A129 Duo High-Pitched Noise?

[RavenManiac]

Did try changing your ground?

Not yet. I just wanted to narrow down the problem. I'm going to try that tonight. I'll report back with my findings.

 

[RavenManiac]

Did try changing your ground?

Tonight, I changed the ground from the one I made in the dashboard chassis to the Honda factory ground in the frame. Although the volume of the high-pitched sound decreased a little, it's still very much there. When I inspected the 3-wire kit, I noticed that the wire gauge and amount of insulation isn't nearly as thick as the USB cable. I wonder if that is part of the problem.

 

[jokiin]

Also have a look at where you have the black box for the power supply located, excess cable coiled up or how close it is mounted to other electrical components can introduce noise into the circuit

 

[RavenManiac]

Also have a look at where you have the black box for the power supply located, excess cable coiled up or how close it is mounted to other electrical components can introduce noise into the circuit

It's located right next to the CR-V fuse box. Is there anything I can wrap around the black box to insulate it? What about a noise suppressor?

 

[jokiin]

A noise filter might help, Honda are common for induced noise when installing aftermarket stereo equipment also

 

[RavenManiac]

A noise filter might help, Honda are common for induced noise when installing aftermarket stereo equipment also

Do you have one you prefer?

 

[jokiin]

Not something I've done for a while so not sure what is currently available, others may be able to offer some further advice on that

 

[Nigel]

It's located right next to the CR-V fuse box. Is there anything I can wrap around the black box to insulate it? What about a noise suppressor?

So if you put your ear next to the hardwire kit the noise is loudest? You seemed to think it was coming from the camera before!.

Probably most effective to put the black box inside another box made of reasonably thick plastic, eg airtight lunch box. You need some holes for the wires, but the better it is sealed the better it will work. You don't want a tight fit, leave a decent amount of air in the box so that heat can circulate and escape.

What about a noise suppressor?

I doubt that it is caused by electrical noise, the voltage converter already has a capacitor on it's input to smooth the supply.

 

[Sadoka]

Interesting that the 3 wire kit seems responsible, I can hear it too and it was kinda annoying but I just thought it was the sound from the SD card reader being too close to the microphone.

Thanks for figuring this out and providing feedback to VIOFO on this issue and it’s great to hear that they are busy working on a new cable and a new firmware update with buffered video support. This tiny company never seizes to amaze me.

 

[Bart57266]

I installed A129 Duo cameras, with 64 GB Viofo memory cards, in all three of our vehicles using the Viofo 3-wire hardware kit. Just one of the cameras emits a high-pitched ringing/squealing sound when on.

The installation is not the problem, because we moved the ringing/squealing camera into one of the other cars, and the sound moved with it. We then moved the quiet camera to the formerly-noisy car, and it remained quiet there, as well.

I think it is the 64 GB Viofo memory card (included in each package), because when we swap only the cards instead of the cameras, the ringing/squealing sound follows that one card. In other words, there is one card that will make any of the A129 cameras squeal, in any vehicle.

Card was reformatted twice, but the problem remains.

Here's a 10-second video clip, so you can hear it:
https://youtu.be/ZaDVDXrCzlY

Ideas will be appreciated.

 

[Sadoka]

I installed A129 Duo cameras in all three of our vehicles. Just one of the cameras emits a high-pitched ringing/squealing sound when on.

The installation is not the problem, because we moved the ringing/squealing camera into one of the other cars, and the sound moved with it. We then moved the quiet camera to the formerly-noisy car, and it remained quiet there, as well.

I think it is the 64 GB Viofo memory card (included in each package), because when we swap only the cards instead of the cameras, the ringing/squealing sound follows that one card. In other words, there is one card that will make any of the A129 cameras squeal, in any vehicle.

Card was reformatted twice, but the problem remains.

Here's a 10-second video clip, so you can hear it:
https://youtu.be/ZaDVDXrCzlY

Ideas will be appreciated.

Oh wow that ring is annoying! What card was included exactly? Because normally VIOFO does not include a card? Or it might be a special deal or something with the optional Viofo MLC 64GB card?

And you say the other cards do not produce this noise? Interesting hypothesis indeed! I will check if my Samsung Evo Plus 256GB card is the culprit, as both my cars use the same cards, perhaps a Sandisk card could be the solution here.

I do believe I have 64GB Sandisk high endurance cards lying around, however, they are limited to 20MB per second. Should be sufficient but I am not sure as I use modified software.

 

[RavenManiac]

So if you put your ear next to the hardwire kit the noise is loudest? You seemed to think it was coming from the camera before!

To me, it sounds like it's coming from the camera itself. But, I'll check again tonight.

 

[Bart57266]

Oh wow that ring is annoying! What card was included exactly? Because normally VIOFO does not include a card? Or it might be a special deal or something with the optional Viofo MLC 64GB card?

And you say the other cards do not produce this noise? Interesting hypothesis indeed! I will check if my Samsung Evo Plus 256GB card is the culprit, as both my cars use the same cards, perhaps a Sandisk card could be the solution here.

I do believe I have 64GB Sandisk high endurance cards lying around, however, they are limited to 20MB per second. Should be sufficient but I am not sure as I use modified software.

It was purchased from Amazon in early March, the card was included, and while I expected it to be packaged separately, it was actually down inside the box with the camera. It's Viofo brand.

This may not be the exact listing, but it was something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07GRXHYFL

 

[RavenManiac]

I think it is the 64 GB Viofo memory card (included in each package), because when we swap only the cards instead of the cameras, the ringing/squealing sound follows that one card. In other words, there is one card that will make any of the A129 cameras squeal, in any vehicle.

In my case, it is not the memory card. I tried two different brands and the problem remains.

 

[Bart57266]

In my case, it is not the memory card. I tried two different brands and the problem remains.

There could be different sources of this problem.
I submitted a ticket to Viofo, and will post the results.

 

[Sadoka]

There could be different sources of this problem.
I submitted a ticket to Viofo, and will post the results.

I tested the camera with my 64GB Sandisk High Endurance card instead of my 256GB Samsung Evo plus card and the camera is now quieter than before but the high pitch noise does persist .

Now, I do have to say that my ears are very sensitive, I used to work for Garmin and when they tested the Sonar equipment for their Marine line in the room next to mine, I could still hear it quite annoyingly.

So perhaps other people probably won’t be able to hear it at all with a different SD card?

 

[RavenManiac]

Now, I do have to say that my ears are very sensitive, I used to work for Garmin and when they tested the Sonar equipment for their Marine line in the room next to mine, I could still hear it quite annoyingly.

I know what you mean. I think I have dog hearing. Good move to leave Garmin. I can't imagine that they're very happy now that Waze is in business. If Garmin were smart they'd buy Waze out.

 

[Sadoka]

I know what you mean. I think I have dog hearing. Good move to leave Garmin. I can't imagine that they're very happy now that Waze is in business. If Garmin were smart they'd buy Waze out.

Haha dodged a bullet there, didn’t I? Well they keep saying they want to move out of the PND business because of Apple/Google Maps and Waze etc. but it will take years and years. They are late to the game to buy Waze though, it’s already owned by Google for quite a few years.

They now focus on fitness trackers, health trackers, all sorts of smart bike pedals and smart watches and all that kind of products.

Plus they still have their marine and aviation divisions, selling special navigation devices for boats yachts and small airplanes.

And I think the biggest cash cow is their OEM division, for example, pretty much every VW and VW owned car brand (Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat etc.) plus brands like Mercedes Benz uses Garmin devices and cartography (they use “Here Maps”, co-owned by Garmin, VW, Mercedes Benz and BMW).

But the future does look grim. Built-in systems like those will eventually disappear in favor of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Sales of aviation and nautical equipment are very sensitive to recessions and the smartwatch/fitness tracker business is pretty much owned by Apple nowadays.

 

[Bart57266]

Viofo is sending a replacement card. After it arrives, I’ll let you know if it fixes the problem.

 

[RavenManiac]

Viofo is sending a replacement card. After it arrives, I’ll let you know if it fixes the problem.

My money is on the hard-wiring kit, but I'm looking forward to your response. Viofo still has my support ticket open. As soon as I hear back, I'll let you know what they said.