Teradek Bolt

[Victor Lazaro]

Amazing mod, would love to have more details on how you didi it, feel like some manufacturers should start making similar things asap.

 

You also have this adapter from Viewfactor http://www.viewfactor.net/products/usb/ptap-usb.html

plus the adaptor cable for mico usb http://www.viewfactor.net/products/usb.html

and you have a off the shelf (pricey solution)

[Kar Wai Ng]

Thought I'd share a little project I've been working on. A lot of focus pullers nowadays mount an HD monitor to a Preston or Bartech handunit when pulling for handheld or steadicam, and it's a great tool and gets the monitor off the camera. We usually run a BNC umbilical either off the camera or from video village. But with the Bolt, we've now got an amazing cable-free tool that frees us from that umbilical. I designed a 3D-printed (via Shapeways) cage that holds the Bolt onto the back of a 5.6" TV Logic monitor (using the four mounting points for the battery plate). The Bolt RX is held in a vertical position, and the six internal antennas that are situated at the top of the unit are clear of obstruction (The nylon material of the cage also doesn't block RF).

 

The original battery plate can then piggyback onto the Bolt Cage. To power the bolt, you can use one of the Swit batteries with a power out port, but I decided to take it an extra step further.

 

I designed a battery plate based off the dimensions of the TV logic battery plate, but with provisions for a Lemo DC-out connector and a voltage display. Move the stock Sony (or Canon, Panasonic, etc...) Swit S-7000 battery plate off the TV logic piece, and re-wire it onto this plate with the rest of the components.

 

The nylon material the Cage and Battery Plate are made out of are very lightweight (but strong!), and combined with the receiver the whole package is still very light.

 

http://www.shapeways...wp-monitor.html

 

http://www.shapeways...emo_dc_out.html

Edited January 13, 2013 by Kar Wai Ng

[Jon Beattie]

Been doing some modding myself.

 

Made 2 versions of a bracket to mount monitor and bolt along with battery to Bartech tansmitter.

 

Both use a Bartech rod receiver mount as the base. I took the rod mounts off, tapped and threaded a few holes and the foundation was there. The great thing about it is the rod mount lines up with the 4 tapped and threaded holes ontop of the Bartech transmitter. Easy on easy off.

 

The 1st is a simple one that lets you put a coldshoe mount on for monitor to mount and the Bolt bolts to the monitor.

 

The second uses the same Bartech bracket and holes but instead of using a coldshoe I bolted a 15mm rod mount and then use a 15mm rod and another rod mount to add monitor and handle.

 

Nice thing about this second option is you can under of oversling the monitor, handle and Bolt anyway the AC may like.

 

As Kar said in his post its great because if vv is having an issue with their receiver the focus puller and not me gets the tether.

 

Also took the camos handle setup David Hable makes and use it for directors handheld. Took 2 marshall sony m battery plates (final version will either use David's battery mount or a Nebteck mount) wired them up parallel with a cable for SmallHd monitor and the Bolt and added a powerswitch inline since the Bolt doesn't have one. David has lots of 1/4" 20 mounting spots for the Bolt to easliy go ontop. Photos of the montitor setup are without the Bolt as its on a job now.

[Alan Rencher]

Kar, I love that mod! I don't know why I didn't think about using Shapeways before! I'm totally going to 3D print some of my own mods now!

 

Will, I forgot to mention that I used an iPad compatible car outlet to USB adapter for the mod that you had suggested to me. Thanks for that. I couldn't figure out how to cheaply and easily get the 2 amps that I needed out of a USB port.

[RonBaldwin]

Twojay...?

[Andrew Stone]

I forgot to mention that I used an iPad compatible car outlet to USB adapter for the mod that you had suggested to me... I couldn't figure out how to cheaply and easily get the 2 amps that I needed out of a USB port.

 

Thanks for explaining Alan. The power through USB mod is a good one that we can use for a number of applications.

 

This thread has become one of the more useful ones of late.

[Charles Papert]

For the applications I have considered buying this unit for - Portable Directors Monitor and a Focus Assist Monitor - there would be far more value for my money in having the built in Battery in the receiver.

 

IB

 

So what would you do when the battery runs out midshot, couple hours into the shoot? Multiple receivers, keep swapping them out?

 

External battery that powers the monitor and the receiver is clearly the better way. For those who are trying to be more budget-minded and/or keep their gold or v-mount batts for the rig etc., consider that there was a pretty cool set of handheld director's monitors floating around towards the end of the film days that used relatively inexpensive power tool batteries. These days you can easily spec Li-On versions that are even lighter.

[Alan Rencher]

Thanks for explaining Alan. The power through USB mod is a good one that we can use for a number of applications.

 

I posted this picture a while back in another thread, but here is a great way to get two usb ports from a P-Tap:

It uses a Griffin double iPad compatible (2A) low-profile USB to car-outlet adapter. I just bought a car-outlet extension cable from Radioshack, chopped off the end, and soldered a P-Tap onto it. It's a little bulky, but it's a great way to use anything that can be powered from your car's outlet through P-Tap. Easy money.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Alan Rencher

[Iain Baird]

For the applications I have considered buying this unit for - Portable Directors Monitor and a Focus Assist Monitor - there would be far more value for my money in having the built in Battery in the receiver.

 

IB

 

So what would you do when the battery runs out midshot, couple hours into the shoot? Multiple receivers, keep swapping them out?

 

External battery that powers the monitor and the receiver is clearly the better way. For those who are trying to be more budget-minded and/or keep their gold or v-mount batts for the rig etc., consider that there was a pretty cool set of handheld director's monitors floating around towards the end of the film days that used relatively inexpensive power tool batteries. These days you can easily spec Li-On versions that are even lighter.

 

I do agree with you here Charles, my point was only that if they were going to choose to put an internal battery it would have more value for ME in the receiver, as I always have a power supply on the transmitter end. The receiver end is more of an unknown - who knows where that's going to go - Does the dolly grip need it for one shot, Focus puller, director? The receiver is the part of the system that needs to be mobile yet the transmitter would stay put on my rig or Camera. It's like my preston - the camera end doesn't need internal power as it's always with the rig or camera but the mobile (handset) part of the system has independent power. That being said I don't think one would want to rely on the internal power source for the day, but for the situations where you're trying to get a signal somewhere quick and easy it would have value to not have to worry about power as well. I will also note that I think battery maintenance is part of the job for any of our devices so if the power were to run out mid shot then I would say you weren't on top of it.

 

Onto another tangent in this thread - I saw Kar's build today on set and it's the ideal & very sleek solution for a portable power supply. I'll definitely have one made if I go ahead and buy the BOLT.

 

IB

[JamieSilverstein]

Kar's Mod's are very elegant. Are you planning on packaging the whole accessory kit (brackets, cable, voltage display)?

[Kar Wai Ng]

Hmm, sorry, I wasn't planning on doing that. I intended it to be a one-off for myself (hence the 3D printing manufacturing method), but made it available to order on Shapeways because I knew there would be others out there looking for a similar solution. It requires a little bit of tinkering on your end (but anyone with very basic soldering knowledge can connect the wires together at the back themselves). Anyone with a couple hours (provided you've amassed the components, screws, Lemo connectors, etc.) can put it together. I don't know if it would be cost effective for me to be making these for sale. Think of it more as a jumping off point for your own tinkering adventures...

 

That said, if anyone has mods they want to do based on this framework, I wouldn't mind sharing the CAD file with you if you want to move things around, want to adapt it to another monitor, etc and do your own version. Just send me a PM.

[Twojay Dhillon]

I totally spaced on posting the results of my experiment:

 

The BOLT worked everytime whether the internal battery was completely discharged, or whether I let it charge to completely full, over-night. I had the cables made by Terry West.

 

The range against the BOXX, well... Let's just say the BOXX wins not just by a long-shot, but by a LOOOONNNGGGG shot (admittedly, we're talking $2k versus $18k). That said, I'm starting to get quite uncomfortable when I have a large microwave transmitter next to my head that can transmit a signal over such a great distance...

[JamieSilverstein]

I have been using Jon Beattie's system on this Zach Ephron movie, and I have to tell you that I have been very satisified with the results. Granted, the shots have been walk and talks and stuff in apartments with out too many obstructions, but having 2 receivers intelligently placed by my assistants has provided good stable image quality to the DIT and video village. In other words, no complaints.........

I also like the fact that I am carrying around a very small transmitter with virtually no footprint versus a larger footprint, and one that transmits microwave right by my noggin.

I like the Bolt and am indebted to Jon for letting me use it on this show.

Just my 2¢.

[Peter Sheppard]

Hi Jamie,

Are you just having the 2 receivers going to 2 different monitors for the director to look at or do they somehow pick up where the other went down and switch onto the same monitor?

Cheers,

Pete.

[Lawrence Karman]

There is a firmware update available on the Teradek website for the BOLT