New to Mobius set up.

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Wombatdooz

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Hello all and help please,
My recently purchased Mobius refuses to "power on record" which I set to "both", this I think is essential in a carcam.
The "recording on led" seems to have a mind of its own and is mainly off.
Any recordings I make by switching power on and then photo seem to last about 20 seconds.

I have followed the Mobius set up to the letter but it will not work as I wish, and although it sounds like it I am not mentally defficient just old.
 
russ331 said:
Welcome to DCT. If it helps, here's my settings ...

View attachment 19775 View attachment 19776 View attachment 19777 View attachment 19778
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Hi Russ thanks for posting your settings.
I've received my mobius and just setting it up.
Some info about me and my mobius which may influence optimum settings - I live in UK and I have installed a supercapacitor and will be using the Mobius as a dash cam. It will also be hardwired to a NON-permanent live.
In just wanted to question a few of your settings,
-I have a Lens C2, so I suppose I should chose option "Lens C" (you have "Lens B"
-Artificial Light Frequency. You have chosen 50Hz, why is this preferable to 60Hz?
-Power On Delay. You have chosen "Delay" rather than "Fast". WHich is best for my hardwired, supercap set up?
-Power Stand-By. Is 30secs also best for my set up?
-TV Video out - You have 4:3 rather than 16:9. Is this best?

I'm only questioning your settings as I'm not sure what is best for my set up. I'm questioning because I think they might be "wrong" :)

One final question. Will my car's stop-start cause problems with recording?
 
gilders said:
Hi Russ thanks for posting your settings.
I've received my mobius and just setting it up.
Some info about me and my mobius which may influence optimum settings - I live in UK and I have installed a supercapacitor and will be using the Mobius as a dash cam. It will also be hardwired to a NON-permanent live.
In just wanted to question a few of your settings,
-I have a Lens C2, so I suppose I should chose option "Lens C" (you have "Lens B"
-Artificial Light Frequency. You have chosen 50Hz, why is this preferable to 60Hz?
-Power On Delay. You have chosen "Delay" rather than "Fast". WHich is best for my hardwired, supercap set up?
-Power Stand-By. Is 30secs also best for my set up?
-TV Video out - You have 4:3 rather than 16:9. Is this best?

I'm only questioning your settings as I'm not sure what is best for my set up. I'm questioning because I think they might be "wrong" :)

One final question. Will my car's stop-start cause problems with recording?
Click to expand...
From your description, it sounds like your main problem is that you have Power-Off Disconnect set incorrectly. To quote from the mouse hints in mSetup.exe: "When using a Super Capacitor instead of an internal battery you MUST set this parameter to 'immediate' or you will lose your last recording." The "Artificial Light Frequency" setting should agree with the mains frequency in the country of use. For dashcam/capacitor use, "Power-On Delay" and "Power-Off Standby" are irrelevant, since their function is to prevent inadvertent battery drain. Take some time to study the PDF user manual and the mouse hints in mSetup.exe. All the above settings are documented therein, as well as the rationales for choosing them.
 
Reading threads is very enlightening. Just about everything (and more) you need to know. I am going to 'convert' my one of my Mobius C2 into a dashcam. I use the other on my quadcopter. Okay, I will be switching to a supercapacitor instead of using the 820Mah battery it came with. That will give me a spare battery for the second one. I now need a USB charger, and a compatible USB cable for the connection. I am terribly techno challenged. Are USB car chargers pretty much all the same? Are there some to be avoided? I am looking into the Aukey 4.8V dual USB port charger on Amazon. Good/Bad choice? What about the cable, are some preferable? *This will not be a hard-wired set up* In fact, the camera will probably come out of the vehicle more often than not. Thanks much...
 
Harry Henderson said:
Reading threads is very enlightening. Just about everything (and more) you need to know. I am going to 'convert' my one of my Mobius C2 into a dashcam. I use the other on my quadcopter. Okay, I will be switching to a supercapacitor instead of using the 820Mah battery it came with. That will give me a spare battery for the second one. I now need a USB charger, and a compatible USB cable for the connection. I am terribly techno challenged. Are USB car chargers pretty much all the same? Are there some to be avoided? I am looking into the Aukey 4.8 Amp dual USB port charger on Amazon. Good/Bad choice? What about the cable, are some preferable? *This will not be a hard-wired set up* In fact, the camera will probably come out of the vehicle more often than not. Thanks much...
Click to expand...

Not all USB car chargers are the same. Some of the cheap ones are poorly regulated, causing voltage spikes. The Aukeys are fine. They offer two different 4.8A dual car chargers. I prefer this one because it is beefier and there is more space between the two ports for your USB plugs. You won't find better shielded USB-A to mini-B cables for the money than from Monoprice. They come in any length you may need and are available with a ferrite bead if you need one to repress engine ignition noise. I use 10 and 15 foot versions of this one.

(Despite the photo, it is not illuminated, just green plastic)
Aukey.png

cable.png
 
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Many thanks for the heads up. I have now ordered what I hope are the appropriate accessories. Let's hope they get here before too long. (Sure can't beat that price on the cable from Monoprice!!) Will let you know how it is all working once setup is completed.
 
My accessories arrived yesterday and I installed them into the vehicle. Switched out the battery for the supercapacitor, set up the proper parameters for the Mobius C2 from the GUI, and then tested the setup in the vehicle. Worked as it should. However, this morning when I started the vehicle, the camera rear red LED flashed three times (to show the full charge) and then shut off. I couldn't understand why. It seems that the startup of the vehicle has some timing issues with the booting process of the camera. I was unaware of this until I read some other posts, and found that several members have had the same problems as me. Apparently, at least according to what I have read, it is best to wait until the camera has finished it's 'startup procedure' before cranking over the engine. After running several tests, and reading other threads regarding this problem, I found that in my case, if I just crank over the engine straight away (before giving the camera a chance to startup), all is well. The camera then starts up and runs properly. However, if I turn the key to accessory, and then wait until the camera 'boots up', and then crank over the engine, the camera shuts itself off. Weird.
 
Harry Henderson said:
My accessories arrived yesterday and I installed them into the vehicle. Switched out the battery for the supercapacitor, set up the proper parameters for the Mobius C2 from the GUI, and then tested the setup in the vehicle. Worked as it should. However, this morning when I started the vehicle, the camera rear red LED flashed three times (to show the full charge) and then shut off. I couldn't understand why. It seems that the startup of the vehicle has some timing issues with the booting process of the camera. I was unaware of this until I read some other posts, and found that several members have had the same problems as me. Apparently, at least according to what I have read, it is best to wait until the camera has finished it's 'startup procedure' before cranking over the engine. After running several tests, and reading other threads regarding this problem, I found that in my case, if I just crank over the engine straight away (before giving the camera a chance to startup), all is well. The camera then starts up and runs properly. However, if I turn the key to accessory, and then wait until the camera 'boots up', and then crank over the engine, the camera shuts itself off. Weird.
Click to expand...

Harry Henderson said:
Further to my last message, I have just made some test runs on the camera/vehicle start up issues. My set up is a Mobius C2 running a super capacitor plugged into an Aukey car charger which turns on when the vehicle accessory is on. In other words, one more turn of the key will engage the starter. If I turn it on to accessory only, the camera will go through it's startup procedure, and begin recording according to the flashing lights on the camera. If I then wait for several seconds before cranking over the engine, the camera shuts off when the engine starts. But, if I just crank over the engine straight away, before giving the camera a chance to 'boot up', all appears to be well. Odd. Seems to be exactly opposite of what I have read above. Just for the record, my set up on the GUI is as follows: Power on-Auto Record is set to 'Both' / Power-Off Disconnect is set to 'Immediate'.
Click to expand...

I see you've posted this issue to more than one thread which really isn't necessary but at any rate, you may or may not have seen mention here on DCT that one solution for this problem would be to use an inexpensive delay timer that you can purchase on eBay. See THIS post for some photos, discussion and links. This issue occurs with a number of cameras other than the Mobius and is more related to your vehicle's characteristics than anything with the camera, per se.

Also, I wonder if you have your Mobius set to "Fast" Power-on or "Delay". Although the delay setting is really intended to keep the camera from turning on accidentally in your pocket if the power button gets pressed, why not see if that setting makes any difference with your issue, assuming it's not set t0 delay already. The setting delays power up for several seconds after power is applied. I've never experienced this issue with any of my Mobi so I have no idea if the delay setting can help this problem but it occurs to me it's worth a try.

Mobius_001.jpg
 
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That's a good idea, Dashmellow. I will switch the Power On Delay to "Delay" and see what happens. In fact, I will do it this minute and come back and finish this message. Wait for it... Alright, back again after the change. After several tests with both settings (Fast start and Delay start) it appears that the camera starts recording the same time with both. Just slightly longer than 6 seconds after the camera is turned on (the accessory on the car is turned on). Let's face it, that's more than plenty of time to crank over your engine once you are in your vehicle. Perhaps the electronics in the camera don't like to be interrupted once it is up and running. I would think that my vehicle channels all of the electric power for that split second that it takes to engage the starter, and that would be the reason for the shutdown of the camera. Oh well, Keep Calm and Dash Cam On!!
 
You're right, the camera doesn't like to be interrupted once it's running. When it detects a loss of power, however briefly, it will shut off again. It sounds like you will either require a delay timer or will need to manually start the cam once your engine ignition has completed the starting process.
 
I have experienced something similar while fiddling with the car performing other mods. My Mobius is connected to a fuse that gets power only when the car is turned on. If I turn the car to ACC ON (where I still haven't cranked the engine), the Mobius powers up and starts recording. But then if I crank the engine, the Mobius shuts down and doesn't power up again. I believe this is what is happening:

1) Mobius receives power when the car is turned to ACC ON so it boots up and starts recording
2) While cranking the engine, Mobius loses power (just for a few milliseconds), but it detected a power off so it started its shut-down procedure
3) Power returns to the Mobius but the Mobius doesn't detect this because it is busy performing shut-down procedure
4) Mobius successfully finishes shut-down procedure while power had already returned

After finishing its shut down procedure, it seems as if the Mobius is oblivious to the fact that power returned while it was busy shutting down. I have to turn power off and turn it back on so that it "gets the message" and boots up again.

Lesson learned? Just don't apply power to a Mobius while it is busy shutting down...
 
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