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Wireless Directors Monitor Review! Nyrius, Small HD, P&C, Nanuk

By January 8, 2015September 22nd, 2015Reviews

 

I have wanted a wireless director’s monitor for some time now. When your cameraman sets up his/her shots, you see glimpses of the framing he does, but those looks are quick and the screen is tiny, typically 3 inches or so. Setting up a video village with a larger screen for the director is awesome, and doing it wirelessly lets you lose the dangerous cables lying around.

 

I’ve been stalking the Paralinx and Radeon systems and as I looked further, I saw the Nyrius Aries Pro. At $275 with similar capabilities, I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately I waited too long, because when I went to buy it, the $275 price tag was gone, to be replaced with a $400 one. I’m not sure why they changed their prices, but that drives me nuts. This is technology people! You not allowed to raise prices; you’re supposed to drop them! Well I lucked out and found a used one for sale on Amazon for a $275 price tag and I pulled the trigger and bought it.

 

First basic tests were great. The thing powers up right away and works as advertised. It does require a power shut down sometimes to help it find the signal, but I’m guessing most systems from different manufacturers have problems communicating with each other from time to time. The whole set up is perfect for what I need. Transmission is seamless, video quality is great and it’s a fraction of the cost of other systems.

 Wireless Directos Monitor - SmallHD - Nyrius - PNC

 

Notes

Power is needed for both the transmitter and receiver on the Nyrius Aries Pro. I bought the SmallHD AC7 specifically because it is one of the few monitors that transmit 5v power from it. Woohoo! This meant I didn’t have to have a second power source on the monitor; I could power everything from the SmallHD.

 

Cables are all over the place on this thing, I was very particular on the wire set up on this. I went for the smallest footprint possible; the last thing I wanted was a bunch of stuff hanging off this thing. The usb power cable I spliced together is an example of this, I ended up with a very short cable that fits perfectly.

 

Of note, the 3/8 mount on the receiver of the Nyrius Aries Pro gets freaking hot! Not a problem for me as I mounted it on my cage with a bolt, but be wary if you’re planning on using Velcro, it may melt.

 

The P&C Cage is great, but requires you to drill out some of the threaded holes to make it align in the center. Very easy to do and it really is a great fit.

 

The Nanuk Case is a beast and the padded divider fits the P&C Cage perfectly.

 

Walls are a problem, but keep the distance down and I found that the signal went through one or two of my walls at the house just fine.

 

Total Cost for everything: $1395.30

 

Wireless Directors Monitor

Photography & Cinema PNC GearBox Cage GB-1 for DSLR Cameras – $89.99

Nyrius ARIES Pro Digital Wireless HDMI Transmitter and Receiver System – Used $275.00

Small HD AC7 – $818.94

Current Customization:
(1) AC7 LCD HDMI Field Monitor
(1) AC7/DP6 Canon 5D/7D LP-E6 Battery Bracket
(1) AC7-LCD Acrylic Screen Protector
(1) 1.5 ft. Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable
(1) 12v-2A US Power Supply
(1) Sunhood for AC7 and AC7-SDI (LCD)
(1) Canon 5D MKII Port Protector

USB Power Cable – $3.79 (I spliced this together with the USB cable provided by SmallHD, use this to run power from the 5v port on the AC7 Monitor to the Nyrius reciever)

Rotation 360 Degree V1.4 HDMI Male to HDMI Female Connector Adapter – $6.66

0.5 ft Ultra Slim Series Passive HDMI Cable – Black – $5.43

Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) – 29.99

 

Transmitter Mount and Battery Pack

Cheese Base Plate – $11.79

Jackery® Bar Premium Aluminum iPhone Charger External Battery 6000mAh – $29.95

UP ANGLE A TO MINI-B – $15.45

Monoprice HDMI Coupler (Female to Female) – $4.60 (To use with the SmallHD cable which is the only small HDMI cable I could find that would work with their port protector)

Velcro – $5.13

Cold Shoe Mount – $5.59

 

Carry Case

Nanuk 925 Case with Padded Divider – $92.99 (The Divided Padding is a perfect fit for the P&C Cage)

Join the discussion 5 Comments

  • Hey Adam,

    I appreciate you breaking down the build of wireless monitor system. It really helped me in putting mine together. I have one question for you. I’m trying to create a custom cable like you did that will allow the Nyrius receiver to be powered from my AC7 USB port.

    When I cut the USB barrel cable I found two wires inside. When I cut a 5 pin USB I found four wires and a shielding wire inside. Is that what you found? If so what wires did you solder together?

    • akilbourn says:

      Sorry for the delayed response, I’ve been out of the country for a while. The additional wires are for data transfers only and aren’t necessary, I see you found the info you needed. Great post, hope your unit is working great. Cheers, Adam 🙂

  • hogo says:

    now that the Aries Pro has ridiculously raised to $799 in price, what is an alternative tx/rx?

    • akilbourn says:

      I’d try the Nyrius Aries Prime for $199 from Amazon. The pro is only giving us about 30-40 line of site transmission, my bet is the prime is identical. Amazons easy to return to if it doesn’t work for you. It appears the people at Nyrius have lost their freaking minds. No way would I pay $799 for the transmitter. – Adam 🙂