EX3 & Working Solid State Drive (SSD)

Paul Newman · May 24th, 2009, 05:26 AM

As the SSD pulls around 100mA, I wonder how much the RocketFish enclosure draws? according to your 7 hour and 20 minute life cycle of the BPU30, this gives your consumption at around 750mA - I guess with a switched mode converter, you could well get double that duration - assuming the RocketFish pulls 200mA (should be less)

Alex quoted about 95% efficiency for his DC to DC convertor which is pretty high, many I've looked at quote 80%

Interesting, it would be great if a single BPU30 could run a set up for 12 hours - if the total power needs were say 2W @5V you should achieve this easily with a 90% efficient convertor -

just thinking aloud here, more testing to do...

Barry - fantastic ingest speeds !!

Paul

Barry J. Anwender · May 24th, 2009, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Newman

As the SSD pulls around 100mA, I wonder how much the RocketFish enclosure draws? according to your 7 hour and 20 minute life cycle of the BPU30, this gives your consumption at around 750mA - Paul

The BP-U30 battery is rated at 1.9 Amp-Hrs or 1900 ma-hrs. Divide that by 7.33 hrs of use and you get 260 ma. This is the total current draw for the SSD, the Case with controller/status light and the inefficiency of the regulator. Not sure how you arrived at 750 ma?

I'm sure a switching regulator is more efficient and will provide some benefit. For argument's sake say 100 ma for the SSD and 100 ma for the Case/controller/status light. So at 80-90% switching regulator efficiency that would work out to roughly 9 hrs of battery life.

Robert Musiello · May 24th, 2009, 09:06 AM

first let me say.. thank you...
I'm a little confused
I ordered the ex v5v from Alex
Barry you stated that
"And finally the Rocketfish SSD case is capable of USB bus-powering without an external 5 volt supply. The SATA port however does require the external 5 volt supply."
I want to run two ssd
I ordered the rocketfish ssd's
Do I need a different product from Alex.. he sent the v5v with one 2.1 plug
He said to run two drives cut off the connector and put two 2.1 plugs.. is that the way to get the most efficient power? or should it be wired different internally?
Am I on the right track...
Thanks

Mike Chandler · May 24th, 2009, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry J. Anwender

And finally the Rocketfish SSD case is capable of USB bus-powering without an external 5 volt supply. The SATA port however does require the external 5 volt supply.

But it still needs battery powering when using the express card cable for recording, correct?

Robert Musiello · May 24th, 2009, 10:17 AM

Hey Mike...
Not sure.. trying to stay on track with this...

Can someone clear this up a little... thx

Dolgin v5v with one 2.1mm plug to power (1)corsair ssd drive in a roketfish case
(1)express 34 card reader modified

For (2) ssd's
Cut off 2.1mm plug and attach (2) 2.1mm plugs
Use two modified express 34 readers with two usb cables coming out of ex3 to drives..

1 up60 Battery should power both drives for over 10 hours
Is this right?

Paul Newman · May 24th, 2009, 10:53 AM

Your math is right based on 14.4 volts, but you're running at 5v ?

260mA at 14.4 volts = 3.744 W = 7.4 hours approx - correct.

Your rig is running at 5v 260mA = 1.3 W = 21 hours approx

the regulator loss is: 9v drop at 260mA drawn = 2.3W

I'm not making an issue of this, just hoping that we can get this thing to run for ages on a single quick charge battery :-)

I hope I'm right, but probably not, Ha Ha! my days of maths are long over - Cheers!

Paul

Alex Dolgin · May 24th, 2009, 12:11 PM

Paul, you are right. The easy way to do it in your head is if you have a 5V linear voltage regulator, when powering with a 10V power source, 1/2 is wasted as heat, another half goes to the load. In our case at 14.4V power it is even worse, most of the battery charge is wasted. When using a switching voltage regulator almost all of the battery charge is delivered to the drive, making it run very long.

Barry J. Anwender · May 24th, 2009, 12:38 PM

I went out and actually purchased a power plug for the Rocketfish case to double check its size.

Turns out is a 1.3 mm plug. Sorry about that Alex.

Barry J. Anwender · May 24th, 2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Chandler

But it still needs battery powering when using the express card cable for recording, correct?

The EX camera does not have 5 volts available via the ExpressCard bus, so the SSD's will need an external source of 5 volts. Enter the need for the Dolgin power adaptor to make good use of the Sony BP-U30 battery that came with the camera. Cheers!

Alex Dolgin · May 24th, 2009, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry J. Anwender

I went out and actually purchased a power plug for the Rocketfish case to double check its size.

Turns out is a 1.3 mm plug. Sorry about that Alex.

Do you have the part number?
Thx

Barry J. Anwender · May 24th, 2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Dolgin

Do you have the part number?
Thx

A picture is best the answer. As you can see the barrel can be slightly shorter if need be.

Alex Dolgin · May 24th, 2009, 02:57 PM

OK Barry
Thank you

Barry J. Anwender · May 28th, 2009, 04:42 PM

The adventure continues. With all the interest in more efficient switching regulators, I decided to search out yet another DIY option for powering the EX1/3 SSD(s). I tried to narrow my search for a Canadian supplier and I discovered the Aimtec switching regulator. Designed in Canada, less than a year old, manufactured in far east and available from several distributors around the globe. I ordered my pieces from DComponents in the US at $20.85. It shipped in 3 days from Montreal Canada and it just arrived this afternoon.

The AMSR1-7805-NZ is a pin-for-pin replacement for the linear 7805 regulator and has 88-93% efficiency depending on the input voltage. So for the Sony BP-U30/60 battery delivering between 12-16 volts output that translates to a 90% efficiency rating for a 5 volt output. As you can see from the attached photo it easily fits inside the Dolgin power adaptor.

It will take a day or so to measure the actual battery life with the AMSR1-7805-NZ switching regulator powering the Corsair SSD.

Paul Newman · May 29th, 2009, 12:17 AM

Hi Barry,

Very cool, I also found a source of Aimtec convertors in the UK, they are 2W versions, but with similar characteristics, even at 80% efficiency you should get 11 hours running for a single Corsair drive if the consumption doesn't exceed 2 watts or 400mA, if current consumption is less, you get longer, and this from a BPU30 - (28W) a BPU60 (56W) should give exactly double that, or 2 drives for 11 hours each - Awsome indeed !!

2W DC-DC Convertors > Maplin

Paul

Barry J. Anwender · May 29th, 2009, 02:14 PM

Paul, the 2W regulator should work if you stay with the USB interface. The eSATA-2 interface draws more power and this is understandable for the speed that comes with it. I have measured the actual 5-volt current draw using both interfaces for continuous read and write data transfers. See the attached:

May 24th, 2009, 05:26 AM	#31
Paul Newman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Agua Blanca Ibiza Posts: 305	As the SSD pulls around 100mA, I wonder how much the RocketFish enclosure draws? according to your 7 hour and 20 minute life cycle of the BPU30, this gives your consumption at around 750mA - I guess with a switched mode converter, you could well get double that duration - assuming the RocketFish pulls 200mA (should be less) Alex quoted about 95% efficiency for his DC to DC convertor which is pretty high, many I've looked at quote 80% Interesting, it would be great if a single BPU30 could run a set up for 12 hours - if the total power needs were say 2W @5V you should achieve this easily with a 90% efficient convertor - just thinking aloud here, more testing to do... Barry - fantastic ingest speeds !! Paul __________________ Another Sunny Day in Ibiza

May 24th, 2009, 10:53 AM	#36
Paul Newman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Agua Blanca Ibiza Posts: 305	Your math is right based on 14.4 volts, but you're running at 5v ? 260mA at 14.4 volts = 3.744 W = 7.4 hours approx - correct. Your rig is running at 5v 260mA = 1.3 W = 21 hours approx the regulator loss is: 9v drop at 260mA drawn = 2.3W I'm not making an issue of this, just hoping that we can get this thing to run for ages on a single quick charge battery :-) I hope I'm right, but probably not, Ha Ha! my days of maths are long over - Cheers! Paul __________________ Another Sunny Day in Ibiza

May 24th, 2009, 12:11 PM	#37
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Paul, you are right. The easy way to do it in your head is if you have a 5V linear voltage regulator, when powering with a 10V power source, 1/2 is wasted as heat, another half goes to the load. In our case at 14.4V power it is even worse, most of the battery charge is wasted. When using a switching voltage regulator almost all of the battery charge is delivered to the drive, making it run very long. __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

May 24th, 2009, 12:38 PM	#38
Barry J. Anwender Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 382	Rocketfish Power Plug I went out and actually purchased a power plug for the Rocketfish case to double check its size. Turns out is a 1.3 mm plug. Sorry about that Alex.

May 24th, 2009, 02:57 PM	#42
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	OK Barry Thank you __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

May 24th, 2009, 09:06 AM	#33
Robert Musiello Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 143	first let me say.. thank you... I'm a little confused I ordered the ex v5v from Alex Barry you stated that "And finally the Rocketfish SSD case is capable of USB bus-powering without an external 5 volt supply. The SATA port however does require the external 5 volt supply." I want to run two ssd I ordered the rocketfish ssd's Do I need a different product from Alex.. he sent the v5v with one 2.1 plug He said to run two drives cut off the connector and put two 2.1 plugs.. is that the way to get the most efficient power? or should it be wired different internally? Am I on the right track... Thanks

May 24th, 2009, 10:17 AM	#35
Robert Musiello Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 143	Hey Mike... Not sure.. trying to stay on track with this... Can someone clear this up a little... thx Dolgin v5v with one 2.1mm plug to power (1)corsair ssd drive in a roketfish case (1)express 34 card reader modified For (2) ssd's Cut off 2.1mm plug and attach (2) 2.1mm plugs Use two modified express 34 readers with two usb cables coming out of ex3 to drives.. 1 up60 Battery should power both drives for over 10 hours Is this right?

May 29th, 2009, 12:17 AM	#44
Paul Newman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Agua Blanca Ibiza Posts: 305	Hi Barry, Very cool, I also found a source of Aimtec convertors in the UK, they are 2W versions, but with similar characteristics, even at 80% efficiency you should get 11 hours running for a single Corsair drive if the consumption doesn't exceed 2 watts or 400mA, if current consumption is less, you get longer, and this from a BPU30 - (28W) a BPU60 (56W) should give exactly double that, or 2 drives for 11 hours each - Awsome indeed !! 2W DC-DC Convertors > Maplin Paul __________________ Another Sunny Day in Ibiza