Thoughts on power gear and cables

[Patrick Grossien]

I was pondering over a few power related add ons for my gear and was wondering why some decisions where made the way they were. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's just cheaper, but still it got me thinking:

Why aren't the power cables on some of the gear removable? It would often be easier to stow the gear in the cases if the cables would detach and it could mean less stuff to carry around.

If the cable breaks, you wouldn't have to send the gear in for repair. Ok, on some stuff like the AC adaptor this might not be really relevant price wise, but on some things it would and it could also be a real time saver - have a second set of cables at the studio and you won't have to wait for the shipment from RED to get your gear replaced. And a second cable will probably be a lot cheaper than a second piece of gear.

Also if for example, the power adaptor had a XLR connector to attach the lemo cable, you would already have a XLR power adaptor cable along with it, which you could use on other power sources.

Or if the Power Adaptor would have a lemo connector, you could use that same cable on the Battery Belt Clip or the new BackPack Quickplate for example if they have detachable cables too. (length of cable is an issue to consider)

What do you think? Is this just totally ridiculous or worth a thought? Below are some pictures to make it clearer.

I just put the plugs on the visible side for better understanding

 

[Patrick Grossien]

reserved

 

[Louis Maddalena]

I definitely like the idea. It would make packing the gear much easier, and you could also get a variety of cable lengths.

 

[Peter Stelzhammer]

I totally like the idea - especially for transportation it would totally help to have the power"brick" separated from the cable!

 

[Patrick Grossien]

I definitely like the idea. It would make packing the gear much easier, and you could also get a variety of cable lengths.

That was fast. Seems I'm not totally alone on this one.

 

[Patrick Grossien]

I haven't seen the V-Mount BackPack Quickplate in reality. Maybe it's planned to use a detachable cable already, because with the upcoming Redvolt XL Quickplate Adapter, RED seems to already "get this right" (see below) So now get some of the old stuff updated

Picture from Phil's NAB Journal thread

 

[Jon Carr]

The only draw back I see is that there's more connectors that could break from use adding higher cost to make/sell and fix. Other then that, I want one!

 

[ericyoung]

I like the XLR4 - cheap and robust, easy to find in high street electronic stores. Lemos - great, but so expensive, and harder to source instantly.

 

[Jeff Whitehurst]

A RED team member told me at NAB there's plans for this to be a charger as well. I'm pretty hyped on that thought!

I haven't seen the V-Mount BackPack Quickplate in reality. Maybe it's planned to use a detachable cable already, because with the upcoming Redvolt XL Quickplate Adapter, RED seems to already "get this right" (see below) So now get some of the old stuff updated

Picture from Phil's NAB Journal thread

 

[Patrick Grossien]

I like the XLR4 - cheap and robust, easy to find in high street electronic stores. Lemos - great, but so expensive, and harder to source instantly.

My thoughts exactly! The big pro for the lemos is their size. The XLRs would be too fat for the module option. But it could be the XLR for the AC Adaptor to keep it simple and sturdy and use the detachable lemos on all the modules and gear.

A RED team member told me at NAB there's plans for this to be a charger as well. I'm pretty hyped on that thought!

That would be sweet. Now if this could also hold 2 single revolts

 

[Phil Holland]

That would be sweet. Now if this could also hold 2 single revolts

That's exactly what this is for: http://www.red.com/store/products/pro-battery-module-dual and there's no cable to worry about.

 

[Patrick Grossien]

That's exactly what this is for: http://www.red.com/store/products/pro-battery-module-dual and there's no cable to worry about.

Hehehe. Have that in my set. But the XL Quickplate might be a nice alternative so I could drop the dual in the future. But even with only XL this will be great.

EDIT: I guess I also wrote this in relation to the charging. Then it could charge both XL and singles.

 

[Daniel Stilling]

When it comes to the AC power adaptor, RED gets those from a third party, and just solder the Lemo at the end. The XLR is a great idea, but the plastic casing comes from the manufacturer like it is, and I doub there's room for a plug in there.
Its totally doable, but it would require making a new plastic casing to accommodate the XLR, making the price rise quite a bit probably...

 

[Patrick Grossien]

Daniel, very valid point. It would then be only cost efficient if there is an already existing ac adaptor that could be used.

EDIT: the travel charger for comparison is an all RED design and costs less than the DSMC AC Power Adaptor. Mostly due to the Lemo in the AC Power probably. But still this makes it believable to the point where they could do it (cost wise).

And even if not, the removable lemos for the gear still remain a good idea I believe.

 

[Daniel Stilling]

But the removable lemos for the gear still remain a good idea I believe.

100% agreed!

 

[Patrick Grossien]

I have to get this noted by the powers at RED Anybody home?

 

[Patrick Grossien]

That's exactly what this is for: http://www.red.com/store/products/pro-battery-module-dual and there's no cable to worry about.

You know what is weird though, that the dual and quad modules seem to be so huge in comparison to the new XL backplate thingy.