CF-100 Questions

DT MI

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Dash Cam
More than my wife thinks I need.
I currently have a couple of A118-C cameras (front and rear) in my wife's car. Problem is the rear camera causes a lot of radio interference that I've not been able to eliminate. Because of this I'm considering replacing them with a CF-100 dual channel (actually I already have it in my 'shopping cart' on Amazon, just waiting to make the final decision).

I've read the owner's manual available on-line as well as the threads in this forum but before I pull the trigger I have some questions.

1. As I understand it 'event' recording only captures a 30 second file, 10 seconds before and 20 seconds after. Is this in addition to the normal file or instead of?

2. The manual only mentions capture of 1 minute video files. Is there an option for 3/5/10 minutes?

3. Is there overlap from one video file to the next as is common on most cameras?

4. A few posts have indicated the G-sensor is very sensitive. Can it be turned off completely?

5. My understanding is the camera set up is done on a PC via software and stored on the micro SD card. Is the set up information on the card permanently (.cfg or .ini file) or is it transferred to the camera on start up?

6. How long is the cable to the rear camera?

TIA for any information you can provide.


Edit: After searching around a bit and downloading the viewer software I was able to answer questions 2, 4, and 6. Any information anyone can provide on 1, 3 and 5 will be much appreciated.
 
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1. It will actually close a file early when an event happens or you press the button. So let's say you're 20 seconds into a one minute file (yes, one minute is the only option) and you press the button. That file will now only be 10 seconds and the previous 10 seconds plus the next 20 will go into a new file in the event folder.

3. No overlap at all, and no missing footage from the front. However, the rear cam will lose almost one second of footage (it appears frozen) at the beginning of each new file. I only noticed this once I started splicing files back together. Go to my YouTube channel and find the "i10-610-290" video (it's in the dashcam chronicles section linked in my signature) and you might see some of that in the rearview.

5. Yes it copies the configuration to its internal memory. I've formatted a card in my laptop and put it in the camera completely blank and all the settings were still correct.
 
Thanks 'Gibby'. I hoped you'd chime in here since I know you have one. I was going to post a private message to you but figured a forum question would benefit others as well as myself.

The 'freeze frame' on the rear camera is interesting but tolerable given the alternative is not having a rear cam in my wife's car at all.

I've got one more idea on how I may reduce/eliminate the radio interference in her car. If it doesn't work I'll be hitting the check-out button on Amazon in the next day or two - hopefully the price won't jump up in the interim.
 
I just wanted to mention. You might have come across this, but it seems like by default the settings are set a little lower then they should be. If you get one make sure you install the most new firmware so that the camera will record without GPS being plugged in. Also make sure you use the BlackSys PC software to fix the settings. I believe image quality is set to fine over super fine.
 
The problem is with M1.2 firmware - if you DO have GPS plugged in but it has not acquired a signal, it will NOT record. M1.3 fixed that. My fix for the buggy M1.2 was to unplug GPS so that it would actually record as soon as it finished booting up.

But yes the defaults are low quality so it's best to set everything in the windows app before first use. You'd probably want to do that anyway to configure parking mode or g-sensor sensitivity.
 
I have a problem with my new CF-100 in that it is spontaneously switching itself off every 10 minutes or so and then immediately restarting. As expected, a check of the recording shows a gap during the restart. What is strange is that I installed the cameras a month ago and it has been performing normally until last week. I haven't made any changes to the settings so I cannot figure out what might be the cause, other than an electronic fault.

Any thoughts on what might be causing it and what might fix it would be much appreciated!
 
Check your memory card for errors first, can be the cause of this kind of behavior
Thanks! Excuse my ignorance, but how do I do that? What am I looking for?
 
Check your memory card for errors first, can be the cause of this kind of behavior
I reformated the memory card and the problem has disappeared! Looks like it was a card error.

Thanks, Jokiin.
 
I reformated the memory card and the problem has disappeared! Looks like it was a card error.

Thanks, Jokiin.

keep an eye on things anyway, could still be a problem card, format the card every now and again doesn't hurt either
 
FYI to format the card IN the camera (which is always the best method so that the card is formatted exactly the way the camera wants it) hold down the emergency button for about 10 seconds. it will ask if you want to format SD card. press the up (right) button and it will start formatting. takes about 5-10 seconds, then it reboots, and begins recording as normal.
 
FYI to format the card IN the camera (which is always the best method so that the card is formatted exactly the way the camera wants it) hold down the emergency button for about 10 seconds. it will ask if you want to format SD card. press the up (right) button and it will start formatting. takes about 5-10 seconds, then it reboots, and begins recording as normal.
Good advice - saves having to remove the card as well. Thanks!

Do you happen to know how many minutes of recording a 16GB card will take on HD before it begins overwriting?
 
Good advice - saves having to remove the card as well. Thanks!

Do you happen to know how many minutes of recording a 16GB card will take on HD before it begins overwriting?
not much, because the camera reserves space for event/emergency files. my 64gb card holds a few days worth of short trips/errands around town. if i had to guess, the 64 holds about 6 hours before it begins overwriting old files. if you use it in parking mode, the time is even less because the routines it uses for deciding what to keep and waht to overwrite are a gray area, so it may keep parking footage for a while and thus reduce your normal file space. my camera came with a 16gb card but i've never used it except to update the firmware on it.
 
not much, because the camera reserves space for event/emergency files. my 64gb card holds a few days worth of short trips/errands around town. if i had to guess, the 64 holds about 6 hours before it begins overwriting old files. if you use it in parking mode, the time is even less because the routines it uses for deciding what to keep and waht to overwrite are a gray area, so it may keep parking footage for a while and thus reduce your normal file space. my camera came with a 16gb card but i've never used it except to update the firmware on it.
Thanks. I also got the 16gb card which is what I'm currently using. I'm planning to replace it with a 64gb Samsung Evo.
 
I'm getting a bit over 1 and a half hours before it starts looping on the 16GB card that came with myCF-100, using front cam + GPS only at the moment though. If you do the math, 6 hours at 64GB sounds right, I'd expect 3 hours at 32GB, and I'm sure someone has even put a 128GB in one of these, can't remember who though, but that should do around 12 hours. Of course, then you are looking at a card worth more than half as much as the camera. :p I might grab 2x 64GB cards and swap them as needed. Will be cheaper and more useful I think.

Quick question: The manufacturer only state use of up to 32GB, so to bung in anything bigger, can it be formatted in the cam or must it be done elsewhere? And if elsewhere is the only option, I assume we must still use FAT32 as the file system?
 
I'm getting a bit over 1 and a half hours before it starts looping on the 16GB card that came with myCF-100, using front cam + GPS only at the moment though. If you do the math, 6 hours at 64GB sounds right, I'd expect 3 hours at 32GB, and I'm sure someone has even put a 128GB in one of these, can't remember who though, but that should do around 12 hours. Of course, then you are looking at a card worth more than half as much as the camera. :p I might grab 2x 64GB cards and swap them as needed. Will be cheaper and more useful I think.

Quick question: The manufacturer only state use of up to 32GB, so to bung in anything bigger, can it be formatted in the cam or must it be done elsewhere? And if elsewhere is the only option, I assume we must still use FAT32 as the file system?
I formatted my 64gb card directly in the camera. Works fine.
 
FYI to format the card IN the camera (which is always the best method so that the card is formatted exactly the way the camera wants it) hold down the emergency button for about 10 seconds. it will ask if you want to format SD card. press the up (right) button and it will start formatting. takes about 5-10 seconds, then it reboots, and begins recording as normal.

Thanks, Gibson99 for the above tip.

I tried to use a new SanDisk 64GB card after formatting it in my PC and there was an error. However, after formatting it in the camera per your instructions, it's working fine!
 
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