Beachtek DXA-SLR PRO and batteries

rawfa

rawfa

Veteran
Hi guys,

I´ve just bought a Beachtek DXA-SLR PRO and although I didn´t receive it yet I´d like to know how many hours of battery (320mah) should I get shooting with 2 phantom power mics. Any thoughts?

One thing that I will miss about the Zoom H4N is the ability to use AC power indoors.
 
That cannot be answered as a generic question.
The answer depends on two important variables that only you control:
1) How much phantom power current do your microphones draw?
2) What is the REAL capacity of your batteries (not just the "nominal" rating)

The specs on the web page say: "3 hours typical with alkaline battery (no phantom) "
I wouldn't leave the house without a package of batteries...

powerpax-07(5)test_thumbnail.jpg
 
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The battery is a 9v 320mah. As for how much both mics I´m using audio-tecnica's AT831 (on the website it says "phantom 9 - 52v DC")
 
"320mAH" is only the "nominal" rating. How much power the batter ACTUALLY has is rarely the full 320mAH. Especially if it is not "fresh".

The voltage rating of the microphones does NOT tell us how much CURRENT they acutally draw.

You could rig up a test to MEASURE how much current your microphones draw, calculate the efficiency of the DC-to-DC converter inside the Beachtek, and estimate the actual battery capacity. But that would be a lot of work for dubious results.

If you want to know what your battery life is, get a fresh battery, put it in your gadget, plug in your mics and let it sit there until the battery drains down to the warning level. That will give you an estimated time for that brand of batteries.

After you use it for a while, you will get a "feel" for how long different brands/models of batteries perform. But going out without several spare batteries is just silly.

There are way too many variables to think you can actually predict how long the battery will last with any accuracy.
 
Ok, I follow you but it´s pretty hard to believe people cannot give me a ball park value. I mean, are we talking about 1 hour, 5 hours....? I just want to know ho many batteries should I get to be able to shoot for 8 hours.

It will be a month before I get my hands on the beachtek and as soon as it arrives I want to have it ready to shoot. Of course I will make all kinds of tests with it for a week, but that is not enough time for me to buy battery chargers and stock on good batteries from abroad.
 
If the website says "3 hours without phantom power", then I would plan on 1 hour per battery with two phantom mics and fresh batteries.

Remember that if you are shooting indoors, you can use a battery eliminator which plugs into the wall mains socket and replaces the 9V battery.
 
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