BULLETHD BIKER MATE & PRO WiFi (iOS/Android) 1080P Water Resistant Motorcycle DashCam Novatek 96655

[DarkSoul]

I purchased a Bikermate a few days ago from Amazon.

Today, started the installation process.

Fitted it onto my BMW K1600 GTL, by placing the camera below the headlight and the recording piece in the right side pocket.

I thought I wouldn't need to connect the camera to the battery and will just be able to connect it to the USB port in the side pocket. So I connected all the cables, the device lights up (LEDs come on) and all seems OK.

However - while the device gets power, and even records video even a button is pressed - it *doesn't start auto-recording* when it is switched on. I have to manually start video recording.

EDIT: the unit doesn't seem to want to start manually recording either.

Note, the direct connection to the battery has not been made. I'm using the BMW K1600 GTL's built-in USB connection to power the device.

Is there any way I can get this to work (auto-start recording) with just the USB connection?

Anyone have any ideas on what to do next?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I purchased a Bikermate a few days ago from Amazon.

Today, started the installation process.

Fitted it onto my BMW K1600 GTL, by placing the camera below the headlight and the recording piece in the right side pocket.

I thought I wouldn't need to connect the camera to the battery and will just be able to connect it to the USB port in the side pocket. So I connected all the cables, the device lights up (LEDs come on) and all seems OK.

However - while the device gets power, and even records video even a button is pressed - it *doesn't start auto-recording* when it is switched on. I have to manually start video recording.

Note, the direct connection to the battery has not been made. I'm using the BMW K1600 GTL's built-in USB connection to power the device.

Is there any way I can get this to work (auto-start recording) with just the USB connection?

Welcome to the club. Is the built in USB power hot 24/7? If so your camera will record 24/7 and will never auto start/stop.

Also, please note some built in USB ports are only 0.5A and it's best to power the camera with a solid stable = or > 1A of USB power. Lower powered USB ports may not be stable and is not recommended for dashcam power usage. Anything less could stress the CPU etc.

Does the camera auto power on/start recording if you test in the house? Use the miniUSB plug, and use a iPhone/Android USB wall socket charger which will for sure be = or > 1A. Did you change any of the settings? List your settings.txt file. (se we can check all your settings, and firmware version)

 

[DarkSoul]

Thanks for getting back to me!

Is the built in USB power hot 24/7?

Nope, it's not. It is powered when the bike ignition is switched on, goes off with the bike.

note some built in USB ports are only 0.5A

I believe the K1600 USB port can provide a little more than 1A - it can charge an iPhone 4 / Nexus 5 directly.

Does the camera auto power on/start recording if you test in the house?

Nope, doesn't start auto-recording. (the lights stay on, don't dim/blink) Note this is without the HDMI cable connected to the camera - it's on the bike right now and the cable has been set up.

Did you change any of the settings?

Sure, here you go:

##########################################################################################
#system setting
# CAUTION: TO PREVENT SERIOUS SYSTEM CRASH, ONLY ENGLISH ALPHA-NUMERICS CAN BE USED FOR BELOW PARAMETERS AND CAMERA NAME
##########################################################################################
VERSION             = BM2015073002                # DO NOT CHANGE
RESOLUTICON         = 0                           # (0=1080p@30fps, 1= 720p@60fps)
VIDEO_TIME          = 3                           # (0=1mins, 1=2mins, 2=3mins,3=5mins,4=10mins,5=15mins) recording interval time
QUALITY             = 0                           # (0=fine, 1=good, 2=normal)
LOOP_RECORD         = 1                           # (0=off, 1=on)
DATE_STAMP          = 0                           # (0=off, 1=on)
G-SENSOR            = 2                           # (0=high, 1=mid,2=low,3=off)
AUDIO_RECORD        = 1                           # (0=off, 1=on)
AUTO_POWER_OFF      = 1                           # (0=Off,  1=3min,2=5min,3=10min)
TIME_SET            = N2015.01.01.00:00:00        # (Y=change  N=No change
DEFAULT_SETTING     = 0                           # (0=false, 1=true) when set to 1, the camera will ignore other settings, set to system default and write the default settings in this file
CAMERA_NAME         = BIKER-MATE                  # Device ID
##########################################################################################
#end
##########################################################################################

 

[Street Guardian USA]

That's normal you can't do anything unless the entire system is connected including the hdmi cable/camera.

I suspect your USB power is not a stable 1A. iPhone will trickle charge on low power. Move your bike close to an outlet and power it via iPhone/Android wall charger as a test.

If it only records when you manually press the button it's using internal camera battery because there isn't enough external power.

 

[DarkSoul]

Fair enough - I'll do a full install tomorrow (connect it to the battery / Power convertor) and report back.

 

[DarkSoul]

Connected the power converter to the battery directly (to test) and it started recording automatically. So that means the 2015 BMW K1600 GTL USB port is not enough to power this BulletHD camera. You *have* to connect it using the provided power converter. Which means it *has* to reside under the seat too.

EDIT : for people with BMW K1600s or R1200RTs, don't tap /splice into any wiring under the seat. It'll trigger a CANBUS error. Instead, go buy a PDM60 - it's expensive but the seemingly most elegant and painless solution for powering accessories on these bikes.

 

[CDNinHH]

Is there any reason you couldn't mount the camera in the grill of a car and route the main unit into the cars interior? Would sure solve glare problems and being able to view it on the iPhone would be great......... yes, I'm one of those guys who is always thinking outside the box ;-)

 

[jokiin]

Is there any reason you couldn't mount the camera in the grill of a car and route the main unit into the cars interior? Would sure solve glare problems and being able to view it on the iPhone would be great......... yes, I'm one of those guys who is always thinking outside the box ;-)

cable length is a problem, we have another external camera option available soon that can support much longer cable lengths though

 

[CDNinHH]

Ok, thanks....I will watch for that.

 

[CDNinHH]

cable length is a problem

I just see on the Pier28 website they offer a 3 meter cable, that should be long enough to get the main unit into the car's interior wouldn't it?

 

[jokiin]

Unless you drive a Honda Zot or similar it would be nowhere near long enough

 

[CDNinHH]

Nissan X-Trail ( Rouge in US/Canada) actually I don't have the car yet, will pick it up on the 27th so can't even do a measurement now. As I said I let the Itronics go with the other car when I sold it so that's why I'm looking at all these options.

 

[russ331]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet installed a BulletHD or other water resistant remote camera in one of those roof-mounted shark fin aerial housings.

 

[CDNinHH]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet installed a BulletHD or other water resistant remote camera in one of those roof-mounted shark fin aerial housings.

I think the distance to the front of the car and the angle would block a lot of view

 

[russ331]

I think the distance to the front of the car and the angle would block a lot of view

I should have said I was thinking of a rear-facing camera.

 

[niko]

I'm surprised that nobody has yet installed a BulletHD or other water resistant remote camera in one of those roof-mounted shark fin aerial housings.

View attachment 18931

Few years ago one Korean company started producing shark fin cameras for car dvr systems with sony exmor ccd but it was only low resolution.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Is there any reason you couldn't mount the camera in the grill of a car and route the main unit into the cars interior? Would sure solve glare problems and being able to view it on the iPhone would be great......... yes, I'm one of those guys who is always thinking outside the box ;-)

I just see on the Pier28 website they offer a 3 meter cable, that should be long enough to get the main unit into the car's interior wouldn't it?

We've never had the 300cm cable in stock yet. I just asked the factory and they said the 300cm cable was discontinued. 200cm is as long as you can go.

cable length is a problem, we have another external camera option available soon that can support much longer cable lengths though

As @jokiin said, we'll have a new Street Guardian waterproof long cable external lens dashcam option available very soon.

 

[CDNinHH]

We've never had the 300cm cable in stock yet. I just asked the factory and they said the 300cm cable was discontinued. 200cm is as long as you can go.

This website is still offering it under accessories......maybe old stock. Regardless, I'm interested in what SG comes up with.

http://www.bullethd.us/#!accessories/c6c8

 

[Street Guardian USA]

This website is still offering it under accessories......maybe old stock. Regardless, I'm interested in what SG comes up with.

http://www.bullethd.us/#!accessories/c6c8

They just let me know via email when I asked. Thanks for pointing that out so I can let them know to edit their website as well. (just took ours offline)

 

[DarkSoul]

Update: installation was done, and everything works. (kinda) For Installation info, go here: http://www.k1600forum.com/forum/1409777-post35.html

Now the camera records at 720p / 60 FPS just fine - I see perfectly spaced 640 MB files, with audio on. However, I had the "fine" setting on and couldn't really read license plates, so decided to up the resolution to 1080p / 30 fps / "good" quality.

And now's when the hiccups start. Took the SD card out, found one 400 MB file, one 60 MB file, and one 14 MB file. from a 25 minute commute, that's less than 10 minutes of footage captured.

This is my config.

##########################################################################################
#system setting
# CAUTION: TO PREVENT SERIOUS SYSTEM CRASH, ONLY ENGLISH ALPHA-NUMERICS CAN BE USED FOR BELOW PARAMETERS AND CAMERA NAME
##########################################################################################
VERSION             = BM2015073002                # DO NOT CHANGE
RESOLUTICON         = 0                           # (0=1080p@30fps, 1= 720p@60fps)
VIDEO_TIME          = 3                           # (0=1mins, 1=2mins, 2=3mins,3=5mins,4=10mins,5=15mins) recording interval time
QUALITY             = 1                           # (0=fine, 1=good, 2=normal)
LOOP_RECORD         = 1                           # (0=off, 1=on)
DATE_STAMP          = 0                           # (0=off, 1=on)
G-SENSOR            = 2                           # (0=high, 1=mid,2=low,3=off)
AUDIO_RECORD        = 1                           # (0=off, 1=on)
AUTO_POWER_OFF      = 1                           # (0=Off,  1=3min,2=5min,3=10min)
TIME_SET            = N2015.01.01.00:00:00        # (Y=change  N=No change
DEFAULT_SETTING     = 0                           # (0=false, 1=true) when set to 1, the camera will ignore other settings, set to system default and write the default settings in this file
CAMERA_NAME         = BIKER-MATE                  # Device ID
##########################################################################################
#end
##########################################################################################

Any idea what's going on?