FS-4 powered from Anton-Bauer brick?
 

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

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

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

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

Matt,

Thanks, I'll keep track of this thread

Will

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

Hi Will,

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

Matt McEwen

Thanks Matt

Will

Just curious of the out come of the test to power a FS-4 from an Anton Bauer brick. Any updates?

I'll have an answer for your tomorrow Will.
Sorry for the delay.
Matt

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

Matt,

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

Thanks for keeping me posted.

Will

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

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

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

Matt,

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

Will

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/cont...goryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Thanks!

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

Powering Multiple Devices- Various Voltages- One Power Source
 

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...ries.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.

Will this work on the fs4 ?
http://www.battery-charger.com.au/specials/enb001a.htm

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