UltraLite Firewire power

burbingus · Post by **burbingus** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:19 pm

Hey guys,

I just bought an UltraLite to use with my laptop which has one 4-pin Firewire port on it. I'm looking at getting a 6-pin PCMCIA cardbus Firewire adaptor, but I read that the PCMCIA slot doesn't deliver much power. I'd like to keep the system mobile, do any of you use a cardbus firewire adaptor to power your Ultralite? If it doesn't work, is there a different option you'd recommend (battery pack for the UltraLite, etc.)?

Thanks a bunch!

Micah

rockitcity · Post by **rockitcity** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:48 am

PCMCIA firewire cards typically don't deliver any power to attached devices. You need to get a power supply that plugs into the side of the card to power whatever you attach to it.

Some of the firewire PCMCIA cards ship with a USB power tap that gets power from adjacent USB ports. The one that came with my Adaptec card has two USB connectors, so I guess it sucks power from two ports, which is not much good on a Powerbook where you have one port on each side. I've never used it, so I can't comment on how long it may last on internal battery power. My guess is not long.

Mobility is great with the Ultralite and Traveler, but I think you'll need some reliable power source if you plan to record for more than an hour or so.

kuene · Post by **kuene** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:04 pm

thats whats great about even the lowest price macbooks. 6 pin firewire. ultralite works great with my macbook. i even chain it through my external firewiredrive, and occasionaly, i even plug my ipod into the ultralite for a total of 3 devices. works beautifully.