Shooting in Honduras: HVX200+Firestore… no electricity

[Dean Sensui]

Solar power has a drawback in that you need sunlight to charge anything and if you’re using the equipment during the day, that’s a problem. Unless you have two sets of batteries: One set charging while the other is being used.

Another option is a small generator like the Honda EU1000.

https://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=eu1000i

It’s quiet, fairly lightweight (30 pounds) and doesn’t use a lot of gas (just over a half gallon for more than 3.5 hours). And generates enough power to cover your needs. You might want to bring a long a small UPS to ensure smooth power delivery.

If you’re bringing a laptop then maybe invest in P2 cards, one or two P2 Stores and forget the Firestore. That would be one less battery system to deal with, and a single HVX-200 battery will easily run the P2 Store all day long.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[Tony Cope]

Thanks for the feedback. This is def. in the infant stages of a production. I’m thinking of running 2 HVX200s – and will have 6 8gig P2 cards + 12 or so batteries. I’m also thinking of getting 3 of the small 15W-30W solar systems to charge a couple of batteries at a time + one for power to recharge the laptop – and a place to run the archive hard drive.

I’m starting to really liek your advice of leaving the Firestore drive behind… or simply having as a back up.

[Dean Sensui]

Tony…

Last year I was in the initial planning phases of a remote shoot and here’s what I came up with in terms of power requirements:

Portable production power requirements

MacBook Pro: 85 watts
Seritek 1SE2 enclosure: 48.5 watts
Dolgin battery charger: 25.2 watts
Panasonic battery charger: 24 watts
MyPower MP3400: 60.04 watts

Total: 242.74 watts
(110VAC at 2.21A)
(12VDC at 20.22A)

6-hour charge = 122 Amp-hours

Honda E1000i
120VAC 7.5A.
29 pounds
0.6 gallons = 3.8 hrs at rated load, 0.157 GPH

At 2.21A load probably get 6 -7 hours run time.
About 0.6 gallons/day to charge batteries & run laptop.
1 week = 4.2 gallons. 25.2 pounds.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[Tony Cope]

Wow – that’s some good detail. Thanks.

Questions for you — if I’m using the larger batteries for my HVX, what should I expect the power requirements (watts per day?) to recharge each battery to be? Any thoughts on a powerbook 1.5 gh/15in laptop? I just need to run the laptop long enough to dump the footage off the P2 cards each day. I guess I’ll also have to run a terabyte drive or a couple of 500 gig drives to collect all of the footage.

How can I figure out all this on my own? (Not a gaffer… electricity is a s much of a mental danger for me as it is a physical danger…)

Thanks for your help,
T

[Dean Sensui]

Tony…

My background in electrical work comes from a 10th-grade electronics class.

Watts = amps x volts

Each device will have info on what it draws in volts and amps. Multiply volts and amps to get watts for each device. Add up all the watts and you’ll have the total amount of power needed. From there you can get a final figure on total amps needed at a given voltage.

Just adding the amperage won’t work if each device has a different operating voltage. 10 amps at 10 volts is the same power as 1 amp at 100 volts: 100 watts. So always get the wattage each device requires first, then add up the watts.

Watts becomes a common denominator. That’s how I do it. A professional might do it differently.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many devices will have a peak draw on startup. When you’re power supply is close to the limit, be careful to avoid overloading it by starting things up in a sequence. Don’t fire up everything simultaneously.

A good example of this is that scene in “Apollo 13” where they test various startup sequences in a simulator in order to find out how they can power up the command module without exceeding a certain number of amps.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[Bob Cole]

Dean, how quiet is that Honda generator? Quiet enough to run during a dialog shoot, say 100′ away?

— Bob C

[Dean Sensui]

[Bob Cole] “Dean, how quiet is that Honda generator? Quiet enough to run during a dialog shoot, say 100′ away?

— Bob C”

Bob…

I hadn’t used one but I’ve seen them running. One was outside a CompUSA powering a hot dog stand and I was amazed at how quiet it was.

They’re rated at less than 60 dB, which puts them on-par with the noise level in my editing bay with a Panasonic air conditioner running about 5 feet away.

Place it around a corner or behind a car and I’d be confident it would be unnoticable, especially if you’re using directional mics or close-miking the subject.

Dean Sensui — Imagination Media Hawaii

[R Walter]

Another thought – just because it is a remote location doesn’t mean that someone else hasn’t already taken in a generator, especially if there is an airstrip nearby. You might check before burdening some poor mule needlessly. You’d be amazed what fits in a single engine Cessna.

Make sure you know if they use 110 or 220, and take in your own voltage regulator/UPS.

[Barry Green]

[Bob Cole] “how quiet is that Honda generator? Quiet enough to run during a dialog shoot, say 100′ away?”
100′ away? Sure. I don’t have the 1000, I have the 3000is, and right next to your subject it’s loud. Very quiet for a generator, but it’s still a generator. A hundred feet away, behind some big structure, it should be just great.

But the problem then becomes running adequate electrical cords 100′; you’d need some thick cable to avoid losing too much to resistance.

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