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DIY: Battery for long shots
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  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    @Vitaliy - Well it doesn't cost much and it show you two different forms of readings from the battery, which is helpful.

    So hows life then on the engineering front and just in general?
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @chrimsbroome

    This meter looks very cool.
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    One way of regulating the power to the Panasonic GH2 third party battery pack is a device called a Dynamite DYN4062 Sentry LiPo NiMH Capacity Gauge. It measures the voltage, shows you the voltage and shows you the battery's mha power stored in a bar like form. I bought one since I have two third party battery packs and they last for weeks and weeks.

    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/350489458681?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

    your welcome :-)
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    Thats fantastic, I thought of getting a 5000mha 8.4v battery version but wasn't sure if the extra mha would make much of a differnce. 9 1/2 hours is along time and a lot better than a £50 1200mha 7.2 volt battery that last 45 to 112 mins. I may just get a 5000mha battery pack as its only £32 lol.
  • drogodrogo
    I just finished testing my 5000 mAh 8.4v race car battery on my GH2, and it got over 9 1/2 hours recording time on one charge! It blew me away... and it only takes I think about an hour to re-charge.
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    I faced a problem today with my battery pack. It turns out some users reported what if the battery goes below a curtain valtage. The answer the camera will refuse to work "you cannot use this battery in this camera". However what I do know is you can get at least 8 hours out of it on a full charge. Strangely you can still take photos when that message comes up refuseing to work with the battery. Probally because a hacked GH2 may use a bit more power. I found a link that will help you guys understand the benifits and ways you can understand "what if this happens"

    A link which shows a test done on a battery pack like I got:





    Always happy to help :-)
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    I must admit it feels strange to have a battery that just keeps going. I spent a good 2 hours with and its still was on full green. I even left it recording a wall for another hour and it still was full. O happy days for the custom made battery for my GH2. I will get a 5000mha battery pack for when I go to africa just to be sure I have lots of power and by god I will :-)
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    Sorry mate I been busy working away as I run a small business, so I haven't had chance to test the battery. All I can say is that its been used a bit and it still full. Unlike the Panasonic were it just seem too drain when you start shooting video for 10 mins to 20 mins. I expect you should be able to get 7-8 hours at least out of it. The best thing is that it can handle high dis-charge output so it doesnt matter if you shoot video for an hour, or do some burst sport photography it will keep the charge all the way through.

    Well thats what i gatherd from it so far anway.

    I make an effort too video of some birds in my back garden soon as I want too see how long it will last when I take it on holiday.
  • kujinakujina
    @chrimsbroome any update on how the effectiveness of the LED battery status indicator?
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    I thought of doing a bit of business with it but I dont think people would be too impressed with the salotape finishes and basically a dangleing dead weight lol. Vitaliy thinks its a small bomb, honestly give me some creadit- I guess I carn't send it through customs then lol :-)
  • B3GuyB3Guy
    I had this same idea of adding that indicator, but I didn't want to buy it because I am in USA and couldn't find a supplier over here. If someone figured out a correctly sized battery for a grip, put the LED indicator in with it, and designed a plastic grip housing, I feel like they'd make a lot of money! (I would buy one!)
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    Ok, the pic your showing me I am not sure about since I never bought it. The guy at the shop told me that there are only two componet LED battery status that work with the battery I am using. However they may be more that work but I dont know. The one that I am using shows from what I can see Geen, Orange and Red. I have fiddled with it and if you insert it in to the indicator connectors end, but only just so it touches it flickers and you can see that LED light has a red and a orange (if that makes sense). I am currently running it down and see how long it lasts and see if the red and orage LED's start to show that its low.

    I could just jump the gun and connect it to the charger and discharge the whole battery so its completely flat. However I just wanna see roughly how long the battery lasts for and as you say will run low and the GH2 still work.
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  • kujinakujina
    image

    @chrimsbroome the "7-Segment display battery status indicator" on the bottom of the page of the link you gave me above displays the actual voltage of the battery, this would probably be the best way to monitor the charge, though I'm not sure if its compatible with the battery you bought. I believe the battery will stop working on the gh2 when it gets below 8.5 volts (which is still .1 volts higher than its nominal power).

    Does that indicator with green to red leds give you a good idea when the battery will stop working with the GH2?
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    By the DC coupler and the 2 metre cable I got made by the same shop. I haven't really mounted mine yet but I plan to mount to a Follow focus unit or Video tri-pod with some cable ties. Nothing fancy. I am only interested in the power storage for nothing. Its a huge saving compared too buying the original batterys.
  • PtchawPtchaw
    @chrimsbroome Top stuff! How are you plugging that into your GH2, with an offical GH2 power adapter? I've seen some people who've made their own after being unable to buy them, out of bits of wood and plastic :P

    Planning to make one myself, going to see if I can put a cold shoe fitting on the bottom for mounting on top of the camera. How are you mounting yours?
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/battery_testers.html

    there are a few too choose from

    LED battery status indicator for 4.8 - 8.4V batteries
    4 - 7 cell battery packs.
  • kujinakujina
    I'd thinking that it would be great to make a battery grip to house one of these battery packs, though it would have to be a slightly smaller battery pack.

    @chrimsbroome where on component-shop.co.uk is that led strip?
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    @belfryman, ok so a bit less than the one I got but enough.
    @dusko0224 yes thats the method I use but with an extra LED status.
  • dusko0224dusko0224
  • belfrymanbelfryman
    So a bit less than the dynamite!
  • belfrymanbelfryman
    Don't know, not my field I'm afraid, just set it to 8.4V and goes for hours but info sheet says 4000 mAh at 8.4v.
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    How many mha is this mini gorilla? (milli Amps an Hour)
  • belfrymanbelfryman
    I've attached a coupler to a mini gorilla which works well.
  • chrimsbroomechrimsbroome
    Cool,

    Year I better not let customs look at it when I am traveling as it might send the wrong message :-)
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @chrimsbroome

    I changed topic title to be shorter, ok?

    Overal it looks like small bomb :-)
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