Anton/Bauer USB Battery Management System Makes IBC 2009 Debut

A brand of The Vitec Group, and a premier provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems for the professional broadcast, video and film industries, Anton/Bauer, is introducing its new AB-BMS (Anton/Bauer Battery Management System) to the European market at IBC 2009 (Stand 9.D28b).
This application 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, date of manufacture, and 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 email warning as the battery approaches 60% or 70% of nameplate capacity. The software also provides for end-user defined options for local, regional and Anton/Bauer email addresses.
Joe Murtha, Anton/Bauer Engineering Manger, said: "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. Our
new Battery Management Systems gives the camera operator the information to verify how much change is left, but 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 camera and their respective load rating in watts. The operator simply selects the camera model and the software automatically displays the runtime for the installed battery. The operator can also enter additional camera specifications into the data base.
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 runtime.
Further information is available at: www.antonbauer.com.
(KMcA/BMcC)