Kyle Wullschleger

Ah! This makes sense. So Terry was right (duh) in that the camera itself was producing voltage and causing the ground loop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_%28electricity%29 I know in this instance the camera was powered on when my AC placed it on the sled. The last connection I was making, and the one when it started to spark was when I took the bnc cable from the camera and placed it near the top HD connection. Which by systematically removing the batteries from the sled trying to figure out if it was a specific connection, I stopped the ground loop, the Dionic just happened to be the last battery I removed. Thanks for chiming in John, I'll keep an eye on things to confirm this is what was happening, and I'll be sure to ask my AC's to keep the camera powered down when placing it on the sled in the future.

Also, I spoke with Terry West over the phone, and he hypothesized the camera itself may be sending a charge through it's own chassis into the sled chassis just through contact. I can't test this too easily as the camera body, nor the culprit batteries are mine, but I am going to see about getting access to the kit once I've got a voltage meter and can see what's outputting what. It still seems to me that if it stopped sending voltage out once I removed the specific battery that it probably isn't the camera, but Terry's point was the way they retro-fit the HD line in the Steadyrig sled, there really isn't another point of contact besides the chassis itself. Regardless, I'll be keeping a voltage meter with my sled at all times and checking the HD line before I hook anything up in the future.

Thanks for the information John - If I do indeed have a short or back feed - would a continuity meter be able to confirm this by touching one end to the positive or negative connection of Anton receiver and touching the other to the HD output?

Thanks for the response guys - I've had the sled since January so I haven't used it in too many configurations, and I only just recently got the HDMI converter box and have used it successfully a hand full of times through the HD-SDI line - but I know the sled has been around a while, the junction box is serial #11. That said, no hard knocks since owning it and I just opened up the upper and lower junction boxes to take a peak and upon my own inspection nothing is loose or knocked out of place and there are no spots of bare wiring touching the HD line (or any other potential crossovers). I don't have a meter to do any testing with right now to see what's what (shame on me, I know), but I will be picking one up. James was the previous owner, so I'll get more specifics to the situation from him off board - for the record, James has been very helpful providing information and answering any questions I've had about the sled and I wouldn't say this had anything to do with his gear. I am headed out to LA for Cinegear anyway, so I'll drop Terry West a line. I'll be sure to report back on anything that might be worth reporting in case someone else ever comes across the same situation as I'm sure there are a few other converted HD sleds rolling around out there.

The breakdown - I have a Steadyrig sled and electronics and the HD line was added in separately. The base has 3 Anton Bauer plates and you can switch the two rear into a separate or parallel mode for longer 12 Volt operator or switch it to 24 volt. I wasn't powering the Epic through the sled, but I had left the sled in 24 volt mode from the previous Alexa job while I was setting up. But, nothing was being powered from the sled except for the monitor which runs off the front battery and a d-tap to USB powering an SDI-HDMI converter. So, I don't understand how this could have happened but while setting up my sled before a shoot, I had everything on board and when I went to connect the BNC cable from the camera to the top stage input for the HD line, it started to spark! I was shocked... not literally. So I started to troubleshoot where the power was coming from, deducing it wasn't from the camera, I moved to the bottom stage where I had the HD-SDI line going into an HDMI signal converter and into a Marshall monitor. I removed the front battery, that powers the monitor - still sparks. I removed the accessory battery from underneath the sled - still sparks. Then I removed the battery in the camera power slot and the sparks stopped. So that battery was a fully charged AB Dionic 90. The other batteries were v-mount PAG Link batteries with AB-Vmount adapters... just out of curiosity knowing that Antons have a reputation for being 'overcharged' I connected one of the v-mounts to the camera power slot with the adapter, and sure enough no sparks. The only damage was my signal converter fried and for the first time I was happy there was an HDMI option out of the camera and I had a cable in my case just in case the converter ever went on the fritz. So the shoot went on. Anyone know what's going on here? I did flip the sled to 12 volts after realizing it was in 24 volt mode but this was after I had connected the v-mount to the top position without incident and again nothing was being powered through the sled. So I don't know if flipping the sled to 12 Volts with the Anton on there would have changed anything, and I didn't want to keep making sparks come out if I didn't have to by going back and testing it.

That was great!

How much for your cable, Terry? I'm a Bolt user, but mine seems to be a lemon and I'm seriously considering just switching to an Arrow as it sounds like they've got HD-SDI up their sleeve for NAB.

Thanks for the heads up on that little beauty of a product Evrim - that is exactly what I want. I just decided to invest in the PAG linking V-mounts and this piece fits what I need exactly.

Brant - I pulled my steadicam out today, with a 3A gimbal, to do a prep before traveling to Florida for a shoot and noticed this exact same issue. Is there anything I can do on my own to fix it? Does something need to be taken a part and reset or is the gimbal a goner once this issue arises? Thanks for any advice you or anyone else can offer in this situation.

HA! Had me with a good belly laugh on that one.

Expensive little spud. Thanks, Mike.

Thanks for the recommendation guys - I'll give them a call on Monday and see if I can sort something out. I'm sure I can just ask Chris, but I was worried about finding a spud to fit in the vertical mounting point so I can attach my own yoke to it - maybe they have a solution not posted on the website. I'm aware of how their yoke fits into it from Eric's photos, however I can't afford their monitor at this time. If not - any recommendation on sourcing an appropriate sized vertical spud with an articulating 1/4"-20 hole attachment?

Awesome! Thanks, Victor. It looks like this job has fallen through, but I'm sure there will be others in the future.

Looking for a monitor arm, fixed or extending for a 1.5" Pro Post. If you have an additional one laying around and want to sell it today - definitely let me know. Just shoot me an email and even just a quick cell phone photo of what you've got and its condition. KWullschleger(@)gmail.com Thanks!

I've recently sold off my own Zephyr in order to upgrade to a larger rig... and now I'm finding that I miss it. I may have a DSLR shoot coming up this week traveling to Ohio (by car, ugh) that would be better suited on the Zephyr and was curious if there were any Brooklyn based operators who have a rig they may be interested in renting out from time to time. This shoot is not yet confirmed, but I know there will be stuff in the future that involves traveling where the lighterweight 'everything is in one case' Zephyr fits the bill for traveling, etc... Feel free to post here, because who knows, others may be interested in the list of available rigs, but also feel free to email me with 'Zephyr Rental' in the subject. - KWullschleger(at)gmail.com Thanks!

Any body have a link or an email contact for who supplies the Sled Sock? A quick search came up with nothing.

Thomas , what arm are you operating with? Maybe it doesn't matter, given the stress you explain would incur itself upon any arm used, but it's possibly relevant.

I'm sure we've all skipped over a line before but it's always that most crucial tidbit, ha. "I don't know what the vest is selling for or when it will go on sale. I encourage anyone interested in trying the Exo Vest to contact Dan Ikeda at: dikeda@tiffen.com"

Thanks for sharing that -

Bummer - I'd lend you mine if you were in NYC.

Frederic, where are you located?

I'm officially in the market for a used sled and i just missed out on one of the PRO packages thats been posted here recently. I know people typically post a sled if they've got it for sale but I thought throwing up a wanted request for someone with an extra sled or thinking of upgrading might push an individual over the edge. Ideally I'm looking for a 2-stage 1.5inch post that isn't on the long end when it's collapsed and I like the steadirig battery hanger quite a bit after reading up on all the options. HD junction boxes and compatible post sound great, but not necessary. Monitor mount, the new cinetronic at $500 might fit the bill but let me know what you've got. Beggars can't be choosers though, so let me know what you've got and what you think it's worth. I'd love to find something in the next couple weeks and hopefully before the end of the year. I'm located in NYC. KWullschleger@gmail.com

Hah, thanks for sharing what you know, Chris. Anyone know if there are any prototypes left with anyone in NYC for testing purposes?

Just checking in with the horse's mouth to see if there's any update on the exo-vest front? Specifically an official list pricing and availability date... Am I going to be able to write this thing off in 2012 taxes or will I need to be spending my money on other things? Ha!

Thank you Matt and Jerry - yes his office line is also disconnected. I've just sent him an email as its not an incredibly urgent request - but I'll be sure to keep the cell# close - This weekend I'm planning on buying a used clipper system with a G-50 arm that may need a bearing upgrade.