Anton Bauer USB Battery Management System Heads to IBC

Anton/Bauer will introduce its Anton/Bauer Battery Management System (AB-BMS) to the European market at IBC2009 (Stand 9.D28b).

The AB-BMS includes Battery Management software and a USB to Anton/Bauer Gold Mount bracket. The AB-BMS streamlines battery maintenance protocols while delivering critical information to the camera operator.

When a battery is installed on the AB-BMS Gold Mount bracket, information is downloaded from the battery via the Battery Management software into a PC. The software will automatically open a file based on the battery serial number and date of manufacture, and will store all battery-related data for the purpose of usage tracking. By storing this data, the Battery Management software offers users a selectable battery capacity “trip point” for invoking an early e-mail warning as the battery approaches 60 or 70 percent of nameplate capacity. The software also provides for end-user-defined options for local, regional and Anton/Bauer e-mail addresses.

“When high-pressure breaking news events are overwhelming ENG crews, the last thing the operator needs to worry about is current battery charge and overall battery reliability,” says Joe Murtha, Anton/Bauer engineering manager. “Our new Battery Management System gives the camera operator the information to verify how much charge is left, but [also] know the details related to overall battery health. The AB-BMS delivers all essential information about the battery and the interaction with the particular camera, giving the operator high confidence going into a critical capture situation.”

The Battery Management software calculates how long a given battery will run a given camera based on an included database of professional video cameras and their respective load rating in watts. The operator simply selects the camera model and the software automatically displays the run time for the installed battery. The operator can also enter additional camera specifications into the database.

Essential information such as the battery model name (e.g. HyTRON 140) with a picture of the installed battery, the battery’s temperature, voltage, present capacity, learned capacity, nameplate capacity and serial number are also displayed. A graphical representation of the battery’s RealTime “fuel gauge” also appears on the screen displaying the percentage of capacity and remaining run time.