Topic: NiMH Rechareables/PMD660

[tfs8271]

I'm in the same boat... I can't figure out how you're going to fit any type of shim in there.  I'm getting at least 4 hours of runtime on a single set of 2500maH AA NiMH's but haven't tested beyond that.  I'm hot swapping just to be sure so far.  I really need to set up a good test to find out.  Maybe battery compartment revisions came along with the new boards?!

You should be getting more time than 4 hours with freshly charged 2500mAh NiMH. How do you have your meters configured? Should be peak only for max battery life.

Edit: Do you use the light or do you carry a light? I have noticed reduced battery life when using the light.

[d5]

I'm in the same boat... I can't figure out how you're going to fit any type of shim in there.  I'm getting at least 4 hours of runtime on a single set of 2500maH AA NiMH's but haven't tested beyond that.  I'm hot swapping just to be sure so far.  I really need to set up a good test to find out.  Maybe battery compartment revisions came along with the new boards?!

One time I got about 3 hours from 2500 maH AA NiHM's which i assumed was due to running on only 2 batteries, but after the fix, I can get about 7 hours consistently. 4 hours sounds like you have no issues, but why not just set it up and run it to see?

Edit: I rarely use the light

[Jammin72]

I'm in the same boat... I can't figure out how you're going to fit any type of shim in there.  I'm getting at least 4 hours of runtime on a single set of 2500maH AA NiMH's but haven't tested beyond that.  I'm hot swapping just to be sure so far.  I really need to set up a good test to find out.  Maybe battery compartment revisions came along with the new boards?!

You should be getting more time than 4 hours with freshly charged 2500mAh NiMH. How do you have your meters configured? Should be peak only for max battery life.

Edit: Do you use the light or do you carry a light? I have noticed reduced battery life when using the light.

I bring a wind up flashlight so I prolly use the light for all of 10 seconds.  I have my Meters set to "Normal"  Being able to watch the bouncing lights makes me feel better from a distance to make sure things are going OK

when the RiData crapped out during the Umphrey's set on Friday Night what gave it away was the Meters... they Froze in Place, the record time however kept incrementing.  Odd indeed.  I'm ordering a Second SanDisk!

I'm not too stressed about the batteries.  I'm counting on 4 hours of run time and then doing a swap to be safe.   I've got 4 sets of 2500 maH batteries so I'm fairly well covered.

I do want to run a real run-time test to see what i'm getting with those batteries without any shims.

[tfs8271]

Doug mentioned to me that if you run the meters "NORMAL" you will drain the batteries faster. Therefore, I only run "Peak" only and get the ~7 hours runtime. If you do a test run try the time difference between "Normal" and "Peak" meters to see the difference.

I'm in the same boat... I can't figure out how you're going to fit any type of shim in there.  I'm getting at least 4 hours of runtime on a single set of 2500maH AA NiMH's but haven't tested beyond that.  I'm hot swapping just to be sure so far.  I really need to set up a good test to find out.  Maybe battery compartment revisions came along with the new boards?!

You should be getting more time than 4 hours with freshly charged 2500mAh NiMH. How do you have your meters configured? Should be peak only for max battery life.

Edit: Do you use the light or do you carry a light? I have noticed reduced battery life when using the light.

I bring a wind up flashlight so I prolly use the light for all of 10 seconds.  I have my Meters set to "Normal"  Being able to watch the bouncing lights makes me feel better from a distance to make sure things are going OK

when the RiData crapped out during the Umphrey's set on Friday Night what gave it away was the Meters... they Froze in Place, the record time however kept incrementing.  Odd indeed.  I'm ordering a Second SanDisk!

I'm not too stressed about the batteries.  I'm counting on 4 hours of run time and then doing a swap to be safe.   I've got 4 sets of 2500 maH batteries so I'm fairly well covered.

I do want to run a real run-time test to see what i'm getting with those batteries without any shims.

[aberg]

I've been running 2500mah nimh powerex's with the meters set to normal. My last show I taped was the Allmans and I recorded for probably 2h45min, and then listened to about 2h worth on the way home, and then the batteries died. I imagine if I had used peak only for the meters, the batteries would have lasted longer. In any case, it's enough for me, and I think visually, the battery bay is a little different. There's virtually no wiggle room for the contacts and the batteries are in there pretty tight. I would be surprised if 2 of them weren't making contact.

[Jammin72]

Doug mentioned to me that if you run the meters "NORMAL" you will drain the batteries faster. Therefore, I only run "Peak" only and get the ~7 hours runtime. If you do a test run try the time difference between "Normal" and "Peak" meters to see the difference.

I'm in the same boat... I can't figure out how you're going to fit any type of shim in there.  I'm getting at least 4 hours of runtime on a single set of 2500maH AA NiMH's but haven't tested beyond that.  I'm hot swapping just to be sure so far.  I really need to set up a good test to find out.  Maybe battery compartment revisions came along with the new boards?!

That would make sense as most LED's have a current draw of about 10 mil  (I think).  I remember reading that Nick was getting 7 hours with them set to "Normal" Phantom Power on...

If I were home for more than 3 hours a day before I have to knock out testing would be a lot easier... 

You should be getting more time than 4 hours with freshly charged 2500mAh NiMH. How do you have your meters configured? Should be peak only for max battery life.

Edit: Do you use the light or do you carry a light? I have noticed reduced battery life when using the light.

I bring a wind up flashlight so I prolly use the light for all of 10 seconds.  I have my Meters set to "Normal"  Being able to watch the bouncing lights makes me feel better from a distance to make sure things are going OK

when the RiData crapped out during the Umphrey's set on Friday Night what gave it away was the Meters... they Froze in Place, the record time however kept incrementing.  Odd indeed.  I'm ordering a Second SanDisk!

I'm not too stressed about the batteries.  I'm counting on 4 hours of run time and then doing a swap to be safe.   I've got 4 sets of 2500 maH batteries so I'm fairly well covered.

I do want to run a real run-time test to see what i'm getting with those batteries without any shims.

[Jammin72]

OK official Test Results.  Newer Version Board.  Set to NiMH... Meters on Normal. Just a hair under 5 hours. No change in battery meter indicator within +/- 10 minutes.  So this tells me that the battery meter is useless for my applications and to hot swap batteries every 4 hours the way that I use the machine.  This is using 2500 maH Powerex fully charged batteries.

I'm going to run it one more time to confirm.

[aberg]

That's not bad... I can handle just shy of 5 hours.

[saxophoner]

What do mean by placing a paper shim (pictures) behind each + contact?

see below... about the thickness of a business card should do.

I also shaved a little plastic off the rests inside the battery compartment that support the positive side of the battery. You can see this in the picture; the jagged plastic on each side of the positive contact. I was real careful doing this, making sure to only take off a sliver and making sure not to let any drop inside the 660.

... I seem to get about 2 hours max....I'm running 16/44.1, phantom on, attenuation @ -20dB, matters @ peak only. I have charged my NiMH a few times from my last recording so I think they have a little more capacity than originally. Should I just hook my 660 up and dummy run it in the living room to see how long they will run.

It's possible that you're only getting 2 hours because only 2 of the 4 batteries are making contact. The 660 battery compartment is apparently wired (2 in series) in parallel with (2 in series) and will power up and work with only 2 batteries installed ...go figure.

i just tried your business card trick and it seems to be working, letting it run the whole mem card, about 3 hours worth, batts should definetly work the whole duration yes?  they are 2500maH energizer rechargables.  my worry is that the paper might catch fire or smolder? 
also, the battery level indicator on the 660, mine shows the whole batt with a line cutting through it, does this mean half batt pwr left or does it always look like that?

thanks

[d5]

i just tried your business card trick and it seems to be working, letting it run the whole mem card, about 3 hours worth, batts should definetly work the whole duration yes?  they are 2500maH energizer rechargables.  my worry is that the paper might catch fire or smolder? 
also, the battery level indicator on the 660, mine shows the whole batt with a line cutting through it, does this mean half batt pwr left or does it always look like that?

thanks

I still have the paper shims in and it's been a year and a half... no issues. you should easily get 3 hours from a set of 2500 mah energizers.

The battery meter only has 2 segments. If you're using Ni-MH batteries, make sure the battery type preset is set correctly. if it's set for alkalines the meter will incorrectly indicate half charge fairly quick.

[nem]

I think the "newer" models have fixed the battery sled issue

only problems I've had have been my own fault, and its probably best to not keep the deck in a closed leather bag when you're using internal presets along with the 48v phantom power in a room with no air circulation and high temps for 6+ hours...

asides from that, I have filled a 4gb card with everything on, and still had battery life left to play about 30 minutes of the show on the ride home. YRMV

[agave]

my 660 does get warm .. but never had a problem with it along those lines .. the energizers 2500mAh rechargeables fit tight with no shimming requiered & i have one of the 1st warm acm's from Doug

[NOLAfishwater]

I personally would rather be able to monitor the levels. Usually I just run one set of batteries on the 1st set and another on the 2nd set. For festival season, I just bought a 5V Lithium Ion battery pack that puts out 44WattHours. That should be able to allow me run all day.



$99

Key Features:
High capacity. Most Digital Cameras/Video Camcorder's standard batteries only have 5Wh~10Wh capacity. This battery has 44Wh (Watt-Hour) capacity. For reference, an AA battery has about 2.7Wh capacity (1.8Ah at 1.5V). This may help calculating your expected run time.


Ultra light weight design.
Compatible with
Devices which require 5V, 8.4V or 11V power supply, such as network routers, BiX Pocketsize USB or Firewire hard drives, BiX Slim USB or Firewire Optical Drives.
Compatible with following Cameras/video cameras: Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Fuji, Olympus, Nikon, Casio, Kodak, HP, Minolta.....
as well as most cameras or devices which require 5 to 12 volt power supply.
No memory effect. Can be recharged at any time regardless of the amount of discharge.
Built-in batery gauge which displays power level of the battery pack.
AC quick charger included. Temperature and over-voltage/current protection.
Universal camera cable included. Compatible with most all digital cameras/video cameras or equipment.
Can also be used as an external power supply for any device such as portable Radio, CD/VCD/ DVD player etc...which requires 5 to 12 volt power input

[bobbygeeWOW]

As a data point, with the shim trick I get I dunno, 5 hours or so anyway from my rechargables, which is about the length of a 4 Gig CF card at 16 bit/48KHz. Battery sled using 4 D cells (like the ones for D7/D8's) lasts for ever and a day.

[NOLAfishwater]

My 4GB CF card can hold 6:26 of 44.1 and I can listen to it on my headphones for fine tuning and check levels the whole time using the 5V external battery pack. It really kicks ass.