Hi-pod X-line series User manual

HI-POD

X-Line Product Line

Manual

HI-POD Manual - Table Of Contents:

3 – Introduction

7 - Let's Get Started!

9 - Hi-Pod Base Setup

11 - Hi-Pod Tubes and Case

12 - Attaching Head to Tubes

13 - Raising, Locking & Lowering Hi-Pod Tubes

16 - Attaching Handle to Tubes, & Pulley Head

19 - LCD Bracket

20 - LCD Setup

22 - Camera / Cables / Remote

27 - Strain Relief and Quick Release Plates

31 - Connect HDMI to LCD

32 - Camera Battery

39 - Text (REC) Data On Screen

42 - Camera Menu Settings

45 - Raingear

50 - Horizon Line

51 - Elevating and Lowering Tubes

53 - Velcro Cables to Tubes

Congratulations!

You have just purchased a HI-POD!

Now you can begin to elevate your

game.

X-Line – The newest HI-POD is packed with

new features. Not only is it taller (31 feet), but

lighter as well- base only 30 lbs.

Introduction: About Your HI-POD

Travel Case & Packing

The new case design makes it very convenient to use and very easy to

pack and keep organized.

Now there are two cases for the HI-POD; one for the base/tubes, and

another for your accessories.

LCD & Bracket

HI-POD now includes a 10” HD LCD. We have

created a new bracket to accommodate this new 10”

LCD, as well as many different monitors. Not only is

the bracket able to easily pivot up and down, but it’s

versatile enough to be moved up to another stage of

tube. This allows very tall users to have more LCD

placement flexibility.

Transporting Your HI-POD

The base has been streamlined in complexity and weight,

making it a snap to unpack and go. Each of the 3 legs has a

closed lock position and an open locked position. There is also

a spring loaded pin to lock them into position. This ensures

that the legs stay when it is in use or being transported.

The new wheels are solid and larger, ensuring that they

maintain their shape and make transportation even easier.

This new base has been designed to accommodate older X-

models, making it possible for users of older models to replace

their older and heavier base systems.

Leg Test

The 3 legs have been beefed up in size and

now include a double locking system. In

addition to the twist lock, there is also a safety

split lock collar on every leg, ensuring extra

security.

…Notable Upgrades

Foldable Camera Plate

The camera plate mechanism now has the ability to

fold. This new feature serves many purposes.

Firstly it conserves space. It allows the HI-POD to

easily fit into the tube travel case without the user

having to remove the head.

At the same time the camera plate can be much

longer. This is useful because it will allow the user

to attach larger cameras or even attaching 2

camcorders (one wide and the other tight).

Thirdly, this new feature allows for more precise

control of the camera position and balance. On the

bottom side of the folding plate there is a separate

balancing level. This level is separate from the

level on the base, allowing for each to set

independently of each other.

10” LCD

The X-Line has a 10” HD LCD

included. This monitor provides an

improved video display with a

brighter screen that can be seen

clearly while filming in direct

daylight. Add the Hi-Pod Sun Visor

for enhanced viewing.

Battery

With the X-Line unit, we have completely reconfigured the battery.

The monitor now uses a USB Power pack that easily attaches onto the

back of the unit. While smaller, the new battery can power the monitor

for up to 6hrs. There is also no longer a need for an external charger

(just a USB power cable now). Simple and effective.

The simplicity of the new battery makes set-up far easier than before.

Let’s Get Started!

Step 1: Opening The Box

Every HI-POD arrives in a set of three boxes; a tube case, a base case, and an accessory case.

Tube Case (not pictured) – The tube case contains the tubes.

Base Case – (left) The base case holds the base. It has cutouts to store other

items, but no items come packaged with the base. .

The Accessories Case contains the following:

The handle

The camera (cam, battery, cables)

The battery

The battery charger

The LCD

The LCD bracket

Camera-Head- Plate

mechanism (Yoke/Pulley

wheel/Tilt Plate)

Camera controller

Cables (Lanc and HDMI)

Rain gear for (camera, battery, LCD, controller).

Sun Visor

The base plate + wheels

With these 2 cases you have an excellent way to protect your

product for a very long time. By making all pieces fit into the

accessories case, you have the flexibility of going “case-less” for

the tubes and base.

All cases seal with a high-grade zipper that easily keeps the

pieces contained inside. Soft-grip handles allow you to roll the

cases on their wheels without having to lift the item across a

field.

Probably the biggest change to the cases is the ability to travel

with two cases instead of three. To accomplish this, you can

break down the base by detaching the legs and packing them in

the tube case. The rest of the base can fit into the accessory case,

allowing you to travel with just the tube and accessory cases…a

great benefit when traveling by plane, bus, or any condition with

limited space available!

Base Setup

The base has 3 legs with redundant leg locks for added safety. Please

examine the location of the pin. There are two holes that the safety pin

can occupy. The first pin hole locks the leg closed. This is important

when traveling, as it keeps the legs from falling out of place.

The second pin hole

locks the leg open.

This is necessary to

stabilize the base

and provide support

for the extended HI-

POD. Repeat this for all 3 legs. (Make sure

when you insert the pin that you insert

through the leg hole. It is possible to insert

the pin, without securing the leg. Please

make note of this.)

With this version of the HI-POD, you can break the

base down into three pieces. This gives you more

options when traveling, as you can pack the parts

differently.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to split the base into three parts,

when you put it back together you must make sure that the

middle cylinder is locked to both the base plate (right), and to

the leg bracket (left) – each secured by a twist lock.

The lock itself will twist, then pull out, reposition, and repeat

the motion until tight.

Lower Leg Lock

Now that you have locked the upper part of the leg, it is time to lock the lower part of the leg.

Unlock the lock by turning in the ratchet in the appropriate direction.

Once unlocked this allows the inner leg to

extend and move freely. After extending the

leg, turn the ratchet to lock. Now it is time to

use the redundant safety lock. Loosen the

ratchet on the safety lock, making it easy to

slide. Push the safety lock up so it makes

contact with the top racthet lock. Once you

have done this, secure both locks tightly.

Repeat this on all legs. Examine the balance

bubble. You may have to adjust the legs to

achieve perfect balance. (See Below)

Pictured right, you will see an example of a set-up

redundant safety lock. In the unlikely event that

the priority lock fails, this lock will serve as a

backup.

HI-POD Tubes & Tube Case

The HI-POD Tubes arrive in a black travel case. Simply

unzip the case to find the tubes within. After removing the

tubes you will attach the head.

The HI-POD X31 consists of 6 telescoping tubes, the X23 is

4 tubes, and the X17 is 3 tubes. They each are

approximately 5 feet long- thus providing 31 feet of height.

Tubes Into Base

Now that you have removed the tubes from

the case, you can directly insert them into the

top of the HI-POD Base.Once the tubes

have been installed, you can adjust the

tension on the collar at the top of the base to

regulate the amount of ‘drag’ you want when

panning from left to right. Adjust to

preference.

Attaching Head to Tubes

Find the wheeled head with L-shaped extension, connected to a mounting pedestal.

Insert the bottom of the pedestal into the top of the Hi-Pod Tubes. Turn the ratchet found at the

top of the tubes to lock the head into place.

Raising, Locking &

Lowering HI-POD Tubes

To open the collar and allow a tube to move freely, first

hold the tube above the collar so it does not move.

Next pull out the cam-lock so it is straight (horizontal). Now

you can manually push up the tube to the desired height.

When you reach that height, hold

the tube with one hand and close

the camlock with the other hand.

(Close is the down position). To

release the camlock, simply

unscrew in the opposite direction.

There are 5 collars for the 6 HI-POD tubes, each collar squeezing the upper tube. When you

reach the recommended height you will see a white line. This white line tells you to stop

elevating and lock the collar. It is not possible to push the innermost tube so high that it comes

out. There is a built in safety catch that prevents the tube from coming out.

Safety Warnings

We can’t stress enough that safety must be taken into consideration when using the HI-POD. Please

follow the directions on the top of the HI-POD base.

1. Never leave an elevated HI-POD unattended. If you must leave, bring the unit down.

2. Always secure the legs before elevating. We have reduced the weight of the HI-POD base

considerably over the years, but that means more of the stability job has been assumed by

the legs. For safe operation make sure all the legs are locked and double locked.

3. Be careful in extreme weather conditions. The unit can get wet. We have raingear for all

the electronics. But use caution as the winds increase. This is also a judgment call. As the

winds increase, reduce the height until you feel comfortable.

4. In the event of lightening, take the unit down immediately. (It’s a 31ft aluminum pole

going straight up in the air!)

5. Use the leveling bubble to balance your HI-POD. If your unit is unbalanced it may be

unstable.

Always check the

leveling bubble when

setting up the HI-

POD. The bubble

must be level and

the legs must be

locked and solid.

Safety Pins for the Bottom Three

Telescoping Tubes

We have added an additional

safety mechanism. Each locking

collar for the tubes has the ability

to receive a locking safety pin.

As you raise each tube you will

see the warning white line. It

tells you to stop. If you try to go

further there are stoppers that

prevent the tube from coming out

all the way. But once you elevate

the tube to the white line and

lock the camlock, you will see a

hole visible. On the bottom three

tubes we have included a safety

pin for each of these tubes. When

you insert the pin, the tube is

secured. It cannot slip as long as

the pin is inserted.

Attaching Handle to Tubes, & Pulley Head

Attaching your HI-POD handle to the main unit is done in three easy steps.

(1) Retrieve the handle mechanism from the base case. Make sure that the round cylinder is on

the left hand side of the HI-POD before securing.

Note: The cylinder should line up directly below the tilt plate and pulley

wheel, which will be attached to the top of the HI-POD. (See Photo)

If you are in front of the HI-POD, then the handle will attach from the

back. To attach the handle unit to the tube, loosen the handle mechanism

clamp by spinning the large X screw so that it fits comfortably around the

tube. Then, with the

X screw simply

tighten the handle

mechanism clamp.

As you spin the X

screw you are

squeezing the

clamps against the

tube. Reverse this to loosen the handle later

on.

(2) Now that the handle is secure, notice

the left hand side. It is a cylinder with a

gripping wheel for your hand to grab &

control the unit. Two ropes should exit the

cylinder at the bottom, from either side of a

large screw.

Next we will connect the carabineer clamps with the ropes coming down from the HI-POD

pulley head. Notice how the ropes go straight up to the pulley.

Connecting: As you face the HI-POD Handle, make sure the large silver screw & ropes are

pointed towards the ground. Now, grab the rope that is closest to the tube. Pull that rope towards

you. It will extend from the cylinder. Pull approximately 1 foot of rope, making sure that the

large screw is still pointing down. With your other hand grab the other rope. Make sure this

second rope is extending from the opposite side of the cylinder. Pull out the same amount of

rope as the first. At this point, you should have the

large screw pointing toward the ground, and 1 foot of

rope extending above the cylinder on either side.

(Please examine the photo)

Pull on the ropes and extend them towards the pulley

wheel. Look up, and notice the ropes already dangling

from the pulley.

Connect the ropes via the carabineer clamp. The carabineer connectors make it very easy to

attach and detach the handle from the tubes.

This clamp extends from the ropes that are tied to

the pulley at the top of the HI-POD Tubes. You will

notice these ropes fall from either side of the pulley

wheel. Remember: the ropes should come from

opposite sides of the pulley wheel (just like the

cylinder below).

(3) Screw Knob: Notice the big screw knob that sits

in-between the rope holes underneath the cylinder. If

this screw is loose, the spools behave freely,

retracting the pulley ropes if there is slack, or giving

out rope if the HI-POD is extended. If the big screw

is tightened or locked, the spools can neither extend nor retract the pulley ropes. You unlock the

spools to extend or bring down the HI-POD. You lock the spools to control and tilt the

camera plate/camera. By pointing the lock mechanism on the bottom of the cylinder, the user

will have 180 degrees of rotation. If it is not at the bottom, the range of motion is very limited

and choppy.

Note: (For the most part this screw is not used. It becomes useful when you are using a heavier

and larger camera. This screw is used when the weight of the camera overpowers the strength of

the springs inside of the cylinder. You will need this screw when you try to tilt the camera and

the camera slips out of

position. Typically this

screw is not needed

when the cameras are

small and light.

Handle (Position Lock Spool Retraction Lock)

Notice a knob beneath the cylinder of the left side of the handle. If you loosen the knob, the

cylinder will retract the ropes. (This is a blessing as you are manually contracting the HI-POD

poles, the ropes automatically self-retract.) If you tighten the knob, the ropes will stay in that

position, without retracting. This knob can be loosened and tighten, according to the desired

effect. (For example, if the camera tilt is not responding immediately to your hand movements,

or if the camera is slipping out of tilt position)

Now let’s say you are taping a drill that is in one place for long time and you do not want to hold

the handle in that position. You want to free up your hands to grab something (water or food).

Use the position lock (#1 below). Tighten and loosen the position lock for the desired effect. In

the below photo 1 is the position lock and 2 is the spool retraction lock.

LCD & Bracket

The LCD bracket is designed to work with the big

31foot HI-POD and the smaller 17foot Mobile HI-

POD. As you remove it from the case you will

notice a Y inside of the bracket that is held in place

by a wingnut screw. Loosen the screw and flip the

Y so it is out of the original position. Now that the

Y is out, the bracket will fit the largest diameter HI-

POD Tube.

Loosen the large bolt to open the LCD bracket.

Now tighten the bolt so that the bracket

squeezes the tube. Adjust so you are

comfortable with the height.

This LCD bracket is much easier to use than

the previous one. Simply slide the hook into

the back of the LCD monitor. Once you slide

the hook into the slot, position it where you

want it, then tighten down on it with the

threaded screw. Now to position the LCD so it

best for your viewing, loosen the camlock.

Reposition and then lock again with the

camlock.

(CAUTION: To reposition the LCD, loosen the camlock and reposition. Do not twist the LCD to

reposition. Overtime this will damage the back of the slot, bend the metal slot and ultimately

strip the screws that hold the slot to the back of the LCD.

LCD Setup:

<- - - see current LCD battery on left

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