KeyFob sound & video camera stuff

[robsmorgan]

I have been asked for operatiing information about the (circa £8) KeyFob colour & sound video camera I used for filming my railway (YouTube link below)
I thought it might be useful to post a non - gobble-dee-goop version of my own.... based on actual use and not translated from Mandarin or similar

Regards
Rob

 

[MRail]

Rob, Thanks for the info.

I was a little wary of the £8 price tag, so I bought one from a UK security firm @ £24.97 + post. (yes - don't say it)

I'm having the devil's own job to get it working.
It came with no card - eMail to the firm says phone our help line - 0844... premium rate?
So, as a start, how long does it take to charge? Mine had a couple of hours last evening, and 4h this morning.
Did yours come with a card? Does it have any internal memory?

Grateful for any tips...

 

[robsmorgan]

Hi Rob (G)

Rob, Thanks for the info.

I was a little wary of the £8 price tag, so I bought one from a UK security firm @ £24.97 + post. (yes - don't say it)

I'm having the devil's own job to get it working.
It came with no card - eMail to the firm says phone our help line - 0844... premium rate?

Suggest you return it by 'sign for' system for a full refund - threaten seller with bad feedback & possibly deal through PayPal because (if it's the same UK company I saw on ebay) advert stated price included 4Gb card (they cost anything from £15 upwards retail)

So, as a start, how long does it take to charge? Mine had a couple of hours last evening, and 4h this morning.

I have only charged mine for about an hour before using for half an hour or so and it seems fine on that!

Did yours come with a card?

The ones from China/Singapore/etc don't have cards included - try this link for reasonable prices (but don't buy the card adapter without a card by mistake!!!!)

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=6&type=6025&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp= < Link To http://www.7dayshop.com/c...mp;go=SEARCH&comp=

Does it have any internal memory?

My Life, the boy wants blood as well...... sorry for my sense of humour! no internal memory but at £2.99 +p&p and with 2Gb cards from around £4 inc p&p that seems OK to me.

Grateful for any tips...

Keep trying and ask again if I haven't helped here!

Regards
Rob

 

[robsmorgan]

Rob seems to be on a winner tho' by the video he put out.

Thanks Ross

I did buy another two - just in case/spares (came from Singapore this time) and they work exactly as my first one does, even have a slightly better instruction leaflet - it's in colour

Regards
Rob

p.s. It might be useful to refer to my 'Film to go with hello' thread in G Scale Videos, as there are some useful contributions re suppliers, etc.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Thanks Rob, that should help a LOT. Mine also came with no card, I got one at Radio Shack, they happened to be on sale, did cost more than the camera though! I have a Mac, but seem to be able to pluck the video off the card. I hope it does charge okay. Anxious to try it out on a train, I have no videos of the train going around my layout.
thanks! Jerry

 

[MRail]

[align=center]£24 and still not working?

Should have gone to China


[/align]

Now come on - I did say "(OK don't day it)"

 

[MRail]

[align=center]£24 and still not working?

Should have gone to China


[/align]

Now come on - I did say "(OK don't day it)"

Blimey - I even got that wrong as well!! "(yes - don't say it)"

 

[robsmorgan]

Thanks Rob, that should help a LOT. Mine also came with no card, I got one at Radio Shack, they happened to be on sale, did cost more than the camera though! I have a Mac, but seem to be able to pluck the video off the card. I hope it does charge okay. Anxious to try it out on a train, I have no videos of the train going around my layout.
thanks! Jerry

Glad to be able to help Jerry, let me know how you get on..... or at least flag up the resulting footage!
We have PC World here - a tad like Radio Shack but the prices aren't always as good as they say. I use a place in Jersey UK (see link above, they tend to be better than most around here

Regards
Rob

p.s. enjoyed some of the tracks on your Jukebox - Especially Buddy Holly

 

[Jisonga]

I got mine yesterday, thanks again for the links from other posts about this little gadget.

I think mine was just under £7 all in and it took about 2 weeks to arrive, which i was advised about via email from seller so not a real problem.

I popped in a 2gig card i had from an old mobile turned it on and it worked within two mins of opening packaging.

I have since then given it about and hours worth of charge via PC while sorting out pics and video footage and it seems to be working fine and has plenty of charge.

The only thing is i can't get the date and time to update. In the some what poorly translated instructions it mentions something about creating a txt file with correct time and date and then adding this to root folder of Micro SD card and then next time you turn on the unit it will use this data to update time and date settings, but i have had no luck with this at all so could anyone help shed some light on this please.

Look out for some footage on my youtube channel over the coming weeks using this great little bit of kit.

Jason.

 

[robsmorgan]

The only thing is i can't get the date and time to update. In the some what poorly translated instructions it mentions something about creating a txt file with correct time and date and then adding this to root folder of Micro SD card and then next time you turn on the unit it will use this data to update time and date settings, but i have had no luck with this at all so could anyone help shed some light on this please. Look out for some footage on my youtube channel over the coming weeks using this great little bit of kit.
Jason.

Glad you received yours OK Jason, I tried to write a .txt file with the correct date/time but in reality, that would only be as good as the length of the last battery charge..... I gave up and inserted the text panel on the finished video footage edit

Looking forward to watching your 'on board' film

edit..... just fully tested my two additional fob cameras, one slight problem with micro SD card not clicking in.... BUT the other is perfect and doesn't have the date/time stamp YIPEE!!

Regards
Rob

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Rob,
I got a great video, it's over on the video forum. Your directions helped a lot. On my camera the video light only blinked once or so, then no light, but it recorded fine. Got it off the card, using the adaptor that came with it, and did the video on my Mac, struggled some with the new iMovie program, but it did have a place to click on to get rid of the time/date thing, which was off anyway! THANKS again!
Jerry

 

[robsmorgan]

Rob,
I got a great video, it's over on the video forum. Your directions helped a lot. On my camera the video light only blinked once or so, then no light, but it recorded fine. Got it off the card, using the adaptor that came with it, and did the video on my Mac, struggled some with the new iMovie program, but it did have a place to click on to get rid of the time/date thing, which was off anyway! THANKS again!
Jerry

Thanks for your generous comments Jerry, like your film, can't wait for the next..... noticed the lack of date/time.... your editing work?


Best wishes
Rob

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Thanks Rob, the iMovie program that came on my new iMac has a place to click to get rid of the date/time. Could not get the titles section to work though, could on the older version, darned 'puters!

 

[robsmorgan]

Thanks Rob, the iMovie program that came on my new iMac has a place to click to get rid of the date/time. Could not get the titles section to work though, could on the older version, darned 'puters!

That's a useful facility.... does it digitally 'restore' the hidden scene or simply enlarge the screen to drop the inset stuff off the bottom?

Rob

 

[Jerry Barnes]

No clue Rob, I'll have to look and see. I still have the original movie on the chip, I think!

 

[MRail]

Update...

Finally got my Micro SD card from 7 Day Shop.

Camera works OK.

Just need to figure out the date business - I guess the .TXT file is hidden.

Going to take a look at the other links.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[MRail]

Just had a few minutes play with the camera.
Rubber banded on the bonnet of my Baguley got quite a good video - not up the standard of the "real" Canon, but pretty impressive.

Have since managed to re-set the date/time as shown in the linked site.

Now quite happy (except for paying too much!)

 

[robsmorgan]

Just had a few minutes play with the camera.
Rubber banded on the bonnet of my Baguley got quite a good video - not up the standard of the "real" Canon, but pretty impressive.

Have since managed to re-set the date/time as shown in the linked site.

Now quite happy (except for paying too much!)

Where have you posted the footage Rob?

Rob (the other)

 

[MRail]

Sorry Rob, I didn't post it, I didn't think it serious enough.

Since then I've been playing quite a bit.
Mounted on a newly built underframe, it's a very useful tool for observing behaviour of bogies etc over points.

After a couple of days repeated filming & charging, it stopped holding charge, switched off & lost video files mid-run.
Looking at the link you posted, he suggests the USB cables are not too good - so I've changed mine & things improved.

I've also used the link to the time stamp removal plug-in and it works quite well, but takes a fair bit of post-processing.

I'll look for some decent files to post.

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[MRail]

Just had a few minutes play with the camera.
Now quite happy (except for paying too much!)

Where have you posted the footage Rob?

Rob (the other)

Hello Rob (& all),

Sorted some clips and posted 3 to YouTube:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UJxuZlNRHU MR Key Fob Trial 1 camera on HLW 4w truck behind bogie chassis on test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8SEfxJ0GvA MR Key Fob Trial 2 including speedo car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZWqjdJVQog MR Key Fob Trial 3 camera on bogie car in front of loco.

These are under my username of "Muddledale" along with numerous other views of my line and other "big" railways.