Meon
You have an early morning call, outside, and it's dark... and the Electrics are still running cable... but you need to get started... No problem. With the MEON, you're on.
You're halfway through a long dialog scene... great performance... the director is loving it... Then someone trips over your AC power cord and pulls it out while recording. No problem. With the MEON, you're on.
The 1st AD calls for an unscheduled quick shot a hundred yards away. No AC power. No time for the genny. No problem. You roll your cart to the new set without having to power down. The quick shot turns into several hours. No problem. With the MEON, you're on.
How many Amps does your cart use? How many Amps does each item you are powering use? How much battery charge remains? Is your battery charging? With the MEON, you know.
Powering multiple pieces of equipment from a single uninterruptible DC supply was once a luxury but is now expected of the Sound Department for the demands of high-pressure film and television production. As the number of items needing power has grown, along with increased electrical current requirements, power supply systems that once could get you by are now inadequate.
The MEON is a self-contained power system that provides up to 18 Amps of 12 Volt DC and 27 Amp-hours of internal Nickel Metal Hydride battery backup to twelve standard 4-pin outlets. All in a single, silent, 2-rackspace module weighing less than 25 pounds.
When 120VAC is present, current is provided by a low-noise AC-DC power supply and the internal battery is connected to its charger. When AC power is unavailable or interrupted, the battery seamlessly takes over. When AC power is restored, the AC-DC power supply seamlessly takes over again and the battery resumes charging.
When plugged into AC power, the internal battery always has 5 Amps of charging current available, regardless of how much current is being used to power your equipment. Other power systems use a single AC-DC power supply for both your equipment and for charging the battery, leaving only the remaining current available to the battery. But with the MEON, when AC power is present, its internal battery is automatically connected to its own power supply for optimum charging at all times. When fully discharged, the Meon will fully recharge in about 7 hours - even while it is being used.
The MEON system has a microprocessor controller to monitor and manage the charging and discharging of the internal battery. AC power can be left on indefinitely because the controller will maintain the battery at maximum capacity without fear of over-charging. The controller also turns off the battery when the internal voltage drops below 10 volts, prolonging the life of the battery.
There are several advantages to the Nickel Metal Hydride battery chemistry used in the MEON. It is significantly smaller and lighter weight than a gel-cell lead acid battery of similar capacity. Also, Nickel Metal Hydride batteries can provide 100% of their rated capacity under high current loads that lead acid batteries cannot. This is why, when under a 15 Amp load, a typical 33A/hr lead acid battery will deplete in less than 1 hour but under the same conditions the smaller, lighter 27A/hr MEON battery will continue for 1.7 hours! A production sound cart typically draws about 5 or 6 Amps, so the MEON will usually provide four to five hours of battery power.
There are twelve 4-pin power outlets on the back of the MEON. Each outlet has auto-resetting breakers to protect against short-circuit and overload. To make the most of the 4-pin XLR connectors, the outlets are arranged in four groups of three outlets, as indicated on the back panel. Each group of three is limited to a total of 13 Amps. The first outlet in each group has a capacity of 13 Amps while the remaining two outlets in each group are limited to 6 Amps each.
This allows a typical sound cart (drawing less than 13 Amps) to be powered with a single XLR outlet if desired. For example, if power distribution to the devices on a cart is done remotely, such as with the Remote Audio Hot Box power distribution box, a single 13 Amp XLR on the MEON may be used to power the Hot Box which then distributes power to the entire cart. Or, each device being powered can be cabled directly to the MEON's outlets.
Does the MEON use fans? No. The MEON uses convection cooling so that it can be used on the set of a very quiet sound stage where cooling fans cannot be tolerated. To allow proper cooling when using AC power, it is best to mount the MEON with some free space under and over the chassis. One rack space (1-3/4") above and at least 1/2" free space beneath the MEON should be adequate.
Are the MEON outputs filtered? No. In the majority of occasions when induced noise is caused by multiple devices sharing a single power supply, simple filters would have no effect. The best way to solve these noise problems is with isolating DC-DC converters for the devices causing the noise. Having DC-DC converters on each of the twelve outputs would be needlessly bulky, heavy, and expensive. Therefore, it is recommended that when isolation is needed to solve power-loop noise, the Remote Audio "Juicer" isolation power cable (uses a 30W isolating DC-DC converter) be used between the MEON and the problem device.
To prevent accidental turning ON or turning OFF, the MEON has two ON buttons and two OFF buttons. To turn the MEON ON, press both ON buttons. To turn the MEON OFF, press both OFF buttons. Pressing any one of these buttons by itself will have no effect.
The MEON has a lot of capability in such a small package but once it's installed and connected to your equipment, all you have to do is turn it on.
You on? MEON!
Now shipping.
Physical Specifications:
Weight: 25 pounds
Dimensions: Face plate: 19" wide
Chassis: 17-1/2" wide x 12" deep x 3-3/4" tall. Occupies 2 rack spaces.
Price: $1995.00