Topic: Fostex FR2-le "IN DA FIELD" (fr2le thread, pt 2)

[JiB97]

I was using a Transcend 8gb 133x card.  I had similar errors with my right channel during Langerado, so I just figured it was the CF card and not the recorder.

Condenser mics I presume? Unless the recorder itself hiccuped the only other possibility I can think of is the condenser mics picking up an RF glitch.

Ya, condensers, (akg460)  That's possible, I did have my cables duct taped to the cables leading from the stage snake to the FOH.

[chris319]

I'm more inclined to think the culprit is the mic rather than the cables. Back in the days of television when everybody had a roof antenna or rabbit ears, a car driving down the street with a noisy ignition system would make the picture break up due to RF interference (your basic spark gap). I'm thinking along those lines.

[Massive Dynamic]

I read elsewhere that the battery level meter is rather inaccurate, and I got lucky on my first taping experience not to run out of power. I decided to run some tests to see what would work best in the field. Here are my results.

Gear and Settings

Microphones
Beyerdynamic mc930; published power consumption 4.6 mA

FR-2le
48V Phantom power: ON at startup
Mic trim: 12:00
Monitor: 10:00
Recording level: 3:00
Resolution: 16/44
CF Card: A-Data 4GB Speedy (60x)

Battery
-Internal 4xAA, alkaline: Duracell, pre-test voltage, 6.4v
Total recording time: 2:40:12

-Internal 4xAA, NiMH: Radio Shack 1800 mAh, pre-test voltage, 5.59v
Total recording time: 2:18:04

-Internal 4xAA, NiMH: Kodak 2500 mAh
Total recording time:
1st test, pre-test voltage, 5.61v: 2:57:27
2nd test, pre-test voltage, 5.37v: 2:09:35

-External, 8xAA NiMH, Radio Shack 1800 mAh
Total recording time:
1st test; pre-test voltage, 10.88 (11.19 at full charge): 4:29:17
2nd test; pre-test voltage, 11.03: 4:47:38
(*this pack will power a UA-5 for ~ 3 hours with 2 mA mics (AT835rx), ~2 hours with 6.4 mA mics (Audix M1290))

-External, 8xD alkaline, wired in series for 12v output, with 0-15v panel volt meter; deck ran until voltage dropped to ~5.75v, though I didn't start with a fresh pack. I'd estimate ~15 hours run-time with new batts**, but the shutdown voltage reading was the key piece of information in this test.

[Edit: **After some real-world field use, I have some updated results. I was able to record 32+ hours on a new set of Duracell D batteries, and the battery level meter still showed about 60% (~10 volts). Yeah. Figure in another 20-25% additional time the unit was in standby mode for sound checks, and the capacity of this simple and inexpensive pack is phenomenal. I could use these same batteries next year and they could record another whole festival. No expensive RC batts and chargers for me, thanks.]

Voltage dropped ~1.5v under load. By comparison, the UA-5 will drop voltage only ~.5v under load w/phantom engaged. The pack has a 1.1A PTC resettable fuse which never engaged. I don't know the draw of the FR-2le, but the AC adapter is marked 1A. The best news is that the battery level meter actually worked with this external pack. The FR-2le ran for several minutes after the battery icon showed totally dead. The meter usually showed half-full only minutes before shutdown with NiMH. I didn't take careful notes on the meter with the internal alkaline test.

I am still puzzled by some of these results, particularly at the difference in internal vs external powering. I tried using a plain 9v alkaline battery externally, but I didn't have a fresh one, and the ones I had wouldn't power the unit up. It seems that there needs to be a lot of juice to get it going, but is very power-efficient once powered (*see my UA-5 comment above). Best of all, for me at least, is that I now have a reliable pack for festival use and I know when to change the batteries. This isn't likely to be helpful for anyone else since 8 D cells might as well be lead.

Hopefully someone with more electronic knowledge can elaborate on these results.

[JiB97]

I was using a Transcend 8gb 133x card.  I had similar errors with my right channel during Langerado, so I just figured it was the CF card and not the recorder.

Condenser mics I presume? Unless the recorder itself hiccuped the only other possibility I can think of is the condenser mics picking up an RF glitch.

Ya, condensers, (akg460)  That's possible, I did have my cables duct taped to the cables leading from the stage snake to the FOH.

Here is the show where this glitch occurred, and hopefully the fix isn't noticeable at all : http://www.archive.org/details/jgb2008-05-03.akg460.flac16

[ArchivalAudio]

So
I am
Posting
this again
because
using my FR2_LE stealth
(at Return2Forever)
it happened again!
I could not power
it off
I am running

a PoweriZer 4200mah NiMh Taymia battery
and have the deck
in a "fanny pack"
both time running Neuman KM 140's

its not a big deal
I use (menu option) turn off the phantom, wait, then unplug the batter pack

file saves okay
and every thin is intact

just wondering if any one else had this issue?

it


one though is that may be some how when the unit gets hot
 it behaves poorly... like It won't let me shut it down???

any one else ?

[willndmb]

is this only happening when stealthing?

[ArchivalAudio]

is this only happening when stealthing?

well
yes
the last 2 outings
I used the deck at
were

other times not... with different mics
and at home to drain the batts
no issues

[aberg]

It happened to me once running openly... wasn't able to duplicate it in testing. Seems to be just one of those flukey bugs.

[Belexes]

+t to all that stealth this shoe box!

[willndmb]

i'm wondering if when you stealth its overheating or something
if its not happening any other time

[sygdwm]

hard to imagine a machine w/ no moving parts overheating. i have never had this problem fwiw.

[willndmb]

hard to imagine a machine w/ no moving parts overheating. i have never had this problem fwiw.

true but if it only happens when its packed inside a hip pack - thats all i could think of
 

i never had any probs either knock on wood

[spcyrfc]

the one time it happened to me it was sitting out on a table and never moved.  my only theory which may not be plausible is that the battery reached some magical place where it would not allow the machine enough juice or something to shut it down.  it would be very nice to find an answer to this problem

[ArchivalAudio]

it's weird,  when I tried to turn it off between sets I couldn't

I do know that packed in the pack it does get pretty hot in there
it's also only happend when I had Neuman KM140's plugged in to it
I have some gigs between now and the 2-week of july
and I really don't want to send it in with a RMA to Fostex as was suggested until after that...
I'll see if it does it again...

[garybsc]

Does anyone know what a blinking red light on the Tenergy charger means?  Sometimes it's solid red, sometimes it blinks.  When it's done it's solid green.