I'm so glad all is well Jeremy, it's a bloody nightmare to think the
machine is not functioning right and the dreaded expense but it was all
down really to Walt & Marty, I could sit back for ages and read what
these put in, their knowledge is totally invaluable to this group, well
done lads and good on you Jeremy :)
Martyn
Naturesound.Org
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Minns
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 10:46 AM
To:
Subject: [Nature Recordists] Re: HHB Portadisc
Thanks to all the good advice I've received, I have established that my
problems were probably caused by a battery fault. I have four sets of
NiMH
batteries, one of Fujitsu 1600 mAh cells which came with the recorder
and
three of Powerex 2200 mAh. With Sets 1, 3 and 4 the Portadisc records on
my
desk with phantom power for 3 or more hours. In the field I have been
getting much less with Set 1, but this is probably because I often
record
short cuts and certainly because I have recently been experimenting with
using the Portadisc for playback. I have not used Sets 3 and 4 yet in
the
field.
There seems to be something wrong with battery Set 2 (Powerex). I used
it
twice in the field and each time the recorder went dead after a short
time.
On bench tests, after charging the set on my MAHA MH-C777 charger and
while
recording with it in the Portadisc (with phantom power), the battery
meter
drops from 99% to 90% very quickly (after 6 mins in one test and 20 mins
in
a second). In the first test the recorder went dead after 13 minutes but
in
the second it lasted for 3 hours when the meter reached 60% and I
stopped
the test. Repeated charging and discharging seems to have improved the
battery set's performance. I measured the voltage of the eight cells in
Set
2 (with a new multimeter; the old one was giving inaccurate readings
which
didn't help the investigation) while it was being discharged by the
MAHA,
before the second bench test. At the beginning of the discharge process
the
voltages were
1.32 1.32 1.32 1.32 1.32 1.29 1.31 1.30
and at the end
1.24 1.24 1.24 1.24 1.23 1.23 1.24 1.23
The cells seem well matched and possibly the fault has righted itself.
I was probably using the faulty Set 2 when I failed, several times, to
charge in the Portadisc. I have now successfully used the Portadisc
twice
to charge Set 4 (Powerex). It's a long process and, as Walter said, one
has
to continue long after the green light goes out.
I can't tell you what a relief it is to be fairly confident that my
Portadisc is probably not faulty! And I'm tremendously grateful to
Walter,
Marty, Rich, Klas and Martyn who have given me help and encouragement.
Jeremy
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