home made p2??? at DVinfo.net

Martin Patterson · January 20th, 2007, 01:02 PM

ok, got our new hvx and one of the guys that works for me (who does very cool stuff with computers, that's his day job) says there has got to be a way to make your own p2 card out of a PCMCIA card adapter...I have one and it does fit the camera but i do know that just because it fits, well there's more to it than that...he figured that maybe an 8gb CF microdrive may work but voltage might be an issue.....any hacks out yonder???????

Robert Lane · January 20th, 2007, 05:32 PM

This is one of the first things most of us either wanted to do or experimented with - myself included - when the HVX first came out and P2 cards were extremely rare. The short answer is, "no".

P2 cards are much more than just SD memory in a PCMCIA housing, it is actually SD cards setup in an RAID array with an intelligent RAID and communications controller built-in. It wouldn't take a lot of engineering to create a PCMCIA adapter to hold SD cards and create a communications port, but there's no way (without major surgery to the camera and highly sophisticated reverse-engineering UNIX software) that you could replicate the controller chips or the software that controls it all and talk to the HVX.

Most importantly, if you do come up with a home-made SD/PCMCIA adapter don't ever attempt to connect it to the HVX or any other P2 body; you'd run a high risk of not only ruining the card you created, but the camera as well.

Mike Schrengohst · January 23rd, 2007, 05:48 PM

No worries on P2, wait until NAB - I am sure prices will be coming down.
And in addition there will probably be some better hard drive recording devices available....

January 20th, 2007, 01:02 PM	#1
Martin Patterson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: ambridge pa Posts: 26	home made p2??? ok, got our new hvx and one of the guys that works for me (who does very cool stuff with computers, that's his day job) says there has got to be a way to make your own p2 card out of a PCMCIA card adapter...I have one and it does fit the camera but i do know that just because it fits, well there's more to it than that...he figured that maybe an 8gb CF microdrive may work but voltage might be an issue.....any hacks out yonder???????

January 20th, 2007, 05:32 PM	#2
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,788 Images: 15	This is one of the first things most of us either wanted to do or experimented with - myself included - when the HVX first came out and P2 cards were extremely rare. The short answer is, "no". P2 cards are much more than just SD memory in a PCMCIA housing, it is actually SD cards setup in an RAID array with an intelligent RAID and communications controller built-in. It wouldn't take a lot of engineering to create a PCMCIA adapter to hold SD cards and create a communications port, but there's no way (without major surgery to the camera and highly sophisticated reverse-engineering UNIX software) that you could replicate the controller chips or the software that controls it all and talk to the HVX. Most importantly, if you do come up with a home-made SD/PCMCIA adapter don't ever attempt to connect it to the HVX or any other P2 body; you'd run a high risk of not only ruining the card you created, but the camera as well. __________________ Robert Lane Producer/Creator - Bike Pilots TV

January 23rd, 2007, 05:48 PM	#3
Mike Schrengohst Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 355	No worries on P2, wait until NAB - I am sure prices will be coming down. And in addition there will probably be some better hard drive recording devices available.... __________________ Mike Schrengohst dvd.pro@verizon.net