Building a DIY wireless directors monitor / client monitor

[Phil Rhodes]

Something I've discovered since I last posted on this thread is that the Nyrius-branded stuff is extremely sensitive to power starvation.

Mostly, as supplied, both transmitter and receiver require 5V DC power. Several times now I've used Recom DC/DC power converters to make these devices compatible with circa-12V camera power. This works perfectly fine, or at least it does until the batteries go flat and the Recom converter often pulses on and off at a rate of about once per second. Nyrius Aries series senders and receivers really, really don't like this, and I've now seen one of each be destroyed by it (the failure is one of the linear regulators which derive the 1.1V core supply for the underlying Amimon chipset and it isn't really fixable without a vacuum rework station, even if it hasn't destroyed the chipset into the bargain, which it probably has).

I should emphasise that this is not a trivial polarity error or something like that; these things worked for some time then abruptly stopped. They like a continuous supply and if they don't get it, they tend to emit all their magic blue smoke and stop working. Not to be a tool-blaming bad workman, but this isn't representative of exactly stellar work on the part of whoever put the PCBs together. It implies you could destroy one of these things just by switching the power on and off at a rate of about once a second.

Still, while they're cheaper than a Teradek, they're expensive enough that this is really quite annoying, and I hope my experiences might save someone from repeating them.

P

[rob norton]

Something I've discovered since I last posted on this thread is that the Nyrius-branded stuff is extremely sensitive to power starvation.

Mostly, as supplied, both transmitter and receiver require 5V DC power. Several times now I've used Recom DC/DC power converters to make these devices compatible with circa-12V camera power. This works perfectly fine, or at least it does until the batteries go flat and the Recom converter often pulses on and off at a rate of about once per second. Nyrius Aries series senders and receivers really, really don't like this, and I've now seen one of each be destroyed by it (the failure is one of the linear regulators which derive the 1.1V core supply for the underlying Amimon chipset and it isn't really fixable without a vaccum rework station, even if it hasn't destroyed the chipset into the bargain, which it probably has).

I should emphasise that this is not a trivial polarity error or something like that; these things worked for some time then abruptly stopped. They like a continuous supply and if they don't get it, they tend to emit all their magic blue smoke and stop working. Not to be a tool-blaming bad workman, but this isn't representative of exactly stellar work on the part of whoever put the PCBs together. It implies you could destroy one of these things just by switching the power on and off at a rate of about once a second.

Still, while they're cheaper than a Teradek, they're expensive enough that this is really quite annoying, and I hope my experiences might save someone from repeating them.

P

So amimon and nyrius share these potentially problematic regulators?

[CharlesPapert]

So amimon and nyrius share these potentially problematic regulators?

I wouldn't expect so, Rob. The Connex units are nominally 12v, the actual range is 8-26v for the transmitter and 7-19v for the receiver.

Unless they have changed in recent years, Nyrius uses the Amimon chipset for transmission. Their early HDMI "stick" was visually similar to the first Paralinx product, and the Paralinx folks had to do a lot of defending of the different boards in use to justify their significantly greater price. It's the rest of the board that distinguishes all of these products, which would include power regulators. I'm sure Phil can speak to this more technically than I, but perhaps that covers it.

The main takeaway is that the Connex products are designed to be fed 12v and I have never had any issues with them blinking out when batteries start to go.

[Phil Rhodes]

I wouldn't expect so, Rob. The Connex units are nominally 12v, the actual range is 8-26v for the transmitter and 7-19v for the receiver.It's the rest of the board that distinguishes all of these products, which would include power regulators. I'm sure Phil can speak to this more technically than I, but perhaps that covers it.

The main takeaway is that the Connex products are designed to be fed 12v and I have never had any issues with them blinking out when batteries start to go.

Precisely.

[rob norton]

Thanks Charles & Phil. I'm not worried, it's more just a paranoid extra point of reference if any troubleshooting is ever required.

Although it's interesting hearing the backstories of some of these companies. Phil is on a whole other level with these details!

[CharlesPapert]

Well, there are stories I could tell about those wild and wooly days of HD transmitters, as I was first working with each company that came to prominence...the IDX Camwave, the Boxx Meridien, then Paralinx and Teradek. I got out of the Boxx Meridien in time to get a decent return, less so with the Teradek 2000--when the 3000 was announced, prices dumped fast. I decided it wasn't in my best interest to have to ride the "latest and greatest" wave with $10K+ systems that were obseleted in a year and half, so I got into the Connex modification thing and it has served well since, at a fraction of the price and with good rental returns. Not quite sure when exactly the viewing pipeline on my jobs will have to go 4K, honestly I'm dreading it ferociously as it will require a serious overhaul of my carts, monitors etc.

[Phil Rhodes]

Not quite sure when exactly the viewing pipeline on my jobs will have to go 4K, honestly I'm dreading it ferociously as it will require a serious overhaul of my carts, monitors etc.

The only person who needs 4K is the focus puller and that's the person working from the seven-inch display.

In my view it's fairly pointless.

Not that this will stop people demanding it.

[Run&Gun]

The only person who needs 4K is the focus puller and that's the person working from the seven-inch display.

In my view it's fairly pointless.

Not that this will stop people demanding it.

So much in our business can be covered by those two sentences.

[rob norton]

Here are some photos of the current set up.

Transmitter attached to the c200 top handle using a 16x9 cine lock quick release. It actually also fits on the diagonal part of the handle, between the lens and where the tx is in this picture. I don't think I'll need to cram that many accessories on but good to know it's possible. For this solo/corporate shooting I'm trying to keep the c200 free of rods and have the smallest rig possible. The transmitter is paired with a Camera Motion Research accessory pack. It's pretty cool having a wireless system that uses a tiny lithium battery, without needing d-tap or sony NP style batteries. HDMI for the monitor is fine, we'll see if HDMI with the tx comes back to haunt me. I know there's the tx sdi kit but happy to run the gauntlet for now..

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Transmitter stored in a lowepro hardside cs60 for extra protection. You can see it in the upper left part of the bag. Rather than keeping complete systems together, everything that is used as an accessory on the camera stays with the camera bag. Before shooting I add what's needed. For example, shotgun mic, wireless audio receiver, wireless video transmitter etc. The video rx stays with the monitor and audio tx stays in a separate audio bag. This way if things aren't getting used they don't get carried around all day.

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I have a smallhd 702 bright with wooden camera monitor cage. I attached a 15mm spud to the base of the receiver, which goes into a small rig part on the monitor cage. The wooden camera mount is disgraceful so I added an old magic arm piece to give a proper stand mount. I'm currently using a cinebags skinny jimmy to hold the monitor. It's small enough for a director/client to carry themselves all day if needed - apple box for scale.

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[rob norton]

I've since made the set up less deep by going with a smallrig quick release and using a single battery instead of two at once. This lets the receiver go where the other battery would be.

Wireless monitor project complete (for now).

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