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Be Careful: GH2 body dead after I connected it to a 8,4v Battery Pack
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  • arvidtparvidtp
    thanks! regulated just means that it outputs a constant voltage within its current range. unregulated DC adapters (ie most wall warts) will change their output voltage somewhat based on load/current that they are driving and therefore are not reliable to output a fixed voltage and need a regulator for digital electronics. Since the GH2 usually expects a battery (very clean, stable voltage - until charge runs out), i expect that a regulated power supply would be necessary. Looks like the dynex is - I'm going to order it.
  • markmark1markmark1
    Ok, that makes sense.

    Just make sure the one you order has the right tip included.
  • CFreakCFreak
    "BUT:

    The original Panasonic DC-coupler carries the minus on the cable which is marked with white color!

    This is insane! Panasonic switches suddenly the polarity in the connector which connects the DC coupler with the power supply. Probably a very mean trick to prevent compatibility

    Can anybody confirm this?"



    This may be a design flaw, from the AC-DC Panasonic adapter. It's really hard to know for sure.

    I recently uncovered a design flaw in the stereo of a 2002 VW Jetta: One speaker was wired backwards creating phase cancellation (luckily it was well documented in a forum). In 20 minutes we had the stereo sounding great (only 9 years after the flaw was created).

    Years ago shooting film: both Panavision and Arriflex cameras used 24 volts with 3 pin XLR cables in the USA. Only, Arriflex, new to requiring 24 volts (ca. 1993), chose to have a reversed polarity from Panavision, requiring seperate batteries, or, for the AC to build his/her own reversing cable.... and if you forgot it... puff, the camera was down (but had user accessible fuses -if you remembered to have a spare or 2 with you).

    Whatever the reason Panasonic had, thanks for posting this. I have the DCC, just haven't built or adapted my 12 volt XLR or Sony batteries for it.
  • markmark1markmark1
    It should be ok regardless, just make sure that you test the polarity on the dc coupler contacts at the battery shaped end that goes into the camera. As long at it matches the polarity of the OEM battery you should be fine.
  • misterhumisterhu
    Short Update: Panasonic repaired my camera on warranty! On the repair report it says they exchanged the part: ERBSE3ROOU IC PROTECTOR

    So the camera does actually seem to have power regulators which protect the body from overvoltage or wrong polarity.

    I used XLR connectors for the battery pack and checked the polarity to the last pin and now everything works smooth.

    So once again, just be very carefull about polarity when you use external batteries!
  • arvidtparvidtp
    Sweet! All's well that ends well i guess.

    And I wanted to put in that I've been using the dynex charger/AC adapter a lot without incident for the last 5 days or so while testing spanning with the hack. Works great, and useful for other random stuff too - like USB power and phone charging.
  • cbrandincbrandin
    @arivdtp

    I sure hope you aren't using the power supply when updating the firmware.

    Chris
  • arvidtparvidtp
    Definitely not. I always RTFM when $1000 gear at stake :)

    but it does allow me to run span tests all day using only one battery charge cycle per day - i just use a cheapo tripod that has a small plate and allows me to get to the battery door and swap the battery in when I update the firmware, then back to the AC adapter to shoot for 2 hours or however long it takes for the GH2 to stop recording while I go do other stuff.
  • MarkVesterskovMarkVesterskov

    I built a small DC-DC stepdown into the GH2 DMW-DCC8 adapter - so now my camera accepts input voltages from 9-30 volts, with no poof :)

  • fehafeha

    Before you connect any battery, please watch this video:

  • 2ge2ge

    Hi guys,

    if somebody is looking for ready to use solution, I just bought XTPower 32000 (I can power my macbook pro with it) and DC Coupler. Just connected those two, set 9v output and good to go.

    amazon links: http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-Pilot-Pro-Multi-Voltage-Compatible/dp/B00DN0KBXU http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CBEDTCY

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