New toy



Paul George wrote:

>On 21 May, 23:10, Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I used some duracell batteries, and got about 10 min recording time out
>> of them. They were where I keep new batteries, but not in a packet, so I
>> am wondering if I had preused them in something else.


>That's interesting, I had pretty much the same experience.
>The low battery warning came on after about 30min with what
>I thought were new Duracell Procells.
>The rest of the cells in the box all read >1.45v under a 0.5A
>load which suggests they are new.


Alkalines are not well suited to digital cameras. Something to do with
the high current drain. Alkalines can push out low currents for ages
but higher drains exhaust them relatively quickly, despite what that
bunny implies. You are better off with some NiMh rechargables.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"
 
On 21 May, 23:10, Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:

> I used some duracell batteries, and got about 10 min recording time out
> of them. They were where I keep new batteries, but not in a packet, so I
> am wondering if I had preused them in something else.
>


That's interesting, I had pretty much the same experience.
The low battery warning came on after about 30min with what
I thought were new Duracell Procells.
The rest of the cells in the box all read >1.45v under a 0.5A
load which suggests they are new.
 
the.Mark wrote on 21/05/2007 11:29 +0100:
>
> I'm thinking about getting one of these. I noticed in the video
> that the number plate on the car in front was unreadable, is it
> any better at other settings for reading number plates?


You should be able to get decent number plate readable pictures out of
it. Ian Jackson in Cambridge runs the Oregon Scientific version of what
is clearly the same camera and gets very good results where the
numberplates are clearly readable. The details and some sample videos
are at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell
 
In article <[email protected]>, Tony Raven wrote:
>the.Mark wrote on 21/05/2007 11:29 +0100:
>>
>> I'm thinking about getting one of these. I noticed in the video
>> that the number plate on the car in front was unreadable, is it
>> any better at other settings for reading number plates?

>
>You should be able to get decent number plate readable pictures out of
>it. Ian Jackson in Cambridge runs the Oregon Scientific version of what
>is clearly the same camera and gets very good results where the
>numberplates are clearly readable. The details and some sample videos
>are at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/


Though in http://groups.google.co.uk/group/cam.transport/msg/c3128a480a34ba59?hl=en&
he says
"Using the camera to record registration plate numbers will be
difficult unless the lighting conditions are good and the distances
small, and because the audio track is so useless merely calling out
the number won't help. I'll have to keep to pencil and paper.
 
Alan Braggins <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, Tony Raven wrote:
>>the.Mark wrote on 21/05/2007 11:29 +0100:
>>>
>>> I'm thinking about getting one of these. I noticed in the video
>>> that the number plate on the car in front was unreadable, is it
>>> any better at other settings for reading number plates?

>>
>>You should be able to get decent number plate readable pictures out of
>>it. Ian Jackson in Cambridge runs the Oregon Scientific version of what
>>is clearly the same camera and gets very good results where the
>>numberplates are clearly readable. The details and some sample videos
>>are at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/


> Though in http://groups.google.co.uk/group/cam.transport/msg/c3128a480a34ba59?hl=en&
> he says
> "Using the camera to record registration plate numbers will be
> difficult unless the lighting conditions are good and the distances
> small, and because the audio track is so useless merely calling out
> the number won't help. I'll have to keep to pencil and paper.


They ought to have a mic input jack. Then you could use a mic with a
proper wind muffler, or a throat mike for adding your own spoken
notes, etc..

--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
 
In article <[email protected]>, Chris Malcolm wrote:
>Alan Braggins <[email protected]> wrote:
>> In article <[email protected]>, Tony Raven wrote:
>>>
>>>You should be able to get decent number plate readable pictures out of
>>>it. Ian Jackson in Cambridge runs the Oregon Scientific version of what
>>>is clearly the same camera and gets very good results where the
>>>numberplates are clearly readable. The details and some sample videos
>>>are at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/bikecams/

>
>> Though in http://groups.google.co.uk/group/cam.transport/msg/c3128a480a34ba59?hl=en&
>> he says
>> "Using the camera to record registration plate numbers will be
>> difficult unless the lighting conditions are good and the distances
>> small, and because the audio track is so useless merely calling out
>> the number won't help. I'll have to keep to pencil and paper.

>
>They ought to have a mic input jack. Then you could use a mic with a
>proper wind muffler, or a throat mike for adding your own spoken
>notes, etc..


That would be nice. Maybe use an MP3 player with mic in and sync later?

Google does find this description of how to improve the sound recording
by sacrificing the waterproofing:
http://helmetcameracentral.com/2006...ic-atc2k-atc-2000-helmet-camera/#comment-2083
 
Martin Dann wrote:
> Paul George wrote:
>
>> It's 3v 2w so you should get around 4 hours from a
>> set of 2700mAH AA rechargables.

>
> I have just bought some 2.5 AH NiMHs.


I have got four hours from these, and they are not flat yet.
 
On Sun, 20 May 2007 23:50:34 GMT,
Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:
> I bought a new toy for my bike, it arrived Saturday, I fitted it Sunday
> for my trip to work.
>
> http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360027852
><action cam ATC 2000>
>
> Footage from the toy:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKtTH1uuXBE
>
> This was filmed at 320*240 at 15fps, the camera goes up to 640*480 at
> 30fps.
> I am very impressed with it (apart from the battery life).
>

I've got one too :) I've been having a few problems with it that turned
out to be it not liking my jessops SD card that I had lying around. It's
working now with a "no-name" card that I've pinched out of something
else.

I'm still working on getting the video into a usable format but here's
95 seconds of excitement from my commute today frame by frame:

http://www.woodall.me.uk/journey/20070604/index.html

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/
 
in message <[email protected]>, Tim Woodall
('[email protected]') wrote:

> I'm still working on getting the video into a usable format but here's
> 95 seconds of excitement from my commute today frame by frame:
>
> http://www.woodall.me.uk/journey/20070604/index.html


No trouble reading those number plates! How about taking this footage down
to the local police station?

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; When your hammer is C++, everything begins to look like a thumb.
 
On 21 May, 23:10, Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> I have had car drivers get irate with me because they cannot over take here.


It would be revealing to mount the camera backwards, and see what you
missed behind you on your journey.

David Lloyd (at work)