Trantec S5

[Wolf124]

Thanks everyone.

What output of power supply would I need to supply 4 x S5.5 rx units and adu via a daisy chain connector if the standard trantec psu is not ooeerful enough?

[revbobuk]

The spec sheet says 300mA at 13V, so 1.2A at 13V. I would imagine that 12V would be fine if well regulated - 12V PSUs are easy to come by.

[Wolf124]

Cedd. Thanks for the warning. I did notice an oversized diameter aerial on one of my secondhand units but replaced it with the correct size.

[PeterT]

I've just had to replace all the beltpack aerials on our 12 ways of S5.3 and found some very good replacements from a company called MLEC UK. They're half the price and feel very well made indeed.

[sandall]

I've just had to replace all the beltpack aerials on our 12 ways of S5.3 and found some very good replacements from a company called MLEC UK. They're half the price and feel very well made indeed.

MLEC are (were?) the official Trantec service people. Trantec lost their in-house service dept after they became part of TOA.

[Wolf124]

I have had some very good help and advice from Mike at MLEC. He has also posted here on various threads

[cedd]

Mike does indeed seem to be very in the know. Sending one of my transmitters off to him soon that had been repaired elsewhere and has now developed the same fault again.

[Wolf124]

It looks like he's one of the few who know their way around this kit. I have looked everywhere for 'how to' guides for repair, re-tuning, servicing etc and there doesn't appear to be any links around. Even the TOA site has nothing!!

[cedd]

TOA’s support for the line was always the letdown. At one point it was impossible to download a user manual for the things. I’m hoping the new version coming out soon might give them a kick, although it’s happened with so little noise so far that I have a feeling the industry has missed its’ arrival. A shame really. They have a winning formula with the beltpacks (still nothing out there even nearing this price bracket with packs as small, and that battery life from a single AA is just incredible!).

 

Mike’s definitely your man.

[cedd]

Hi everyone

 

In the interests of open sourcing, and after a few messages from Blue Room members, I've decided to make my 3d printed battery cover files available to all.

They can be found here;

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3291305

 

Please note that this cover works really well on my own printer (Prusa i3 Mk2s) but I've very much tweaked the tolerances to get a good result out of my own machine. Hopefully any you print should work too, but I can't guarantee it, and I'd definitely suggest just making one at a time to start with.

I've been printing mine from PLA but am going to try some in ABS sometime soon. PLA can be a bit slippery (like nylon) so they still ping open a bit too easily (I always tape all my battery doors shut anyway - always have).

[Wolf124]

Further to my earlier post about a power supply for daisychaining several S5 units plus adu. Got hold of a suitable power lead and just as an experiment daisychained them from a single trantec 13v psu and everything worked(4 rx plus adu). Is the psu likely to go whizz bang all gone in a blue flash (!!!) or will the rx/adu units give up from low power supply after a periid of time? I was actually very surprised that any of them worked at all with the psu only delivering 300ma.

[MarkPAman]

How warm is the power supply now?

 

Only a matter of time I fear.....

[cedd]

Is it one of the newer, or older supplies? The earlier ones had transformer-based wall warts whereas the later ones had more compact SMPSU's. The transformer one is probably more likely to keep going, just getting hotter and hotter. As an aside I've had a drawer full of the smpsu type ones (this is what happens when you buy 24 channels of the stuff and don't use the supplied psu's) and they've found their way in to all sorts of projects over the years.

 

 

Seriously though, it's a single point of failure on some pretty important kit. Losing a single radio mic during a show is bad enough. Losing a rack full is a big deal. This is why my racks all have redundant supplies with changeover relays. Spend your money on a decent brand psu, or rob one from something else. Lots of computer peripherals over the years have come with decent sized 12V supplies, so raid your box of "they might come in useful sometime" cables (I just know all those SCART leads will be useful again someday) and dig one out.

[Wolf124]

I have a storeroom full of 'just in case gear (don't we all?). Not planning to use a single trantec supply, just tried one to see what would happen so only switched on for a couple of minutes. Thought I would just ask.

 

Will have a rummage for some higher powered units when I have the time to get out the boxes

[Wolf124]

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to measure the phantom power voltage at the mic connector of a mixer or aerial input connector of an adu? Edited December 24, 2018 by Wolf124