Chapter 3_______________________________________Zaxcom Digital Wireless System User’s Manual
42
Chapter 3
– Recording Audio using the Digital Wireless System Transmitters
The ability to record audio at the transmitter is an optional feature, which must be configured by Zaxcom when
purchased. If the necessary configuration steps have not been performed, none of the recording features will be
available.
Recording Format
The MiniSD card is formatted using the FAT32 file system. While recording, the transmitter places all recorded
audio in a single file on the media.
The FAT32 file system can be read on both Windows and Mac OS computers. However, the single file generated
by the recorder can only be understood by the
Zaxcom Transfer and Conversion utility
. It converts the file
into a format (Broadcast Wave Format = BWF), that is useable in Post. This utility is available to anyone for free
from the Zaxcom website.
Recording Mode
The audio can be recorded in Loop Recording mode or Non-Loop Recording mode.
In
Loop Recording
mode (indicated by
LREC
in the
Pacifier page
), as the card fills-up, it eventually loops back
to the beginning of the card and records over the oldest material. To prevent audio from being erased, do not
exceed the recording length of the media (see
Table 3.1 – Available Recording Time
).
In
Non-Loop Recording
mode (indicated by
REC
in the
Pacifier page
), as soon as the card is full, recording
ceases and the screen displays
FULL
.
Battery Life
While recording audio, a slight decrease in battery life occurs. The battery drains about 5% faster while recording,
than a non-recording transmitter. Under typical situations, the unit’s battery life will be reduced from
approximately 5 hours to 4 hours & 45 minutes.
Media Capacity
You can use MiniSD cards ranging in size from 128 MB to 96 GB. The 16 GB MiniSD card records a single track of
audio for 96 hours without erasing any recorded audio on the card. Available recording times are as follows:
MiniSD Size
Available
Recording Time
128 MB
45 minutes
256 MB
1.5 hours
512 MB
3 hours
1 GB
6 hours
2 GB
12 hours
4 GB
24 hours
8 GB
48 hours
16 GB
96 hours
Table 3-1 Available Recording Time
IMPORTANT:
The unit will
NOT
record onto the card if it was not present when the transmitter was
powered up, if it was removed while the power was ‘ON’ or if the LOW BATTERY page is being displayed. If
the card was ejected while the power was ‘ON’, the card must be reinserted before its power is cycled, in
order to resume recording.
