Originally Posted by savall21

I'm comparing the keychain and the Flycamone HD. The only thing the flycam might have is a remote shutter. I kinda want to to be able to control pics/videos in flight. Is there a remote shutter option for the keychain camera? Beyond that, its hard to justify an extra $110 for the same video quality.

Thanks!

No plug and play shutter for the HD version (yet?) There was a hack done for the older 808 key chain camera by a user in Holland. It allowed emulating button clicks with a TX channel, and he was selling the parts for a DIY conversion, or the camera with the hack already installed. The price was very nominal, I thought. You search in "The MEGA key chain camera" thread and see if one could be devise for the HD version. The conversion was quite simple if you can solder on some small IC pins.

The HD key cam still pics appear to be upconverted about 2:1 from it's native CMOS pixel array, so they aren't as sharp as a more dedicated still picture camera, or even as good as some captured still frames from the video IMHO. The big question with the FCO HD is whether it REALLY has a 5 MP CMOS sensor like the specs say, or whether they are referring to it's still picture apparent pixel count, like the HD key cam does. This threw me at first, since the still pictures from the HD key cam have 5MP still photos after the up-conversion.

Originally Posted by alivestone

Hello guys.
I have a question about battery on new #11 camcorder version.

Early i was bought keychain ver #3 but i did not know about time charging of device and my camcorder not turn on - led not bright and when i put usb cable also nothing. Device Not i am afraid

Now i want to bought again keychain camcorder new version HD #11 on e-bay at 40$, but have a question about charging time.

Please reply if on new #11 version problem with battery and time charging about 1 hour is present? or i can plug device to USB or more time then one hour.

Big Thanks for reply my dear friends..

Sorry for my english...

The charge time is about one hour... depends on how far down you run the battery, of course! But the good thing is the LED indicator works like it should when connected to a standard USB plug charger or the computers USB port... the red LED stays lit to show the battery is charging, and then goes out when it is charged. HOWEVER, this is NOT the case with the car charger cable that comes with it. It will NOT light the red LED at all, but it WILL charge the battery AND also allow the camera to go into the video record mode while it is charging, i.e. the car charger power supply is in series with the camera's internal battery for unlimited recording time, up to the capacity of your flash card. It does this by supplying +5V on pin #4 of it's USB plug instead of the normal pin#1, according to our thread circuit sleuths!

A normal generic charger WILL charge the battery but will not allow the camera to toggle into the record mode while it's connected. BUT, if you start a recording with the camera's internal battery power FIRST, and THEN connect the camera to the generic charger, it WILL continue to power the camera until the recording process is stopped. If the camera stops recording momentarily due to the 20 min. stop/save/continue recording function, it will NOT resume recording if using a generic USB power supply. The special USB power plug as described above is needed for recording to resume. BUt if you have flashed in the continuous recording firmware, this procedure using a generic USB power supply will power the camera until the flash memory card is full.

Originally Posted by Tom Frank

The charge time is about one hour... depends on how far down you run the battery, of course! But the good thing is the LED indicator works like it should when connected to a standard USB plug charger or the computers USB port... the red LED stays lit to show the battery is charging, and then goes out when it is charged. HOWEVER, this is NOT the case with the car charger cable that comes with it. It will NOT light the red LED at all, but it WILL charge the battery AND also allow the camera to go into the video record mode while it is charging, i.e. the car charger power supply is in series with the camera's internal battery for unlimited recording time, up to the capacity of your flash card. It does this by supplying +5V on pin #4 of it's USB plug instead of the normal pin#1, according to our thread circuit sleuths!

Thanks for reply.

I just want to know if i do charging my camcorder #11 with USB longer then 1 hour - battery is not die on new version recorder? like as #3 ver.

I can't say that it wont kill it eventually, but I have left mine plugged in charging overnight, forgot about it... Still works fine! The red LED cuts off when it's done charging. Maybe there's a circuit inside that protects the battery... Pure speculation on my part though...

The vendor circuit board picture shown in Post #2 identifies a small IC on the circuit board that reportedly manages the battery charging. It is unknown how it functions, but this is different from the old 808 cameras, which have a small circuit board packaged with the battery that was reported to merely bracket the camera voltage, i.e. shut off camera power when battery dropped below a minimum level, and shut off the charger when the voltage to the battery exceeded a maximum value. So the charge cycle may not have been optimal for that camera... i.e. no controlled CC/CV stages.

Originally Posted by Tom Frank

Are you doing this with the USB cord connected to the camera? The camera must be disconnected from the PC USB port when doing this.

You shouldn't have to add the "ON" file again either, since it should still be there... it doesn't get automatically erased... you have to manually delete it or it will load the firmware eveytime you turn on the camera.

Might be worth going back to read the step by step instuctions I linked in post #3, and make sure you followed them exactly.

Yes I believe I followed them step by step. The first time I turned it on it took s moment for the yellow light to come on as expected. I took two still picks and a short movie, checked in my computer to view the files and no time mark on the images or vid. I hooked it up again and attempted to go at it again and it won't turn on at all. So I guess its start over or get a chip?

Originally Posted by ApexAero

Yes I believe I followed them step by step. The first time I turned it on it took s moment for the yellow light to come on as expected. I took two still picks and a short movie, checked in my computer to view the files and no time mark on the images or vid. I hooked it up again and attempted to go at it again and it won't turn on at all. So I guess its start over or get a chip?

Not sure what to tell you, assuming you started with the correct firmware file, made SURE the battery was well charged (so it doesn't lose power while it's flashing in new firmwareI. If you took some shots after flashing the memory, then that process didn't brick it, assuming the video files you looked at on the card afterwards were not old ones put there before you did the firmware update.

If you pushed the reset button and get no activity of any kind when hooked to the PC USB, the only thing left to try is to unsolder one battery lead, wait a few minutes, then solder it back and see if the camera will respond/charge, etc. That has worked with some cams.

the only thing left to try is to unsolder one battery lead, wait a few minutes, then solder it back and see if the camera will respond/charge, etc. That has worked with some cams.

I was wondering if total dissconnect would help. I still think I toasted it but I just clipped the neg wire. I may have hit the vid button at the same time I tried to power it up when this happened. fat fingers. How long about ten min or so?

EDIT: gave it 10 min and reconnected, no luck. Airchime I must have gotten the older version that bricks when using the on/off file. I'm quessing that brick means the firmware got corrupted?

Time/date removal on the 2 I just received worked like a charm! LOVING IT!

Subscribed (I know... i'm late to the party).

Just found out about these today... can't wait to order a few.

Now onto reading the first 48 pages of this thread.

Originally Posted by BD Flyer

Subscribed (I know... i'm late to the party).

Just found out about these today... can't wait to order a few.

Now onto reading the first 48 pages of this thread.

The first page and the first few posts has some key, summary information. The rest are video samples, frustration people have with bricking the camera when they remove the time stamp or trying to re-focus for longer distances. And, of course, there are some really bright people who post about the electronics of the the little camera. Enjoy, and welcome to the thread.

The most helpful person is the thread starter, Tom Frank.

In addition, you should bookmark Chucklohr.com. It is a blog of all the different types of keychain cameras. I believe this HD version is # 11.

Originally Posted by ApexAero

I was wondering if total dissconnect would help. I still think I toasted it but I just clipped the neg wire. I may have hit the vid button at the same time I tried to power it up when this happened. fat fingers. How long about ten min or so?

EDIT: gave it 10 min and reconnected, no luck. Airchime I must have gotten the older version that bricks when using the on/off file. I'm quessing that brick means the firmware got corrupted?

The only two people who said theirs bricked also said the camera did not come back on after the firmware flash procedure. Again, you said you took some pics and vids AFTER you flashed the firmware, and that worked except the date was still there. You said you were trying to turn ON the date/time stamp? Did yours come with it already turned off? They normally come with the date stamp already on. So, something else is going on with yours that is different.

Originally Posted by ApexAero

I was wondering if total dissconnect would help. I still think I toasted it but I just clipped the neg wire. I may have hit the vid button at the same time I tried to power it up when this happened. fat fingers. How long about ten min or so?

EDIT: gave it 10 min and reconnected, no luck. Airchime I must have gotten the older version that bricks when using the on/off file. I'm quessing that brick means the firmware got corrupted?

It is possible to brick these cameras if you open the case and handle the BARE circuit board with BARE hands. Did you do that by any chance (before you disconnected the battery)?

Anyway, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work... could be infancy electrical failure of some kind. I'd try to get a replacement rather than solder in a new IC if it were me... too many strange things with yours that doesn't follow the norm. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Tom Frank

It is possible to brick these cameras if you open the case and handle the BARE circuit board with BARE hands. Did you do that by any chance (before you disconnected the battery)?

Anyway, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work... could be infancy electrical failure of some kind. I'd try to get a replacement rather than solder in a new IC if it were me... too many strange things with yours that doesn't follow the norm. Good luck!

I am lucky with how I handled my HD key cam when I opened it to adjust the focus. Geeze, the electronic guts fell right out and I handled it like a pickle that fell off my hamburger bun. I just bare fingered it and stuffed it back in place. No, I did not ground myself, but I don't live in dry climate.

Bill

Originally Posted by Prof100

I am lucky with how I handled my HD key cam when I opened it to adjust the focus. Geeze, the electronic guts fell right out and I handled it like pickle that fell off my hamburger bun. I just bare fingered it and stuffed it back in place. No, I did not ground myself, but I don't live in dry climate.

Bill

It's not dry here either... certainly not this time of year. I'm not convinced it was static that did two of my old 808's in, but rather handling with the camera turned on trying to focus it with a webcam hook up. I wrap the circuitboard with tape now when doing anything with it open... seems to do the job.