oryoki2000 wrote:
> Walter Knapp wrote:
>
>
>>Recently in another group a member
>>reported the results of a recording
>>expedition. With a weeks worth of
>>recordings on his HD recorder it
>>slipped from his pack and dropped a
>>couple feet. The HD was toast, all
>>recordings lost.
>
>
> I would *love* to read the details of
> this accident. Please provide a pointer
> to the group where the report was posted.
> Thanks.
> --oryoki
That's all the details that were provided. Except it was one of the
Nomad Jukebox units.
To tell you the truth, I can't remember right off which group. I read a
fair number of groups on a semi regular basis. It was in a thread on
something else, I remember. And attracted no comment. It was just
something I saw in passing weeks ago. Was no surprise, it's a risk that
should be obvious. Even without mechanical damage, a software glitch can
leave a hard disk unreadable. The point is that you have all your eggs
in one basket unless you are carting a laptop and burner to back it up
and stop and do that.
There was also somebody who was running for a train and killed his Nomad
by dropping it, but did not say what died, except he too lost his
recordings. And they don't bounce like MD's. That's a separate incident.
Reported in Phonography a week or so back:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phonography/message/3973
Few of these modern recorders are really made particularly robust. The
Portadisc with it's steel frame and body comes closest, but I also know
someone who managed to damage one dropping it from a table. However,
note, they did not loose any recordings, even on the disk that was in
it. Just whimpered for a while as it had to be sent in for repair and
they needed it. The outside case was ok, but the internal mechanism had
some sort of problem so disk insertion did not work right. That, btw was
a private communication, not something in a group. And was a few years
ago shortly after the introduction of the Portadisc.
PortaBrace has made a specific case for Portadiscs. I have mine in that
case. Does not provide protection for really hard knocks, but does
provide some padding for more ordinary accidents. And provides rain
protection. The nice thing about PortaBrace cases is that they are made
for using the machine in the field under adverse conditions, not just
carting it around. Access flaps for everything, a pocket for 6-7 disks
and a larger one that I use for my extra battery caddy and my field
cards. My Portadisc is almost never out of it's case.
It would be well worthwhile considering designing a padded case if none
is available. Particularly so for something that contains a laptop hard
disk or a plastic frame or body. I had a case for my Portadisc on my to
do list before PortaBrace saved me the trouble. I may still build a
case, one to carry the setup of the Portadisc and Sound Devices MP2
together as a unit (I have the MP2 in it's own PortaBrace case now).
PortaBrace was willing to customize a case for me, but that gets into a
lot of money. I can do my own. Though field cases for mic setups are
higher on my list. I have them in plastic bins for carrying in the
Ranger, but no real field transport. Zeppelins are delicate.
Walt
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