Topic: Battery box for Nbox ***finished product***01-19-12

[ero3030]

BB is 6 x 4.75 x 1.25.   will test soon, nbox is in the shop.  cables that go from the BB to the nbox r being made now and post pics soon.  should run 15-20 hours without switching  batteries from left to right.  ed

here r the battery cables.  the cheap set i picked up for this project was supposed to have right angle rca's on both ends, but as u see they didnt.  will prob make a new one down the road.  ed

note** the cables r also used to charge each battery using your 9v charging station, if u have one already***

[edtyre]

Why even bother with this when (4) rechargeable 9 Volts give you 7+ hours??

You have too much time on your hands ed 

[ero3030]

Why even bother with this when (4) rechargeable 9 Volts give you 7+ hours??

You have too much time on your hands ed 

^^^ for the small festy's i do, or even a band with a opening act.  7 hours is pushing i think with the 9.6v powerex rechargeables, from the little testing i've done with them any way.  this BB will velcro to the bottom my nbox and will fit like any other pre in my bag.  also, no worries or thinking about my battery's when having fun, which i need more of   and yes ed, i do have too much time on my hands!!!  hope to see ya round soon!!    ed

[yug du nord]

Looks great man....   excited for the testing process.......   keep us posted! 

[rodeen]

Great job!  What kind of battery cells are you using?  I can't decide if they look more like string cheese or C4 explosives!

[hi and lo]

Why even bother with this when (4) rechargeable 9 Volts give you 7+ hours??

You have too much time on your hands ed 

I don't like the negative experiences people have posted regarding the 9.6v rechargables. Scooter says it best from that thread...

I had my first rechargeable failure last night.  Full set of fully charged rechargeable 9v's.  The "change every show" set were down to 7v after a lousy hour.  The last set was lost.  I do stealth, so switching out batteries every hour does not work for me.  At $150 for the ticket, I'm termporarily trashing the rechargeables and going back to store bought.  I really can not afford a lost show to save $5 and the environment.

I don't check voltage on the rascals before I install them on the NBox, and perhaps should have but the charger gave me a green light. 

The landfills will have to live with a few more 9vs from Scooter.....

This is just one bad experience from that thread, which you started, of several. The potential failure rate is just way to high for me to be comfortable using the rechargeable 9.6v batts on anything but my backup rig. YMMV.

I also do not like having to swap batteries mid-show. Not that it can't be managed, but it's one more thing to have to think about and either forget or have go wrong. Less stress is better when taping and a solution like Ed's box is far more reliable and worth the increased footprint.

[OOK]

Nice......but some constructive criticism......not sure I am a fan of the rca battery connectors.  While one would expect that the taper using this piece of gear to not accidently plug the wrong RCA to the battery pack...I have met several of you........and thats all I am going to say.   Change the connector type at the battery and you have a real winner.  Otherwise its awesome.  I could see this battery being used for several other things as well.  you may be onto a new business here....the TS-Battery Company....      OOK

[pjp]

Looks very interesting.

I was also burned by rechargeables back in late 2004/early 2005, so I went back to regular alkalines and haven't given the rechargeables another chance. Looking forward to hearing how your tests go!

[Chris K]

Nice......but some constructive criticism......not sure I am a fan of the rca battery connectors.  While one would expect that the taper using this piece of gear to not accidently plug the wrong RCA to the battery pack...I have met several of you........and thats all I am going to say.   Change the connector type at the battery and you have a real winner.  Otherwise its awesome.  I could see this battery being used for several other things as well.  you may be onto a new business here....the TS-Battery Company....      OOK

I agree. You may want to consider mini xlr connectors.

[ero3030]

Nice......but some constructive criticism......not sure I am a fan of the rca battery connectors.  While one would expect that the taper using this piece of gear to not accidently plug the wrong RCA to the battery pack...I have met several of you........and thats all I am going to say.   Change the connector type at the battery and you have a real winner.  Otherwise its awesome.  I could see this battery being used for several other things as well.  you may be onto a new business here....the TS-Battery Company....      OOK

I agree. You may want to consider mini xlr connectors.

^^^^^wanted something with right angle inputs, and this was the easiest.  i made this for myself, so i dont think i'll plugging anything into the " extra " rca's in my bag.  the nbox will be connected to the BB while in the bag, and i have to come out of the rca's on the nbox, so things should be good in the bag.  ed

[F.O.Bean]

Sexy

[page]

Nice......but some constructive criticism......not sure I am a fan of the rca battery connectors.  While one would expect that the taper using this piece of gear to not accidently plug the wrong RCA to the battery pack...I have met several of you........and thats all I am going to say.   Change the connector type at the battery and you have a real winner.  Otherwise its awesome.  I could see this battery being used for several other things as well.  you may be onto a new business here....the TS-Battery Company....      OOK

I agree. You may want to consider mini xlr connectors.

I'd go for hirose plugs or something else really exotic. I've got a lot of gear that uses mini-xlrs...

[edtyre]

Why even bother with this when (4) rechargeable 9 Volts give you 7+ hours??

You have too much time on your hands ed 

^^^ for the small festy's i do, or even a band with a opening act.  7 hours is pushing i think with the 9.6v powerex rechargeables, from the little testing i've done with them any way.  this BB will velcro to the bottom my nbox and will fit like any other pre in my bag.  also, no worries or thinking about my battery's when having fun, which i need more of   and yes ed, i do have too much time on my hands!!!  hope to see ya round soon!!    ed

Well all i use my Nbox for is stealth recording and i have done 160+ shows without a rechargeable battery failure.
Only ONE of those shows ran more than 3.5 hours and i was able  to swap my set of batteries during the set break
in the bathroom. For festies i run mk-4/41 > kc5 > cmc6 > lunatec v-3 > benchmark ad2k+ > edirol r-44   with this
rig i have battery power for 15+ hours.

If you are using this setup for open taping, then this is a great way to power the Nbox for longer run times without any worries.

[ero3030]

^^^  forgot to mention that all i really do is open taping.  for me, the option to run the " little " 9v batteries is just extra for me.  most peeps have a nbox just for that reason, small and easy conceal.  i'm the oposite    got it for the quality, and for the once in a while city trips where i need to carry light.    ed

[ero3030]

update 1/12/12.  my BB looks like a winner.  ran my nbox for 11hrs stright without running out of juice.  just flipped flopped the battery leads from one side to the other ( nbox owner's know what i mean ) and will run it that way for 4-6 hrs, no longer.  looking to cycle the new batts before getting a final total run time, but around 20 hrs on a first run is all i need to see.  good luck and happy taping to all nbox users.  make yourself a BB and run the piss out of those nboxs!!!                  ed

++++now that it works, i will prob notch out the nbox alittle for the new power cables to come out and for the nbox to close up tight.  it will make all look nice and clean then!!  ++++

[hi and lo]

Other than due dilligence and since both negative and positive terminals are RCA, what is preventing you from accidentally connecting them in reverse polarity?

[ero3030]

^^ not sure what u  mean?  center pin is + and outter ring is NEG.  dont know how plugging them in can cause reverse polarity?  ed

[hi and lo]

Bah.. I'm posting too early in the AM. You are right!

[ero3030]

^^^^ hahhaaaahhaahh.  u sound like me!!!!!

[F.O.Bean]

Well, how long did it last

[Scooter123]

I can see the usefullness of this auxilary box for long term taping assignments.  I have some questions about the connection to the NBox.  I assume all those Rechargeables are connected to the dual pair of 9v connectors.  Is that done on the fly, or did you work with Nick to make something?

[ero3030]

had a cable glitch, but all good now.  thought it was a battery prob, so lost tons of time testing.  should have times up soon.  ed

[ero3030]

I can see the usefullness of this auxilary box for long term taping assignments.  I have some questions about the connection to the NBox.  I assume all those Rechargeables are connected to the dual pair of 9v connectors.  Is that done on the fly, or did you work with Nick to make something?

yes, 4 seperate batteries and 4 seperate 9v snap connectors.  good friends with nick, and we have been in contact with each other a few times about my BB.  he is watching the process and seems to like the idea, but has no real input other than making sure its wired right.  i wired stright forward without shareing ground wires like the nbox does.  makes it easier for me ( less thinking!!! )  not done on the fly, was going to make on years ago but i never got a nbox till now, and a friend of mine sold his so i stopped thinking about till now.  i see there was some guys looking at a 2 battery system for the nbox.  that could work, but not as easy or " neat " looking.  the 3 wire side of the nbox is 9v and 9v ( change every show )  the other side is 2 9v's in series for 18v ( change every other show side )  the 9v 9v side useds more juice as 2 seperate 9v's that the 18v side, hence the change every show.  so one big 9v and one 18v may work, but was nothing i gave thought too or asked nick how to wire that. 
 i use 4 9.6v batts just like the ones u put in the nbox but with more mah.  from 230mah too  2100mah!!!    ed



*** also, changed the topic name to BB for nbox, instead of nbox battery box, as not to confuse peeps into thinking its a nbox product, but nick knows i'm not trying to do that, ed ************

[it-goes-to-eleven]

i use 4 9.6v batts just like the ones u put in the nbox but with more mah.  from 230mah too  2100mah!!!    ed

Well, they are a different type of chemistry and construction.  The internal resistance of the cells is likely different from 9 volt's.

That will all likely work Just Fine, because there are no noisy regulators involved.  But sonic testing is still a good idea. 

Batteries are a chemical reaction, and the rate of that reaction can induce noise in the power they produce.  I don't know anything about the discharge noise characteristics of these batteries when used in a low-current application like this.  But it is a very low current application compared to what those packs are typically used for.

[ero3030]

i've ran rc packs for all diff kinds of pre's and recorders.  never had a prob and dont see one here.  looks like i'll only need one battery for festy season starting in april for me!! i'll have a very small gear bag for a big weekend of taping.  going to be kind!   ed

[ero3030]

here r the pic's of the finished product.  still need more time testing, but not in the mood right now.  got 16hrs last time with batts not dying, so i'm happy for now, but now that the batteries got cycled, i will run it hard for my own piece of mind.  i put velcro on both sides of the BB for easy mounting of the nbox, and this way it keeps the new rca's nice, short and clean looking.  too change battery sides, just unplug the rca's, flip the BB over and mount the nbox and plug in the rca's again.  had to notch out the nbox for the cable leads.  not a big deal for me, but maybe for others.  its only a 25$$ box that can easly be changed out, but the 4 little notches r hardly noticable with the lid on and no leads coming out of the nbox.  the new rca's were a custom job and a bit over kill, but happy with the end results. Happy building!!!!!!    ed

[F.O.Bean]

Damn, VERY NICE ED!

Looks great! If I ever get an NBox+, I'll be sure to look you up Thats PERFECT for festie season

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I wonder if there is any risk of the external cables (and batteries) acting as a path for RF to enter the nbox?  Is the bbox plastic or metal?

It might be useful to do a test where you wave something.... a phone, an electric shaver... around it, with and without the power box, to check for interference.  As a control, it might be necessary to test with the nbox cover off too, in order to verify that the noise generating test sources actually have the ability to generate interference.