Improving upon its predecessor with greater power management flexibility, the Remote Audio BDSV5H SMART is an advanced power distributor for ENG audio bags and equipment carts that delivers up to 18V, 12A power to up to eight different devices. Sporting new features like active battery hot swapping, input priority, and load sharing, the BDSV5H is a robust power accessory.
The BDSV5H SMART features two TA4 smart power inputs and eight highly durable 4-pin Hirose jack outputs for professional devices. The device incorporates the System Management Bus (SMBus) for communications and features a 0.95" color OLED for monitoring power telemetry, runtime statistics, and adjusting settings. You can configure various unique features for use in a wide range of equipment-specific scenarios, such as prioritizing one of the two power inputs, uninterrupted powering of devices while hot swapping batteries, and load sharing between power sources for increased output load. You can also set specific current limits, up to 12A.
Simply remove one of the batteries from its corresponding battery cup and pop in a fresh one, while the other battery maintains an uninterrupted output. The power path’s interconnected ideal diode controllers prevent reverse current flow from one battery into the other.
Note: the total load on the BDS must be less than a single battery’s rated max discharge current to perform hot swaps.
If the voltage of Input #1 falls below a threshold, the BDSV5H will automatically fall over to the second input for uninterrupted power output. Once power is restored to Input #1, it resumes its priority role for powering the load and Input #2 will go back into standby. It should be noted that a battery in standby will still have a very small current draw on it from the battery communications and microprocessor of the BDSV5H, so it is normal to see a battery in standby discharge slowly over time.
To enable load sharing, you must turn off the Priority #1 setting in the settings menu. For best performance when load sharing, it is recommended to always use two batteries of equal capacity and similar states of charge. These features greatly expand the BDSV5H’s usability from ENG bags of all sizes to small and midsized cart systems.
However, depending on what the input source type is or whether you have just one input active, a lower current limitation and warning could be imposed. By default, any non-smart battery or DC input source is limited to 6A (per TA-4 input). Smart batteries capable of BMS communications are limited to a 1C maximum discharge rate for safety.
In the second screen mode, battery voltage and the battery state of charge will swap locations and font sizes. The Load display will also change from displaying the total load in (A) amps to (W) watts. Double pressing the select button again changes to the third screen mode. The battery’s cycle count is displayed inside the blue battery, with the temperature displayed in a large font next to it. Below is displayed the battery state of charge and the battery’s serial number. Double pressing the select button again will change the display back to the default screen.