Power standards

A number of different power supplies are used around the station.

XLR-4 (4-core)

In February 2014, the umbilical power cables were replaced with 4-core cable. This was to allow both 12V and 8.7V on the same cable but different pins, avoiding the possibility of the wrong voltage being connected

Pin-out

• 1 = Ground (yellow/green)
• 2 = Unused (brown)
• 3 = 8.7V (black)
• 4 = 12V (grey)

Standardised devices

• Sony HVR-HD1000E (HD cameras) - 8.7V
• Sony DSR-PD150 (Ex-BBC cameras) - 8.7V
• Skycam - 12V
• Howard - 12V
• Wedge (Comms) - ??

Previous standards

These standards were once in service, but have since been removed or superseded.

XLR-4 12V

These are 12V supplies of different current ratings, all ended with female 4-pin XLR connectors. This was superseded by the above XLR-4 standard.

Pin-out

• 1 = Ground
• 2 = unconnected
• 3 = unconnected
• 4 = +12V

XLR-4 8.7V

Similar to the 12V XLR-4's, but only 8.7V on pin 4. They are used for powering the Sony HD cameras. This was superseded by the above XLR-4 standard.

Pin-out

• 1 = Ground
• 2 = unconnected
• 3 = unconnected
• 4 = +8.7V