External firewire revisited.

merkelck wrote on 6/17/2004, 8:27 AM
I have searched prior posts regarding this issue but can't seem to find the answer to my question. How do you implement the external drive so that you can capture directly to it?
I see that some external boxes have a seperate in and out firewire connector and some only have one. I also see that you can obtain a firewire "hub". And I can't recall every seeing a camcorder with more than one firewire connector. So my question is as follows. What is the physical layout of this system? Do you "daisy chain" devices with the laptop being on one end and the camcorder being on the other, using the external drive box as the central unit? Or do you use a powered hub to provide power to the external drive. My laptop does not provide power out the firewire connector. It is my understanding that firewire power is only available via the 6 pin or the new 9 pin firewire connector.
If you feel this issue has been "beat to death" , just send me an email
merkelck@comcast.net

Comments

discdude wrote on 6/17/2004, 1:54 PM
You seem to have the right idea:

1) True. Only a six pin connector can deliver power (or 9 pin if you are using Firewire 800 ). The smaller 4 pin connectors are unpowered.

2) True. You can daisy chain your devices as you described with the laptop on one end and the camcorder on the other.

I suppose a hub would be optimal as every one I have ever seen provides powered connectors. Also hookup would be easier since you can plug and unplug any device you want without breaking the "chain".