Camera Frustrations Continue

[Joe Zuffoletto]

I typically fly long cross countries - 2.5 hours or more per leg. All I want to do is to film each flight in its entirety - takeoff to touchdown - for later reference and entertainment. A camera mounted on the steel tubing above my compass, looking down over the nose, is the vantage point I want.

 

I've experimented with every model of the GoPro (including the latest Hero3 Black Edition) and the NFlightcam+. I like the NFlightcam because it really does minimize the prop effect in most conditions, which the GoPro does not. It's also much easier to mount.

 

According to Contour (the makers of the camera) and NFlightcam (the outfit that adds the lens that reduces prop effect), I should be able to film indefinitely (or until my memory card fills up) with the camera plugged into ship power, so I bought the Contour car adapter for this purpose.

 

4 trips later I have encountered mostly failure, with the exception of my most recent Denver-El Paso leg, which filmed flawlessly. On every other occasion either the camera doesn't start, or it starts and then prematurely quits. I just can't figure out why.

 

Before my most recent trip to Cabo, I did a lot of experimenting at home and discovered that if I installed a fresh battery, then started the camera on battery power before plugging in the car charger a couple minutes later, everything seemed to work fine. I made 3 different 3-hour movies with no problems. However, after filming the battery would be almost totally discharged and I couldn't make another movie until recharging it. I thought the car charger would keep the battery charged but apparently not. So I ordered a second battery so I would have both legs of my trip covered.

 

Leaving Denver, I started the camera shortly after takeoff on battery power only. Once I determined filming had begun, I plugged in the car charger. The rest of the trip to El Paso filmed flawlessly.

 

Before leaving El Paso, I switched to the second battery (fully charged), started the camera on battery power once in position on the runway, then plugged in the car charger after getting safely established in my climb after takeoff. Everything seemed to be working OK. After landing in Cabo I discovered that I had filmed... absolutely nothing. The camera apparently never started, even though their iPhone app indicated it was filming the entire trip.

 

This can't be this difficult. Maybe there's something wrong with the power plug in my aircraft. I guess I'll try to test that next.

 

Meanwhile, has anyone else had consistent success filming 2+ hour flights with the NFlightcam+?

[rbridges]

could it be due to voltage output from your plane?  I thought someone started a thread talking about how much amperage is put out by the cigarette lighters.  It was enough to keep an ipad going but not really charge it.  Could your camera being drawing more than your plane can put out?  I know your plane is more modern than mine and 28 vs 14v, but I didn't know if the alternator was capable of putting out more.

 

just a guess.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

could it be due to voltage output from your plane?  I thought someone started a thread talking about how much amperage is put out by the cigarette lighters.  It was enough to keep an ipad going but not really charge it.  Could your camera being drawing more than your plane can put out?  I know your plane is more modern than mine and 28 vs 14v, but I didn't know if the alternator was capable of putting out more.

 

just a guess.

 

I think this is the right line of thinking. Either there is a voltage/amperage mismatch, or it could be as simple as a loose connection causing power to be lost intermittently as the plane vibrates in flight.

[rbridges]

I think this is the right line of thinking. Either there is a voltage/amperage mismatch, or it could be as simple as a loose connection causing power to be lost intermittently as the plane vibrates in flight.

 

run that setup in your car and see how it does on a decent length drive.  At least you can eliminate the camera as the culprit.

[JaredDavis]

I use a ContourGPS w/o connection to the airplane power.  The battery usually lasts about 1:40 for me. 

 

Did you try re-formatting the card? http://help.contour.com/customer/portal/articles/251040-how-do-i-format-the-microsd-card-

 

Charge the battery just prior to the flight. The battery does seem to lose a full charge after a day or two. I manually start it since the iphone app was always a little buggy for me.

 

Settings (from my memory)  gps at 2hz, 720p  "Med"

 

Hope this helps.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Thanks, Jared. I do format the card before each trip and also start with freshly charged batteries. All good advice.

 

Like you, I think I'll ditch the iPhone app. It LIES!

[Oscar Avalle]

Thanks, Jared. I do format the card before each trip and also start with freshly charged batteries. All good advice.

Like you, I think I'll ditch the iPhone app. It LIES!

I don't use the ship's power. With batteries I get about tw hours of power. The ships power is not stable enough.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[bumper]

It could be that your ships power provided to the camera is intermittent due to a poor connection. Not sure if the Contour has a pilot LED so you can tell if external DC power is on. In any case, you can try unplugging the camera momentarily to see if that replicates the symptom of turning off recording, even after power is reapplied.

 

If ship's power is unstable, that's most likely due to an electrical connection rather than the electrical system itself, otherwise avionics would be going goofy as well. Cigarette lighter jacks are notorious for not always providing a reliable connection, mostly relying on friction to hold the plug in position. It can be hit and miss as to whether a plug will fit tightly or too loose to stay in good contact. One way to get around this is to use a large rubber band or hook and loop (Velcro, double sided) to hold the plug solidly in the jack . . . at least this is often feasible if the jack is mounted to a bracket.

 

bumper