I'm resurrecting this old thread I started in 2013.
I've had problems with the external battery pack I made that fooled me into=
thinking I had more recording time left than I did.
Because the recorder doesn't display the battery level for an external batt=
ery, one can accidentally start a recording with insufficient power left. I=
thought this shouldn't be a problem because my tests had shown it should s=
witch over to the internal batteries, giving me quite a bit of leeway. It a=
ppears to do this, but there's a catch.
It appears that in this case it switched to the internal batteries and cont=
inued recording until they were too flat. Then it switched back to the exte=
rnal D cells, which had recovered a little by that time. This fooled me int=
o thinking the internal batteries were still ok, when they were in fact fla=
t, and that the external battery was still ok, which it wasn't.
It's a good system for very long recordings, but only if you manually verif=
y the battery levels instead of making assumptions.
I'm a bit confused about comments about (internal) lithium batteries that w=
ere made in this thread. One personal said they use Energizer Lithium Ultim=
ates, but only get 30 hours. Another said they use rechargeable lithium bat=
teries, and get 78 hours. Is there really this much difference between rech=
argeable and non rechargeable lithium batteries?
Can anyone tell me if the M10's battery level display is accurate for eithe=
r kind of lithium batteries.
Peter Shute
From: =
.com] On Behalf Of Hugh Livingston
Sent: Monday, 16 December 2013 8:58 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] External battery pack for Sony PCM-M10
I get 78 hours on the PCM M10 with lithium AA rechargeables, no problem
I remember when I got the device the factory batteries lasted me almost 4 m=
onths of recording here and there, probably 100 hours. I had to replace the=
m in the Czech Republic and two hours later I was back at the store. So don=
't use post-communist batteries.
Hi Peter, I'm interested in your experience. With two good AA cells I get m=
ore than 30 hours with M10. If I would get more I'd also consider Lithium A=
A cells. With another recorder I get 3-4 times extension.
Comparing AA with D, I'd expect more than 4-5 time extension. However no pe=
rfect rules ... it also depends on the recorder ...
I suppose you're planning to record MP3, as the main limit in the M10 is th=
e use of max 32GB. I tried with a 64GB SDXC but unsuccessfully (maybe I hav=
e to try again....)
Let us know your findings.
Gianni
2013/12/15 Peter Shute <<>>
I've just put together an external battery pack (2xD cells) for my M10, and=
I've got a few questions about how it will behave, if anyone else has done=
this.
- When I plug it, the battery indicator on the screen goes off. Will there =
be any sort of warning when the battery is getting low?
- Will it switch to the internal battery when the external one goes flat?
- How many hours should I expect from D cells? I'm guessing they're about 4=
or 5 times the capacity of the AA cells?
- It seems to switch between internal and external without interruption whe=
n I unplug it and plug it back in. Are there any problems with doing that w=
hile it's recording?
Peter Shute
Sent from my iPhone
--
Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali
Universit=E0 degli Studi di Pavia
Via Taramelli 24, 27100 Pavia, Italy
http://www.unipv.it/cibra
http://mammiferimarini.unipv.it
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