Change lens or addition lens?

Gilbertd

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Very recently purchased an 0826 and so far am not that impressed. First off, as soon as I plugged the supplied power supply in my DAB radio reception died and FM suffered interference. Being a radio engineer and carrying a spectrum analyser around with me all the time, I checked and found a very high level of wideband noise up to around 500 MHz being generated by it. I have contacted the supplier and am awaiting their reply regarding supplying something that carries a CE mark but clearly does not meet the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations and am waiting for a reply.

It suffered the freezing problems that it now seems that all of these suffer and will be trying a different memory card to see if this cures it. This wasn't connected to the noisy power supply as it is exactly the same if run from a USB powerbank.

My biggest gripe is that the lens is far too wide. I want a recording that looks much like the view I see when sitting in the drivers seat. So when I am parked 10 feet behind another car it looks like I am parked 10 feet behind another car, not that the other car is about 50 feet away. I appreciate that the current lens gives a view to either side of the car but I am not interested in what is happening either side of me, only what is in front of me.

Is there any way of changing the lens or fitting an auxiliary lens to the front to give a much more lifelike image? Or in view of the other problems, do I just return it and get something that will give me the image I want? If so what? One that can be zoomed would be better but one that is fixed would be preferable.
 
There is only one zoom-lens dashcsm out there from Lukas. You have to see if form-factor suits your needs.

Yes, you may do some DIY and change to more narrow FOV lens, but finding good specs lens will be quite a challenge.

DAB radio interference caused is known issue on most dashcams. It may be "fixed" by changing power supply or adding ferrite core, but there is no 100% guarantee.

If you will be looking to change your dashcam to other model, then SG9665GC has been specifically tuned to work with UK DAB with almost no interference (tested on many UK customers cars with DAB)
 
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I've been using one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191927318827 which has appalling low light performance, no GPS and often crashes, but it does allow me to digitally zoom what it is recording so I get a lifelike image not a ridiculously wide angle image with stretched perspective and curved verticals. But, for £18 it does the job within it's limits which is why I decided to buy a, supposedly, better camera in the hope that it would work just as well but not have the downsides. One other thing it doesn't do is generate wideband RF noise. Not from the camera or power supply. Unlike the 0826 and the supplied power supply.

Under the EMC Directive, no item sold in the EU should be incompatible with other electronic equipment so your comment that DAB interference is a common problem is quite astounding. In that case, none of these units should be allowed to be placed on the market in the EU. To show just how bad the 0826 is, I've just checked it and the results are below.

With everything off clearly showing the FM and DAB signals from the BBC transmitter site around 5 km from my house.

ALL%20OFF_zpsfo99cjpn.png


With just the camera switched on running from it's internal battery you can see spurious but none anywhere near the levels of the FM or DAB transmissions and is unlikely to cause a problem with the camera inside the car and the receive aerials outside.

CAM%20ON_zpsjo8jvju5.png


But as soon as the power supply is plugged in, the picture is completely different with wideband noise over the whole spectrum. Not only is this transmitted noise but it is also induced into the car wiring so affecting everything. Not in the slightest surprising that DAB reception suffers as soon as I am more than 5 miles away from home. As for expecting FM to work.....

PSU%20ON_zpsrjhmmxr3.png



Is it beyond anyone to make a camera that has the extra features I would like, at a reasonable price, that does comply with the regulations in force and can be legally sold in the EU? Because it seems that the 0826 certainly doesn't.
 
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