If the car charger is in fact supplying 5V to pin 4, maybe that's the key to using an external lipo for longer duration? I wouldn't try it unless someone else confirms it, and won't be plugging my car charger into my camera until I know for sure that the red wire does in fact go to pin 4...

Originally Posted by lostheli

I'm getting all about who posted what and who is quoting who.

Yabba, What exactly happened to camera 1? or is it a secret?

Naw, it ain't no secret. Static Electricity is the suspect I suspect I sucessfully removed the datestamp and got bold and decided to try focusing. I started having to handle it pretty rough to get the lens to come unglued (I kept scraping and trying to turn, scrape
somemore ... ) I must have forgotten to ground myself out on the metal frame for the usb plug or the card frame and I probably touched something I shouldn't have. Or I may have touched the outputs from the processor with my finger.

After that I almost didn't try to re-focus the second camera but I'm pigheaded and used more care this time. I even wore rubber gloves

What's the saying? Fly or Die? That was kind of the way I felt with the second one.

I just never mentioned it because I was embarassed to admit that I had blown up $40.

Yabba

Originally Posted by KeithLuneau

If the car charger is in fact supplying 5V to pin 4, maybe that's the key to using an external lipo for longer duration? I wouldn't try it unless someone else confirms it, and won't be plugging my car charger into my camera until I know for sure that the red wire does in fact go to pin 4...

Heck Keith, I'll dig mine out (I have 2 )

BRB

You might as well go to bed. I got to figure out a way to test this. I need a shot of vodka

Yabba,

Bummer. I have opened up and adjusted three cameras and nothing bricked yet. I must be expelling plenty of hot humid air when I do it or simply lucky.

Bill

Just got my 2!

Originally Posted by yabbadaba2

I just never mentioned it because I was embarassed to admit that I had blown up $40.

Yabba

Well my $40 flew away with my $100 plane. Talk about embarrassing. I'm gonna have to change my name to lostplane for awhile.

Originally Posted by lostheli

Well my $40 flew away with my $100 plane. Talk about embarrassing. I'm gonna have to change my name to lostplane for awhile.

Big Bummer. Sorry to read about losing you plane with a new camera. What's the story?

Bill

I just did a test to see what happens to a video recording if the memory card fills up while still recording. Happily, the camera detects the nearly full card, stops recording, and properly saves the file (as it should).

My test was with a 4GB flash card using the dedicated car charger for power. I had 4,061,822,976 bytes of video data recorded on the card with 753,664 bytes of free space remaining. The free space remaining would only hold about .85 seconds (25 frames) of video, so I think the camera did very well to record and safely save all it could!

On the down side, if the battery power gets too low to power the camera while recording, the video in progress at the time may NOT be saved. Some users report their partial file is saved, but neither of my two cameras would save the file partial clip. Ironically, though, when I flashed in the "continuous recording" firmware which eliminates the 20 min. stop/save/continue function, the file IS saved properly when the battery dies!

<EDIT> This problem was resolved with the Release 2 firmware. Files are now saved when the battery dies. <EDIT>

Originally Posted by KeithLuneau

If the car charger is in fact supplying 5V to pin 4, maybe that's the key to using an external lipo for longer duration? I wouldn't try it unless someone else confirms it, and won't be plugging my car charger into my camera until I know for sure that the red wire does in fact go to pin 4...

Who ever gets the new external battery charger with the AA cell in it might be able to confirm that. It operates in parallel with the internal battery, and both charges the internal battery and powers the camera when it's toggled on (according to My Camera Guy). But checking the pinouts on the mini USB is next to impossible without a mating plug adaptor cable for the larger PC USB plug (or unterminated wires) which can easily be checked for voltage and continuity).

Originally Posted by Prof100

Yabba,

Bummer. I have opened up and adjusted three cameras and nothing bricked yet. I must be expelling plenty of hot humid air when I do it or simply lucky.

Bill

It's so doggone dry around here I can't even walk to the bathroom without practically electrocuting myself

Yabba

Originally Posted by Tom Frank

But checking the pinouts on the mini USB is next to impossible without a mating plug adaptor cable for the larger PC USB plug (or unterminated wires) which can easily be checked for voltage and continuity).

That's what I'm finding out

Yabba

Yes, those pins are tiny! I measured mine with some small probes and steady hands... Clamping the plug in a small vise was the only way to do it.

I wanted to mention that during my driving recording test with my car charger tonight, I got that spitting static that has been heard in other posted car videos. So, I think it is probably normal, and probably induced by the cars ignition system (theory only for lack of any better guesses). I plan to do some more tests in my car, both with and without the car charger cord powering the camera. Then I'll have better info. If anyone else has experience with this, please post your findings so we have a broader base of data. I'll post a short clip with this noise and edit this with a link shortly so you can see what I'm talking about.

Originally Posted by KeithLuneau

Yes, those pins are tiny! I measured mine with some small probes and steady hands... Clamping the plug in a small vise was the only way to do it.

I have been trying using test leads with some straight pins.

Is the outer case neg ? And how do you orient the plug? Looking at it with the wider part to the bottom do the pins read left to right (1 - 5)?

Originally Posted by Prof100

Big Bummer. Sorry to read about losing you plane with a new camera. What's the story?

Bill

Have you heard of the Bermuda triangle? Apparently, it reaches into Ohio.
I temporarily blinded myself by flying directly in front of a huge bright spot in the sky. When I regained my eyesight, the sky was empty. My guess is that it went into the wooded area behind me while I was trying to steer it away from the sun in front of me. Either that, or the sun melted my foam plane and I couldn't see the other parts fall from the sky.

I have ordered three more cams and an auto-darkening welding helmet.

Since I have no problem just tossing money into the air, I have decided to find out just how trustworthy Tom's "camera guy" really is. I have ordered directly from him in order to get a small discount. Let's see what happens.