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My New Mobius Dashcam


mixmasterlooney
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Kelly Comms... no surprises there then! Its a good quality image!

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Video quality looks great. I like that your mirror isn't in the way. That van driver made me chuckle

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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Hey,

Just thought I'd post this.. I have been reading about fitting a capacitor to the camera. So have ordered from here:

http://www.banggood.com/Super-Capacitor-For-The-Mobius-Action-Sport-Camera-p-918122.html

(cheapest I can find from approved seller)

In summary, batteries are known to fail through intense heat in a car, a capacitor does not overheat and when power is disconnected from camera saves the last file before shutting down. Plus there is no chance of the battery leaking/exploding. The Mobius camera battery will generally fail to charge after a year because of the constant power that's being put to it. A capacitor works different

There's a lot of people converting online, it's easy to do, see here:

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2014/2/24/using-a-mobius-camera-and-some-accessories-to-make-my-ideal.html

(even techmoan recommends a capacitor for dash cam use)

Forgot to mention, if you use discount code b185f7 it knocks an additional 5% off any product across the site. Every little helps.

There Mobius stuff is pretty cheap:

http://www.banggood.com/buy/Mobius.html

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When purchasing mine I did think about a super capacitor however decided not to. The camera cannot be used like a battery for mobile recording not that its of any important as a dashcam but there are other issues as a result.

Firmware updating becomes an issue too

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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Personally I like the idea of being able to take it out of the car and use it as a video camera/still camera in case I don't have my mobile to hand and need to take pictures of something!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Ford OC mobile app

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I have purchased one as only like £3 but I don't think I will use it, I like the fact I can continue to record for a short while and also I just connect my phone and copy any vids I want to keep while still in situ in the car, wouldnt be ablento do this with the capacitor. Will have to see how things go with heat in the summer.

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Got my 3m micro usb kit today and it looks good.

What I previously thought was a transformer for the wiring kit isn't actually a transformer, it's actually an inline fuse that appears to be 1A.

The transformer part of the wiring is enclosed in plastic made from the same material as other parts of the cable.

I had a generic 12V adaptor in my scrap box - tested it and it works fine. Pried off the metal DC jack on the other end, and soldered it to the connections of the cable higgsy bought.

Come testing time - FAIL. Once plugged into the 12V socket, the mobius dashcam just kept flashing random LED colors - red, blue and yellow. Also, the "transformer" section of the cable seems to be emitting a high pitched whining noise while operating.

It seems like the cable transformer may be faulty - but not 100% sure. Higgsy - any success with yours yet?

I think the inline fuse is your problem, the fuse is spring loaded and it is possible that fuse isn't seated correctly hence a bad connection this would account for the buzzing sound.

The buzzing sound is called chattering and that is when electricity ark through air over a short distance forming a connection. This normally happens with loose connections

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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Just cut the inline fuse out anyway not needed as you have got the fuse on the piggy back adapter.

The only down side of this cable is the transformer part is about 15 cm from the mini USB jack meaning you don't get a massive amount of cable to play with if you want the transformer hidden.

I ended up buying an extension cable for the mini usb to give a little more leeway on the cable

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Ford OC mobile app

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This is the final fix on mine

IMG_20140307_155043_zpsv1kpdzs4.jpg

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Ford OC mobile app

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Looks tidy James!

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When purchasing mine I did think about a super capacitor however decided not to. The camera cannot be used like a battery for mobile recording not that its of any important as a dashcam but there are other issues as a result.

Firmware updating becomes an issue too

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

FW updating is no issue with capacitor, I wondered this too. You keep it plugged in when updating with the GUI

I received my camera today, took one week from china, thought that was pretty impressive :)

Currently on charge :)

I won't fit the capacitor straight away, I may swap it depending on season and when the heat rises. I want to be able to keep it recording in car when we go shopping to catch anyone who clips the car, a capacitor is ideal for this in hot temperatures

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Have you thought about upgrading the heat sink?

Once charged, unplug and plug back in a few times for max charge

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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I won't fit the capacitor straight away, I may swap it depending on season and when the heat rises. I want to be able to keep it recording in car when we go shopping to catch anyone who clips the car, a capacitor is ideal for this in hot temperatures

I thought the super cap was only so it could have enough power to save the current file - not run the camera for any length of time?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Ford OC mobile app

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I thought the super cap was only so it could have enough power to save the current file - not run the camera for any length of time?

My understanding too. Manual says a supercap will allow last save and keep internal clock going for 7-10 days. I can't see it giving more than 30-60 secs of video recording time. Who knows, I will get mine/test and report back here.

Manual also says don't use over 47°c. The inside of a car can get hotter than that in direct sunlight no problems, however if hot you are prob going to bang on the air con so should hopefully cool things down quick enough.

I think time will tell this summer, if it does knacker the battery due to being in a stationary hot car, they are only £3ish delivered from that banggood site to replace.

Sent from my Zetec S using the FOC for Android app

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I thought the super cap was only so it could have enough power to save the current file - not run the camera for any length of time?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Ford OC mobile app

Yes it is exactly that. What I mean is leaving it plugged into car while parked on hot day is safer with a capacitor then a battery. If the battery does leak/explode there's a chance it could leak onto circuit board therefore killing the camera.

Like I said, all depends what this summers like if I swap mine or not, like higgsy I have ordered one as it's another option.

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There is a second battery in the post for me atm as it could be faulty. Good back up having a super capacitor. I will get one myself rather than wait till boiling summer starts

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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For £3.71 it seems silly not to invest doesn't it mate!

Sent from my Zetec S using the FOC for Android app

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Got my 3m micro usb kit today and it looks good.

What I previously thought was a transformer for the wiring kit isn't actually a transformer, it's actually an inline fuse that appears to be 1A.

The transformer part of the wiring is enclosed in plastic made from the same material as other parts of the cable.

I think the inline fuse is your problem, the fuse is spring loaded and it is possible that fuse isn't seated correctly hence a bad connection this would account for the buzzing sound.

The buzzing sound is called chattering and that is when electricity ark through air over a short distance forming a connection. This normally happens with loose connections

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

Hmm, that's interesting. You might be right, thanks for the input.

Yesterday though, I ripped it all out, and installed some new cabling that the dash-cam seller sent to me.

I've tested it out on a few drives recently, and it seems to be working fine so far. I also hid the wiring underneath the glove-box and center console, so its much neater. I intend on keeping it this way, perfectly happy with my setup now. :)

A couple of additional things I am pondering about now:

1) I was wondering whether it was safe to leave the dashcam in the car in its mounted position. (Very similar to your's and James' in terms of visibility.) I park on the street and leave the car up to 5/6 days at a time. Relatively safe street though.

Do you guys keep yours in the car permanently?

2) I too like Byron have been thinking about installing a capacitor further down the line, as the battery starts getting older. The heat will eventually take its toll I'm guessing.

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I leave mine in all the time, you would have to be looking for the cam to notice it really, I think if there were cables all over the shop then it would be a different story. I live on a safe street with no real through traffic, but car us in use daily and is parked in a secure works car park when Me or the Mrs are at work.

I tend not to park in dodgy areas, but if I did I may take it out.

I think if the car was sat for 5 days at a time I would probably take it out for that time to be honest

Sent from my Zetec S using the FOC for Android app

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My road is dodgy not the safest of place. Plenty of cars have been broken into just because of a satnav mount on the windscreen.

I feel rather safe leaving it permanently fixed, that is one of my reasons i got this cam. It isn't very obvious from the outside and if someone does spot it they won't know if its running or not, would be daft breaking into such a car.

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Good news everyone.

Wired in my dashcam today, it was very easy and fast 30mins. Looks alot better than I imagined. Will post up a guide as I think it would be very helpful to others.

As james previously said the transformer part is close to the micro usb plug, and might be a bit fiddly.

On my car it is partially visible but I can live with it

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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Also I reckon a would be thief would think the car could be undercover Five-O if they saw the cam neatly fitted. :lol:

Sent from my Zetec S using the FOC for Android app

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Added to my eBay list James. I might just be able to get away without it : - )

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dashcam #1 all done, hard wired in. Bit of the transformer showing but no biggy.

dashcam #2 rear view coming soon...

Sent from my automated robot M1X-M4573R-700N3Y

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