Building a rif HVR-Z7 battery advice needed

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pjamedia

New member
Hi, I'm hoping someone can help to identify a connector type for me - please let me explain: I'm looking at building a shoulder rig for my HVR-Z7 (using a rails system). I want to mount the battery behind the shoulder pad to give some counter balance, and connect this into the Sony L series dc adaptor plate which slots into the camera in place of the Sony battery. To save spending on new V Mount batteries, I found a battery plate which takes 2 Sony L series batteries (which I already have), but its supplied with dc adapter connector for the Canon 5d Mk2/3 DSLR and not unfortunately a Sony L series one. So I plan to use the L series dc adapter which came with the camcorder, chopping off the plastic plug (which usually connects to the Sony charger) and replacing it with one which connects into the 7.4v output of the Catclaw battery pack (pictured below). To do that I need to figure out what type of plug I need for this battery pack. If you look at the image below, the 7.4v output is the centre one:
616SXp1Bp6L._AA1500_.jpg
Any ideas what type of connector this uses?

Thanks, Paul
 
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Well, I never heard back from anyone on the forums, so thought I would update, as I just received my Catclaw battery adapter (the one in the picture above).

I chopped off the canon dummy battery plate from the supplied cable and soldered the Sony HVR-Z7 dummy battery plate in its place (so I could power my Sony HVR-Z7 from this battery pack). I connected it up and powered on the camcorder, which comes on for a split second, then an error is displayed in the LCD on the cam which says "Use new AC adapter or reinsert." and then the camcorder shuts down!

I'm wondering if I need something special to power the sony HVR-Z7 externally (from a battery pack), as this clearly does not work. To try and diagnose the cause, I checked the voltage output from the Sony batteries and even though the battery case says 7.2v, the output is actually over 8.3v. The Catclaw battery pack on the other hand (with 2 sony batteries installed) outputs exactly 7.2v - maybe the voltage drop due to the load applied by the camcorder is too much for this battery pack. I just don't know!

Does anyone on the forums have experience powering a Sony HVR- Z1, Z5 or Z7 from an external battery pack?

Thanks, Paul
 
OK, so all my battery/power supply issues are now resolved!

It turns out that the Catclaw battery plate outputs 7.2v exactly from that centre connector - and the Sony HVR-Z7, despite having 7.2v printed on its battery, actually needs a minimum 8v to function (I.e. to start up and work without displaying the error message "Use new AC adapter or reinsert." as mentioned in my last post).

How do I know it needs 8v ? ...well I took the Catclaw battery plate apart, and inside there are 3 voltage regulators - one for each of the 3 output sockets. These 3 regulators are identical, and each has an adjustable capacitor which when tweaked allows you to set the output voltage. So I tweaked the regulator feeding that middle socket, and once it reached 8v, the camcorder would start up without issue.

I must say, although I initially thought I had wasted my money on this battery plate adapter, having the ability to tweak the output voltages to each of the 3 sockets individually, is an awesome feature, so I'm really pleased with it.

Here's a picture of my rig now (minus the 7" Lilliput field monitor I just ordered):
2013-02-14 19.23.51.jpg

Sop that's an end to my query. Thanks everyone for the priceless help and advice ;o)
 
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