Mini 0806 Battery Life?

[erkme73]

My replacement 300ma battery lasts no more than 4 minutes. The blue charging light never goes off. The original batteries on all the other 0806s don't last more than 5 minutes, though I have seen the blue lights eventually turn off after they're full.

I wouldn't worry about the battery unless you're seeing the "low batter" warning message when you pull power. I don't see that message unless I let them manually deplete 100%.

As for a charger, these things pull up to 750ma a piece. It'll be less when the battery isn't charging. So your current rating on your 5V power supply should be at least 1.5 amps, if not two. Keep in mind that most of these power supplies are grossly over-rated. It's not unusual for a 2A USB cell phone charger to max out at about 800ma before overheating or dropping the output voltage.

BTW, when the voltage drops below 4.4VDC, the screen will start to flicker and you may hear a squealing sound coming from the speaker. Eventually it'll just shut down or lock up. I agree that it sounds like your PS is underrated.

Get yourself the 10A one I linked to in my other post. It's cheap, rock solid, and you could drive 15 cameras with it.

 

[RavenManiac]

Is there anything wrong with sticking with a USB Adapter that fits into a cigarette lighter? I like how each component is separate so if something fails I only need to replace the failed component. In my case it works something like this:

Hard-Wired Aux Cigarette Lighter (under the dash) > USB Power Adapter > USB Cable > Dash Cam

Here's the adapter I'm currently using, which is rated at 5V, 10-watts, and 2.1 amps per outlet, which should be more than enough to power these devices–unless the adapter is bad.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0077PM3KG

 

[erkme73]

Yes - provided the device actually does put out more than 750ma (0.75a) you should be fine. There are other variables too, such as noise - both on the line, as well as RF that might affect GPS or FM radio reception.

I've actually pulled the card from my front and rear cameras this evening. The front camera had a horrible hum/rumble in the audio, and the GPS was going in/out every few seconds. The rear camera was perfect. I'm thinking this 10A supply is very noisy (RF) and is causing interference to the closest (front) camera. I'm going to swap the rear with the front and see if the problem moves with the camera, or stays in the same location. If it stays, it's supply. It may also be the volt/ammeter. The current sensing works by running the common ground of the regulator output THROUGH the meter.

I'll post back in the morning after I've had a chance to put some miles on the truck.

 

[RavenManiac]

Here's something I was looking at that helped another forum member resolve his background noise problem: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B004PGMFGW
SpyTec said they sent the link to the video I posted to the manufacturer to find out if the audio noise I captured was inherent in the design or something that can be silenced through some type of noise filter.

 

[erkme73]

That's good to know. I'm suspecting the problem is RF (emitted) noise, not line noise - otherwise all the cameras would exhibit the same behavior. If it's RF, the problems would be directly related to the proximity of the charger to the camera. The line filter you linked to would help with noise on the circuit, but not with any RF being emitted by the device.

I've just pulled the card from the passenger side camera - and it has very faint rumbling like the front. Barely noticeable. And that makes sense if it's RF. I'll probably end up moving the regulator down beneath the dash to provide some distance if my test tomorrow proves the noise is tied to the location and not the camera.

 

[erkme73]

As for your noise problem... I have the same high pitched ticking/hammering sound on all of mine. So I'm pretty sure it's a design issue.

 

[RavenManiac]

As for your noise problem... I have the same high pitched ticking/hammering sound on all of mine. So I'm pretty sure it's a design issue.

Yes, I recall you and others saying that in another thread. I am curious to find out what the manufacturer has to say about it. At the very least maybe it'll influence a design change.

 

[erkme73]

Hmmm.... I just found something concerning. As I was reviewing the passenger side clips, I found several older 'locked' ones that went as far back as 8/6 - while I was still using the original under-powered regulator. One (out of about 7) had that same very loud, distorting warble/garble that the front camera had. It starts about 30 seconds into the clip. That's exactly how the front camera audio started as well - crystal clear initially, then the noise.

That tells me it's unrelated to the power supply - or at a minimum, predates the new supply. It may just be a 'glitch' of the 0806 where sometimes the audio gets trashed.

This'll be a nightmare to diagnose, as it appears to be very infrequent, and I have a ton of external variables that might be causing it to happen. That, and I hardly ever pull the cards to replay videos.

I'll have to bank on the problem being so infrequent, that it'll never happen to more than one camera at a time, so I'll always have good audio from the other cameras - should one go nuts when it's critical. Ugh...

 

[RavenManiac]

That is weird.

You would think the manufacturer would have discovered all of these issues we're posting prior to releasing this model. I mean they're supposed to be the dash cam experts and a lot of these problems are not only reproducible, they're obvious.

 

[erkme73]

I'm detecting sarcasm. I'm still not finding fault (yet). I can only imagine that there are a number of things that can cause my issue which manufacturer testing (if they did any) might not discover. I'm not a software/hardware engineer, so I can't appreciate what has to happen for everything to fire just right - but just like sometimes when you make a cell phone call, you get garbled audio, maybe the same thing can happen when a camera starts up. If the voltage glitched, or [fill in the blank] happens, that once in a blue-moon oddity can cause the gears not to mesh.

Today was the first time I discovered it, and it was only on a single clip (aside from a one-month old locked clip). Albeit, that clip was an 1.5 hours long without a shutdown. Perhaps turning off the camera and restarting would have resolved it. You would certainly think if this was a design issue, or a systemic problem, I wouldn't be the only one complaining about it. So far, I haven't seen anyone mention over-driven, distorted audio.

 

[RavenManiac]

I would agree that what we're doing (in terms of powering these devices) is not standard. However, the background noise that sounds like a disk writing operation is, and other manufacturers have indicated they had similar problems until the redesigned their devices. I don't mind helping the manufacturer field test their products, but it would be nice if they offered us some kind of a new model upgrade discount for doing so.

 

[erkme73]

Agreed. I'm only talking about the noise that I've experienced that obliterates any other audio in the vehicle. It literally sounds like someone giving the microphone a hummer.

 

[RavenManiac]

In fact, wouldn't that be a novel idea? Why doesn't the manufacturer send the next model (0826, 0901, or whatever they're calling it) to the more active Mini 0806 enthusiasts on this forum and have us field test it for them.

 

[RavenManiac]

Agreed. I'm only talking about the noise that I've experienced that obliterates any other audio in the vehicle. It literally sounds like someone giving the microphone a hummer.

Well that was descriptive. LOL

 

[erkme73]

Yeah, that came out wrong...

 

[erkme73]

After a 80 mile RT, with stop at the halfway point to swap the cameras back to their original positions, I've determined that the problem is not the power supply, the volt/ammeter, or any other external source of interference. On the outbound portion of the trip, neither camera had any audio interference. But, on the return, where the front camera was back in the front position, I did have intermittent noise. At one point I actually fiddled with the camera, twisting it on the mount - since the mount looked like it was sagging to the right from the weight of the camera. During that moment, the noise stopped.

I've also noticed a very faint flicker of the screen that stops flickering when I put pressure on the camera. It only happens if I'm powering through the mount. This tells me it's likely that same poor contact with the mount pins. This may be a bigger issue than I initially suspected. I'm going to remove all cameras and give the contacts a thorough cleaning.

 

[RavenManiac]

With me, there was some type of residue on the contacts of the cigarette lighter I installed, which I removed with rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip, so perhaps that'll work. I also read that sometimes the contact will lose pressure. One guy, somewhere on this forum, even opened the mount and was able to add a small piece of foam behind the contacts to make sure the pressure was adequate.

 

[RavenManiac]

Found it! It was a YouTube video:

I actually have been conversing with Brandon, the guy who posted the video, about a cooling fan customization he attempted on the Mini 0803. Regrettably, it didn't work, but it was an interesting idea:

 

[scubakid]

Could it be your cell phone? see if making a call adds the audio issue, the output from these divices can cause all sorts of strange things to happen if the other device is not correctly shielded, especialy if in poor

John

 

[erkme73]

Could it be your cell phone? see if making a call adds the audio issue, the output from these divices can cause all sorts of strange things to happen if the other device is not correctly shielded, especialy if in poor

John

That's a great comparison - especially the older analog cell phones and how they used to cause audio clicking and buzzing on speakers anywhere near them when they were in use or pining a tower. But no, that's definitely not it. I'm certain, because for the 30 minutes that the cameras stay on after I leave the vehicle (engine off, phone with me, no other electronics on) the buzzing continues at the same amplitude and pitch. The only thing that makes it stop is when I put pressure on the camera to where it gets a better contact with the mount. I did it several times during the drive and each time the buzzing stopped. As soon as the cameras returned to its resting position, the buzzing started.

I think the whole concept of removing the camera from the mount, and extra mounts in other vehicles is one of those "good on paper" ideas. But when executed, it only introduces another failure point. Those spring-loaded pins in the mount are not accessible from the back side - I tried that when I had one pin that wouldn't extend. Either there's not enough pressure on the pins to make a sold contact with the mating surface on the camera, or there's corrosion/dirt/production oils in the way. Given that I never remove the cameras (unless troubleshooting), I may just hardwire the mount to the camera if it comes down to it.