Teradek Bolt

[Mark Schlicher]

Alan, what size is your monitor? Surprisingly the bracket looks a little cramped at the handgrips. On the Alzo unit, the 7" Marshall fits nicely, though the 6.5 sticks up a little.

[Alan Rencher]

It's a nine inch monitor. It looks like this was made to perfectly fit a seven inch monitor, but the bottom plate allows you to slide the monitor forward so that the handles can be behind it. I'll take some better pictures tomorrow.

[Alan Rencher]

A couple more photos:

[Wolfgang Troescher]

Info from Teradek:

 

Dear Bolt User,

 

Teradek is recommending a factory performed modification for all Bolt units sold before February 21, 2013. We identified a problem that may adversely affect transmission range in specific scenarios, causing degraded video quality, sporadic disconnections, and reconnection delays.

Since different regions of the world have different wireless channels available, not all users will be affected. Users in Europe, where fewer wireless channels are available, are more likely to experience these issues. If your device has experienced the symptoms listed above, click the link below to begin the update process. The modification will increase the range and reliability of problematic Bolt systems and will include all previous service modifications for improved battery performance with hot power supplies.

 

This recommended service will be performed at no charge as a courtesy of Teradek. Bolt systems marked revision "C" or later will be manufactured with all of these modifications included.

 

Customers and Resellers: Please visit the Bolt Service Page and fill out the form to initiate the service process.

 

For more information regarding this modification, please visit www.facebook.com/teradek

 

Thank you for your cooperation.

 

Sincerely,

Teradek

[Mike Gailing]

If you guys are curious, we have a blog post on Facebook that goes into depth about the issue we discovered:

 

https://www.facebook.com/Teradek

[Lawrence Karman]

Finally had a chance to use my Bolt on an extended job. Alway had receiver line of site and never had one reported loss of signal. Interior and exterior. Distance to receiver was never more than 60'. No over voltage battery issues, used with a PRO sled flying Dionic HC batteries and powering Bolt via 12v output from Alexa body. Flawless.

Also have a Boxx Meridian on the job which we used with flat panel antenna array not more than 20' away and had reception failure.

Only complaints are having to remember to switch off the Bolt tx after pulling the breakers on the sled and instruct all assistants to do the same. Wish there was a switch option for external power only. Also the on/off switch is a little hard to use for my stubby fingers; it could protrude out of the body a bit more.

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Tested a Bolt on Friday and was impressed with what it did. We did suggest something like 20 modifications and Jon was very receptive to the ideas. I should have a unit on monday for further evaluation

[Jendrik Hillebrecht]

Hey guys,

 

can anyone compare the noise of the Bolts fan to the Boxx? I was 2. AC in a german TV series last year and were using the CamWave which was a pain in the ass sometimes. At the end we switched to the Boxx but I had many complaints by the Sound department when shooting inside that the reciever is just too loud.

 

(a bit OT) Are there other ideas to reduce the noise of the Boxx without it getting too hot?

 

Btw great Forum, i stumbled upon last night searching the web for the Bolt.

Great share of professionel experience and opinions.

 

Jendrik

[JamieSilverstein]

I used the Bolt on a movie last month and can tell you that I didn't see a fan anywhere, except in the prop truck........

It's quiet, and it worked for me.

Jamie

[Lawrence Karman]

There is no fan in the transmitter and the receiver has a very quiet fan, which when positioned off set should never be a problem for the sound track. If it is, get a new sound mixer.

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

There's a fan in the Reciever? (Yeah it's very quiet) I'm betting the sound guys DVD drive is far louder than the bolt RX

[RonBaldwin]

I believe in the menu for the boxx the fan can be turned down and/or off. Never had the noise problem. Besides the receiver can be put anywhere.

[james goldman]

It is max 200 safely. Been using mine for about a month. Line of sight can be finicky. Thin house walls seems to be no problem, but concrete, metal, any denser material can result in signal loss. For the most part I have been very happy with it thus far.

[Joe Lawry]

Just spent 2 nights using the Bolt on a Horror Film, my results were very mixed. Night 1 I did a long tracking shot down the driveway, into the house and through out to the back deck. With correct placement of the RX (and running a line back to VideoVillage), we had signal the whole way through. Probably going a max of 30-40 feet and through thin house walls.

 

Night 2 I was working in a much closer area to the RX. We started with the RX 12ft behind me but as soon as someone (boom swinger) walked between myself & the RX we lost picture. We ended up finding a better spot for the RX to the left side of me (6 ft away) and things were solid.

The sound department did complain about the RX's Fan however once we had relocated the RX to be hidden in the set very close to the actors.

 

All in all I liked the unit. However the performance just isn't there yet & I wont be buying one until it is. This was a loan unit from my usual dealer. Also I really wish the RX had some external Antenna's, but I know thats all to do with the PCB...

[Ian Thomson]

G'day Joe, was the boom op running a wireless pole?

 

frequencies shouldn't be overlapping (most wireless mics are lower in the spectrum than the bolt), but then again RF is a bit of a dark art :)