DISCLAIMER
! Note:
Anything you do to your camera is of your own volition. Don't come running
to me if you ruin a lens / filter / camera etc.
| This is for those not quite familiar with
the electronics 'speak' mentioned in this project. |
| Tin (tinning) |
To give a light coating of solder. |
| Beer |
Something to give to the person you've got
helping you out on this. |
| +ve |
Positive |
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I've always found the life of my camera's batteries never enough. Before
long, you get the red "low battery" symbol, followed (in some
models of the Fuji cams) by a few seconds of life left in the battery
(which in itself isn't satisfactory from a user's point of view).
People on the forums were talking about the DPS-9000 external power supply
which works well with the Fuji cams, attaching neatly to the base of the
camera via the tripod screw. However, here in the UK, I couldn't find
a supplier, so with the prospect of paying nearly double for the item
from the states (once for the supply and then an equal amount for postage
to the UK), I decided to try out making my own.
Being an electronics enthusiast for about 21 years I tried to make the
pack as simple as possible to produce without any circuit board etching
equipment etc.
The project I've created comes in 3 parts. The first two you can build
separately and have two useful bits of kit. The third packages it all
together into a neat enclosure for transport
Part 1: The power supply
Part 2: The battery monitor (can be used on its own as a battery tester
for NP-80 / 4xAAs)
Part 3: The enclosure.
As I have a 6900Z myself, the DC power plug / input voltages may be different
in the 4900Z / s602, so take your camera along to the electronics store
when you buy the bits and get them to check it out first.
As this involves electronics, if you're not up to speed with soldering
or have no electrical knowledge, get someone to help you out. You never
know, for a few beers they may even make it for you if you show them these
instructions :).
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1. Gather together your parts and put your batteries on
to charge overnight in your chosen Ni-MH C cell battery charger:
a) 1.7mm x 4mm coaxial DC power plug - you can get these from Mouser
(US) or similar.
b) Standard twin core thin wire (preferably externally insulated
with black and red insulated wires inside, but as long as the two
colours are different, it doesn't matter).
Heat shrink sleeving (just a little bigger than one of the twin
wires alone).
Standard 9V battery clip with wires attached (eg Maplins code HF28F).
4 C cell battery holder with 9v style clip connection (eg Maplins
code HF95D).
The battery charger I used was a Uniross Universal charger which
cost me about £10.
4 Ni-MH C cells. I got 4000 mAh ones from www.strikalight.co.uk
at about £4.25 each, but you can go for standard 2200 mAh
ones for about
OR: Instead of parts (a) & (b) you can do what I did
and salvage the connector from an old 4.5v DC power supply as shown
in the second diagram opposite. If you do this, then proceed to
Step 3 below.
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2. If you haven't salvaged the DC power connector from an
old power supply, you're going to have to make your own. Here's
how...
Take your twin core wire and strip off 1.5cm of the outer insulation
(not the black and red inner insularion) from both ends. Strip off
0.5cm of the inner insulation of the black and red wires (both ends),
and 'tin' both of the ends of each wire.
Unscrew the black DC power connector cap to reveal the inside as
shown in the diagram opposite:
Then solder one end of the red tinned wires to the CENTRE pad of
the DC power connector. Solder the black wire (on the same end as
the now soldered red wire) to the post on the DC power connector.
IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT ACCIDENTLY CONNECT THE CENTRE PAD
AND POST TOGETHER, EITHER BY SOLDER BLOBS OR STRAY STRANDS OF WIRE
- FAILURE TO CHECK THIS OUT CAN DAMAGE THE BATTERY PACK AND / OR
YOUR CAMERA. If in doubt get a qualified electrician to check it
out for you - remember, you're doing this of your own choice.
Once you're satisfied that the soldering is accurate, proceed to
feed the plug's plastic cap on from the other end of the wire and
screw it on tightly.
Proceed to step 4.
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3. Check the polarity of the connector you've salvaged.
Mine had a white stripe which connected to the centre hole of the
DC power plug. The non-white stripe wire connected to the outer
part of the DC power plug.
Check out the connector polarity with a circuit continuity checker
(or 'Ohms' setting on the multimeter) if you're unsure.
Once you've established which is the central hole's associated
wire, label it or stick a piece of tape around it as a temporary
marker.
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4. Now that you have established the wire that connects
to the centre of the DC power plug (red on the home made lead),
you can then set about connecting the lead to the PP3 battery clip.
Cut two 2cm long strips of heatsink tubing and slip them onto the
ends of your power plug's wires. A tiny amount of washing up liquid
will lubricate and ease this process if the fit is tight.
Solder the red PP3 clip lead to the red wire of your home made
lead, or wire that connects to the central hole of your salvaged
plug.
Solder the black PP3 clip lead to the black wide of your home made
lead, or wire that connects to the outer 'ground' connection of
your salvaged lead.
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5. There are two tests to complete now before you connect
the battery pack to the camera.
a) Use your multimeter on it's 'Ohm' / 'resistance' setting and
place a probes on each of the PP3 clips' connector pads.
If you measure anything below 'infinity' you may have a possible
short circuit inside the DC power connector / crossed wires. If
you're confident, check it out and trace the problem using standard
electronics troubleshooting. Otherwise, get a qualified friend to
help you out.
b) Using the multimeter again on it's 'Ohm' / 'resistance' setting,
place one probe on the "circular" connector pad of the
PP3 clip (this attaches to the -ve of a normal PP3 battery - don't
connect a PP3 battery though!), and the other on the outer 'ground'
connection of your DC power plug. This time you should get a reading
of approximately 0.01 ohms (ie there is a direct electrical connection
between the two - your wire). Again if in doubt - check it out with
a qualified friend.
Once you're happy that the wires are conencted correctly and there
are no short circuits, slip the heatsink tubing over your soldered
joints and stroke the heatsink tubing with your soldering iron's
tip to create a perfect tight fit. DON'T melt the plastic of the
wires by accident!
You now have a fully functional battery power lead !
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6. Place your fully charged 'C' cells into your battery
holder and connect the PP3 end of your power lead to the PP3 clip
on the battery holder.
Using your multimeter on the 'DC volts' setting, place the +ve
(red) multimeter lead into the central hole and the black multimeter
lead onto the outer 'ground' connection of the DC power plug. Check
that you're getting a voltage (I got about 5.5v from my battery)
and that it's again the correct polarity (ie it doesn't read as
-5.5v). I know I keep stressing the point regarding polarity, but
you don't want to even give the camera a trial toasting do you?
Then, open up the DC power socket holder on your camera and connect
your new portable power supply. Switch on the camera and you should
have a good few hours of fun off a fully charged battery pack. My
battery pack required a double charge to get it working - maybe
the cells were so high a capacity they needed an extra topping up,
I'm not so sure.
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7. If you're not planning on implementing a battery monitor
and just wish to use the battery pack 'as is' then you can place
your battery holder with its cells into a suitable enclosure. I
would suggest an old mobile phone cover as this would probably have
a belt clip that you could attach to your waist leaving both hands
free to hold the camera.
Here I used the Tamrac MXS5323 Mobile Phone holder (approx £10
in the UK) but about $7 in the US (where the model number is MS5323).
It fits nicely and allows a little room extra for the rolled up
cable to the plug when not in use.
Thanks to Al
Jacobs for the Tamrac holder idea.
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Part 2 of this project will
see the construction of the battery monitor to give you a visual
representation of the amount of 'charge' left in your battery...
REMEMBER: If you're not 100% certain about your
technical ability to complete this project, get a friend to help.
But remember to say "thank you" :)
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