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#1007641 - 10/30/10 07:46 PM SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great!
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Hi everyone! I just acquired a 44 pin IDE to SD card adaptor from a seller on EBay. Much to my delight, this thing WORKS! The 880 "sees" the SD card the same as it would a standard hard drive. Currently I am using a 2gig Sandisc card, but intend to upgrade to 4gig very soon.

I did several test recordings on it last night and it performed flawlessly. I will be posting a video of the installation on YouTube this weekend.
This drive adaptor is totally silent. At first, I had to look twice to make sure it was functioning. I've become so used to the sound from the various mechanical hard drives I've used over the years.

There are many advantages to using a solid state drive. A few big ones for me include:
1) The ability to simply change out a card when needed.
2) Easy archiving of different projects.
3) No mechanical noises (condenser mic's are VERY unforgiving!)
4) Very little chance of failure and thus loss of data.
5) SD cards are very inexpensive and widely available these days.


I would highly recommend this upgrade to any VS880 owner. It is a very easy swap to perform.
I also plan on getting a 44 pin IDE extension cable so I can locate this card outside the 880. This will make switching the SD cards more convenient.

I will keep you guys posted as to how things are working with this conversion. So far, so good! :-)
Cheers!
Rick
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1007679 - 10/31/10 12:07 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
bear Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/25/99
Posts: 6537
Loc: abq,nm,usa
I am surprised SANDISK card worked. Many people here have reported SANDISK does not work, myself included. I just get OPERATION FAILED messages when I try to format.

Other brands of SD have worked fine for me and others.

What exact SANDISK card are you using?

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#1007728 - 10/31/10 02:42 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: bear]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Ooooops!
Gosh, I feel like a buffoon now, LOL. The SD card I am currently using is NOT a SanDisk. it is a LEXAR 2gig card. I must have been looking at a SanDisk card lying on my desk or something as I wrote that.

Yes, I have heard that for some reason SanDisk cards do not get along with the VS880 units.
I am looking at getting a 4Gig PNY or Lexar card very shortly.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1008424 - 11/03/10 06:14 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
JD Offline
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Registered: 07/09/00
Posts: 160
Loc: San Diego, CA, USA
Rick,
Let us know when you post the vid.
I'd really like to see it.
Thanks for your post.

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#1008433 - 11/03/10 07:35 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: JD]
Basset77 Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 09/27/09
Posts: 13
Loc: Australia
yeah - would love to see how to do this too \:\)
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#1008502 - 11/03/10 06:10 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Hi guys. Thanks for your interest in this thread.
Sorry I didn't get the video posted last weekend. Just ran out of time. Long working hours are cutting into my weekends these days. I am currently editing the footage and hope to have both parts of it posted to YouTube and possibly Vimeo by this coming weekend.


Progress report:
After several days, the adaptor and extension cable seem to be working flawlessly...and silently. I can safely tell you that Lexar SD cards seem to work fine for this unit. I tried a PNY 2Gig card in it last night, but it only "saw" 1gig on it. However, it may be a defective card because my computers only "see" it as a 1gig card as well. No other issues so far. ::
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1009598 - 11/07/10 07:41 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Just a quick update for you guys:

I am still working on getting the videos posted, but YouTube is a bit balky this weekend.

So far, the SD card conversion is working flawlessly. I have successfully used Lexar and PNY 2gig cards. I have yet to try a 4gig. All of my current 4gig cards are SanDisk...which we all know won't work in the VS880. I will pick up a new 4gig Lexar or PNY card soon and let you know how that goes. I see that Sony has some SD cards in the local WalMart now too. Might be worth a try as well.

One thing I did notice on this conversion is that the drive access light doesn't seem to light up during playback operations, even with all 8 tracks being used. I wonder if it may be accessing so fast that my old eyes just don't see it. The light does illuminate normally during write operations.

PS: Still not sure what the issue was with the PNY 2gig card that mysteriously turned out to be a 1gig card last weekend. Works perfectly fine as a 1gig card. Must have just been mis-labeled or something. ...It happens...
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1009745 - 11/08/10 11:16 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Basset77 Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 09/27/09
Posts: 13
Loc: Australia
I wonder whether a Compact Flash CF Card to IDE Hard Disk Adapter would work? hmm opens up all possibilites i guess
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#1009837 - 11/08/10 07:45 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Basset77]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
 Originally Posted By: Basset77
I wonder whether a Compact Flash CF Card to IDE Hard Disk Adapter would work? hmm opens up all possibilites i guess


@Basset77:
I would be tempted to think that a CF adaptor could work in this application. As long as it is a standard 44 pin IDE Notebook type adaptor.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1009838 - 11/08/10 07:52 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
bear Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/25/99
Posts: 6537
Loc: abq,nm,usa
Yes, I have used CF cards, SD cards and micro SD cards in various adapter configurations all successfully. Although some brands do not work - mostly SANDISK
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#1010177 - 11/10/10 10:43 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: bear]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
 Originally Posted By: bear
Yes, I have used CF cards, SD cards and micro SD cards in various adapter configurations all successfully. Although some brands do not work - mostly SANDISK



I have read about these adapters for the various media forms; SD, CF, Mini/Micro SD, etc. I was/am most interested in the SD cards because SD seems to be more widely available, and less expensive. This adapter I found is a direct IDE to SD converter. The advert claimed it is "transparent to the operating system." I think I can agree with that statement. The VS880 "thinks" it is another standard IDE hard drive.


The general consensus seems to indicate that for whatever reason, San-Disk cards just can't seem to play nicely with the VS880 units. Seems strange that the brand would make a difference. Maybe is is something to do with the internal "wiring" of these particular cards?
I have a pair of 4gig San-Disk cards that I use in my video cameras and they work great in that application. I got brave the other evening and tried one in the 880. No-Go. Fortunately, after a reformat on the PC, the card was back to being usable in the camera.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011038 - 11/15/10 08:36 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Hi everyone!
I have finally successfully uploaded the video of this upgrade to YouTube! Only been trying for a week or so. That site is so buggared... Sorry; got a bit off-topic for a second.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Here is the link to the video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oupd2hsqJlE
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011055 - 11/15/10 02:01 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
sunshine Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 19
so I need one of these : http://cgi.ebay.com/SD-SDHC-MMC-2-5-44-P...=item41546f3b2a

one of these

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEXAR-4GB-SD-SDHC-ME...=item3f04ba05de



but what about the ribbon connector ? Is there a certain brand that is least expensive ?

Im new to this VS880 and want to make sure I buy the proper items { at the best price :} ...to make this SD conversion work.

I assume a 2 GB SD card will record twice as much time as a 1GB SD card and a 4 GB SD card will record twice as much time as a 2 GB SD card { all other things being equal} ?

or is it not that simple ?


Edited by sunshine (11/15/10 06:37 PM)

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#1011205 - 11/16/10 11:11 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: sunshine]
Basset77 Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 09/27/09
Posts: 13
Loc: Australia
thanks Rick !! will be doing this ASAP - i have a smiliar q about the ribbon connector as Sunshine \:\)
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#1011207 - 11/16/10 11:43 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: sunshine]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Sorry for the delayed reply, long night at work .

The adapter you point to in the link is exactly what you need. BUT!!! I would order it from this seller: http://cgi.ebay.com/SD-SDHC-MMC-TO-2-5-4...047618433981988
This one is the same unit, but in the USA, and has free shipping.
The one in your link is actually in HONG KONG.


The ribbon cable is not necessary for this conversion unless you want to locate the adapter outside of the VS880. If that's the case, I think just about any 44 pin IDE ribbon cable should work. I picked up this 6inch one for less than $10.00 on E-Bay. As seen in the video, the only mod needed was bending that pin out of the way.
If you choose to locate the adapter outside the VS880, I would suggest making some kind of protection for it. Since my unit is installed into a console, the adapter is somewhat protected, but I am still going to build something to give it a little more protection.

I would get the SD card at a local store like a Best Buy or WalMart, etc. ...Just in case you get a defective card, which is rare, you can replace it without the shipping hassles.

As to the recording time, you are right in that 2gig will hold approximately twice the time of a 1gig; and a 4gig is approximately twice what a 2gig will hold.
An important point I should make here is the fact that the VS880 will only use 4gig max. The firmware will not allow any more than that. You can put in a larger drive, but the VS880 will still only use 4gig's of it.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011208 - 11/16/10 11:48 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Basset77]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
 Originally Posted By: Basset77
thanks Rick !! will be doing this ASAP - i have a smiliar q about the ribbon connector as Sunshine \:\)


Cool! Glad to help.
Anything else, don't be afraid to ask. If I can't answer it, there are sure to be people here who can.

Cheers!
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011309 - 11/17/10 12:24 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
sunshine Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 19
would you be able to give us a link to ebay, for the ribbon connector. I searched but am not sure which one is correct.
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#1011362 - 11/17/10 10:33 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: sunshine]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
 Originally Posted By: sunshine
would you be able to give us a link to ebay, for the ribbon connector. I searched but am not sure which one is correct.



Here's the one I ordered:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280504781985&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011417 - 11/17/10 05:16 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
sunshine Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/15/10
Posts: 19
someone said on your utube video, thaqt the ribbon connector needs to be a 40 pin connector...not 44 pin connector..they are incorrect?
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#1011619 - 11/18/10 07:33 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: sunshine]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Okay, let me get one of the drives out and see.....


...I just counted 22 pins on each side - minus the one used as the "key". That makes it a 44 pin cable.
I think what Moose was referring to is the 3½ inch drive cable. That one does indeed have 40 pins - I just checked that one as well. Also note that 3½" drives have a separate power connector, which is a 4 pin connector. I believe the "extra" 4 pins on the 2½" IDE drives are for the power connection.

Rest assured, the 2½ inch IDE notebook type hard drives are a 44 pin connector.
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Rick - NJP Productions

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#1011685 - 11/19/10 01:02 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
cortson Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/05/10
Posts: 21
Well done!

Mike
Mike Cortson - Location Recording

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#1012143 - 11/21/10 06:05 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
toad_uk Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 06/28/99
Posts: 81
Loc: Lincoln UK
Would this upgrade also work on the 880ex?
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#1012164 - 11/21/10 08:32 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: toad_uk]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
 Originally Posted By: toad_uk
Would this upgrade also work on the 880ex?


I'm sure it will work for the EX units. As far as I know, all of the VS880 models have the standard "notebook" type internal HD arrangement. (2½" IDE - 44 pin connector)
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Rick - NJP Productions

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#1012178 - 11/21/10 09:34 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
toad_uk Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 06/28/99
Posts: 81
Loc: Lincoln UK
Thanks Rickbell7
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#1012983 - 11/26/10 12:54 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: toad_uk]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
No problem. Glad to help where I can.:-)
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1013619 - 11/29/10 07:40 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
--UPDATE--

Over the past weekend, I finally got around to trying the PNY 4gig card in the VS880. It worked fine.
I was a bit concerned because the card is a class 6, which is a faster card. I was afraid there might be a mis-match with the speed of the card, but that doesn't appear to be ai issue at all.

You can add PNY to the list of SD cards that WILL work with the VS880.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1015265 - 12/07/10 10:11 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Okay guys, here is the list of SD cards (so far) that I have successfully tested for this conversion...
-- PNY Optima - 2gig
-- PNY Optima - 4gig
-- RiData Lightning Series - 2gig
-- Lexar Platinum II - 2gig
-- Lexar Platinum II - 1gig
-- Lexar Media 256 MB (old card, but yes it worked!)

These cards all worked flawlessly in my VS880. The unit saw each one as being simply a hard drive. The adapter works exactly as intended: transparently. \:\)

BTW:
I have attempted to test a SanDisk 4gig SD card. It failed. \:\( As has been mentioned before, for some reason SanDisk SD and CF cards will not work in the VS units. Fine cards for anything else, just won't work in this application.

More testing later. I'll keep you guys posted as I go.
Cheers!
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1016438 - 12/12/10 08:43 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
cortson Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/05/10
Posts: 21
If I were to outfit each of my 3 units with the sd card setup you have does anyone have an opinion on what effects there would be as to keeping the units in sync?
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#1016501 - 12/13/10 03:44 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: cortson]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
Since the VS operating system "sees" these SD adapters as standard hard drives, I would be led to believe that it wouldn't make much difference.

Not 100% sure though. I'm not really familiar with sync'ing VS units.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1019193 - 12/24/10 04:49 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
cortson Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 11/05/10
Posts: 21
Were you able to copy the SD files to your PC?
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#1019333 - 12/25/10 01:45 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: cortson]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
No. The PC doesn't recognize the file type.

I understand there are some programs out there that will convert the files for use in the PC. But I haven't tried any of those yet.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1020090 - 12/30/10 06:08 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: toad_uk]
HypnoRaygun Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 12/30/10
Posts: 2
Loc: Missouri
 Originally Posted By: toad_uk
Would this upgrade also work on the 880ex?


I just completed an upgrade on my VS880EX and it worked fine!

This is what I posted on the Youtube site:

Well I finally received the device from China. And it WORKED! I ordered the SD card version, and plugged it directly into the VS880EX. It took me a few tries. (I installed it upside down, then I didn't get it plugged in all the way) I used a 4 Gig PNY Optima SD card. But it did work. I tested it a bit, and there were no problems (once I got it installed correctly). It is nice how quiet the unit is now. Thank you so much for sharing this information! Confirmed: VS880EX conversion works

So yes.. It works.. and once It was done correctly, there were no issues!

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#1021680 - 01/09/11 08:20 PM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: HypnoRaygun]
will_f Offline
Space Cadet


Registered: 12/21/10
Posts: 4
I successfully got the VS-880EX to recognize an SD card as a hard drive just as the internal hard drive was on its last legs.

I have the SD card reader inside the unit for now. For those users who have extended the card reader outside of the unit with a ribbon cable, what are you using to protect the card reader?

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#1021830 - 01/10/11 08:51 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: will_f]
Rickbell7 Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/30/10
Posts: 97
Loc: Upper Midwestern US
I have my VS880 built into a console. So for my installation, I was able to simply attach a small piece of anti-static foam inside the console and lay the reader on that.

Some sort of small enclosure might work for external mounting. As to exactly where and how to mount it, all I can say is try to keep it convenient, protected, and somewhere that it won't get in the way of normal operations.

Ideally, the reader could be mounted somehow in the drive bay itself, keeping the front cover off for better access to the SD cards. One thing I would not do, however is modify the original drive caddy ... just in case. There may come a time when you might want to use a hard drive again.
_________________________
Rick - NJP Productions

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#1022051 - 01/11/11 05:33 AM Re: SD Adaptor for the VS880!! - And it works great! [Re: Rickbell7]
BrianJ Offline
Planeteer


Registered: 10/04/10
Posts: 234
Hey guys!

Was wondering if this is something that is 880 specific? Or will this work on the 2480 as well?

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