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Mini Video Cameras £10!!


IanS16

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My little camera has come today and i cant stop playing with it !!!!!!

Shame my car is in the body shop or id be out and about !!!

Making home made films ;)

OH YEAH !!!!

 

I think I may have been included in a home movie by one of your colleagues hiding in a tree after Japfest. :lol:

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after some reading i think it has a 4gb recording limit, thereafter you need to start recording again. there would be no problem opening it up and changing the small 3.3V LiPo battery for a larger capacity single cell LiPo but it of course it wouldnt fit back together and you would need some way to protect the LiPo as they can be explosive if treated badly.

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A further thought considering there aren't proper instructions for these cameras and the design is cheap.

 

Do not leave the camera on charge for extended periods. eg.10 hours

 

this is what happens

100415%20Swollen%20Battery.jpg

 

just play safe :)

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A further thought considering there aren't proper instructions for these cameras and the design is cheap.

 

Do not leave the camera on charge for extended periods. eg.10 hours

 

this is what happens

100415%20Swollen%20Battery.jpg

 

just play safe :)

:scare: I left my 4 ones on charge on the PC usb for over 48hours... :dummy:

 

They don't stop charging when full?!

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

We_Need_You.jpg

WE NEED YOU

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

:thumbs:

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

:thumbs:

 

I'd prefer the video feed be wireless TBH :thumbs:

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

:thumbs:

 

I'd prefer the video feed be wireless TBH :thumbs:

http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Fi-Share-Memo ... B000X27XDC

B)

 

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/100 ... n_802.html

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@ Husky or anyone else with leccy knowledge

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

:thumbs:

 

I'd prefer the video feed be wireless TBH :thumbs:

Why not then go the whole hog and develop the system so that you can attach a hard drive to it and also a broadcasting system, so then when you roll past some screens in shop windows, it shows your footage on the TVs, and when you finally get home, you simply push a button on the dash and the footage gets transferred to your media servers in the house, ready edited and named for ease of use :lol::lol::lol:

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Why not then go the whole hog and develop the system so that you can attach a hard drive to it and also a broadcasting system, so then when you roll past some screens in shop windows, it shows your footage on the TVs, and when you finally get home, you simply push a button on the dash and the footage gets transferred to your media servers in the house, ready edited and named for ease of use :lol::lol::lol:

hmm well it would be 'easy' enough to have it copy locally to a minipc in the car and the with 3g get uploaded automatically to youtube or if you so prefer have a streaming server on your minipc in the car that with the 3g uses a free dynamic dns update so you could publish the domain name online for everyone to get semi live streams from you driving around....even better install the webcam functionality and do the same but share it out locally.... options are endless to be honest... the last one would be easy enough to try with a lappi in the car.... mmmmm I see something brewing there for me... :evil:

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Geek

 

The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, etc."[1] Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs. The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows.

 

This word comes from English dialect geek, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German. The root geck still survives in Dutch gek: crazy, and in the Alsatian word Gickeleshut: geek's hat, used in carnivals.

 

:lol:

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Geek

 

The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, etc."[1] Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs. The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows.

 

This word comes from English dialect geek, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German. The root geck still survives in Dutch gek: crazy, and in the Alsatian word Gickeleshut: geek's hat, used in carnivals.

 

:lol:

:shrug::drunk:

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Ok guys :lol: i had a tad of insomnia last night so i have actually read litterally everything there is on the web about the cameras :blush:

 

The basic idea is that these cameras are probably made from the reject bins of mobile phones, that includes the camera itself and the processor chip etc. they know this because there are still some left over bits of code for ringtones and graphics residing within the unit.

 

The unit is not branded because it doesnt follow internationally recognised legal requirements and is unreliable. A few items i'd like warn people to be carefull with when playing are; overcharging of the batteries as this can be dangerous and there is the possibility that these units do not have protection from this (hence the picture on the previous page). Also the clam shell case is manufactured with a higher than legally acceptable quantity of lead. The legal limit is set to ensure the saftey of those under the age of 12, so for us adults its pretty safe. bear in mind that for the lead to be poisonus it really needs to be ingested where the stomach acids can affect it. So for safety dont leave the units out for children to chew and dogs to swallow. With those two out the way, onto the playing! :teeth:

 

The reason so many people are having fun playing with these unit is that they are super cheap! :D so got greedy and bought four knowing i'd want to have a play.

 

 

Wouldn't it be easier to snip the battery wires and make an external battery pack for it?

 

yes you could get hold of a 1 cell LiPo battery and wire it in in its place, just pick one with a higher mAh rating and your away.

 

But charging using a usb on the PC is alot slower than using mains :D

 

LiPo batteries are very sensetive and need charged using the correct manner or they will combust, under no circumstances connect the battery to anything other than a proper LiPo charger. Digital cameras just happen to use such chargers so if you do your research and know what your doing you can charge the keycam using one of these (they only cost a few quid) the benefit of this is that the USB charging facility on the keycam is poor and doesnt put a full charge in the battery where as a digital camera one will.

 

and an external feed to the memory for it so you could have it mounted in the front or rear and then just have it hooked to the mains battery and take the memory out when you wanted to get it to the computer...or even put the recording buttons inside so you could stop / start it from within the cabin of the car... husky husky husky!

 

if you mean an external power feed? this is possible, you would need a power supply that is regulated at about 3.7V-4.1V and a capacitor across for smoothing. A simple voltage regulator circuit would make this possible. you could then take the battery out completely.

 

as for the buttons, yes you could desolder then and add a length of wire to extend the button, how far you can get away with this cable travelling is anybodies guess as there will be a volt drop over a large distance eventually rendering the button useless. trial and error for this one im afraid ;)

 

Next thing you'll want Husky to make a cable so you can have a video out attached to a headunit that allows rear view camera feed...

 

this is actually possible if you have a in car PC as the device can operate as a webcam, it will not record sound in this mode though.

 

I'd prefer the video feed be wireless TBH :thumbs:

 

and i want a BJ from angelina jolie ;)

 

 

 

personally i am going to make a project of this next week because i didnt realise i have the week off and booked the dentist right in the middle of it :doh: i'll publish it as i go along for a bit of fun :)

 

hopefully there's some questions answered there :thumbs:

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cheers some answered allright... hmm a bit concerned about the charging part... also would like to know more about the external power supply...

 

The charging just be carefull with, the picture from the previous page is after 10 hours. These batteries are used all the time by model air craft, digital cameras etc etc etc. they are not dangerous unless used improperly. basically all the stuff you read on the side of a normal battery like dont short, pierce or burn. REALLY dont do these things. And your fine, dont worry to much, just keep an eye on things and be sensible. :)

 

the external power supply is probably the first thing i will do, all it is, is a simple voltage regulator connected up to a cig lighter plug, tbh it may be possible just to use one from a tom tom or such like if the voltage is right saving alot of effort, i will have a play.

 

 

 

another thing to mention is that these cameras are quite sensative to crap memory cards, i imagine as there is limited buffering inside. if you find the date stamp in the corner flickering its probably due to a cheap midcro SD card bought from shebay ;)

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I'd prefer the video feed be wireless TBH :thumbs:

 

and i want a BJ from angelina jolie ;)

:

 

Now were talking :thumbs:

 

I would have thought it wold be a lot easier to just buy a cheapo usb webcam from PC world than mess around with the battery and video out to a PC though :headhurt:

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if you wanted to use it as a webcam you can and just plug the USB into your car computer. you dont need to modify anything for that. but then you can already buy a webcam for a tenner and would be more reliable :shrug:

 

so webcam imo isnt its strong point.

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