Net3 Radio Focus Remote Battery Issues

I have been trying to use our new RFR and every time I go to unplug the mini-USB from the charging port the unit dies. Could this be caused by a bad battery? When plugged in the unit functions normally and seems to always have a low battery warning but is still usable. When charging the unit is kept in the off position with the switch on top of the unit.

Thanks,

Zach

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  • I see from this thread (and others) that EOS family RFU Battery issues have quite a "long beard"... sadly so does mine! it is a genuine "power hog" in the same way like all described in the previous posts, just even worse!
    if I'm not turning it of after each set of "focused chan. out/new chan. on" command, it is very unlikely I'll finish focusing (that usually lasts between 1,5 to 2 hrs) without it depleting the battery! in addition to that, when battery is low, it starts to frequently loose base station connection (usually just after it "found" it again, few sec. after... like, within"chan. xy on" command)! and, if battery isn't at least 60% full, it has a problem of reaching the base station, placed 12-15m away, behind the dry wall...
    so, cause many years passed since the problem was noticed, I was wandering if there's anything new about eventual improvement (if not even solution) of Net3 RFU battery life?! what baffles me even more is that similarly looking device of Congo/Cobalt family "lasts" for days without recharging (at least so I'm told by my colleague that have it with Congo jr console)!

    gratefull for any kind of info about that...

    consoles are Gio and Ion running latest software available and RFU unit displays 2.15 number when boots up and it operates on 2.410Ghz

    god I miss old and almost indestructible remote from Expression family consoles... they worked from "cafeteria across the street" and their 9V battery lasted for months and months...
  • I haven't seen power drain as bad as yours. My battery indicator still drops off to empty within 45 minutes, but the unit will run for 7 hours.
    Have you tried new chargeable batteries?
    Have you reduced the time before the screen goes to sleep?
    Can you reduce the power of the handheld, without loosing connectivity?

    My unit was always losing connection to the base station, regardless of battery level, but once we moved the receiver to the house and connected via Ethernet home run to the console in the booth, that issue disappeared and I've had great reception for years.

    Is your receiver in the booth, under a balcony, and not easily line of sight to the handheld device? That might also help with the connectivity.

    Andrew
  • yes, we did all that :( .... thanks.
    and with tim we learned how to "milk" just enough "juice" out of it to finish focusing of our main stage... the problem is that we plan to replace our Emphasys based Expression 3 on our second stage, with Ion that doesn't have its own remote. we always focus one stage after another and since stages are one next to another, carrying base station from Gio to Ion would be a "question of seconds"... but, if damn thing barely "survives" focusing on one stage, it will definitely be useless on second one (situation with "dry wall" described in my previous post is from second stage and, after focusing main stage, there's no chance in hell we'll get to it with 60% of battery charge)...
    we work in crews of two and we can't afford for one of us to sit behind the console if remote "dies"... there's no time for that, cause we have only 3-3.5hrs to focus both stages before evening performances start... and we definitely are not "shelling out" almost 3k eur for another Eos RFU set, if battery issues are not resolved!

    so, since RFU battery life is problematic for years I decided to ask if something was done about it... it obviously wasn't... shame, cause in every other respect Eos family consoles are exceptional products for classical theatre...

    thank you kindly for your answer anyway...
    best regards
    Andrej
  • Seriously why not just use the iphone or android app, it can do more than the RFU and battery life should not be a problem.
  • well, as I said above... because if you bang this...:

    http://www.supertech-inc.com/products/etc/etc%20radio%20rfu.jpg



    ...encased in sturdy metal casing, against iron bridge fences, portal ladders or safety guard bars or, god forbid, drop it from higher than 2m of height, is something completely different than if you doo do that with this:




    and because in 97% of time we don't need much more of RFU's capabilities than turning channels on and of as fast and reliable as possible. when your production is aprox. 470 to 500 performances and 16 premieres (with 2/3 of their reherehearsals stage) per season (in 10 months) and theatre's light crew counts only four guys, you need a "tool", not a "toy" ;)

    don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound disrdisrespectfulbut simple, sturdy and reliable remote is something really usefusefulen if you can't "re-focus your mowingheads" or "label your cue" with it, like you can do on wi-fi "touchscreen devices"... the one from Expression line of consoles was like that! and Eos line one would be too, if its battery charge would last at least one day...

  • it seems I wrote something "undesirable", cause my previous post is still being "moderated" :)...

    but, as I said , we don't, because when your 10 month season production consists of 16 premieres and aprox. 470-500 performances and theatre's whole light crew is "made" out of just 4 guys that "service" 3 stages (ok. "two and a half" cause Studio's production is not that "numerous" :)... ), then you need a proper tool, not a "toy"!
    a sturdy and reliable tool, that can be banged and pressed against fences, ladders, portal tower guards, even dropped from various heights (by accident or when ones own safety becomes more important than the tool one uses)... and unlike the sensitive touchscreen devices, this WAS such tool:


    ... its replacement, though far more capable in its functions - isn't!! because of l*usy battery life... :(

    don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect, I believe wi-fi touchscreen devices can be and are nice solution... but in our daily "rehearsal&performance turn-over", available focusing time and house rigging, they simply are not as usefull as good old sturdy metal rfu...
    on the other hand, if you look at rfu's price and the way its functionnality is crippled by battery depletion, not really "happy thoughts" cross ones mind and one would expect at least some manufacturers effort about it...

  • I understand and saw your original post on email before this whole thread shutdown for moderation and I didn't get what you said was bad either !!

    I get it that its a tough environment but there are some quite rugged touch screen devices out there. CAT (as in the people that make the big yellow earth movers) do a range of them for construction environments ranging in price from about $200 for a reasonable level of indestructibility up to $500 for the full military spec.

    Anyway just a thought
  • well, yeah... I guess we'll have to go for wi-fi touchscreen devices eventually... :(
    unless we nail our ancient ARRi Finesse console to the wall and use it for focusing, because its IR and radio rfu still work like brand new :))... later one even trough concreete wals ;)

    but you do get "p*ssed of ", when you have paid several tousand eur for a device that doesn't work propperly and manufacturer kind of doesn't give a damn about it... :(

  • Hi Andrej,

    what is the display screen light timeout set to on the handheld? I recommend this set to 10 seconds. This extends the charge length a lot. 10 seconds just shuts off the display light, but you don’t lose connection, and the next button press wakes up the display.
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  • hi Corey,
    haven't "annoy" you over the phone for a while, so it's nice to know I can do that on the forum too... :)) ;).
    I'm on tour for last few days and will be till next Monday, so I can't check what timeout is currently set, but it is rather short... definitely not longer than 30 sec. right now I'm in theatre where they have Congo with what (except for the housing color) looks identical to our rfu... and guys here say that they have at least 5-6 hrs of non-stop battery life, so they recharge it every third day or later...
    next thing we are going to do is to connect console and base station via utp instead of usb cable... I don't think this would improve rfu's battery life :)), but it might improve its reception when battery charge is low (doubtfully, but still)... after all we had some problem with base station's usb connection and we (most likely) "fried" one usb connectors column on the back of our Gio with it... as I understand, this is "irreversible", since usb ports are "permanently welded" to the motherboard :(.
    however you turn it, this "rfu business" kind of s*cks... and "damned should be the day" when ETC decided to ditch small Expression family rfu pictured on previous page for this Eos family "contraption"... :(
  • so... checked our rfu and its backlight "time of" is now reduced to minimal 10 sec... (was 30) . hopefully, this will increase battery life at least a bit....
  • Hi Mirko,

    you don't annoy me. I welcome your calls or forum posts or emails!

    With fresh batteries, the RFR should hold 3-4 hours easily with 10 second timeout.
    The display takes LOTS of battery time. So going from 30 seconds to 10 seconds, should help.
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