IDX NP-7LS Battery- Back From the Dead

    It's a shame when a high quality Lithium-ion rechargeable dies. Throw one away, and there's a lot of sophisticated charging technology you're throwing away with it.
    NP-1's are popular rechargeable batteries for location sound applications. They were originally created for powering professional cameras and VTR's.
    Today, a Lithium-ion NP-1's costs about  US$ 180 to $225, depending on brand.  In the Li-Ion category, chargers and batteries are typically not compatible across brands.
    New cells for the NP-1's can be purchased individually for about eight dollars each. But creating a reliably-soldered series-parallel pack for an NP-1 is probably more trouble than its worth.
    I picked up a couple of VariZoom brand NP-1's before realizing they are not compatible with my IDX chargers. The IDX will charge them partially before exhibiting a fault condition. So the VariZooms collected dust on my shelf.
    Then I was given some IDX NP-7LS NP-1's that had been purchased but never used. About 8 years old, they would not accept a charge. So off to the shelf they go.
   What follows is a happy marriage between the two brands, and a couple of like-new IDX NP-1's for me.

"Porter Ridge" latest in Redneck Reality wave, impresses!

New reality show -Porter Ridge (Discovery). In the steaming-pile-of-shit category (my professional milieu), Porter Ridge fares well. The dialogue, fed line-by-line to the cast from behind camera, appears almost natural and un-parotted. The lead cast member, entirely boom mic'd (due to lack of a shirt), sounds almost as good (or bad) as the lavs on the remaining ensemble. Lots of explosions. Recommend. 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/porter-ridge-tv-review-603987