Mobius support thread and Tech Guide (post all problems/help requests here) Read posts #1-8 first

[map]

In fact, a year ago I even wrote a very positive endorsement in the "Owners Feedback on Vendors" forum called "Banggood Kudos" after they were so courteous, helpful and prompt about replacing a bad "B' module I received from them.

It was this endorsement that encouraged me to shop with BG.

BTW, don't ever think for a moment that the names we are given by these customer service folks from these Chinese vendors are real.

I realise they aren't real names. It felt like "Helen" was an individual rather than multiple people using the same western name, however that may be because customer service was operating professionally and I wasn't actively looking for discrepancies.

 

[Dashmellow]

I don't really care what names they use but some of the names just make me smile. I think they are sometimes geared to what country you may happen to be in.

In my dealings with BG I told them I had previously spoken very highly of them and recommended them in a public forum but that I couldn't in good faith do that any more after this experience. Although they advertise here on DCT, I don't get the impression they really care. In any event, I think what frustrated me the most was that the person I've been dealing with keeps ignoring the actual facts of this saga and kept making false statements. For example, on two occasions I would be provided with a date the item was alleged to have been shipped and when I would send back a screen shot or quote to show that I had previously been given a ship date that turned out not to be true it was as if the whole thing never happened and we were living in alternative realities. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, when I expressed dismay last week when I learned that the replacement lens module they promised me a month ago is out of stock, considering I first ordered the camera the first week of February I nearly fell out of my chair when they asked me if I still want it. (Actually, this may be a clue that "Rain", the person I've allegedly been dealing with all this time may be more than one person.)

 

[map]

The way you have been treated is appalling, yet my experience with BG has been excellent, hence my surprise.

We will never really know whether it's a problem with a few staff members or a company wide problem, but if it continues they are going to loose customers fast.

 

[Johny]

My experience was terrible too. As they still want to see Chinese post stamp and wrapping plastic from China to confirm my purchase. They did not care about invoice or PayPal tracking number. Pathetic. If they sell to western world then follow western rules about what is proof of purchase. I think admin needs to move our feedback to correct section.

 

[Dashmellow]

The way you have been treated is appalling, yet my experience with BG has been excellent, hence my surprise.

We will never really know whether it's a problem with a few staff members or a company wide problem, but if it continues they are going to loose customers fast.

I think the problems with BG mainly seem to revolve around their willingness to take your money after a popular item has already sold out and then to not to be honest or upfront about when the item will be back in stock.

In this case, I think they also didn't want to admit there was a defective batch of troublesome modules and they were waiting for the new version stock to arrive. Had they just said that I would have been understanding but instead they told me it was shipped when it hadn't been.

Regarding whether it was a particular employee or a company attitude of dishonesty and evasiveness, another thing I hadn't mentioned earlier is that in my ongoing communications with them via email there had been a long series of replies back and forth so that the message thread contained the whole history of my situation regarding this particular order. As their responses became more absurd and disingenuous over time and I sent back documentation proving what they were saying to me was either incorrect or intentionally false, they started replying to me in separate brief emails. In other words, someone clearly wanted to disconnect their replies from the email thread that showed all my evidence to the contrary and the two month plus history of this still undelivered order. Each time I would copy and paste the previous salient details back into my new reply they would then send a separate email back to me rather than hit the reply button. And all of a sudden after addressing me by my first name the whole time I was now "Dear Customer".

Time will tell if it's a couple of bad eggs in the basket or the whole basket. That's the value of a forum like this.

When I received a defective Mobius "B" lens module a year ago they couldn't have been more courteous and efficient about getting a new one into my hands very quickly and they even let me keep the bad one. (Which is how I came to have a spare B lens to experiment with in the bad C module.)

 

[wozzzzza]

in my limited experience with them I found Banggood to be hopeless,

yep, dealt with them once, never again. pay another $1 and go somewhere else and get it quicker.

 

[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed]

imgur album. here are some screengrabs from my Mobius with B-lens, at night. is the quality supposed to be this atrocious? you can't possibly make out license plates, and you can barely even make out the highway exit signs.

my settings are .mov, wide FOV, 1080P, WDR off, 30fps, and video data rate standard. i cleaned the windshield and lens just before going out for a drive. should i turn WDR on, and/or the video data rate up? or is my lens not adjusted correctly? i know the camera is mounted pretty high up; i read that aiming it down towards your hood helps the focus. maybe i installed it too high up?

does anyone have any input on this? thanks. sorry if i am impatient -- i was almost killed on the freeway the other day and when i came home to my surprise the mobius didn't record the whole day! i have since fixed that problem (wiring issue in my car) but the footage is terrible. if this is the best the mobius can do, i might mount it for the rear and buy a better camera for the front. too many people use their vehicle as a weapon these days.

 

[SawMaster]

...My theory is that it has something to do with what happens when Chinese retailers like this reach a certain size...

I've seen this kind of thing happen with a Chinese radio company. Initially an excellent product, excellent price, and excellent service then a few years after making it big they went to crap all round. My early model is a 'keeper' which compares favorably with others at 3 times what it cost, but I wouldn't have what they sell now at any price. If mine ever needs repair I'm screwed.

On some other forums with different topics I've heard the occasional 'bad' about BG but other than slow shipping most reports are quite good so I really don't know what to think. Personally, I've not done business with them yet as I prefer local sellers or those based in the US where I live but someday I will (unless they too go bad on us). It's not so much the sales but the service where distant companies will often fail you. If that happens to you just once, all the money you saved buying direct will not cover that loss. It's something to think about!

Phil

 

[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I turned on WDR and upped the data rate to high, and I don't see any difference in image quality. During the day quality is fantastic so I don't think the lens needs to be adjusted. At night it's absolutely atrocious. My headlights do need to be restored, but I don't think that's going to help the picture all that much. Did I get a defective camera, or is this just the quality that $85 buys? Thanks in advance.
Sample pictures are here (anyone wanna guess where I live? lol)
and here are my settings

 

[mr_milo]

I turned on WDR and upped the data rate to high, and I don't see any difference in image quality. During the day quality is fantastic so I don't think the lens needs to be adjusted. At night it's absolutely atrocious. My headlights do need to be restored, but I don't think that's going to help the picture all that much. Did I get a defective camera, or is this just the quality that $85 buys? Thanks in advance.
Sample pictures are here (anyone wanna guess where I live? lol)
and here are my settings

Try using "Low Light" mode in WDR.

 

[Isoprop]

New firmware v2.37 now available
A new firmware version has been released. Many minor issues have been corrected. More details can be found in the revision history file which can be viewed/downloaded from here (scroll to bottom of page) or in the original announcement here.

What I suspect could be interesting for dashcam users is the new Automatic Motion Detection when USB power is disconnected parameter This parameter can be found under the Power-Off Disconnect parameters where an additional 30 sec. and 60 sec. power-off delay have also been added. Remember to set the motion sensitivity and timeout to your preferred values if you set the automatic Motion Detection when Power is disconnected parameter.

The Windows program mSetup makes it very easy to set the new parameters and provides useful help in the form of tool tips which have also been revised to describe the new functionality. I believe the Android app has also been updated, although I haven't tested this.

Unfortunately, the firmware has been released during my vacation. I wanted to perfect one or two other tool tips, but these modifications will now have to wait. Also, the new version of mSetup currently only supports the English language. I hope to make the foreign DLLs (automatically) available by the end of next week. My apologies to those folks who don't understand English, but please be patient.

 

[richcam]

Try using "Low Light" mode in WDR.

Excuse my ignorance here when making adjustments to the Mobius settings, but what are the advantages or disadvantages of using 'Wide Dynamic Range', and what improvements are made when selecting 'Low Light'. I ask this because I've noticed that the Mobius video quality in decent UK sunlight when WDR is set to OFF is extremely good, though not so good when overcast or at night.

One top priority I don't want to lose is the recording of approaching car number plates just in case there is an accident at close range. Have noticed the 0806 (which costs nearly double) tends to blur number-plates of approaching vehicles and this is simply not acceptable.

 

[BobDiaz]

The idea behind a Wide Dynamic Range is to preserve both the bright highlights and the dark shadows in a show with a lot of contrast. It's not perfect, but can help. Now on an overcast day, the contrast isn't as high as a full sun day. While the image lacks contrast, it still captures the critical details of any event. Remember, we are not filming "Gone With The Wind" here, we are capturing any event that may result in an accident. A low contrast image can be adjusted in editing software, but an overblown image can't be corrected in any software.

Recording at night is never ideal, the camera much switch to longer shutter speeds to capture the light to record an image, BUT long shutter times resulting in motion blur. Also, the dynamic range between headlights and shadows is well beyond anything WDR can fix.

 

[richcam]

The idea behind a Wide Dynamic Range is to preserve both the bright highlights and the dark shadows in a show with a lot of contrast. It's not perfect, but can help. Now on an overcast day, the contrast isn't as high as a full sun day. While the image lacks contrast, it still captures the critical details of any event. Remember, we are not filming "Gone With The Wind" here, we are capturing any event that may result in an accident. A low contrast image can be adjusted in editing software, but an overblown image can't be corrected in any software.

Recording at night is never ideal, the camera much switch to longer shutter speeds to capture the light to record an image, BUT long shutter times resulting in motion blur. Also, the dynamic range between headlights and shadows is well beyond anything WDR can fix.

Thank you BobDiaz for your prompt reply, I think I will give this WDR Low Light option a try to see what happens because most of my driving is in the daytime, though unlike the USA, tends to be overcast or raining except when I'm at work when the sunshine is out!

I appreciate your comments about longer shutter times at night causing the blur which is inevitable, and I can only assume these additional constraints are imposed by the small size of the lens and sensor being used.

Having said that, the actual video quality of the Mobius is extremely high in the daytime and records readable number-plates that far more expensive dash cams would simply blur.

 

[Dashmellow]

Recording at night is never ideal, the camera much switch to longer shutter speeds to capture the light to record an image, BUT long shutter times resulting in motion blur. Also, the dynamic range between headlights and shadows is well beyond anything WDR can fix.

Bob's right, but there are some techniques you can use to help enhance dash cam night time footage, often dramatically beyond what is captured by default by using a media player that provides the ability to adjust various parameters such as brightness, contrast and especially gamma correction.

Adjusting the gamma curve values (lower) is one of the most important adjustments you can make to improve shadow detail at night. VLC and MPLayerX (Mac) are two examples of media players that give you the ability to make these adjustments. Most good editing packages give you the ability to adjust gamma curves as well.

Of course, this technique won't correct motion blur but it will allow you to see details in your night videos that would otherwise be invisible to you.

There are two older threads here on DCT launched by @niko that provide video instructions, discussion and some useful information about how to squeeze more detail out of night time dash cam videos. You'll find them HERE & HERE.

 

[BobDiaz]

I always fantasize of a dash cam that uses the Micro 4/3s or better yet, APS-C image sensor. The camera would be very costly, but the larger image sensor would have much better low light performance.

 

[747skipper]

A help request please.
I have had my Mobius (V3 lens C) for nearly a week, intending to use it as a dash cam, and it seemed to work OK, using a 32GB Samsung card.
I have gone on holiday with it and have the following problem.
Auto power on works OK but after about 5 minutes the flashing yellow (and rear red) go on continuously.
It is not in standby record bucause pressing the shutter button has no effect and eventually I press the power button to shut down.
Nothing has been recorded.
I have updated to the latest firmware using the latest version of the software provided.
I have the same results with a 64GB class 10 Verbatum and a 4GB class 6 Transcend.
ALL of the chips have been tested with h2testw and sucessfully write and read to their specified size at the speed you would expect, (I have dealt with fakes before), all have been formatted in the camera using the software. The two big chips were bought specifically for this but the 4Gb has been used in other devices with no problem.
I have been working with and on computers for many years and I think I have covered all the angles, could one of you experts help please?
Thanks in advance David
P.S. Tried again with fully charged battery and no cable connected. Recorded fine for 10mins and 1second, then constant yellow and rear red. Is it when it tries to start the second file it fails? Video mode 1 was set to max as duration.

 

[richcam]

New firmware v2.37 now available
A new firmware version has been released. Many minor issues have been corrected. More details can be found in the revision history file which can be viewed/downloaded from here (scroll to bottom of page) or in the original announcement here.

What I suspect could be interesting for dashcam users is the new Automatic Motion Detection when USB power is disconnected parameter This parameter can be found under the Power-Off Disconnect parameters where an additional 30 sec. and 60 sec. power-off delay have also been added. Remember to set the motion sensitivity and timeout to your preferred values if you set the automatic Motion Detection when Power is disconnected parameter.

The Windows program mSetup makes it very easy to set the new parameters and provides useful help in the form of tool tips which have also been revised to describe the new functionality. I believe the Android app has also been updated, although I haven't tested this.

Unfortunately, the firmware has been released during my vacation. I wanted to perfect one or two other tool tips, but these modifications will now have to wait. Also, the new version of mSetup currently only supports the English language. I hope to make the foreign DLLs (automatically) available by the end of next week. My apologies to those folks who don't understand English, but please be patient.

Isoprop it's good to see that you're keeping busy improving what is already a very good product

Just installed v2.37 but when I went to run MobiusManagerV2 on my Mac to change the parameters I received the message 'Firmware v2.37 not supported! Mobius Manager needs to be updated! Supported from version v2.10 to v2.33

Do you think it might be an idea to put an alert on the update page to let Mac users know this, or perhaps let them know where the link is to the Mobius Manager software for the Mac because I've forgotten where I originally downloaded it from?

In the meantime I've manually edited the .txt file so am hoping I haven't broken anything, will find out tomorrow.

 

[jokiin]

Isoprop it's good to see that you're keeping busy improving what is already a very good product

Just installed v2.37 but when I went to run MobiusManagerV2 on my Mac to change the parameters I received the message 'Firmware v2.37 not supported! Mobius Manager needs to be updated! Supported from version v2.10 to v2.33
.

from the link provided

Numerous feature changes and bug fixes have been added. An updated GUI will be needed to set some of the feature changes. Isoprop is on vacation until next week, and will look into this when he has a chance. In the interim, if you want to toggle the new feature changes, it can be done manually by loading in the new FW, extracting back out the configuration file, editing it to reflect your changes, and loading it back into the camera. See post #3 for more details if you have not done this before.

 

[richcam]

from the link provided

Numerous feature changes and bug fixes have been added. An updated GUI will be needed to set some of the feature changes. Isoprop is on vacation until next week, and will look into this when he has a chance. In the interim, if you want to toggle the new feature changes, it can be done manually by loading in the new FW, extracting back out the configuration file, editing it to reflect your changes, and loading it back into the camera. See post #3 for more details if you have not done this before.

Thanks jokiin, that information isn't actually shown in the page which contains the link to view or download the software which I clicked on, instead it is shown in the original announcement link which I didn't click on, which is why I missed it, plus several days went by between me downloading the v2.37 software and installing it

New firmware v2.37 now available
A new firmware version has been released. Many minor issues have been corrected. More details can be found in the revision history file which can be viewed/downloaded from here (scroll to bottom of page) or in the original announcement here.​