I just purchased the Pyro DV Drive and plan to "upgrade" it to 100GB when I get it. How have those of you who have it provided additional battery power?

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi Brian,

MCE offered (or maybe they still offer) an additional external battery pack for the Quickstream. This extended battery pack is in fact some kind of stock battery that MCE put in its accessory line. I say this because I have seen this exact accessory on digital cameras. The problem would be finding a way to attach the battery to the Pyro DV Drive, since there is no built-in accessory adapter on the unit.

Basically any battery system, including a bunch of AA batteries put together in a holder equipped with the right power jack adapter for the DC-in on the Pyro, should work.

Look at some of the Battery threads fro the FS-4 for some links to companies that offer external battery systems with varying voltages.

Good luck, and don't forget to let us know how satisfied you are with the Pyro DV Drive.

Cheers,

Thanks Daniel. True there is not an accessory input jack however there is the DC power input. Based on the idea of mounting some AA batteries I technically could connect it to the power in.....

Hmm research research.. I'll keep everyone posted with pics as I go through this. I guess the easy part will be swapping the 100GB for the 30GB drive.

Thanks Daniel. True there is not an accessory input jack however there is the DC power input. Based on the idea of mounting some AA batteries I technically could connect it to the power in.....

That's what I meant as far as powering the unit. What I meant by an accessory adapter was in terms of physicaly keeping the external battery and the drive together. You can always use tape, but that is not as elegant as say a threading like in the Quickstream, or a stud on the FS-4.

I'm thinking that RC car batteries might be the right way to go. If so, I can pick up a few at $20 each I just need to create a custom mount cable for the battery to the Pyro.

Of course I just ordered the Pyro today so it will be a few days.

So the Pyro will be here today! My plan is to try a 8AA Battery Holder (9.6V) and connect that to the drive. If this works, it should not only power the drive but also recharge it at the same time. I plan to use 2500MAh rechargeable batteries and I'll pick up the battery holder from Radio Shack.

In addition, I'll attach a Adaptaplug socket wire to the holder. This will allow me to replace the heads. Thus the pack can be used to power the drive, a portable DVD player, and other devices.

Once it's complete, the only way to know how long it will work will be to start recording and see how long it can run.

If I am not mistaken, the built-in battery is 1100MAh (advertised to run 2hours-probably more like 90 mins). So my 2500MAh should be able to run 3-4 hours no problem.

If it works, the cost per will be abour $15 with batteries. I can build 3 of them easily (2 production with 1 backup).

Well, I received the Pyro and decided to return it! For the life of me, I could not get it to capture for more than 10-15 seconds before it would stop recording... what's up with that. Without an LCD screen, I can't tell what is going on. Time to try another brand I guess.