Battery

I think the charge circuit would be fine for this, bigger issues are keeping the clock in sync and the firmware needs changing to work with capacitors

I assume if future firmware time syncs with the GPS, this will allow for capacitor powering. I think the people behind the Cambox Drive version in Russia are 2 weeks out from releasing their firmware that does this. I'm hoping to flash the CDV with it and see what happens. (I found Cambox's logos in the CDV300X firmware - so I'm hoping no major hardware difference between models)
 
time sync from GPS is already possible for this hardware, we had it done six months ago, ideally it needs an RTC battery for best results, can work without it but not ideal if not using the camera regularly, the boot and shutdown sequence can be adjusted to suit quite easily but that's something that would still need to happen, there are a few hardware variants of this model, if they're using one of the ones that matches yours then no issue
 
The current huge stock of CDV300 out there have hardware issues and is the reason you'll see these on sale. (dump price)

I don't agree about dump price.

When there are more sellers, the price will be down, you know the cost for A7+OV4689/AR0330 cost is not too expensive, most of cameras are sold under $100.
But for branded cameras, price is controlled by the manufacturer.
 
I don't agree about dump price.

When there are more sellers, the price will be down, you know the cost for A7+OV4689/AR0330 cost is not too expensive, most of cameras are sold under $100.
But for branded cameras, price is controlled by the manufacturer.

agree, this is an expensive camera and the price is consistent with that
 
What ever the massive first wave defect is can't be fixed via firmware. They probably produced quite a few v 1.0 and need to sell them off before engineering resources and a second batch can be paid for. We are in stand by mode until then with no ETA for V 2.0. This is why you'll find the price so low today. (Dump mode)
I confirmed with TCL the batch we got is not the first batch, not sure if it is V2.0 that you mentioned.
Of course TCL confirmed there are some hardware problem on the first batch.

They sold about 3K/month, if there is big problem, I think there are more user report.
 
1. Weak battery - The GPS is located in the cradle and I suspect that, when powered via the cradle, most of the power is being consumed by the GPS and not fed to the main unit, which houses the battery. Also the battery is only 120mAh - but this should be sufficient to record the last file. I have noticed plugging in the main unit, bypassing the cradle, allows the battery to charge quicker. Things that may improve the battery issue:

Now you know why the Russians in their Cambox Drive had no problem with the battery. They do not have a version with GPS.
 
Now you know why the Russians in their Cambox Drive had no problem with the battery. They do not have a version with GPS.

plug your power into the camera instead of the cradle if you want to test how it performs without the GPS
 
I have noticed that the battery bars on the CDV300X, via power through cradle, shows 1/3 - but I have not run into recording issues.
tmanz, or do you think it is possible to charge the battery at the same time through USB input in the cradle and second USB in unit with two power supplies?
 
Average-OK night video quality - light sources have a lot of glare (traffic lights, with WDR on - I have not tried turning WDR off, this may reduce glare).
At night it is not so bad, look! but how do they do it? software? Jokiin Congratulations !!!!
 
I'm not sure what the firmware you have performs like, I haven't looked at the standard firmware for a long time
 
tmanz, or do you think it is possible to charge the battery at the same time through USB input in the cradle and second USB in unit with two power supplies?

You could splice a parallel connection to power the unit + cradle. It would be a bit ugly though.

I'd just plug the unit in now and then, to give it a boost. It doesn't take long to charge the 120 mAh battery (5-10 mins).
 
The problem is that on a long journey with GPS battery is completely discharged:eek: and the last 5 minutes the file can not be saved. I will have to check when the next long trip.
 
You could splice a parallel connection to power the unit + cradle. It would be a bit ugly though.

I'd just plug the unit in now and then, to give it a boost. It doesn't take long to charge the 120 mAh battery (5-10 mins).

Do not destroy the camera ????
 
Do not destroy the camera ????

Its just the same supply voltage, it shouldn't damage the camera. Just make sure its coming from the same 5V supply.

If you plug it in from a different supply you may cause some damage if the voltage is different.
 
Its just the same supply voltage, it shouldn't damage the camera. Just make sure its coming from the same 5V supply.

If you plug it in from a different supply you may cause some damage if the voltage is different.

I think We do not understand each other. Power supply units but will also 5V USB charger on the other. So set receives two 5V power supply. Then eliminated the problem of charging unit. Is not it will cause any short circuits.
 
I think We do not understand each other. Power supply units but will also 5V USB charger on the other. So set receives two 5V power supply. Then eliminated the problem of charging unit. Is not it will cause any short circuits.

I was outlining a caveat where say one 5V supply is supplying voltage at, for example, 4.5V and the other at 5V. In this scenario, one supply is at a higher potential than another. If this is connected to your CDV inputs, charge will flow from the higher potential supply to the lower and try to pull up the voltage. If there is any sensitive circuitry in the way of this flow, it could damage components.

As I do not have a circuit schematic of the CDV300X and do not know how the voltage rails connect between cradle and main unit (and if there is anything in between), I would advise against connecting two separate voltage supplies because you can be sure they have the same output voltage for the reasons mentioned before (their DC-DC conversion may differ). But if you powered the inputs from the same supply, that is splice a mini usb B connecter in parallel with one and the same 5V supply, you won't run this risk. If you had a cigarette lighter charger with two usb outputs, this will be safe as well, as it is driven by the same 5V converter.
 
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Weird, mine went from 1/3 bars to 3/3 in the 15 mins I had my laptop connected to the main unit.
 
4 hours is a ridiculously long time for a 120mAh lipo
 
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