Does a decent 6-pin FireWire splitter exist?

[deannnnn]

I'm a frequent video editor... and I pretty much live in Final Cut Pro.
I have my main editing computer at home, but I recently got a MacBook mostly so that I could have my internet and video editing on the go (I didn't get the Pro because I wanted the portability of the MacBook.... oh yeah, and also it was a thousand bucks cheaper...)

When I edit, I generally use an external hard drive... that takes up my one FireWire port... but then I can't plug in the deck to capture video to the previously mentioned hard drive because there is no other port!

I've done some research online and I've seen nothing but complaints about the 6-pin FireWire splitters out there. People complain of high pitched squeals, among other things. Does anybody know is there a decent one out there somewhere?

Thankssss.

 

[Consultant]

Not sure what you have, but

Most Firewire harddrives have 2 firewire ports (perhaps you have a firewire 800 port too?)
Most Firewire peripherals for pros comes with 2 or more firewire ports

Otherwise you need to look for Firewire hub
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=193393
Some capture cards do not work well with a hub though, so look it up.

 

[deannnnn]

Not sure what you have, but

Most Firewire harddrives have 2 firewire ports (perhaps you have a firewire 800 port too?)
Most Firewire peripherals for pros comes with 2 or more firewire ports

Otherwise you need to look for Firewire hub
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=193393
Some capture cards do not work well with a hub though, so look it up.

Thanks for the quick response.
I have the LaCie Rugged 100GB... which does not have an extra firewire port.
I didn't even consider that being a problem when I bought the thing.

I'd love to get this:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11032
...but a FireWire hub might be the economical answer... at least for now.

 

[Consultant]

Thanks for the quick response.
I have the LaCie Rugged 100GB... which does not have an extra firewire port.
I didn't even consider that being a problem when I bought the thing.

I'd love to get this:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11032
...but a FireWire hub might be the economical answer... at least for now.

LaCie Rugged should have Triple Interface (Firewire 800, Firewire 400, USB), I bought a 80gb for a client. If that's the case you can get a Firewire 800 to 400 cable.

Does it look like this?

 

[roland.g]

You can daisy chain FW and I am surprised that your drive only has the one port. Even if it has a 400 and 800, get a 9pin to 6pin cable and you can daisy it. Or get a Belkin FW hub.

 

[PkennethV]

I have the belkin FW hub and have no problems with it. I use it for exactly the same purpose as you.