Storage/Backup in the field( no elec.)

[Ulysses27]

I'm shooting a documentary in Nepal this Fall. I'll be in the mountains, climbing and carrying all my equipment. Last year I had an XL2, now I have an HVX200. I don't have ANY P2 cards, but I do have a 250GB Firestore. I also have a 26W, 12V solar panel that I can use to charge batteries.

My issue is shooting away from electricity for several weeks.

Can anyone suggest a hard drive that is portable and battery operable so I can dump from my Firestore in the field? Any thoughts on field storage in general? How do others deal with shooting with this camera away from electricity?

Thanks!

[dantewaters]

You can use this setup:

Battery - http://www.tekkeon.com/products-mypowerall.html

Drive - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/492714-REG/SmartDisk_FWFL160GB_160_GB_FireLite_FireWire_400.h tml

The battery system works with any device you simply let the company know what you'd like to power and they will provide the adapter for it. Also the battery can provides up to 12hrs of life.

[Ulysses27]

Thanks for the reply! Anyone else have suggestions?

[MagicCat]

Most full sized HDD's will run off of 12 volts on one pin and 5 on another. A 12 volt power supply can be made to split that up for you. The faster the drive, the more juice it eats generally. Smaller 2.5 inch drives will run off of just 5 volts DC and use much less juice over all. They are also more rugged and lightweight. Whatever you do, My suggestion would be to wire this stuff up yourself. The handier you are, the cheaper it gets.

IE: I have some LION packs I bought at Big Lots for ten bucks Each. Small, lightweight, they are power-switchable from 8-5 volts DC, perfect for 2.5 inch drive enclosures. They can be charged from any 12 volt source like your panel. I had to wire them up for a HDD Connector myself, they run long enough to backup 200 gigs.

Your real problem is going to be having enough solar power to charge your camera batteries too. (at least I would imagine)

Sounds to me like your issue is not the batteries, but having enough solar panels to keep all that stuff Charged. 26watts is not much. (I am assuming that is per-day in full-sun. 26 watts under 12 volts is barely two amp hours of juice created per day, or- about 1/2 an anton bauer betacam Brick, correct me if I am wrong here anyone)

Eventually, it wont matter how many batteries you have, or how long they run individually that is going to bite you in the rear out there, it is the ratio of how fast will you use up everything, verses how fast you can can re-generate everything you use per day..

Hand Crank generators can do wonders too, but it is a time verses output thing.

Get more solar panels and more importantly, bring a TON of batteries to keep the available power-odds in your favor, provided it is within your budget.

Hope this helps

any local electronic MacGuyver type of person or shop, can help you with your hard drive wiring issues.

Dave

[Ulysses27]

Thanks. So, is there any way to dump from a P2 directly to a HD without a computer? I'm thinking now I can get some P2 cards and dump via an eSATA card through my MacBook Pro into an external FW800 drive. But that means I have to have my computer running in the field.

Other options?

[newsbykko]

I just ran into the same problem here in China. An other DVXuser referred me to: http://www.nextodi.com/en/

They make a rugged battery powered hard drive enclosure that can be used by the HVX in 1395 host mode. No computer needed.
I also bought one and love it! I can dump about 11 16G cards into a 160G HD on one charge! Best part. Under $200!
The units are marketed for still camera shooters for downloading from there SD cards so many still camera stores have these units for sale.
They also sells extra batteries and AA cell adapters.

Email me at: Kris@KrisztianKOrban.com if you need more info.

Kris