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Gear / Technical Help => Remote Power => Topic started by: kdunne916 on January 05, 2010, 12:51:53 AM

Title: Six Volt (Solar) Rechargeable Batteries
Post by: kdunne916 on January 05, 2010, 12:51:53 AM
My buddy and I just bought our first "rig", very cheap/simple, picked up a set of behringer c-2's (came with stereo bar and wind screens) and are running them to the alesis protrack to record to ipod, got XLR cables and 10' light stand as well for under 300 bucks for everything (minus the ipod, had it already).  Anyways, after testing everything out, everything works well and sounds great for the price IMO, but the protrack eats AA's like no other when phantom powering the c-2's, probably 4 every hour, which presents a problem because the recording must be stopped every time to put in a fresh set.  The  external power supply reads 6V 1A, so were thinking about possibly using a rechargeable 6V battery (lantern battery) to power our rig.  Though they are heavy being SLA batteries, I was interested in the idea that they could be trickle charged through a solar panel, which would allow very extended use outdoors at festivals.  Here's the link for the two products (battery and solar charger):

http://www.amazon.com/Moultrie-Volt-Rechargeable-Battery-Md/dp/B000PW56H0/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/Moultrie-Volt-Solar-Panel-Md/dp/B000GWLZKQ/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_b

So, for 30 bucks or so, I figured this would work as the guts of an external power supply?  Or will it provide too many amps to the protrack?  Also, what needs to be done to connect this to the protrack?  I assumed i just need to find the proper size tip (2mm i think) and run 2 wires from the tip to some alligator clips to attach to the battery terminals, but I can't find much about using 6V batteries on the forums.

Finally, thanks everyone for all of your amazing help so far, excited to try to get a good recording at the gregg allman show tomorrow (hopefully first tape ever, keeping my fingers crossed)
Title: Re: Six Volt (Solar) Rechargeable Batteries
Post by: travelinbeat on January 16, 2010, 03:39:52 AM
Not sure, but I'm guessing that the idea of solar charging batteries is going to be too unreliable for most people here.  Understand that most of us are paranoid enough about our batteries already.  I'm interested to see what others have to say though, I know it might make me a bit of a hippie, but I'm always interested in "greening" myself up a bit.
Title: Re: Six Volt (Solar) Rechargeable Batteries
Post by: sleepypedro on January 16, 2010, 10:16:21 AM
I was interested in the idea that they could be trickle charged through a solar panel, which would allow very extended use outdoors at festivals. 

there is 0% chance this would be successful, the key word being "trickle".  those product pages don't have technical specs, but if you look at other comparable equipment and run the numbers, it simply will not work in the field for our power-hungry devices.
Title: Re: Six Volt (Solar) Rechargeable Batteries
Post by: travelinbeat on January 16, 2010, 10:33:01 AM
there is 0% chance this would be successful, the key word being "trickle".  those product pages don't have technical specs, but if you look at other comparable equipment and run the numbers, it simply will not work in the field for our power-hungry devices.

Pete with the cold water =)