Topic: providing external power to sony mz-rh1?

[beathydrolysis]

As many of you know sony ditched the external dry battery pack from their past models (m100, etc.) instead opting for charging via USB for the mz-rh1.  Does anyone know of a safe, reliable, convenient remote power source for the mz-rh1?  I don't know the units power consumption (I thinks its like 5 V but I haven't ordered one yet am unwilling to unless I can power it remotely for those long festival days.)  I've seen external li-on batteries with like 3400 mAh which would give me like 30+ hours of linear PCM record time but I don't know if this will work for the mz-rh1 (they advertise them for ipods and psp s).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks. 

[dunebug81]

Im going to make one of those AA Altoids things that has a USB out and see how that works out for me.  I just got my RH1 today and taped a show tonight.  Taped an hour and 40 min in HISP w/ the LED on and it still had full juice.  According to the manual it will record for about 6hours on PCM and 7 on HISP.  which I think should be enough for MOST shows.  I might order a few extra of the Altoid USB things and send them to people with RH1s since not having the AA battery thing sucks...but the nice lithium battery is uses is much better then the Ni-MH. 

You can always buy another internal battery to keep for backup.

Heres the AA thing I mentioned.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=67640.0

[beathydrolysis]

Hey, that minty boost looks great but I'm not sure a 2 AA model provides the proper power requirements.  Like I mentioned before I think the mz-rh1 likes 5 V (though I'm not sure that's the min.) and 2 AA would only provide 2.5 V.  I also thought that USB was a standard 5 V (so in theory the minty boost wouldn't be enough for the microtrack either and obviously that's not the case so I may just be full of it).  Has anyone tried the minty boost or other related product with an rh1?  Thanks

[dunebug81]

Hey, that minty boost looks great but I'm not sure a 2 AA model provides the proper power requirements.  Like I mentioned before I think the mz-rh1 likes 5 V (though I'm not sure that's the min.) and 2 AA would only provide 2.5 V.  I also thought that USB was a standard 5 V (so in theory the minty boost wouldn't be enough for the microtrack either and obviously that's not the case so I may just be full of it).  Has anyone tried the minty boost or other related product with an rh1?  Thanks

USB provides at the most 5v.  The internal lithium battery is 3.7 volts.  On the item page is says its good for charging an ipod which also uses a lithium battery @ 3.7v.  if nothing else you can charge the internal for 30-40 min between sets.  If I read the manual correctly an 80% charge is done in one hour.

Ill have to do some more research. 

You can always just buy another battery.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Sony-Hi-MD-Lithium-Ion-Battery-LIP-4WM-MZ-NH3D-a_W0QQitemZ140010615624QQihZ004QQcategoryZ14951QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[beathydrolysis]

Thanks for the heads up on the extra internal li on batts.  I'm really more interested in something like this if it will work

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200010885072&fromMakeTrack=true

What do you guys think?

[flintstone]

I think carrying a spare Sony battery is the
easiest solution.  You're going to have to
change the Hi-MD disc anyway, so why not
swap in a new Sony battery at the same time?

The battery is LIP-4WM, available on eBay for
$15 to $18 shipped from somewhere in the
Far East.

Flintstone

[beathydrolysis]

I think you might be right

[dunebug81]

I dunno about buying one from a seller in China...that has scam written all over it.

[flintstone]

No worries.  I buy stuff like batteries from Chinese sources on eBay regularly, and have never had a problem.

Flintstone

[beathydrolysis]

Yeah, I've gotten stuff like that from China as well, and often times it arrives faster than stuff shipped domestically.  I don't know how they do it but it's quite impressive.

[dunebug81]

Huh, well that is some good news.  Ill have to pick up an extra battery or two next week...ive spent all my money this morning on Tool tickets

[beathydrolysis]

Sweet.  Where are you going to see tool.  I got tickets for a mid-september show at the target center in Minneapolis.  Thinking about doing a stealth job for some of my buddies...

[dunebug81]

Sweet.  Where are you going to see tool.  I got tickets for a mid-september show at the target center in Minneapolis.  Thinking about doing a stealth job for some of my buddies...

Since I've given up hope on them coming to the southeast Im going to DC (9/30) - Uniondale, NY (10/07).  6 shows in 8 days should be quite the roadtrip.

[beathydrolysis]

Sweet.  Where are you going to see tool.  I got tickets for a mid-september show at the target center in Minneapolis.  Thinking about doing a stealth job for some of my buddies...

Since I've given up hope on them coming to the southeast Im going to DC (9/30) - Uniondale, NY (10/07).  6 shows in 8 days should be quite the roadtrip.

Do you think you'll tape at all?  I'd love to get my hands on some of those shows if you do.

[dunebug81]

Sweet.  Where are you going to see tool.  I got tickets for a mid-september show at the target center in Minneapolis.  Thinking about doing a stealth job for some of my buddies...

Since I've given up hope on them coming to the southeast Im going to DC (9/30) - Uniondale, NY (10/07).  6 shows in 8 days should be quite the roadtrip.

Do you think you'll tape at all?  I'd love to get my hands on some of those shows if you do.

Depending on who I go with Ill tape at least one or two...if I go it alone then Ill prolly do all of them.  Drop me a msg after the shows and Ill send em your way.

[beathydrolysis]

Back to business.  I've done a lot of outside research since I started this thread and here's what I've discovered.  Pretty much any of the external usb powerpacks (li-on, minty boost, etc.) will do the trick to power the rh1 (note: I have not tested these myself so someone with an rh1 should chime in after verification).  That said the record time with the included internal battery is pretty decent and spares are pretty cheap so for many it just makes sense to pick up a spare internal battery.  However for those of us hell bent on getting 30 hours record time out of a battery any of the external usb power packs should do the trick.  Chris over at the sound professionals told me they are selling an external pack which will give you 20+ record hours (and if you google 'em you can find related products all over the web).  So go out buy your mz-rh1 w/o fear and record away dear readers.