Topic: R4 run times

[mmmatt]

And remember when searching through TS, that any setup that'll power a UA5 will also work for the R4 without any modification.

yes and no... ua-5 is 6v (I think... maybe 7) to 12v and the r4 (to the best of my knowlege) has not been tested below 9v.  connector is exactly the same though.

Matt

[Nick's Picks]

i've not heard of anyone powering a ua5 w/any less than 9v

[china_rider]

FYI.. I've used the RC type batteries and the generic DVD ones

9.6v3000mAh RC battery = ~6hours with phantom and backlight on the enitre time
9.6v4500mAh DVD battery = ~9 hours with phantom and backlight on the entire time

RC batteries... generic brand  (something like Tannergy) from www.all-battery.com... keep checking their weekly sales and you will eventually find a good deal on charger and batteries.  I got 4Xbatteries and fast charger for a bit over $50+shippping.

The DVD battery is a lenmar got one from mmmMatt with my R-4 and picked up another off ebay for $45.

[mmmatt]

i've not heard of anyone powering a ua5 w/any less than 9v

I could be confused, but I thought someone here was running 7v rc's and I thought I remembered hearing 6v was OK.  I ran 8v rc's w/o problem for a ua5 but never tried them with the r4... either way 9v is great for an r4 and is what people should seek out.

Matt

[Nick's Picks]

cool.
it probably does go down to 7v ish.  (the ua5 that is).

[balou2]

So I just redid my entire rig with NiMH batteries.  Got two chargers, one through 7.2 V, the other for 7.2V and up.  I had Ed @ Kindkables make me customer power connectors (which are ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!) with Tamia connectors, and rewired all the NiMH with Tamia(f) to match.  Super easy ALL THEY WAY AROUND, interchangeable to a point, and all the same format.  Lighter and smaller (overall) than carrying several LiIon's, and safer too.

I'm using THIS ONE for the R4.  Bought it without the charger, and I'm getting well over 8 hours at 24/48 with the light on, using 4 channels.  The quick charger will recharge in 3 hours, so I really will NEVER need a second, even for festivals.  I've never ran over 8 hours of music in a day, even with the day being long.

FWIW, I am super happy FINALLY having all similar batteries with interchangeable chargers and small.  Never again will I run an SLA or Ecocharge.  Yippee!

[balou2]

...I also ran 8 x Lithium AA batts (Energizer, non-rechargeable) and got the full show (3 hours) at 24/48, with light.  It was stealth, so I ran just the 184s into the R4, and didn't have anything else- no battery packs, no big bags...nada.  SUPER cool.

[ford prefect]

I'm using THIS ONE for the R4.

I'm looking at this one and can't tell from the screenshots - can you reverse the polarity on the tips by just turning it around on the cable?  Kinda like the RS adaptaplug - it has two prongs, and you just reverse the way it plugs in.  Or would you have to cut the cable to do that?

This is what the RS has:

[Gedit]

yes, the plug shown in that pic is reversible, and the CHUN-100DC11 in that link looks like it has reversible ones too

[ford prefect]

yes, the plug shown in that pic is reversible,

Yes, it is.  That's the RS one that I own and use for the UA-5.

and the CHUN-100DC11 in that link looks like it has reversible ones too

How can you tell?  I'm looking at them and I still can't see the other side of them in any of the pictures.  All I can see is the plug end.  I'd like to be sure before I consider buying this.  I don't like the idea of rewiring the cable that's directly attached to the batteries and would like to avoid that if I can.

Thanks,

[ford prefect]

Ok, I think I see what you are looking at.  Attached is a zoomed in [albeit fuzzy] shot of the end of the battery cable.  Looks just like the end of the RS adaptacable with 2 slots for the plugs.   Reverse the plugs to reverse polarity.  Thanks George,

[Gedit]

generally, plugs that don't reverse polarity do not have a two-prong connector. they just snap-in one way. if you look at the CHUN-100DC11 plug, you can see it has two-prongs also. i might be wrong, but it looks like a connector that can be reversed.

[Gedit]

^ Ok, I think I see what you are looking at.

exactly

[ford prefect]

Ok, I think I see what you are looking at.  Attached is a zoomed in [albeit fuzzy] shot of the end of the battery cable.  Looks just like the end of the RS adaptacable with 2 slots for the plugs.   Reverse the plugs to reverse polarity.  Thanks George,

Darn.  Just got the battery with the adapters from my post above.  Turns out that they can't be easily reversed like the Radio Shack adaptaplugs - the prongs on the plugs are 2 different sizes to prevent your average joe from reversing polarity by accident and frying something. 

Just wanted to followup in case anyone else read this and considered these options.  Still considering how I'm going to fix this..  Sorry for the tangent since this has nothing to do with runtimes.   

[Brian Skalinder]

Turns out that they can't be easily reversed like the Radio Shack adaptaplugs - the prongs on the plugs are 2 different sizes to prevent your average joe from reversing polarity by accident and frying something.

Just wanted to followup in case anyone else read this and considered these options.  Still considering how I'm going to fix this.

I just cut the wires, swapped (+) and (-) on the UA5/R-4 connector side, and spliced them back together with wire nuts (see pic, no soldering).  I folded the cable back on itself and secured it with tape on either side of the wire nuts to provide strain relief while the cable's in my bag.  No problems so far, been about 2 years, I guess.  And if I have a problem with the cable in the field, it's field-fixable with no tools: remove tape, re-fasten wire nuts, add new tape.