So after receiving my TASCAM DR100 and MK012, I can record audio!... for 2 minutes...

L

L1N3ARX

Well-known member
So after recently receiving my TASCAM DR100 and Oktava MK012, I am very pleased with the quality of audio I'm getting. I've never owned a mic or any kind of audio setup so this is all pretty new and exciting. I was a little surprised to find out my tascam didn't come with a power adapter... really took me for a loop there. I struggled to get even 2 minutes of recording done leaching off the 48v phantom power coming from my 2 AAs. As soon as the power battery indicator went down 1 bar, it would refuse to record any longer even though there was significantly longer battery life. Since I'm a bit new to audio... what does everyone else do to remedy the their power situation...? Say you're on location and there's no where to plug in an ac adapter (if you even decided to get one separately: (, what do you do... pop in multiples AAs every few minutes..? This is a bit shocking to me, as I don't think most people usually resort to such measures.

Any advice on how to properly power a recorder like the DR100 using phantom power would be very welcome!
 
Using phantom power does draw down batteries faster than when it's off but you should be getting better than that. Try again with new AAs, you may have accidentally put in old batteries. See your manual pages 17, 18, and 45 for proper setup. Check to see that you have properly the type of AA battery you are using. Charge the internal Li-ion battery through the USB port. Tascam make a supplemental battery pack, BP-6AA, that will give you more extended times.
 
FWIW... We sometimes buy (or used to) standard AA batteries at work. The thing is, the cheap models seem to degrade over time. One of the grips on our Hasselblads ran dry and we replaced the batteries with those AA and they lasted around 30 min of shooting, then we had to replace again.
I guess you get what you pay for, even when it comes to batteries :(
 
There is nothing worse than cheap batteries. I had to use cheap AA's in my g3's one time (can't remember the brand, its what production got me) They didn't even make it past the first camera rehearsal.(I turned them on right before)
 
Hi for portability there are things like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-P..._Batteries&hash=item4843355c93#ht_1175wt_1187

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120645074432?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

These items can give you more portable juice if you have the right plug. Tapersection.com has a lot of people that need better portable batteries so you might find some info there.

Another option (more of a cost probably) is to get a mixer that would provide the phantom power.

There are lot more expensive portable power options.

I would check tapers those guys know a lot about this stuff - as far as setting up something non-conventional but works.
 
Keep in mind if one inputs an unbalanced source with Phantom Prw. enabled, that will usually drain the batteries within minutes.
With just one or even two 012s, your DR100 should run for quite a while. Do not use the Dollar Store or other 'heavy duty' budge types. Use only Alkaline, Lithium, NiMH rechargeable or a proper external supply. The 012 may even be able to work satisfactory on 12 or 24V instead of 48V, if the DR100 has the lower PP voltage option. That may 'buy' you an extra few hours as well.
I'll assume the 012 came from a reliable source.
 
Thanks for the input, turns out I was able to record much longer using some lithium rechargeables. I'm going to invest in some better batteries and get that ac adapter which should have originally been included... haha.
 
Note that there is battery management on the DR100. You can run on the Li-Ion first and use the AAs for a backup. Or, vise-versa. Plan your power carefully, and you can get about four hard working hours of use.

You can charge the DR100 off any wall wart usb charger, you don't need the factory charger. The only advantage it offers is that you can use the device while connected the a cpu, and charge at the same time.

Grant
 
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