View Full Version : FS-4 powered from Anton-Bauer brick?


Will Kennedy
November 8th, 2004, 05:03 PM
Is it possible to power the FS-4 from an Anton-Bauer brick? Specifically from a powertap connector to the mini power jack. The www.focusinfo.com site describes an input of 15vdc. The Anton-Bauer bricks fluctuate voltage from 12-16vdc and I don't know whether the FS-4 could accept a range of voltage.

Thanks
Will

Matt McEwen
November 10th, 2004, 02:41 PM
Hi Will,

Yes, the FS-4's input voltage is 15V, so using an Anton/Bauer should be no problem. You would just need the DC out to mini jack connector which I am not sure if AB makes.

Hope that helps.

Matt McEwen

Will Kennedy
November 16th, 2004, 05:22 PM
Matt,

That does help. Anton-Bauer sells a power-tap to open-ended cable which could be spliced to a mini-jack power plug.

Just to confirm: there's no chance of overpowering the FS4 when the Anton-Bauer brick is putting out 16vdc at the maximum?

Thanks again,
Will

Matt McEwen
November 19th, 2004, 10:03 PM
Hi Will,

> Just to confirm: there's no chance of overpowering the FS4 when the Anton-Bauer brick is putting out 16vdc at the maximum?

This is correct. We will be testing these types of setups shortly, so I will let you know how it goes.

Matt

Will Kennedy
November 30th, 2004, 05:23 PM
Matt,

Thanks, I'll keep track of this thread

Will

Will Kennedy
January 6th, 2005, 01:33 PM
Hi Matt,

Sorry to bug, but I'm curious to hear if you've had a chance to test this setup. We're holding on purchasing our first FS4-PRO based on this confirmation.

Thanks
Will

Matt McEwen
January 6th, 2005, 06:26 PM
Hi Will,

I have not as yet. I'll let you know shortly.

Matt McEwen

Will Kennedy
January 7th, 2005, 11:21 AM
Thanks Matt

Will

Hart Boyd
March 20th, 2005, 10:32 AM
Just curious of the out come of the test to power a FS-4 from an Anton Bauer brick. Any updates?

Matt McEwen
March 20th, 2005, 11:39 AM
I'll have an answer for your tomorrow Will.
Sorry for the delay.
Matt

Matt McEwen
March 21st, 2005, 05:39 PM
Hi Will,

Again, sorry for the delay on this.

I just started using FS-4 powered solely by an Anton/Bauer Dionic 90 (90w/hour). It works fine so far. The Anton is mounted to a standard Gold Mount plate to access the power tap socket. I made a simple power tap to mini jack cable to connect the Gold Mount to the FS-4. I'll let you know how long it runs for.

Hope that helps,

Matt

Will Kennedy
March 23rd, 2005, 04:50 PM
Matt,

That's good news, that would describe my setup.

Thanks for keeping me posted.

Will

Matt McEwen
March 23rd, 2005, 06:15 PM
Hi Will,

So far, I have had the Dionic 90 powering the FS-4 in playback (same power load as recording on FS-4) for 7 hours. The Anton is still showing a healthy charge as well.

If an FS-4 battery is attached to the unit, connecting the Anton not only powers FS-4, it will also charge the battery.

Matt

Will Kennedy
March 24th, 2005, 11:41 AM
Hi Matt,

That's interesting about the FS-4 battery picking up the recharge. Do you generally recommend leaving the FS-4 batteries on a charger or is this possibly damaging to the battery? I know that anton-bauer recommends leaving them on but a lot of other manufacturers say that this deteriorates the power cycle.

Thanks
Will

Matt McEwen
March 31st, 2005, 04:11 PM
Hi Will,

Sorry, once again I am late with a reply!

There is no problem leaving the batteries on the charger._ Once the charge cycle terminates, it's done until it's restarted._ Even repeated restarting will not overcharge the battery.

BTW, an external charger is on our roadmap.

Hope that helps,

Matt

Will Kennedy
April 1st, 2005, 04:26 PM
Matt,

That's good stuff. Thanks for the clear answers.

Will

Frank Peterson
July 7th, 2005, 04:22 PM
I have a quick question from what was wrote on this thread. The thread specifies the Anton Bauer Dionic 90 iwth a cable and mount. Are the items below what are being referred to? Anton Bauer's site wasn't very informative so I searched B&H. I want to look into my options....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=283752&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=69226&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=69203&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

Thanks!

Will Kennedy
July 17th, 2005, 02:14 PM
Hi Frank,

I'm personally not familiar with the Dionics, I use the Hytrons. I'm assuming from Matt's posts that the Dionics have the powertap outlet, though I can't see confirmation either from Anton Bauer's site or B&H's.
Going on this assumption, then yes, a Dionic would be good, yes the powertap open-ended cable would be good, and yes, the gold-mount plate would be good.
Let me elaborate on each:

For the anton-bauer battery itself, there are a couple factors. One is weight. You should select a battery which complements the weight of your camera. If your camera is 4 lbs. and you want to continue your run & gun setups, a heavy brick on the back soon looses it's appeal. Anton-Bauer has a range of weights, sizes. Also, don't be afraid of used Anton-Bauer batteries on ebay/craigslist. They are very very durable.

For the powertap cable, that needs a mini jack cable to terminate at the other end. I don't know where to get one offhand online, you may want to get this in person at a Fry's or something where you can eyeball the connection size. The wires can be twisted together and sealed with either electricians tape or heat-shrink tubing (fun stuff if you have a hair dryer handy and you like a good finished cable look). I believe a have an extra fully assembled cable I could sell you if you had a hard time sourcing the parts.

For the gold-mount plate, I would trust the wizard on the Anton-Bauer site for picking out the appropriate plate for your camera. Again, I wouldn't be afraid of ebay on this one. Also, if you haven't purchased your camera yet, this can be an option on many cameras over the OEM plate if you a friendly dealer.

Good luck,
Will

Will

Bob Pennington
July 19th, 2005, 08:29 AM
The PowerTap connnector is located in the Anton/Bauer Gold mount.
If you need to power multiple devices-- the PowerTap multi cable will expand the PowerTap output to 4 devices. (Your Firestore, light, wireless receiver and LCD monitor). http://www.antonbauer.com/ultralight_accessories.htm#power

An extension cable for the PowerTap connector is also available- 7 foot cable with male PowerTap connnector on one end-- female PowerTap connector on the other.

Frank Dago
August 2nd, 2005, 06:20 AM
Will this work on the fs4 ?
http://www.battery-charger.com.au/specials/enb001a.htm

It has two output levels: 16V and 19V DC.