Smallest Ambarella Car DVR a.k.a. Mini 0801

[cranky]

are you using two different USB adapter?(one on the desk and one in the car)

I don't have my 0801 yet. I'm now wondering what MicroSD card I should use. The only ones I currently have are 3 spare Sandisk 32GB Ultra Class (6?) cards leftover from when I switched to three 64gb MicroSDXC on all my smartphones. I was planning to purchase a Class 4 card just before my 0801 arrives.

Is this problem occurring on all the 0801 cameras out there?

The testing I have done in the house was with a galaxy s3 charger and cable I use for charging my PS3 controller so I know both are good quality and work.

We are still in the process of working out what card is best. Greater stability is being noticed with slower smaller cards.

Not sure if it's happening to all - I doubt it, I also doubt people look at their camera everyday so most probably wouldn't notice.

 

[Lunar]

On the subject of GPS, I just discovered something a few minutes ago, I noticed that although the camera managed to get a gps signal yesterday inside the home, it was having none of it today even when placed adjacent to the window, so I decided to try it outside in the car (raining heavy here) using the supplied power adapter, and it grabs the satelites almost instantly. I noted that the power adapter outputs 5v at 2amps, whereas most PC USB's are limited to around 500ma at maximum...and it may be less if other devices are connected....just a thought.

Anyway moving on.
The interesting part (or maybe not...lol) is that I noticed the GPS also works if I powered it directly into the camera, so it's obviously passing power back through to the base, to power the GPS, IOW, as long as the base is obviously attached, you can plug the power into either of the 2 usb sockets and the GPS still works. I was previously thinking I had to plug it into the base for the GPS to work.. not so.. you can use either of the USB sockets, though obviously using the base means you don't have to keep disconecting the cable when removing the camera, on the other hand if you plug into the camera it does give you the option to route the cable straight upto the headlining... choices...lol

 

[trancen]

GPS satellites are always moving, not fixed. So when you got the fix quickly inside that would mean that your GPS could 'see' the satellites, in the direction your window is facing. The day you couldn't could be that the 2 of the 4 satellites you needed to 'see' was in the opposite side of the sky away from the direction your window is facing.

In this example think of your window facing in the same direction as the aircraft is flying. Those two satellites to the right aren't visible .

On the subject of GPS, I just discovered something a few minutes ago, I noticed that although the camera managed to get a gps signal yesterday inside the home, it was having none of it today even when placed adjacent to the window, so I decided to try it outside in the car (raining heavy here) using the supplied power adapter, and it grabs the satelites almost instantly. I noted that the power adapter outputs 5v at 2amps, whereas most PC USB's are limited to around 500ma at maximum...and it may be less if other devices are connected....just a thought.

 

[cranky]

I agree. I think this is a firmware issue since it seems that all manner of cards are failing. I got through at least one cycle and this would have been the second and it gave the error. I know the cards are cheap but I can't just buy a bunch of them for testing so I appreciate those who are testing with the newer firmwares and cards. Hopefully we can all find a card/firmware that works happily with this unit.

For now I'll just be mindful and format the card every couple days of driving

What is your recycle time? Jokiin pointed out that it's easier for the camera to recycle in longer loops rather than one minute ones, could you possibly try that and let us know what happens?

 

[Lunar]

Right, I have knocked up a quick form that you can fill in with all the info I think may be required to help debug the issue, plus it will save clogging up this thread.

The form will email me the information that can be passed on to the manufacturer.

https://secure.jotform.co/form/32754386343863

Good idea matey... nice one., would it be beneficial to add the option to insert firmware version too you think ? if enough fill it in, we might see some patern perhaps.

 

[cranky]

Good idea CRANKY... nice one., would it be beneficial to add the option to insert firmware version too you think ? if enough fill it in, we might see some patern perhaps.

Done it How I missed that one off is beyond me - I blame the fact I'm at work... too many distractions lol.

 

[twoscoops]

The other question that was asked yesterday about the motion detect. I was playing around with it. I set mine on ON(Motion Detect). I parked the car. Turn off the recording but left the camera on. It would auto record when someone walked by the car and stopped once they were away from the frame.
Taping on the camera(vibration) didn't activate the recording.

doesn't that require the 0801 to be powered continuously?

 

[cranky]

doesn't that require the 0801 to be powered continuously?

Yes it would, some cars have a permanent live on the outlet like mine - I ended up wiring it into a switched positive fuse using a piggyback adapter.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190820531283

 

[twoscoops]

Yes it would, some cars have a permanent live on the outlet like mine - I ended up wiring it into a switched positive fuse using a piggyback adapter.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190820531283

so the camera is recording 24/7? or how does it know when to power on and off?

 

[cranky]

so the camera is recording 24/7? or how does it know when to power on and off?

If you used motion detect mode it would need 24/7 power to it, not a good idea IMO as I wouldn't want to risk getting a flat battery if I left the car for any period of time.

Mine is off a switched positive fuse (Something that is switched off when the ignition goes off) in my case the rear wiper.

 

[trancen]

You would have to manually turn off the recording(Pushing the OK button)

so the camera is recording 24/7? or how does it know when to power on and off?

 

[Gearhead82]

I wired in a separate 12V socket for my dash cam with a 3 position switch like this one. The switch gets input from both an "always on" source and an "only on with ignition" source and outputs to the positive lead on the power socket. So with the switch in the UP position, the camera only gets power when the ignition is on (which is where I will keep it most of the time). In the Middle position, the cam gets no power. In the Down position the camera is always powered (so I can switch to this mode if I'm parked in a sketchy neighborhood or when I want to leave the camera running overnight for testing). I just finished this project the other day and I think it will work out really well.

 

[Lunar]

Done it How I missed that one off is beyond me - I blame the fact I'm at work... too many distractions lol.

Yes.. work can be a pain..lol.. luckily Im past retirement age, or should that be unlucky.. depends how you look at it...lol

I forgot to mention, other than that one lockup I had when first playing with my camera yesterday morning, when I plugged in the PC usb cable, leaving a blank screen and just the blue LED on.
After several attempts holding down the on/off button it eventually reset okay, and has been fine since, though it has only filled a couple of cards during tests so far, but I have not had any write or read errors at all show on the camera ...so far anyway. Only errors I've seen was in H2TESTW when testing the 32gb Transend class 10 card that I had been using when it locked up, so no idea if it might have caused my lockup, seems weird it only locked up the same moment I plugged in the PC usb cable.

I thought it prudent to try a Samsung class 6 32gb instead and run some tests, and it's been running all day again with no issues, but still non the wiser why it locked up yesturday morning during some first tests shortly after receiving it ... wierd.

 

[cranky]

Yes.. work can be a pain..lol.. luckily Im past retirement age, or should that be unlucky.. depends how you look at it...lol

Exactly... depends how you look at it - I have another 40 years, while you can now put your feet up for a long deserved rest.

 

[jokiin]

so the camera is recording 24/7? or how does it know when to power on and off?

for cameras to use parking mode they need to be powered permanently, they don't however record constantly, if using a camera with a built in battery I would recommend against doing this on a permanent basis

 

[twoscoops]

I'm kind of tempted to cancel my mini 0801 order after seeing so many problems in this thread...

On the other hand, there are no other dash cam in this price range that fits my needs.

The seller did tell me that my order wouldn't be shipped out until 10/15.
He/she isn't even responding to emails right now. There's only an
auto-respond e-mail message that says "on vacation until 10/15"....

 

[cranky]

I'm kind of tempted to cancel my mini 0801 order after seeing so many problems in this thread...

On the other hand, there are no other dash cam in this price range that fits my needs.

I'm sure it's something that will be fixed with a firmware update... just when.

I'm half tempted to try the older .TS firmware with the C4 32Gb card. I love registrator viewer, but once the camera is stable and works I doubt I'll need to use the software so that's not a big issue for me, I just need stability.

 

[SandyM]

there are a few possible factories it may have come from (4 at last count) but the mainboards all come from the one solution company so there will always be some similarity, just because they all share major components though doesn't mean they are identical, there are still specification options available that can be used to separate the product from other lookalike versions, even the lowest spec version is still quite ok though

based on the info on Spy Tech's website, their Mini 0801 car dash camera is "Built by Samoon" which I have never heard of. It sounds like a non-English speaker trying to "salmon" right?

one thing that got me curious is the line right above that, which says the 0801 comes with only a 90-day warranty.

where can I buy the 0801 with a longer warranty or perhaps pay a few extra dollars for a SquareTrade warranty? Edit: NVM, I just saw that the eBay listing for this camera offers the 3-year SquareTrade warranty for $17.99 on this camera. I think $17.99 for 3 years of coverage is fair, or am I wrong?

Spy Tech's photo of the "Built by Samoon" Mini 0801:

 

[Gurkha9]

Samoon used to make the legendary orange menu GS1000's

 

[kieran]

Hi All,

Just received my camera and installed it. Been reading some helpful tips here but one thing I cannot find an answer to relates to the protected files.

In my last camera all protected files were saved in a different folder so when plugged in to my PC it was easy to take the files I wanted. With this new mini 0801 though I cannot tell which are protected. Am I missing something? I'm guessing my only option is to let the card fill and begin over writing old files and then when I plug it in the oldest file numbers will be protected?

Thanks in advance for any advise you can share.

Kieran