RED Link Bridge + On camera battery solution

[Jonathan Petts]

Hello All!

A while ago I saw in a thread people wanted to figure out a way to get a battery mounted behind the REDLinkBridge. There was a fantastic 3D printed one posted on here aswell!

As we dont have a 3D printer we sadly couldnt do that. But we found a great way to mount a battery pack on the camera if you have a Wooden Camera cheese plate! The easy top link cover that comes with the Cheese plate can be taken out and fit perfectly between the two antenna enabling you to screw in a battery plate onto the back of it!

This is mount on our Epic-MX by the way.

Here is the first image, as you can see it very slightly bends the antenna on the RedLink - this was due to mounting it so closely to the red link to make sure it is safe. We are going to be making our very our brackets that have our own drilled holes so it fits perfectly!

Another angle showing the slight bending on the antenna - this could be easily fixed with right angled ones which we are going to change to in hopes of getting a slightly longer range.
In terms of the actual usability of this, it seems very strong there is no bending with the metal when a battery is on and it seems very secure and we have been shooting like this when we need it for a few weeks now.

These next few images are just to show it fully built up into our "baby" rig. With D-Tap powering our EVF and having the monitor mounted for a 1st AC or DP to look at.

If anyone would be interessted in the mount we are going to make, I would certainly be more than happy to make a few of them and sell them at cost.


Hope this helps anyone still wondering about a solution for mounting a battery pack on the camera while still using the REDLink.


Jonny

 

[Jonathan Petts]

Okay we have now completed our v2 custom version.

So here is Version2.0 the physical version! This is a basic test to make sure it works and that it does the job. We made it span quite a wide area to ensure it is strong and durable. It has holes for all exisitng mounting points so no area's to mount have been lost. This is made of aluminum so it is super light and strong.
We also made sure that heat can escape and keep the camera cool, we also want to add longer antennas (ones you can bend to be able to increase the range the bit.)

If the test's and everything go well with it we are going to anodize it the same colour as the WC Cheese plate (red could look quite cool possibly?). This could also be mounted without a top cheese plate (or any type of cheese plate) just simply drill holes where needed.


Opinions? I was thinking about the idea of adding method to mount things on the side of the camera such as a Paralinx or a proxy recorder to make it more useful. But yeah what does everyone think to this hopeful solution to a problem a few users have had?


Jonny

 

[Ulf Krentz]

Not sure about the antennas being surrounded from grounded metal, might be better to have a greater clearance...

 

[Jonathan Petts]

Not sure about the antennas being surrounded from grounded metal, might be better to have a greater clearance...

Do you mean in terms of signal strength or in terms of saftey of the device?


Thanks,

Jonny

 

[Ulf Krentz]

Hi Jonny,

Actually both, I could imagine the RF signal being influenced and the RF amplifier stressed, but hey I´m no RF specialist may be you´re totally fine. Just my guts feeling, I think there is a reason the top plate is left open on top of the area where the RF antenna is in the DSMC. May be somebody more experienced could chime in and have a suggestion. Apart from this it´s looking like a good solution and I didn´t intend to spoil the party, have fun!

Cheers,

Ulf

 

[Jonathan Petts]

Hi Jonny,

Actually both, I could imagine the RF signal being influenced and the RF amplifier stressed, but hey I´m no RF specialist may be you´re totally fine. Just my guts feeling, I think there is a reason the top plate is left open on top of the area where the RF antenna is in the DSMC. May be somebody more experienced could chime in and have a suggestion. Apart from this it´s looking like a good solution and I didn´t intend to spoil the party, have fun!

Cheers,

Ulf

Not at all, It's great to get feedback from people who know more stuff than me! Just simply trying new things out. Had a spair bit laying around so we decided to see if we could make a mount. If it is going to cause issues we will remove it (going to test the range and stuff tomorrow).


Jonny