Hi
Thanks for the reply. I was going to use a dead battery and a friend said get a dc to dc converter at Fry's and use a dumby battery. They had no converter so now I am lost. I could make one as I want to go from a 12 volt motorcycle batery to 7.2 for the camcorder but do not have a schematic.
Any help appreciated.
Kevin

Since my "day job" involves electronics, I can help here. What you need is an adjustable voltage regulator circuit -- like the LM317. I did a quick search and found link with a circuit that you can use:

http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Circuits/Power/lm317.htm

If you're not skilled in electronics, it's best to find a friend that is. Even though this is a very simple circuit, an problem with connections could do damage to your equipment.

I have built many converters like the one JohnnyMac talks about. No big deal, but if you don't have the background, it may seem intimidating. I have two other suggestions.

First, you can get a multi-voltage converter from lots of places (Radio Shack, Frys, etc.). I keep one in my car. It can be set to almost any voltage, from 12 volts down to 5 volts (actually, it may have a 1.5 volt setting). It also has a "hydra head" connector that has most of the standard power connections on it, so you can plug into your device. Finally, it has a polarity reversal switch. This is the one thing you have to watch out for because some cameras want the positive on the center connector, and some want the negative. You can damage some equipment if you get this backwards.

An even better way to go, IMHO, is to get a voltage inverter. This is a device that plugs into the cigarette lighter or accessory jack on your car, and provides 120 volts AC. You then plug your regular charger into this. While this isn't quite as efficient, and it takes up a little space, you can run just about anything, up to about 200 watts, and you don't have to worry about connectors, poloarity reversal, etc. Best of all, these things have gotten dirt cheap. I have gotten them for less than $25 at Frys and at Costco.

The only thing they dont't handle well is inductive loads (like motors in power tools). Also, you sometimes have to cycle them a few times to get a TV to turn on (I used to take a 13" TV and VCR on long trips and the TV would trip the breaker ciruit in the inverter until you turned it on 2-3 times -- something that the instructions said was normal, and not to worry about).

Be wary of the cheap DC to DC inverters, they'll be fairly efficient but the noise on the output can get into the audio circuits of the camera. I'd give things like 3 terminal regulators a miss in this application, not only are you wasting power but then you've got to dissipate heat.

I've stuck with the packaged mil spec inverters, they're more expensive but still cheaper than a fried camera. One downside is you loose the cameras indication of battery state of charge. I usually include a battery voltage monitor on my units so you get some warning that the batterie's about to go dead.

But you should check first with Sony, they do make exactly what you want for the 7.2V cameras.

farss,

Good point about the noise. Yes, the output is a "modified sine wave," and it can introduce hum.

That's typically what you get from a 12VDC to 110VAC inverter. Hopefully as that goes through the DC power supply it gets filter out.
What I was referring to is the cheap 12VDC to 9VDC inverters. These typically run a few KHz and don't have the best of filtering on the outputs and the camera is only designed to handle the clean DC from a battey so it easily get into the audio where it's very had to get rid of once its recorded even with NR2. We've even had such noise from on camera lights sharing the camera battery getting into the audio.

We make them. Just connect the right plug to the 7.2 V output.
http://dolgin.net/DCConverter.htm
HTH
Alex

Much the same as the ones I've put together over the years but I don't see anyway to use that with a Sony camera. Sony do make a dummy battery lead, but as far as I know they only sell that with their rather expensive Li-Ion battery charger. One solution is to get a dead battery and hack into it.

Doesn't Sony make a cigarette lighter adapter for the camera?

If you have the money, I would go with something built for the camera. Then you would have a nice clean part that will be compact you can use it in your car and and it can't be accidently changed to a higher voltage.

Then just pick up a $10 Cigarette lighter (or 12 volt socket) splitter with a cord built into it. Then just cut the cord wire it into your battery and strap them together or get aligator clips and clip the cords to your battery.

That's probaby what I try to do.

JBJones

Thanks to all for all the help, Sony want $150.00 for their unit. Now I have to decide if something cheaper may work but risk a $1000.00 camcorder.
Thanks again
Kevin

$150?? Wow. The Sony DCC-L50B DC Car Adapter is listed on Sony's own site for $69.99. You should be able to get it for less than half that.

Here are some eBay links to auctions for this Sony car adapter:

eBay link 1

eBay link 2

B&H has it for $45:

B&H