Nice!

[Don Palomaki]

Probably kills the warranty if that is important, but otherwise interesting.

I suspect tthe same could be done to the Newsshooter kit's receiver.

As i understand it the antenna is internal and to the front end (opposite the display end). I suppose depending on their exact position the added wires could even act as a parasitic element in a yagi-type antenna to modifye gain/directionality.

[Michael Warren]

I've definitely voided the warranty. As an electronics engineer I do things more complicated than this all the time.

As for the new wires improving the signal, the chances are very slim for that. I did expect that I might have to route the wires away from the antennas. That would have involved cutting out part of the battery compartment, so I tried it as you see in these pictures first. It works fine so no need to go any further.

[Michael Warren]

In case you don't know, the antennas are the 2 gold "F" patterns seen on the far right and top of the photos of the PCB.

[Andrew Smith]

Is there a mod you can do to enable the receiver to be mounted correct way up on the camera?

Andrew

[Michael Warren]

That would have been more complicated.

Besides, flipping the sound upside down means it will come out the right way for the northern hemisphere.

PS: I'm going to be visiting your town in February to see Roger Waters.

[David Peterson]

Originally Posted by Michael Warren

I also hate having to use batteries when there is a perfectly good power supply available, in this case the USB host port on the camera.

There are other receivers which already have this included, such as the Sony UWP-D11 kit can be powered via USB.

[Michael Warren]

Originally Posted by David Peterson

There are other receivers which already have this included, such as the Sony UWP-D11 kit can be powered via USB.

The Rode will do that too, but using power from the same device as the audio causes noise due to the shared ground. The filter I added cured that.

The main thing is that I didn't want lumpy plugs sticking out all over the place, plus having the receiver on the cold shoe would have made it stick out a long way. The way I have it now the receiver is an integral part of the camera and nothing gets in the way of other operations and setup/pack up.