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808
Car Keys Micro Camera Review hope it can help your life safe and happiness |
happiness |
| *** Visits to this page: *** Please send comments or corrections to clohr@yahoo.com *** |
| Quick Summary |
| Q. Which 808 car keys micro camera
should I buy, and from who? A. Buy a #3 camera and a micro SD flash card. The video quality is good. The reliability is good. You will be amazed when you see the first video that you take with this camera. See the #3 Q&A below for a list of sellers and other information.  This
camera is an amazing, inexpensive, small, light weight, piece of technology.
This
camera is for you if
you are a geek or giz wiz that loves gadgets,
are an experienced PC or MAC user, have a lot of intuition, love
to solve problems, are comfortable using Google search, know the difference between a drive and a driver, can
figure out how to insert a micro SD card, know what
a lithium ion or lithium polymer battery is, can work
without an owners manual, have experience with USB devices
including flash drives and webcams, have experience with video
editing and CODECs, have a set of small screw drivers and
your program tool chest includes
gspot.exe and
virtualdub.exe.  This
camera is also an adventure, so expect fun and disappointment.
A camera reboot (reset) is sometimes a normal part of the user experience.
This is
not a consumer friendly camera,
particularly for people who are not technically inclined. No
manufacturer or reputable brand would put their name on a camera
with this low level of reliability and sparse user interface. |
| Comparison of the versions of this camera | |||||
| #1A | #1B (#1A with new bin files) |
#2 | #3 | #4 | |
 |
|
Two versions: Toshiba CPU. mTec CPU. |
 Shows micro SD slot |
|
|
| Native resolution of the internal camera assembly | 640x480 | Same as #1A | 640x480 | 640x480 | 640x480 |
| Video dimensions in the AVI file | 640x480 | Same as #1A | 640x480 | 720x480 (1) | 1280x960 |
| Photo image dimensions | 1280x1024 (2) | Same as #1A | 1280x960 | 1280x1024 (2) | 3264x2448 |
| Video aspect ratio is correct | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Photo aspect ratio is correct | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Flash memory | Internal 2/4/8 GB chip | Same as #1A | Internal micro SD
card. Not user accessible. No slot. 2/4/8 GB. |
None internal. User supplied micro SD or micro SDHC card. Up to 16 GB. | Internal flash chip or external
micro SD card. Not both. |
| Flash Memory Partitions | Three partitions. Two small partitions are for system files. One large partition is for user files (AVI, JPG). | Same as #1A | One partition. No system files on the internal flash card. |
One partition. No system files on the micro SD flash card. |
TBD |
| LED | Yellow | Yellow | Yellow | Yellow | Blue and Red |
| Date time stamp is removeable | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Audio record mode | ✓ | ||||
| Webcam driver | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Record a long video(3) |
✓ | ||||
| AVI file fps | 25 | 15 | about 29 | 30 to 30.999 | about 31 TBD |
| Duplicate Frame Rate |
Bad. More than 12 per second |
Good. Less than one per second |
Toshiba version is excellent with no duplicates. mTec version is fair with 5 per second. Burst of duplicates in the first 1/2 second. | Good. Less than 3 per second |
Bad. Measured 21 per second |
| Motion blur | Severe | Severe | Very little | Very little | Severe |
| AOV (angle of view) | 40 degrees | Same as #1A | TBD | Depends on which lens you get. 36 to 44 degrees. | TBD |
| Video date time stamp | Upper left white text (Sample) |
Upper left white text. Can be disabled. (Sample) |
Lower right orange text
(Sample) |
Lower right yellow text
(Sample) |
Lower right orange text.
Can be disabled. |
| Required orientation | My camera vertical. Others report horizontal. |
Same as #1A | Horizontal | Horizontal | TBD |
| Example seller | eBay | Same as #1A | eBay, Amazon | Amazon, eBay, eBay, eBay | TBD |
| One hour of video, billion bytes |
1.2 - 2.0 | Same as #1A | 2.4 - 3.8 | 3.2 - 4.9 | about 3.5 |
| One minute of video, million bytes |
20 -33 | Same as #1A | 40 - 63 | 54 - 82 | about 58 |
| Sample video | See my samples below | TBD | YouTube, Sample Video | YouTube | TBD |
| Audio PCM mono | 16 bit, 8000 Hz, 128kbps. | 16 bit, 8000 Hz, 128kbps. | 8 bit, 8000 Hz, 64kbps | 16 bit, 22050 Hz, 352kbps. | 8 bit, 24000 Hz, 196kbps |
| Weight without keychain | 15 grams. 10 grams without plastic case. |
same | same | same | same |
| Size | 50mm x 32m x 13mm
2” x 1.25” x 0.5” |
same | same | same | same |
| Battery, Internal Rechargeable | 3.7V LiPo (lithium polymer) | same | same | same | same |
| Battery life | Empirical about 50 minutes | Same as #1A | 1 hour of recording, 50-70 minutes. | TBD | |
| (1) Camera
#3 takes a 640x480 image and encodes it as 720x480 in the AVI
file. There is no PAR (pixel aspect ratio) property in an AVI
file and pixels are assumed to be square. If you play this file
with square pixels it will look distorted (a circle will look
like a wide oval). To avoid this distortion force the player to
4:3 DAR (display aspect ratio) or re-encode the video to a 4:3
DAR. (2) Camera #3 takes a 640x480 image and up scales it to 1280x1024 in the JPG file. This non proportional distortion makes a circle look like a tall oval. (3) After 50 minutes of video the AVI file is closed, and another video recording starts. This allows the camera to avoid the 4GB file limit. Flash size and battery life limits still apply. |
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| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Minox A/IIIs, film "spy" camera, c. 1969, used by James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" , 82x28x16 mm, 70g, $400 used (The Minox and the 808 are shown at the same scale) |
 The 808 Car Keys Micro Camera is typically advertised as a "spy"
camera. This review does not cover the suitability of this
camera for spying or surveillance, and I have no expertise
there.
My career background is with embedded microprocessors, software
and electronics. 808 car keys micro camera, "spy" camera, c. 2010, never used by James Bond, 50x32x13 mm, 15g, $20 new |
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This is a review of the 808 Car Keys Micro Camera from China that
records digital video with audio, and still images. The 808 Car Keys Micro Camera is so small, light
weight, cheap and functional that it has been enthusiastically adopted by the model RC
(radio controlled) airplane and helicopter community.
In spite of a few serious flaws in some versions of this camera
(like poor reliability, poor image quality, and a minimal human
interface), this technology is amazing.
Some cameras fail because of
defective flash memory;
see the note about counterfeit flash
memory.
Here is how I partially revived my dead #1
camera. |
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Summary of Key Features: ►There are many versions of this camera: #1, #2, #3, #4. And there are some sub versions. See below. ►The #1 is the worst camera . It has an internal flash memory chip. 3 Jan 2010 Update - The #1 camera software bin files can be updated. This improves the camera video quality and optionally removes the video date time stamp. Fake defective flash memory is still a problem. ►The #2 is much better than the #1. It has an internal micro SD flash memory card. I have questions about this camera. Please email me if you have this camera. ►The #3 is much better than the #1. It uses an removable micro SD flash memory card. ►The #4 is a mix of bad and good. It falsely claims to be an HD camera but it has some unique desirable features. Available with either internal flash chip or micro SD slot. ►No manufacturer is shown on the camera or documentation. The manufacturer is unknown, however Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd may be involved. ►The mini USB cable that comes with a camera is often unreliable, resulting in connection or battery charging problems. ►The camera is powered by an internal rechargeable LiPo battery that is recharged through the USB cable. Some batteries stop taking a charge. A charge lasts about 50 minutes, or 20 minutes in cold weather. ►The camera installs as a USB mass storage device. No software driver is required (except for Windows 98). |
►Some cameras can be used as a USB webcam. This use requires a webcam driver. Video capture programs will work with some drivers. As a webcam, the camera microphone is disabled. ►The camera maintains the date time and the user can set it. The date time is applied to each created file. Video images are date time stamped. The stamp can be disabled on some cameras. Some cameras stamp still images. The stamp can be "removed" in post processing. ►The flash memory is FAT32 file system. No single file can exceed 4GB (about 50 minutes on a #3 camera). Flash cards can be SD or SDHC and can be larger than 4GB. NTFS can't be used. ►The camera produces AVI video using the MJPG codec. You might have to install a MJPG codec to play or edit the AVI file. ►The audio in all AVI files is mono PCM. ►Some of the AVI and JPG files are slightly aspect ratio distorted due to upconverting ratio mismatch. ►To set the date time follow the rules below, exactly. ►All cameras record video with audio, or images. Some cameras also have a audio recorder mode. ►Most cameras are bought on eBay and take 2 to 4 weeks for delivery from Hong Kong or mainland China. Most ads are full of misinformation and broken English. For faster delivery and higher price, there are sellers in the USA. ►Your right to use, own, buy or sell a micro camera might be limited by the laws of your country, or the policy of a market maker like eBay. |
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Summary of Key Metrics:
|
►RESOLUTION -The camera resolution is 640x480. The JPG and AVI files are upconverted to more pixels (720x480, 1280x1024, 1280x960, 3264x2448) but not more resolution. |
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Many Versions - There are many versions of this camera: #1, #2, #3 and #4. Externally they all look very similar. All have a lens, microphone, USB connector, hole for the reset switch, two working buttons, two fake buttons, and an LED. They all have a similar plastic clam shell case and weigh about 15 grams (without the key chain). |
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● #1 has an internal flash memory chip (usually 2GB, 4GB or
8GB). The video quality is fair to poor (4 Jan 2010
update - With new software bin files
this camera works much better).
The playback stutters because about half the frames are
duplicates (the new software bin files fix this problem). The flash
memory chip has three partitions: two small partitions for
system files and one large partition for user files (AVI, JPG).
If the system files are deleted or corrupted the camera will
fail. This is a common failure because many of the #1
cameras have fake defective flash chips. The failure rate is high (YMMV) and if
a #1 camera
dies (many do) you can try
this. Many people have
reported that their camera stopped working after a few weeks,
and so did mine. I have been able to
fix the problem. There are some tricks to maybe access the
flash and offload your files by using
system mode. The date time stamp is white and in the upper
left corner. With the latest software
files this date time stamp can be optionally removed. Date time stamp, #1 camera, upper left ● #2 has a micro SD Flash card sealed inside the camera. The card is not user accessible. The video quality is good. The camera and the AVI file are both 640x480 so there is no aspect ratio distortion. The frame rate is about 29 FPS. There is a burst of duplicate frames in the first second, then it depends on which CPU the camera has. The Toshiba CPU camera measured no duplicate frames. The Mtec CPU camera measured 5 duplicates per second. The USB interface is slow. The date time stamp is in the lower right corner and the font is either orange or white. Date time stamp, #2 camera, lower right  Date time stamp, probably #2 camera, lower right |
● #3 has no internal flash but has a slot for a removable micro
SD Flash card. The video quality
is good. The failure rate is low (YMMV). The duplicate frame
rate is low. The video is AR (aspect ratio) distorted (camera AR
1.33 is up scaled to 1.50 in the AVI file). More than one lens
AOV
(angle of view) has been measured for this camera, 36°
and 44° (54mm and 45mm equivalent respectively). The various
lens coating colors (none, red, green and blue) do not seem to
correlate to anything.
The date time stamp is yellow and in the lower right corner. Date time stamp, #3 camera, lower right ● #4 is available with either an internal flash chip, or a micro SD card slot. The video quality is like the #2 camera but with a very high (bad) duplicate frame rate. The #4 claims to be HD but seems to have a native resolution of 640x480 and upconverts it to 1280x960 in the AVI file. The photo mode seems to upconvert a 640x480 image to 3264x2448 in the JPG file. In spite of this fakery, the camera has some desirable features. The date time stamp can be disabled. Long videos can be recorded because the 4GB file limit is avoided. There is an audio recorder. The aspect ratio is not distorted. There is a webcam driver. #4 camera date time stamp, lower right |
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Sub Versions - The #2 camera on screen date time stamp is orange or white. The #3 camera comes in more than one AOV (angle of view). The video quality of #2 and #3 seem to be similar, and better than #1. If you buy this camera online which version will you get? Some online sellers show sample videos that help you to make a better decision. See the table below for a comparison. My first camera was a version #1 (8GB) camera. I ordered it at an eBay auction from xprodeal and it was delivered from Hong Kong in 12 days for $23.25 with free shipping. The auction price for the 8GB camera has been $18 to $27. This camera creates a 25 fps AVI video file, but half of the frames are duplicates. This camera worked for about a month then it failed due to a defective fake flash memory chip. It has been partially revived. xprodeal (bad feedback) (list of L to Z sellers) is on a list of eBay sellers that sell products with bad flash memory. Click here for more info. My second camera is a version #3r camera. I ordered it from eBay seller joymyzone.. It was delivered from Hong Kong in 19 days for US$16.98, with free shipping. I am using an 8GB micro SDHC flash card. This camera creates a 30 fps AVI video file with only a few duplicate frames per second. The video quality is much better than my #1 camera. Here is a preliminary report. Bad USB cables - Some of these cameras have been delivered with a bad or intermittent mini USB cable. If you are having USB connection problems, try a different USB cable.+ |
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Select the detail tab. Under "hardware IDs" the VID and
PID is shown. That is the VID and PID of the webcam in you
camera, if any. You can close the Windows popup.| 2010 Feb 03 - How to Open the Internal Flash Card Socket, #2 Camera | |
 Step 1 Cover in the locked position. Slide the cover to the left about 2 mm. |
 Step 2 Cover in the unlocked position. |
 Step 3 Lift the cover. |
 Step 4 Remove the flash card. |
| 2010 Feb 03 - #2 Camera Failure, Broken Flash Socket Pin | |
| I received a dead #2 camera
from a camera owner. SYMPTOM: The camera did work, but now doesn't. When the USB cable is connected, windows now reports: One of the USB devices connected to this computer has a malfunction, and Windows does not recognize it. PROBLEM: One of the pins in the internal micro SD flash socket has broken off. Once broken, the camera died. The flash card is OK. COMMENTS: The #2 camera uses an internal micro SD card, in an internal socket that has 8 gold plated pins. A pin was probably cracked, so the camera worked for a while. These pins are usually made from a spring beryllium copper that can be brittle. Any camera that uses a micro SD flash card (#2 or #3 camera) could suffer this failure. Also, in a high vibration application (like an RC airplane) you could get some very strange results when a pin resonates, like truncated or lost AVI files if the flash card does not make good contact. REPAIR ATTEMPT: I cut the battery wire so that I could work on replacing the broken pin with the power off. I replaced the broken pin by soldering in its place a gold plated pin from a DIP IC. I repaired the cut battery wire. REPAIR RESULT: With the flash card in or out, I still get the same Windows error when connecting the USB cable. When the pin broke off it was not captive in the socket. It probably rattled around inside the camera and probably shorted something out causing permanent, unrepairable damage. Click photo for full size. |
|
 #2 camera, internal flash card, broken pin in the flash connector |
 #2 camera, internal flash card, broken pin in the flash connector |
 Repair part - Took a gold plated pin from a ceramic DIP IC to replace the socket pin. |
 Repair - #2 camera, flash card socket, soldered the DIP IC pin in place of the broken pin. |
| 2010 Feb 02 - Possible Manufacturer |
| TGF Group in china is one of the possible
manufactures of the 808 car keys micro camera. Company Name :TGF Group Co. Limited Company Address :No12 ZhongXin Road, BuJi Town, LongGang District Shenzhen, Guangdong, China 518114 Here is the webpage of their TMP808 camera. None of the cameras that I have reviewed take 1024x768 photos. TGF claims: Format: AVI/VGA video format, 640x480 pixel; JPEG photo format 1024x768 pixels. |
| 2010 Feb 01 - #3 Camera, Focusing the Lens, f = 3.14 mm | |
| CAUTION The following requires that you open the camera case. The battery and the circuit board voltages are live. Any metal object can cause a short and destroy the camera. The LiPo battery is dangerous if not handled correctly. Do this at your own risk. |
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Click images for full size  Camera #3, camera module showing glued lens ring  Camera #3, Camera Module, Glue Seal  Camera #3, lens tube, front  Camera #3, lens tube, glass plate glued to the back of the lens tube, back |
To adjust the focus you rotate
the lens ring.
Webcam mode is a convenient way to adjust the focus. Focus is one of the factors that can affect video quality. It is possible for the camera to be in focus, and still have low video quality because of some other factor. Before rotating the lens ring, use a knife to scribe a line in the camera lens ring and the camera body so you know the original setting. Place a dot of ink or "whiteout" on the lens ring as a position indicator. The lens ring is factory sealed in place with a drop or two of soft glue. To turn the ring you have to break that glue. I was able to break the glue seal on the lens ring and adjust the focus. After changing the focus, re-glue the lens ring. Otherwise, vibration might change the focus, or wobble the lens causing video distortion. A small rotation can make a big difference. On my #3 camera, a focus change from infinity to 60mm is a lens ring rotation of 120 degrees. The original focus of my camera was factory set at very close to infinity. 0.9 mm = f. The focal length of the lens. 3.14 mm = f. Calculated from AOV and sensor size. 5mm - the thread diameter of the lens tube. 0.35mm - the pitch of the threads 120 degrees - the rotation from a focus of infinity to 60mm. I get email asking if the focus can be adjusted. The internal camera module (internal lens, threaded lens ring tube, CMOS image sensor, flat cable, 24 pin connector) of both my #1 and #3 camera have the lens ring sealed with a drop of glue. This implies that the focus is factory set and sealed. For general purpose photography the focus would be set so that the far edge of the field of view is at infinity. To get the sharpest photography where most objects are at infinity, the focus should be set at infinity. The best focus for an RC airplane would be infinity. I scribed the camera and lens with a sharp knife to record the factory position. The lens ring (lens tube) is a tube that screws into the camera module housing. I turned the lens ring to break the glue seal. The glue on my camera is soft. You don't have to remove the lens tube to adjust the focus. I removed the lens tube. The lens tube is so small it is very hard to handle. Use jewelers tools if possible. Under a 10X loupe, you will see that everything is covered in dust. So when reassembling you need either a can of air or a rubber bulb to blow the dust away. A piece of dust on the CMOS sensor or the back of the lens could obscure dozens of pixels. The lens tube has a 5mm diameter thread with a thread pitch of 0.35mm (350 micrometers) measured with a 10X loupe. 0.35mm is a standard metric thread pitch. Looking at the face of the lens ring, one "hour" clockwise moves the ring in 0.02917mm (29.17 micrometers). The lens focal length is 3.14mm. See the calculations below. Small rotations make a large difference. The inside end of the lens tube has a coated glass plate glued in place, so the inside surface of the lens is sealed by this glass plate.  Camera #3, Camera module with the lens tube removed. CMOS sensor with optical image width of about 2.5mm. Threads shown. Hot melt glue holds the camera module in place. |
 Camera #3, diagram of data used to calculate the lens focal length |
The focal length of the lens can be calculated from the angle of
view (AOV) and the width of the CMOS sensor. My #3 camera
AOV measured 43.36 degrees. The sensor width is about
2.5mm. This is the math to calculate f. tan(43.36/2) = (2.5mm/2) / f. f = 3.14mm = the focal length of the lens. By observation, this is correct. The following calculations attempt to calculate the lens focal length from two focal points, and the thread pitch of the lens tube. The results, f=0.9mm, don't match reality. More work is needed to understand the problem with this math. The focal length can be calculated by adjusting the lens focus from infinity to 60mm (an arbitrary number), and knowing the rotation of the lens ring and the pitch of the lens tube threads. Optical Formulas used to calculate the focal length of the lens 1/60mm + 1/(f+x) = 1/f = 1/60 + 1/(f+0.1167) Solve for f (the focal length of the lens) 1/f = 0.01667 + 1/(f+0.1167) (f+0.1667)/f = (0.01667*f) + 0.001945 + 1 The algebra becomes this quadratic equation: 0.9833*f2 - 0.8852*f + 0 = 0 Solve this quadratic equation for f at math.com f = 0.9002 So, the lens focal length is 0.9mm. |
 Camera #3, Focus 60mm, Lens Ring 2 o'clock |
Camera #3, Focus Infinity, Lens Ring 6 o'clock |
| 2010 Jan 28 - The Best Version of the #2 Camera - Toshiba CPU |
| Conclusion - The #2 camera with the Toshiba CPU
(about 0 duplicate frames per second) is the best #2 camera. The #2 camera also comes with an mTec CPU
(about 5 duplicate frames per second). See duplicate frames. Matt has had two #2 cameras; A Toshiba CPU version and an mTec CPU version. The Toshiba version was damaged in an RC crash. Matt disassembled both cameras and moved the Toshiba camera flash card to the mTec camera. He took a test video with the mTec camera to see if the better performance followed the flash card. It did not. The test video averaged 5 duplicates per second. I don't know the size and speed rating of the flash cards. From this experiment I conclude that the flash card from the Toshiba CPU #2 camera did not improve the performance of the mTec CPU #2 camera. |
| 2010 Jan 22 - Cool. Silent. Winter. UK. RC Glider. #3 Camera. |
| Here is a very cool quiet RC video taken with a #3 camera at Richmond Park by JonyEpsilon. See this DLG (Discus Launched Glider) thread FlyQuiet.co.uk. "It is possible to achieve launch heights of greater than 140 feet (43 m), with the top fliers exceeding 200-foot (61 m) high launches". |
| 2010 Jan 21 - Speculating about Software Architecture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Here is my speculation about the software architecture of the 808 car keys
micro cameras. This is controversial because at this point nobody knows for
sure what the architecture is. This is pure speculation, and I
expect some differing opinions. If you know the software architecture,
or have documentation including engineering drawings or specifications, please
contact me by email. From the tear down photos, I know that the #2, #3 and #4 cameras have an 8-pin chip, unlabeled in many cameras. In the #2 camera this chip is a 1/2 megabyte serial flash memory chip with a SPI interface. In the #3 camera this chip is a 2 megabyte serial flash memory chip with a SPI interface. The other 8-pin parts are probably the same. This is a lot of non-volatile non-executable memory to put in the camera. The system software BIN files of the #1 camera are about 15 megabytes, so all of the system software would probably not fit in the serial flash chip. I speculate that this serial flash chip part holds part of the system software in the #2, #3 and #4 cameras .Every CPU has some internal executable RAM. Every camera has an external 8 megabyte executable SDRAM. The RAM is used to buffer the video frames from the camera assembly, buffer the microphone ADC audio, and buffer the writing of video frames to the AVI file in the flash memory file system, at a rate of 0.4 to 1.3 megabytes per second. The software consists of a number of subsystems:
Camera #1 Software ArchitectureFactory - The factory connects the USB cable and initiates system mode.
The BIN files are loaded into the BIN partition of the internal flash memory
chip. The camera user should never need to use system mode. Camera #2 #3 #4 Software ArchitectureFactory Scenario 1 – Before the camera is assembled, the application software
is loaded into the serial flash memory chip. The camera is
assembled. There is no system software to install. |
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| 2010 Jan 14 - Test Video Comparison of the #1 and #3 camera |
| Jamie took side-by-side videos from a #1 and
#3 camera and combined them side-by-side in this video. My experience has been that the #1 camera automatic exposure is is very washed out in bright outdoor light. Sometimes with indoor light the exposure is much better. With post processing you can adjust the brightness, contrast, and gamma to eliminate some of this exposure problem. |
| 2010 Jan 11 - Speculating about chips and software |
| I would like to know about the #3 camera
chips including the camera processor. The #3 camera processor is marked mm "SPCA1527A-HL091, WQOT 959.1, 0937". mm is the logo of Sunplus mmedia  ."evgen26" from Russian website RCDesign.ru has reported that this chip is a 32 bit ARM926EJ, 168 MHz. The #1 camera has a ANYKA AK3631B14402 processor. In 2007 ANYKA licensed ARM926EJ technology. So is the #3 processor also an ANYKA processor? Does anyone have any more information? Please send it to me. |
The #2, #3 and #4 cameras have an 8 pin SOP-8 package chip.  On the #2 it is labeled Pm25LV040, which is a 512K byte SPI serial flash memory. On the #3 camera it is sometimes labeled cFeon (Eon Silicon Solutions) and F16-100HIP, which is a 2 megabyte SPI serial flash memory. This is not executable memory since it is serial. What is the purpose of this much non-volatile memory? Hypothesis - This serial flash memory contains the camera software, or part of it. The bootstrap loader loads the software from the serial flash chip into part of the 8 megabyte SDRAM chip where it is executed. Most of the SDRAM is used as a video buffer. The video data rate is about 800 K bytes per second and needs to be buffered in the SDRAM before it is written into the flash memory card. What do you think? |
| 2010 Jan 08 - Tear Down Photos of a New #2 and #3 | |
| Matt supplied these tear down
photos of his #2 and #3 cameras. His RC videos are at
http://www.youtube.com/user/mdamttc199. Matt has had two #2 cameras. The first #2 had a Toshiba processor and died in a horrible RC crash. It does not work well because some internal parts are damaged. He bought a second #2 from a different seller (ezmobileshop) in China that showed a sample video with a green time stamp in the lower right. The camera he received has the normal orange time stamp, but the processor is an Mtec and the the internal micro SD card holder is flimsy. Also, the new #2 camera flash memory came with a virus (? viruscleaner ?), that his anti virus program caught. The new #3 camera came from Singapore and it has a Samsung SDRAM chip, and seems decent so far. ---------- A sample video from this Mtec #2 camera measured 28.821 FPS, and 5 duplicate frames per second. Matt's original Toshiba #2 camera had no duplicate frames after the first second. A photo was used to measure the AOV (angle of view) to be 40.7 degrees. The photo has a date time stamp on it. Click a photo for full size. |
|
 #2 Camera. Internal micro SD card with flimsy card holder, Mtec processor, microphone, USB connector. Foam in the upper right corner to stabilize the camera. The 8 pin chip in the SOP-8 package is a Pm25LV040 chip which is a 512K byte serial flash memory. |
 #2 Camera. Socketed camera assembly, power button, mode button, RAM chip, LED. |
 #3 Camera, 8 megabyte SDRAM, the 8 pin SOP-8 package marked cFeon (Eon Silicon Solutions) is probably a |
 #3 Camera, soldered camera assembly, power button, mode button, processor, LED. |
| 2010 Jan 06 - Camera #4 - HD ??? 1280x960 ??? | |
 #4 camera |
|
I received email about an 808 car keys micro camera described as: "Mini DV - This is the first keyring type HD camera in the world". I have a sample video file and a sample photo file from this camera. CON - The HD claims for this camera seem to be fake. The native resolution of the internal camera assembly is probably 640x480 and is upconverted in the AVI file to HD 1280x960. Photos seem to be upconverted from 640x480 to 3264x2448. This AVI video produced by this #4 camera suffers from a very high duplicate frame rate that results in jerky video motion. PRO - In spite of this fakery, this camera offers a few unique features not found in some other camera versions: ● the ability to enable or disable the video date time stamp ● the camera can record video for a long time. At 50 minutes it stops and starts another recording. This avoids the 4GB files size limit. ● there is an audio recorder mode ● the AVI video and JPG photo aspect ratio (1.33) is not distorted ● there is a webcam driver FEATURES Flash Memory - Available with either internal flash chip or external micro SD flash card. Three modes - video recorder, still photo camera, audio recorder. To distinguish the 3 modes, a red and blue LED is used. Video date time stamp - can be enabled or disabled. The stamp looks like the date time stamp of a #2 camera. To enable or disable the date time stamp you create a time.txt file with one of these lines in it: 2009.01.01 12.00.00 Y 2009.01.01 12.00.00 N Webcam driver available: yes, untested. Charger: included. Long time recording feature - If the video recording gets to 50 minutes, the camera closes the AVI file and starts another video. This prevents the camera from running into the 4GB FAT32 file system limit, and allows for very long video recording, assuming you don't run into a flash memory limit or a battery limit. Example #4 Sellers (look for 1280x960 video): eBay hofasionshop 4GB and 8GB. This Wholesaler will sell to you if you ask for an invoice and pay by PayPal. |
|
SPECIFICATION CLAIMS Video: AVI MJPG 1280x960 Picture: JPG SPECIFICATION EMPIRICAL MEASURED Video: I now think that the native resolution is probably 640x480. Based on a sample video the native resolution is greater than 640x480, probably 960x720, or might be 1280x960. Needs more research. Photo: The native 640x480 resolution is upconverted to a 3264x2448 JPG file (8 megapixels). AVI file: MJPG codec, 1280x960, 31.78 FPS, 66% duplicate frame rate (One second sampled from a test video has 32 frames, 11 are unique frames and 22 are duplicate frames). AVI data rate: One test file measured 58 million bytes per minute. About the average of a #2 camera. Internal: The CPU is potted to the circuit board so there is no identification on it. The circuit board has a 4GB flash chip. At manufacturing time a micro SD card adapter can be used in place of the flash chip. So this camera could be sold with either internal or external flash memory. Audio: mono, PCM, 24000, 8 bit Chips used: 8 megabyte SDRAM chip OKI, D56V62162J-75 4x1Mx16, 4GB NAND flash chip, MT29F32... |
|
 #4 camera video frame, 1280x960. Click for full size.  #4 camera video frame, 1280x960. Click for full size. |
 #4 camera video frame, 1280x960. Click for full size. |
 #4 camera tear down showing two LEDs, camera assembly, 24 pin camera connector, power switch, mode switch and 8MB SDRAM. Click for full size. |
 #4 camera tear down showing potted CPU (black blob), microphone, USB connector and 4GB flash memory chip. Note that below the 4GB chip there are solder pads for the optional internal micro SD connector. Click for full size. |
 #4 camera photo 3264x2448. Click for full size. |
|
| 2010 Jan 04 - FYI Some engineering drawing of the #1 camera |
Here are a couple of component maps for the #1 Camera.
Click for full size. I don't have a schematic, bill of materials or
artwork.
 |
| 2010 Jan 03 - Camera #1, Date Time Stamp Removed, New Bin Files, Low Duplicate Frame Rate | ||||||||||
 #1 Camera ●Date Time Stamp Removed ●New Bin Files - Lowers the Duplicate Frame Rate |
||||||||||
| A big piece of the #1 camera puzzle
has been solved. I received an
email from Masato. He has directed me to new BIN files
for the #1 camera that removes the date time stamp, and
reduces the duplicate frame rate! I have installed the new bin files on my #1 camera and they work. I hope that they work on your #1 camera. You can choose to continue to use the current font file and have the video date time stamp overlay, or replace the font file with the "blank font" file and have no overlay. 1. VIDEO DATE TIME STAMP REMOVED - A new DynamicFont4_16.bin file has a font that is blank. This completely removes the video date time stamp overlay. The video upper left corner has no date time stamp artifacts. Even if you remove the video date time stamp, you still want to set the date time with the time.txt file because the AVI and JPG files are stamped with the date time. Some people have reported that setting the date time has fixed some unusual video length problems. 2. FRAME RATE 15 FPS, LOW DUPLICATE FRAME RATE - The frame rate in the AVI file has been reduced from 25 FPS to 15 FPS. This is good because the processor could not keep up with 25 FPS and generated many duplicate frames. The duplicate frame rate has dropped dramatically from about 12 per second to less than one per second. A new test AVI file contains 121 frames (8.07 seconds). The first 7 frames are duplicates. Then there are 4 more random duplicates in the file. Ignoring the initial duplicate group, that's 4 duplicates in 114 frames (7.6 seconds) or much less than one duplicate per second. That is a lower duplicate frame rate than a #3 camera. Use these files at your own risk. They work in my #1 camera. These are the new bin files. Use this "DynamicFont4_16.bin" file to enable display of the date time stamp overlay. There is just enough room in the bin partition for one copy of these files.
Use this file at your own risk. It works in my #1 camera. Use this file to disable display of the date time stamp overlay. The file must be renamed "DynamicFont4_16.bin" on the camera.
Installation Instructions Put your camera into system mode. Backup the camera bin files (in case you want to restore them). Replace the old bin files with the new bin files. The new files go in the camera's first partition where the bin files are. If you want to disable the date time stamp use "BlankDynamicFont4_16.bin" and rename it "DynamicFont4_16.bin" on the camera. Disconnect the USB cable. It is important now to reset the camera. |
01
Jan 2010 - #3 Camera Notes About Setting the Date Time Time Stamp| 12/30/2009 - Dan has done some research
into the tag.txt file that is used to set the date time stamp on
the gum stick camera. The gum stick camera is probably internally the same as
the #3 camera. This research is time consuming as after
each change you
have to record a few seconds of video to figure out what it did.
Here are some of Dan's findings: |
I have not been able to figure out how to turn off the time and date. The file has to be called tag.txt and has to have the "[date]" line. The file doesn't seem to care if you put the date and time on a separate line, so if you enter [date] 2009/12/29 10:10:10 that will work as long as you have spaces after [date] and after /29 Additionally, it doesn't seem to look at the 20 in 2009 it only needs two characters there so [date] 3009/12/29 10:10:10 gives the same thing as above as well as [date] aa09/12/29 10:10:10 although you can't use two spaces. It also seems to ignore the / and the : characters but you need to have a character or a space, so [date] aa09a12a29 10a10a10 works the same as above as well as [date] aa09 12 29 10 10 10 or with the addition of [date] the #1 method you could put [date] 2009.12.29 10:10:10 and that would work. The last thing is it seems to ignore anything you put after the date and time, so entering [date] 2009/12/29 10:10:10 abcdefg1234567 it will still show the time and date as you have set it. By putting in letters or bad date numbers I have found other than just wrong dates I can get it to display in slightly weird ways, but I haven't figured out what triggers this. For example I can get it to add an extra number and ":" so it might display "4/22/2099 4: 10:10:10" although I have no idea what this means yet. I have heard that with the cameras that use time.txt you can turn off the time by entering an N after the date and time like 2009.12.29 10:10:10 N I don't have one of those cameras and that does nothing with this gum stick camera. | ||||||||
| 30 Dec 2009 - Q&A About Features and Problems with the #3 Camera |
| Here are some common questions that I get
through email about the #3 camera. Two notes: Rechargeable
LiPo batteries can be dangerous if damaged, over loaded, over
charged or mishandled. Most of this Q&A does not
apply to the #1 and #2 camera. Q. Which camera should I buy? A. Buy a #3 camera. This camera can be identified by the external micro SD card, and the 720x480 AVI video file. See this video for an example of why the #3 is better than a #1 camera. The #3 has good video quality and is more reliable (YMMV). The camera is usually cheaper than a #1 or #2 because it does not come with flash memory. You provide a micro SD Flash card. The #3 comes in a number of variations but you usually don't have any choice about that and the seller does not know about it or mention it. There are at least two lens variations with different AOV (angle of view), and the circuit boards have been upgraded on some models for what purpose, I'm not sure. Don't buy a #1 camera. Many people have problems with it. Some people like the #2 camera because some versions of it it have few dropped frames and the video aspect ratio is not distorted. It is hard to identify who sells it. The #4 camera has some desirable features including an audio mode and date time stamp removal. The video color tends to be oversaturated. It comes in many variations. The variations with video frames larger than 640x480 have a bad duplicate frame rate problem. Sometimes, the #4 camera and the gumpack camera have the same electronics. Q. Who should I buy from? (100206) A. I am not endorsing any seller. I bought my #3 camera on eBay from "joymyzone" from Hong Kong (myzone50 has shipped from the same address). Here are some #3 cameras from sellers that either I have used, or people on the RCGroup forum have bought from: joymyzone, myzone50, eletoponline365, metapark. There are many other sellers. From China the total delivered cost for one camera is usually US$13 to US$19. Delivery time from China to USA is usually 2 to 3 weeks, but can be 1 to 5 weeks. If you want a camera from a USA seller in a few days for $50+, here is an Amazon seller: Amazon. With a #3 camera you need to supply a micro SD card. If you buy online don't buy from anyone on the list of eBay sellers who sell products with bad flash. Often a local sale price on a flash card is close to the online price. Whoever you buy from, you take a risk. This product is unusual in that the manufacturers don't identify themselves and many sellers know almost nothing about what they are selling. If you ask a seller a technical question they often won't know the answer. If you have to return a bad product to somewhere in Asia the delay can be a month or more. Delivery time, product quality, return policy, product cost, shipping cost, these all vary. Buy from a seller who has a good reputation and you reduce your risk of a bad experience. You don't have to buy from eBay. Google "808 car keys micro camera" to find sellers who are not on eBay. Read the RC forums to get reports from buyers. Look at the eBay seller feedback ratings. Look at the list of eBay sellers who sell products with bad flash and don't buy from them. Q. When I connect the camera as a webcam I get a new network connection. Under "Network Connections" I get "Local Area Connection 2, Microsoft TV/Video Connection". A. This is a normal part of the webcam driver. When you disconnect the webcam and reboot your computer this will go away. Microsoft Support about this. Q. When I use the camera as a webcam can I use the camera microphone as a webcam microphone? A. No. The camera microphone is disabled in webcam mode. The webcam driver is for video only, not audio. As a webcam the camera installs as two camera devices: 1. General still camera device, Sunplusmm, bulk1528.sys 2. General video camera device, Sunplusmm, sp5x_32.dll, dext1528.ax, ca1528aav.sys, and others ... Q. The USB cable that came with my camera works with my camera, but does not work with my GPS. A. It's a bad USB cable. Many of the USB cables that come with these cameras are bad. Replace the cable. Q. I just received my camera and it doesn't work. A. The camera has a rechargeable LiPo battery. When new it needs to be charged for 3 hours by connecting the USB cable. The camera will not work without a memory card (micro SD flash card). You have to supply and install a memory card. Q. The LED blinking indicates that the battery is charged or isn't charged. A. Unfortunately, the LED is not a good indication of battery charge. Connect the USB cable for a while to charge the battery ... use your own experience and judgment to decide for how long. Q. Can an 8GB micro SD card record a longer video than a 4GB micro SD card? A. A larger card can hold more video time than a smaller card, but there are four factors that can limit how much video you can record: 1. the size of the micro SD card 2. the full battery capacity is about 4GB of recording and then the battery will be pretty much discharged 3. an AVI file can't be larger than 4GB (about 50 minutes). 4GB is the file system limit. 4. the image content of the video. Like a JPG file, the MJPG AVI file size will be larger if the frames do not compress well. I have measured AVI data rates of 54 to 82 million bytes per minute (about a 50% variation). Wikipedia article about MJPG. Q. Can I record a single video longer than 4GB if I use an external battery, like a cell phone or digital camera battery? A. No. Q. Can I record a single video larger than 4GB if I format the flash as NTFS ? (100204) A. No. The flash must be FAT32. The camera will not work with NTFS. Q. Can I record more minutes of video if I use an external battery, like a cell phone or digital camera battery? A. Yes. With a large battery there are still 3 factors that limits how much you can record (see above). To connect an external battery you need to know about electronics and batteries and know how to safely handle the internal rechargeable LiPo battery. Here is an example of an external AA battery project: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13477871&postcount=432 Q. If I start to record a video, and the size of the AVI video file hits the 4GB limit, and the battery charge is still good, what happens? A. The camera stops recording, and correctly closes the AVI file. The file will be a valid AVI file and slightly smaller than 4GB. To continue video recording, you have to manually start another recording by holding the mode button. The camera will not automatically start another recording. Q. Can I operate the camera as a flight recorder, that is, so that the camera is always recording and the most recent 10 minutes will be saved to the AVI file? A. No. Q. Is there a way to prevent the camera from displaying the date time stamp on the video? A. No. It can be sort of blurred out in post processing. Q. The LED is always on, or never on. A. Reset the camera (the reset button is through the side case hole). After using your camera as a webcam, you always have to reset it. Q. Is it OK to reformat the #3 camera micro SD flash card? A. Yes. Reformatting will destroy any files on the micro SD flash card. The #3 camera does not put system files on the flash card. The micro SD flash card is only used to store the video AVI and photo JPG files. The #1 camera partitions the internal flash memory into three partitions and puts system files on two of the partitions. Reformatting a #1 camera has to be done with caution. Q. I don't know if the camera or the flash card has a problem. A. Charge the camera, disconnect the USB cable and remove the flash card. Reset the camera. Press the power button. The LED should come on, flash 35 times and then go out. If this happens then the camera is probably OK. Suspect the flash card. Q. I suspect that the flash card has a problem. A. Reformat the card (destroys any files on the card), test the card, or try a different card. Reformatting (FAT32) can be done in the camera (connect the USB cable and run Windows format on the flash card) or in an external USB flash card reader. If reformatting does not fix the problem, test the card with the H2testw program. This test will take a long time, maybe hours. Q. The camera will only operate for a few minutes. A. This could be a camera problem, a rechargeable battery problem or a flash problem. First check the camera and the flash card (see answers above about how to do this). If the camera and the flash card are OK, then the battery might be the problem, and there is no easy fix for that. The battery can be replaced, but you have to find the correct replacement battery and be qualified to open up the camera and remove and replace a LiPo battery. It would probably be better to buy a new camera. Q. Do you have new firmware for the #3 camera? Is it possible to reload the firmware? (100108) A. I don't have firmware for the #3 camera. I don't know if it is possible to reload it. Q. Do you have source code for the #3 Camera? I want to modify the source code. (100204) A. No. Q. The micro SD card won't stay in the camera. How do I insert the micro SD card? (100114) A. Looking at the button side of the camera, the SD card goes in with the gold fingers up. The card has to be pushed in farther than flush using a fingernail or a ball point pen, then it sits in the camera flush. To remove it you press it in and it pops out. If the card won't stay in by itself, then the SD card slot mechanism is broken. |
| 28 Dec 2009 - Notes about the CMOS camera assembly | |
 Sanmtech camera assembly |
I have been searching for more information about the camera assembly used in
the 808 micro camera. I found this China company
Sanmtech that
makes a number of CMOS camera assemblies including this one that looks
very much like the one used in the 808 micro camera. Their description: FPC + Golden finger, VGA/1.3M This model can avoid camera module radiation influence signal by brushing silver ink on FPC, and connected with mobile phone mainboard by golden finger. If someone has a spec sheet for this camera assembly, or the camera assembly in their 808 micro camera, please send it to me, so that I can share it with everyone. |
 Toshiba TCM8230MD 640x480 color camera assembly |
For those of you contemplating
a project with a micro camera assembly, you might want to
consider this
Toshiba TCM8230MD 640x480 camera. It uses an I2C
interface,has a
spec sheet, and is afordable ($10). This and other
higher resolution camera assemblies are available at
sparkfun.com. Here is a technical note about interfacing to this camera assembly. |
| 17 Dec 2009 - List of typical problems and reported failure modes | |
| ● Bad USB
cable. ● LiPo battery fails to take a charge. ● Bad fake defective internal flash memory chip in #1 camera. ● Corrupted system files on #1 camera. |
● Internal short circuit due
to loose components and vibration. ● Broken internal battery wire due to poor solder or vibration. ● Missing micro SD card in #3 camera. ● Micro SD card needs to be formatted. |
| 16 Dec 2009 - #3 Tear Down, V2 and V4. Internal Short Circuit Problem. | |
| Photos and comments from Michael503. He provides these interesting tear down photos of two variations of the #3 camera. The two different circuit boards are marked V2 and V4 respectively. The older V2 camera died due to a short circuit as noted on the photo. Click images for full size. | |
 |
 |
| Back side of two #3 cameras: 0006 V2 and 0006 V4. Shows two different component layouts. | Front side (the button side) of two #3 cameras, 0006 V4 and 0006 V2. |
|
My first camera was a #3, red tinted lens, although the tint changed once you got it out of the case. It died after about 10 mins of video. I suspect the battery wire, which were attached close together and directly behind the camera shorted out on the metal back of the camera due to the vibrations it encountered mounted on my Trex 500. They were soldered haphazardly. It had a 200ma battery inside, the battery was labeled. I ordered another one from a different vendor and the lens has a blue tint. As you can see, the components on the board have been rearranged. The number codes on the boards would seem to indicate production dates. Audio quality seems a tad better with the new one, which has a plastic cover on the mic. The camera came with a generic charger. The battery has some stock numbers, but is the same size as the 200ma battery in the other camera. I pointed out the flaws I saw when I opened the second one up. I have since corrected those. The cameras are not secured to the circuit board. A small dab of hot glue holds them in place so you can get it into the case, but once there, they are free to rattle around a bit. There are indexing standoffs cast into the case that hold the camera, but its still loose. I added a very small amount of foam packing to secure it better. This should help with areal videography a bit. ---------- The coating on the lens may appear as different colors when viewed at different angles. Its possible that the lens position in the lens housing has something to do with this. When charging via computer, the LED never flashes (even when transferring files) and the LED never goes out. There is no way to tell if its fully charged or not, at least none that I have found. When charging via the supplied charger (there seem to be a number of these so I can only speak for the one I have) the charge light on the camera never goes out, but the charger has 2 LEDs, one that indicates it has power and one that indicates charging. I assume it registers current flow. My charger is rated at 5V +/- 5% and 300-400ma. After a bit, the charge LED goes suddenly very dim, indicating a cutoff of some sort in the camera, probably fully charged. Oddly, when using this charger, if you touch, or get a finger very very close to the dummy buttons on the camera, the light will go off on the camera and the charge light will dim a slight amount. I attribute this to some sort of RF shielding/capacitance thing. It does not do this when its connected to a computer. The power is probably cleaner from a computer power supply. This charger doesn't have much inside it. |
|
| 07 Dec 2009 - Gumpack Camera |
 John
R. sent me these comments about his gumpack camera. It is
similar to the #3 camera.
The drivers for the camera are the same. The
supplied disk was corrupt. The drivers from the Thai
website were
used with Vista. Both the English and the multilanguage were
tried. They are the same but multi gives the choice between
English and Chinese. Webcam operation: with the camera
off, connect the USB, one quick push on the mode button
gets it working as a cam. As a webcam it doesn't show as a disc
drive. Lipo batteries... are used for r/c..they will die
when discharged below a certain voltage and its not
recoverable..they will damage if overcharged too much..
and prolonged storage when fully charged also gives
problems..
So the main problem is the discharge ..don't run them
flat..
Date and time problems: John can set the date time
for one video, but it resets to 2008 after each video. |
| 02 Dec 2009 - Micro SD Card Speed |
| Any micro SD card that complies with the
SD Association specifications will work in a #3 camera. If you
buy a card that does not comply, then you might have some
problems. Buy a reputable brand from a reputable source. The slowest SD card is a class 2 which has a write speed of 2 million bytes per second. The highest data rate that I have seen in a #3 camera AVI file is 1.37 million bytes per second. You can use an SD card faster than a class 2. If you're going to remove the card from the camera and use it for a faster application then you might want to buy a faster card. I have measured the AVI data rate (video+audio) of many files from my #3 camera. The data rate of every AVI file is different, but the maximum has been 82 million bytes per minute (1.37 million bytes per second). The data rate depends on the average spacial complexity of all frames in the video. The MJPG codec uses JPG encoding which is is spacial, not temporal, so frame to frame complexity does not matter. |
| 29 Nov 2009 - Hungarian Website and Video |
| Here is an interesting look at a site in Hungary selling RC planes
and micro cameras. Also some RC videos about micro cameras.
They have a number of YouTube videos. http://smodell.atw.hu/ Camera page with Google Hungarian-to-English translation: http://tinyurl.com/yhbw9a |
| 27 November 2009 - Request for #2 Camera Answers. |
| If you have a #2
camera (has an internal micro SD flash card) I have some
questions for you. I get email asking me to help with #2
camera problems. These are my questions: 1. Have you ever reformatted the flash card while it is in your #2 camera? Did the reformatting fix something or make the camera work better? 2. Have you ever removed the flash card and inspected it in an external micro SD card reader? Is there more than one partition? You might have more than one partition if the micro SD card reader opens more than one Windows explorer window. Did you see system files in any of the partions? 3. Have you ever removed the card and reformatted it in an external reader? If you saw multiple partitions did you format all the partitions? 4. If the flash card is removed from the camera, what happens when you press the power button? Do any lights come on, etc.? Thanks for you help. |
| 24 Nov 2009 - I Have a Video. What kind of camera do I have? |
| If you misidentify your camera type it is
difficult to diagnose a problem. How to ID your camera from a
video AVI file. Does your camera take 640x480 video and have a date time stamp is in the upper left? If yes then it is probably a #1 camera. Does your camera take 640x480 video and the date time stamp is in the lower right? If yes then it is probably a #2 camera. Does you camera take 720x480 video and have a slot for a micro SD card? If yes then it is probably a #3 camera. Does you camera take 1280x960 video? If yes then it is probably a #4 camera. |
| 24 Nov 2009 - Many eBay Sellers, But One Source? | |
| Crash One pointed out that eBay sellers
myzone50 and joymyzone both have the same return address. |
|
Li Gang Room 305, 3/F Block A Sun Fung Centre, 88 Kwok Shui RD, Kwai Chung HONGKONG |
Both of these sellers have good feedback.
This raises a number of possibilities and questions. Is Li Gang a fulfillment house for many eBay sellers? Is Li Gang a person with one or more eBay names? This might be a strategy to leverage feedback, i.e. a method to allow a seller with poor feedback to drop that eBay name and continue to sell under a different eBay name. What other eBay sellers are using this address? |
| 22 Nov 2009 - How to raise a #1 camera from the dead! |
| 3 Jan 2010 - Use these bin files
- they are newer and work great on my #1 camera. No need to
press reset after each video. A camera owner named Michael from Germany emailed me about how he restored his dead #1 camera. He used system mode, reformatted, and restored the system files.
Michael wrote: 1. Use system mode to boot your camera. The flash memory contains three partitions. Windows should load a drive letter for each partition. On my computer Windows opens the drives in this order: BIN files, SYSTEM files, then USER files. The drive letters depend on your computer configuration. Write down which drive has the *.bin files. Your files are probably corrupt, but save them to your computer drive, just in case you want to restore them. 2. Use Windows to reformat each camera drive. Run Windows check disk on each camera drive and select "automatically fix file system errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". After formatting, your camera drive might report a smaller size (correct size) like 4GB instead of 8GB. This is normal because the flash was deceptively reporting the wrong size. 3. Download key cam.zip (4520012 bytes) and upzip the files to the correct camera drive. Use these bin files. ● partition window 1 the bin drive - AkResData.Bin, DynamicFont4_16.bin, LangCodepage.bin, Spring.bin ● partition window 2 the system drive - (the camera creates these files) ● Partition window 3 the user drive - (the camera creates the AVI and JPG files here) IMAGE\RECORD, VIDEO\RECORD 4. Disconnect the USB cable, press the reset button, and try your camera. It should work. Mine did. If your flash is faulty, I don't know how long this fix will last. Good luck. I hope this procedure works for you. My restored camera is much better than dead, but not fully functional. Here is an inventory of what works, and what does not. WORKS I can set the date time using the time.txt file. I can take an unlimited number of still images. I can turn the camera on, and off. When I connect the camera Windows installs it as a mass storage device. System mode works. DOES NOT COMPLETELY WORK After each video I must press reset. When the camera is on, if I press and hold the mode button, the LED flashes three times, the LED goes out, the camera takes video. When I press the mode button to stop the video, the video stops (the AVI file is OK), but the LED does not come on. No buttons respond. The camera is not functional until I press reset. When you use the latest bin files you camera should be fully functional, except for any problem caused by bad flash memory. |
| 22 Nov 2009 - Lens Coating Color and AOV - No Correlation |
| At this time, based on comments from a
larger population of #3 camera users (emails and forum
comments), there is no definitive correlation between lens color
and AOV (angle of view). Cameras are available with lens
coatings of red, green, blue, and no color. The #3 camera is available in more than one AOV. 36° and 44° have been measured. Is there any definitive way to tell the AOV of a camera, without taking a test image? Does the lens shape tell anything definitive about the camera? |
| 21 Nov 2009 - There is a Webcam Driver for the #3 Camera |
|
Use this #3 webcam driver at your own risk. I can't support this driver. I don't host the
driver file. I do not have any responsibility for any problems
that this driver causes you or your computer. There is an English and International version. I have
only installed and virus tested (nod32) the English version. I
created a restore point before installing this driver. I have
installed the driver on two Windows XP (32) computers with no
big problems (the Twain driver does not work). I don't know if
the driver works on Windows Vista, Seven or 98.
● Go to this Thai language
web page. |
| 21 Nov 2009 - #3b (blue lens) AOV 36 degrees, same AOV as #3g | ||
"I've bought 3 cameras from Myzone50, each slightly different. The first was a 3Red, second was a 3Green...guess what...third is a 3Blue." Crash One emailed me a test photo from the #3b which has these properties: W 1280, X 36, Y 11, Z 598. The AOV (Angle of View) is 36.2 degrees, which is about the same as the #3g. What else is different about a #3b ?
|
| 18 Nov 2009 - Joel's comparison of a #2 and #3 camera | |
 #2 camera with blue lens |
Under constructions ... |
|
Update 17 Nov 2009 -
My #1 camera failed because of defective fake counterfeit flash
memory (see SOSFakeFlash) |
| If your #1 camera has failed, try
system mode, and run the
H2testw program on the flash memory to see if it is bad.
This test can take hours to run. Reformatting the drive is not
a good flash test. I was able to
revive my dead #1 camera. There is a huge counterfeit flash memory scandal going on concerning products from China that are often sold on eBay. My #1 (8GB) camera failed because a 4GB (32 gigabit) flash chip that did not pass quality control (QC) was reprogrammed to look like an 8GB part and used in my micro camera. These parts should have been scrapped. Many products containing bad flash have been sold on eBay. These products include USB flash drives, SD flash cards, MP3 players, and micro cameras. I bought an 8GB #1 camera from an eBay seller xprodeal in China. When new, Windows reported my #1 camera to be an 8GB mass storage device though I never put more than 4GB on it. As I reported in my tear down video, this camera has a SpecTek FBNL63A51K3WG-AF flash chip in it. That is a 32 gigabit (4 gigabyte) chip. I never raised a flag about the fact that a 4GB flash chip is being used in my 8GB camera, and I should have. The camera failed on October 19 2009. Since then, when the camera is connected to the USB Windows does not see it. I went into system mode and successfully reformatted the flash. Now Windows reports the flash to be 4GB. I ran the H2testw program on this flash to test it. It took 5 hours to run. H2testw reports the flash bad. Here is the report from H2testw: Writing, 3885 MByte, 3:30:32 h, 315
Kbyte/s 3.7 GByte OK (7949238 sectors) 3.5 MByte DATA LOST (7242 sectors) Details:70 KByte overwritten (140 sectors) 3.3 MByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 6902 sectors) 100 KByte corrupted (200 sectors) 70 KByte aliased memory (140 sectors) First error at offset: 0x0000000000003000 Expected: 0x0000000000003000 Found: 0x0000000008003000 H2testw version 1.3 Writing speed: 315 KByte/s Reading speed: 741 KByte/s H2testw v1.4 |
| Update 15/17 Nov 2009 - There are Two Optically Different Versions of the #3 Camera | |
 #3g Camera #3r Camera Butane Lighter Camera Pen Camera |
Joel contacted me with great information about his four micro
cameras. The AOV (Angle of View) is different on each one. Two of them are #3 cameras but they differ. I am calling them #3r (red) and #3g (green). The date time stamps are the identical yellow size and font, but the AOV are different. If you look into the lens you can see that the lens looks red or green. This is probably just the anti-reflective coating on the lens, but for now, it distinguishes the two cameras. The #3r camera has a red lens. The seller was eBay myzone50. 44.0 degree AOV (45mm equivalent lens). The #3g camera has a green lens. The seller was eBay eletoponline365. 36.6 degree AOV (54mm equivalent lens) and more light sensitive. "eletoponline365" sells both the #3g and #3r camera. Ronsjunk bought a #3r from eletoponline365. Does eletoponline365 or any seller know which one is which? I don't know, and if it matters to you, ask before you buy. More info to come ... |
| Update 15 Nov 2009 - Tear down photos of #1 and #2 | |
| Matt supplied these great tear down photos or his
#1 and #2 cameras. "#2 is SO much better than #1. #2 is better built and works better". Click the photo for full size. |
|
 Camera #1 bottom. ANYKA CPU. Internal flash memory chip. |
 Camera #1 top. Socketed camera assembly. 8 megabyte SDRAM chip. |
 Camera #2 bottom. Internal micro SD card. Toshiba CPU. |
 Camera #2 top. Socketed camera assembly. 8 megabyte SDRAM. |
| Update 6 Nov 2009 - Sunplus, Sunplus mmedia,CODECs, Removing Date Time Stamp | |||
|
Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd - This is the company, or one of the companies, responsible for the software / hardware. This explains why each AVI and JPG file on my version #3 camera begins with SUNP. They are a big electronics company in Taiwan with many subsidiaries in China, Hong Kong, etc.
Here are some other PIDs (product IDs) from Sunplus Technology
How I discovered this - On my version #3 camera, if I hold the mode switch down and connect the USB, Windows will try to load a "general image device". Windows is trying to load a driver for device VID_04FC PID_1528 (vendor id and product id). The vendor id is Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd. I can't find any reference to product id 1528. I contacted the seller and he said there is no driver for a webcam or image device. CODECs - Two computers could render a MJPG AVI in different ways depending on the video player and decoding codec. A video player could use an internal or external video codec. On my computer there are two MJPG external codec's: ffdshow video decoder ffdshow.ax, and MJPEG decompressor quartz.dll (according to GSpot http://gspot.headbands.com/). On my computer the selected external codec is ffdshow. REMOVING THE DATE TIME STAMP (WELL ... SORT OF) Nobody has been able to figure out how to get
the camera to disable the date time stamp in the video corner.
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Update 4 Nov 2009 - System Mode Button Trick For Camera #1 |
|
Nirtocharged on the parallax forum revealed this secret about the #1 camera that I didn't know. This works even on my dead #1 camera. The 30fps cameras does not do this. My #3 camera does not do this. Start with the camera off. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, connect the USB cable, then release the power button. You must have the power button pressed when you connect the USB. The flash memory has three partitions. Windows will load an explorer window for each partition. On my #1 camera the folders and files in the three windows are: Download
key cam.zip
(4520012 bytes) and upzip the files to the correct camera drive.
The default.* files have zero length.
Use these latest bin files. One person reported that window 3 did not display, maybe indicating a problem with the flash memory. |
| Update 4 Nov 2009 - Camera #1 "Bootstrap Mode" |
|
7 Feb 2010 - I think that bootstrap mode is either used for a development board, or a webcam. I have not been able to find a webcam driver with the correct Hardware ID. There is a small difference between Bootstrap mode and Webcam mode. Bootstrap mode -
Start with the camera and the LED off. Hold the mode
button down and press the power button. Then release both
buttons. Then connect the USB cable. Windows might acknowledge
a new USB device, try to load a driver, and then can't find a
driver. On my #1 camera Bootstrap mode looks for Hardware ID VID 0000
PID 0000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\USB\VID_0471&PID_0666]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\USB\VID_0471&PID_0666\INST_0]
"Capabilities"=hex:14,00,00,00
"HardwareID"="USB\\VID_0471&PID_0666&REV_0100,USB\\VID_0471&PID_0666"
"CompatibleIDs"="USB\\CLASS_DC&SUBCLASS_A0&PROT_B0,USB\\CLASS_DC&SUBCLASS_A0,USB\\CLASS_DC"
"DeviceDesc"="Philips PDIUSBD12 SMART Evaluation Board"
"Class"="USB"
"Driver"="USB\\0002"
"Mfg"="Philips"
"ClassGUID"="{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}"
"ConfigFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00
|
| Update 3 Nov 2009 - New version #3 Camera - Preliminary Thoughtspan> |
On 2 Nov 2009 I received a
#3 type camera fr from eBay seller
joymyzone.
This seller has 100% feedback and offered a video sample.
The price was US$16.98 (no flash card), with free shipping, and
was delivered from Hong Kong in 19 days (YMMV). This
camera uses an external micro SD card, so I am using a SanDisk
8GB micro SDHC type 2 flash card. I charged the camera for
3 hours before I used it. When plugged into a Windows XP
USB port the camera was recognized as a mass storage device and
an image device. Windows mounted the mass storage device
(flash card) as a drive letter. It seems that some of
these cameras come with an image driver on a CD but my camera
did not come with a CD.
I was able to set the date and time using
the #3 camera method below.
The overall image and video quality is much better than
my old #1 camera. |
 Update
20 Oct 2009 |
|
 Graveyard of micro cameras |
My #1 8GB camera is dead. It worked from Sept 22 to Oct
19.
The current symptoms are: ● When the USB is connected the LED comes on but the camera will not connect . Tried with 2 different computers and 4 different USB cables. ● The power button turns the LED on and then the LED blinks 2 seconds later, but then the buttons don't work. ● The reset switch turns the LED off. ● Even though dead, I can still access the flash by using system mode. I have a #3 camera on order, so I will review that when I receive it. Received 2 Nov 2009. I now know why my camera died. It has a bad flash chip. I was able to fix my camera. Here are the instructions. |
| Links |
| ● This is a
Parallax.com forum thread about this
Keychain DVR camera ● Here is an RCgroups.com Aerial Photography forum thread - My keychain 8gb camera came today ● This is a Video sample of #3 eBay camera 180418683602 ● Matt has bought 2 of these cams. His #2 camera from estore009 on eBay was the better one. ● From the forums - here are some better eBay cameras that some people have been happy with: 260488707976, 160369400037. (!!! YMMV !!!) ● Bob from France has these great outdoor and indoor RC airplane videos. ● This might be a replacement LiPo battery for some cameras at ALLeRC.com. Recycle the little circuit under the tape. ● This replacement LiPo has been reported to work and fit: HobbyCity. Recycle the little circuit under the tape. ● Forum at HELIFREAK.COM Keychain camera ● This is a Hungarian RC website selling the micro camera http://smodell.atw.hu/ ● Misc Camera Software From a Chinese Website ● Forum on FlyQuiet.co.uk http://www.flyquiet.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2030.0 ● Deshaker with VirtualDub can remove shake from AVI video. FR4Pilot YouTube examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-qjRVbFi0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iabg9x_ITVw |
| Great YouTube videos (#2 camera) that demonstrate the use of this video camera technology | |
 Wild Hawk RC Plane Aerial Camera footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo2p_7tx9lQ |
 Art-Tech F18 with on board camera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBPOfi7jz8 |
| Photos of my #1 Camera | |
 USA Quarter Video Camera Car Key |
 My #1 camera must be in this vertical
orientation to take right-side-up images. Some #1 cameras
require horizontal orientation. |
 Two screws at the key ring end |
 Four buttons, two are fake |
 The microphone hole and the lens hole |
 Hand held |
 The reset switch hole and the Mini USB connector |
 CLICK FOR FULL SIZE - Tear down of #1 camera shows LiPo battery, camera, microphone, mini USB, reset switch, ANYKA multimedia processor, SpecTek NAND Flash memory |
 CLICK FOR FULL SIZE - Tear down of #1 camera showing the clam shell design. Note that the microphone is not aligned with the hole in the case. |
|
| Sample Photos from Camera #1 | ||
 |
 |
|
| Click for full size - Still Indoor Photo, hand held, 1280x1024 JPG, (348KB) | ||
| Sample Audio from Camera #1 |
| 808/audio/2009-09-29 13-39-02 audio test.wav |
Sample Video from Camera #1
outdoor video
The above is a stationary 640x480
video with outdoor light.
Here is the original MJPG AVI file: outdoor 4700 MJPG.avi (11966KB), Video 4700 Kbps, Audio 128 Kbps
Here is the original MJPG AVI file: outdoor 4700 MJPG.avi (11966KB), Video 4700 Kbps, Audio 128 Kbps
indoor video
The above is a hand held 640x480 video with indoor light.
Here is the original MJPG AVI file: indoor 3400 MJPG.avi (9688KB), Video 3400 Kbps, Audio 128 Kbps
Here is the original MJPG AVI file: indoor 3400 MJPG.avi (9688KB), Video 3400 Kbps, Audio 128 Kbps
| Description of Camera #1 | ||
| OVERALL IMPRESSION - Once
you figure out how it works, and understand it's limitations, it
works amazingly well. It is useful as a "webcam" quality spy
video camera, a good quality audio recorder, a toy quality photo
camera, or an 8GB flash drive. At 15 grams it is light enough
to be build it into an RC plane, car, boat, or even a model
rocket. MISLEADING CLAIMS - Claim: 1280x1024 photos. The native CMOS resolution seems to be 640x480. Still images are up scaled to 1280x1024 in the JPG file. Claim: 30 fps video. The native fps is about 12.5 and the AVI fps is 25. Claim: 2 hour record. The flash might hold that much but the rechargeable battery is out at about 50 minutes of video. DOCUMENTATION - The documentation is a legendary example of broken English and is barely understandable. With intuition and trial and error you can figure it out. AUDIO - The video mode records audio. There is no "audio only" mode. The audio quality and recording levels are good and not over modulated, so consider using the video mode as an audio recorder. VIDEO - The color video quality is like a cheap webcam with video noise and a slow shutter that results in motion blur. Because the camera has so little mass, hand held shake is severe. It's best to use it on a solid surface. The native frame rate seems to be about 12.5 fps and each frame is duplicated to 25 fps in the AVI file. The automatic video exposure works and is optimized for indoor light or a cloudy day. In bright outdoor light the video is over bright and washed out. The small date time stamp in the upper left corner of the video can not be disabled. The total AVI bit rate seems to depend on the video content. I'm still studying that. PHOTOS - There is a very slow shutter and an huge lag time. The still image resolution is 640x480 and is up scaled to 1280x1024 in the JPG file. |
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION - The camera is in the form factor
of a key fob and comes with a key chain (detachable). The finish
is flat black plastic, with no manufacturing name or text of any
kind on the surface. There are 4 un-labeled buttons. Two are
real and two are fake. The lens and microphone are on the end of
the fob opposite the key chain, and are behind a 3mm and 1mm
hole respectively. The included manual does not document the
reset button 1mm hole in the side. There are two Philips head
screws at the key chain end that hold the top and bottom halves
together. The camera is very light at 15 grams, and the key chain weighs 4 grams, so camera and key chain together weigh 19 grams (about 0.7 OZ). /> The camera is 50mm x 32m x 13mm (2” x 1.25” x 0.5”) . NOTES VGA - 640x480 SXGA - 1280x1024 FPS - Frames Per Second SPS - Samples Per Second |
|
| Table of Camera #1 Features | ||
| Feature |
Described / Claim |
Empirical Measurements |
|
Image Sensor |
CMOS |
Color |
|
Place of Origin |
Zhejiang China |
? |
|
Mode |
Digital Video Recording |
|
|
Model Number |
808 car keys micro-camera |
|
|
Port |
Shanghai |
? |
|
Optical Zoom |
25X |
? |
|
Flash Memory |
2GB or 4GB or 8GB |
8GB |
| Flash Performance via USB | Write Speed 2200000 Bytes per second Read Speed 5800000 Bytes per second |
|
| Battery Charge Time from USB | "Charge time about 2 hours" | seems to be about 15 minutes |
| Hours of Video Operation | "With Real 4GB flash memory for as long as 2 hours video recording" | After 50 minutes the recording stopped and the AVI file was saved to Flash. It played OK. 1,289,921,394 bytes (25.8 MB/min) (430 KB/sec) (3440 Kb/sec) |
|
Orientation |
The video and images are right-side-up when the buttons are on the left. If the buttons are up, images will be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise. | |
|
Video Stream |
AVI, 640X480 VGA, 30
fps
|
Sensor resolution seems to be 640x480.
The codec is MJPG (Motion JPG). The native FPS is
about 12.5 and is up scaled to 25 fps in the AVI file (each
sensor frame is duplicated in the AVI file). One example video stream measured 2596000 bits per second, but this is variable and depends on the frame content. |
|
Audio Stream |
The audio part of the AVI is PCM uncompressed, Mono, 16 bit, 8000 samples per second (128000 bits per second). |
|
|
AVI File Format |
Container - AVI The AVI file has one video stream and one
audio stream. |
|
|
Still Image dimensions |
1280X960 |
The sensor resolution is 640x480 and is up scaled to 1280x1024 in the JPG file. Like the video mode, the image mode can't resolve more than 213 horizontal checkerboard squares, so this confirms the up scaling from 640x480. |
|
Still Image File format |
JPG, each file is between 250K bytes and 450K bytes. | |
|
Battery |
280mAh, 3.7V |
The shape, voltage and micro protection circuit board on the battery would indicate that this is a rechargeable LiPo battery. |
| Chips Used |
SpecTek
FBNL63A51K3WG-AF - 32G bit NAND Flash Company SpecTek FBNL63A51K3WG-AF - 32G bit NAND Flash Distributor ANYKA AK3631B14402 - mobile multimedia application processors, USB, encoder for MJPG AVI and JPG K4S641632F-TC75 - Samsung 8 Megabyte SDRAM |
|
| Instructions | |
| Original Chinese English Instructions | My Interpreted Instructions |
|
1. Enter the video mode in turn off status , long time press
OFF/ON button till yellow light on , long time press
(video/camera button) still yellow light flash three times,
light off enter into the video mode, then click (video/camera
button) yellow light on for stop and saved, long time press
OFF/ON switch off. |
HOW TO TAKE A VIDEO 1. Start with the camera off (or press the reset button to turn it off). 2. Press the power (on/off) button. This turns the LED and the camera on. 3. Press and hold the mode (video/image) button. The LED flashes 3 times then the LED goes off. The camera is recording video and audio. 4. Very quickly press the mode button to stop video recording. The video recording stops, the video is written to a AVI Flash memory file, and the LED turns on. Repeat step three to take another video. 5. Press and hold the power button. The camera and the LED turn off. HOW TO TAKE A PHOTO 1. Start with the camera off. 2. Press the power button. This turns the LED and the camera on. 3. Very quickly press the mode button. The LED briefly goes off, then on. The camera took a photo and wrote it to a JPG Flash memory file. Repeat step three to take another photo. 4. Press and hold the power button. The camera and the LED turn off. |
| How to Set the Date Time | |
| Original Chinese English Instructions | My Interpreted Instructions |
| The
product video recording same time with time display function,
can adjust the time according to their own. First create a
new TXT file by root of the storage TF card and change the file
name in SetTime. Open SetTime file, inside edit year, month,
day, hour, minutes and seconds format, for example, 2009.05.13 15:10:00 and save the file before exit time created and modifications completed, when next time you start the machine, the time will be recorded simultaneously. |
If you don't set the date time, 1970 or 1980 will be
used. Also, some camera problems seem to have been
fixed by setting the date time. Once you set the date time you should not have to set it again, unless the battery dies or the time drifts. The date time is stamped on the video and can be disabled in some cameras. The camera date time is also used in the date time file property of all AVI and JPG files. Camera #1 For example, to set the date time to May 13 2009 at 3:10pm: Connect the USB. Create a time.txt file in the flash root with one line inside in this format: 2009.05.13 15:10:00 Disconnect the USB. The camera will read the file, change the camera date time, and delete the file. Camera #2 Rob has reported that for his #2 camera the #1 camera technique works except that the actual file name needs to be “SetTime.txt” (case matters) and placed in root. Michael has reported that the camera #1 date time technique works for his #2 camera. Camera #3 Right-click this tag.txt file (32 bytes) and download it. The tag.txt file has three lines. There is a space after the first line and after the second line. The spaces in the file are important. [date] 2009/12/29 16:58:00 Modify the tag.txt file with your date time. Use a text editor (like Windows notepad or equivalent) that will not corrupt the file. If you corrupt the file, the date time will not be set. To be accurate, the time in the files should be the future time when you will turn the camera on. 1. Connect the USB cable. 2. Copy the tag.txt file to the root of the camera drive. 3. Disconnect the USB cable. 4. Turn the camera off. 5. Turn the camera on. The camera reads tag.txt, sets the date time, and deletes the file. 6. Take a short test video. 7. Connect the USB cable. Verify the AVI file date time. Play the test video to verify the video date time stamp. Camera #4 For example, to set the date time to May 13 2009 at 3:10pm, and enable the video date time stamp: Connect the USB. Create a time.txt file with the following line in it. To disable the video date time stamp replace the Y with N. To be accurate, the time in the file should be the future time when you will turn the camera on. Copy the file to the root of the flash memory. 2009.05.13 15.10.00 Y Disconnect the USB. Turn the camera off. Turn the camera on. The camera will read the file, change the camera date time, and delete the file. Take a short test video. Connect the USB cable. Verify the AVI file date time, and play the test video to verify the video date time stamp. |
|
The following does not apply to
the 808 car keys micro camera.
How to
avoid losing the date in the gumpack camera. Testimonial - I could set the time ok but every time I switched off the camera using the on/off switch on the side of the camera it reverted back to 2008. If you leave the side switch left to the on position permanently you can turn off the camera using the middle function button. After you press the button to stop video recording if you hold it down again for about 3 seconds both LEDs will flash and it will turn off. To turn the camera back on just hold middle function button for about 3 seconds and use it as normal. Leaving the side switch set to on does not run the battery down and time and date are always correct, I have left the camera for over a week like this and battery is always ok. |
|
Front side of the instruction sheet #1 camera
Back side of the instruction sheet #1 camera
| Notes about Camera Video Resolution | |||
|
QUESTION: This #1 camera claims to have a video resolution of 640x480. So how could this be measured? ANSWER: My #1 camera can resolve a checkerboard at 170 squares per horizontal width but not 240. That average is 205. (205 * 3) = 615 which is close to 640. So I would say that the video camera pixel resolution really is a 640 x 480. RESEARCH: I decided to research this question by printing up a checkerboard of black-and-white squares on a letter size paper. I took photos and video of that pattern at different distances. I used my Canon SD200 2048x1536 camera in image mode and my #1 808 car keys camera in video mode.
With my SD200 camera the pattern can no longer be distinguished as a checkerboard with more than 700 checkerboard squares per frame width. (2048 / 700) is about 3. That's about 3 horizontal pixels per checkerboard square. I hypothesized a rule:
|
| How to measure the AOV (Angle of View) and focal length of the lens (35mm film equivalent) |
| 1. Take a landscape photo of a landscape
piece of letter or A4 paper from 3 feet or 1 meter. Center the paper best you can.
To do the calculations you need to know the width of the paper
in inches (Y), the distance from the paper in inches (X), the
pixel width of the photo (W) and the pixel width of the paper (Z). 36 inches = 3 feet 39.37 inch = 1 meter 11 inch = width of ANSI letter paper 11.7 inch = width of ISO A4 paper  Sample test photo used to calculate AOV and focal length. 2. Use a graphics program to edit the photo. Measure the horizontal pixel width of the paper in the photo. 3. Calculate K inches - the horizontal field of view in inches. 4. Calculate FOV degrees - the horizontal angle of view in degrees (my math) 5. Calculate the equivalent 35mm film focal length from the AOV . 3. Calculate the focal length using W, X, Y and Z in the last formula below. |
| Formula (I'm showing my work) | Math for my #3 camera | Math for my #1 Camera |
| W = the horizontal width of the whole photo in pixels | 1280 pixels | 640 |
| X = the lens to paper distance in inches | 36 inches | 12 |
| Y = the paper width in inches | 11 inches | 4.906 |
| Z = the paper width in pixels, measured in a graphics editor | 492 pixels | 310 |
| K = Field of view inches = (WY) / Z | K = (1280*11) / 492 = 28.62 inches | |
| tan(AOV/2) = K/(2X) | ||
| AOV = angle of view
degrees AOV = arctan(K/2X) * 2 AOV = arctan(WY/2XZ) * 2 |
AOV = arctan(28.62 /
72) * 2 = 21.68 * 2 = 43.36 degrees |
AOV =
arctan((640*4.906)/(2*12*310)) *2 = 40.16 degrees |
| The following formulas calculate the focal length from AOV. They are from Bob Atkins. | ||
| For a rectilinear lens. The frame size for 35mm film horizontal width is 36mm. frame size = 36. | ||
| AOV = 2 *
arctan(frame size / (focal length * 2)) |
||
| AOV / 2 =
arctan(18 / focal length) |
||
| tan(AOV /2) = 18 / focal length | ||
| focal length = 18 / tan(AOV /2) | focal length = 18 /
tan(43.36 / 2) = 45.28mm |
|
| To calculate focal length from W, X, Y and Z, the tan and arctan cancel out, resulting in this simple formula with no trigonometry. | ||
| focal length = 18 / tan(arctan(WY/2XZ)) | ||
| focal length = 18 / (WY/2XZ) | ||
| focal length = (36XZ) / WY | focal length = (36 * 36
* 492) / (1280 * 11) = 45.28mm |
| History | |
| 2009 Sep 22 | Original |
| 2009 Sep 24 | Sensor resolution probably 640x480 |
| 2009 Sep 25 |
| History | |
| 2009 Sep 22 | Original |
| 2009 Sep 24 | Sensor resolution probably 640x480 |
| 2009 Sep 25 | Add sample images and video |
| 2009 Sep 29 |
Add sample audio and more images |
| 2009 Oct 4 | Add link to YouTube video |
| 2009 Oct 5 | Add SDRAM. Notes about two versions Add links to YouTube mdamttc199 videos. |
| 2009 Oct 11 | Add camera #3 and comparison table. |
| 2009 Oct 15 | Report bad USB cables |
| 2009 Oct 16 | My interpreted instructions. Add comment about 720x480 PAR DAR Add Micro SD camera time setting |
| 2009 Oct 17 | AdAdd links RCgroups and Parallax. Add #1 some are horizontal. Add #2 have internal micro SD. |
| 2009 Oct 19 | Add Notes about Camera Video Resolution |
| 2009 Oct 22 | Add Bob's time instructions for camera #3 |
| 2009 Oct 29 | Change Li Ion to LiPo. |
| 2009 Oct 31 | Add Table of Contents |
| 2009 Nov 2 | Received my type #3 micro camera from Hong Kong. |
| 2009 Nov 4 | Note that #3 camera FPS varies from 30.856
to 30.999. Add serious note about bootstrap mode. Add System Mode Button Trick. Add reference to replacement LiPo battery. |
| 2009 Nov 5 | Add duplicate frame tables |
| 2009 Nov 6 | Add discovery of company Sunplus Technology
Co., Ltd Add about different codecs. Add removing the video date time stamp |
| 2009 Nov 7 | Add images of date time stamps under Overview. |
| 2009 Nov 12 | Add summary |
| 2009 Nov 13 | Adding How to Measure the Focal Length |
| 2009 Nov 14 | Change the focal length formula to simplify. focal length = (36XZ) / WY |
| 2009 Nov 15 | Add tear down photos of #1 and #2 from Matt |
| 2009 Nov 17 | Add link to SOSFakeFlash website and comments about xprodeal selling bad flash |
| 2009 Nov 17 | Add Update 17 Nov 2009 - My #1 camera failed
because of fake flash memory (SOSFakeFlash). Uploaded these files found during system mode so that people could download them. windows 1 - AkResData.Bin, DynamicFont4_16.bin, LangCodepage.bin, Spring.bin windows 2 - SYSTEM\default.alt, SYSTEM\default.vlt, SYSTEM\profile.dat Update description of two #3 cameras. |
| 2009 Nov 18 | Notes about #3r and #3g |
| 2009 Nov 19 | Update the duplicated frames table. The #2 does not have duplicate frames. |
| 2009 Nov 21 | Adding Crash
One's note about #3b camera. Dropping the term FOV from calculations. Replaced with AOV. Adding AOV to table comparison of versions. Adding #3r #3g #3b table to Overview table. Add notes about #3 webcam driver. |
| 2009 Nov 22 | Add comment that lens color and AOV do not
correlate. Add instructions about how to revive a dead #1 camera. Now that my #1 camera is working again add AOV for camera #1 40.17 to the comparison table and focal length. |
| 2009 Nov 24 | Add known webcam problems Add #2 date time white example Add question about Li Gang sourcing cameras. Add video to camera type. |
| 2009 Nov 27 | Add Request for #2 Camera Answers. |
| 2009 Nov 29 | Add Hungary video and links |
| 2009 Dec 02 | Add What Micro SD Card Speed is Required in a #3 Camera? |
| 2009 Dec 04 | Add André comment about setting date time. |
| 2009 Dec 07 | test, correcting reset counter Add John gumpack camera |
| 2009 Dec 16 | Added Michael503 comments: Tear Down, #3 V2 and #3 V4. Internal Short Circuit Problem. |
| 2009 Dec 17 | Add List of reported failure modes |
| 2009 Dec 27 | Add comments about space character in setting the date time |
| 2009 Dec 28 | Add Notes about the CMOS camera assembly |
| 2009 Dec 29 | Add tag.txt to "how to set the date time" |
| 2009 30 Dec | Add Q&A About Problems with Camera #3 |
| 2009 Dec 31 | Add QA Local Area Connection 2, Microsoft TV/Video Connection |
| 2010 Jan 01 | Add #1 failure mode to summary of key
features Add to #3 QA - what to buy and who to buy from Add updating the video and audio data rates for #1, #2 and #3. Add #3 Camera Notes About Setting the Date Time Stamp |
| 2010 Jan 02 | Modify description of setting date time |
| 2010 Jan 03 | Add Camera #1, Date Time Stamp Removed, New Bin Files, Low Duplicate Frame Rate |
| 2010 Jan 04 | Add FYI Some engineering drawing of the #1 camera |
| 2010 Jan 05 | Remove references to key cam.zip (old bin files) |
| 2010 Jan 06 | Add camera #4 HD, add frame grab images, photos, and tear down photos. |
| 2010 Jan 09 | Add #4 Camera Instruction Manual |
| 2010 Jan 10 | Add Tear down photos of new #2 and #4 cameras from Matt |
| 2010 Jan 11 | Add How to set the date time for Camera #2 Add Speculating about chips and software. Change the link to the correct thickness battery ALLeRC.com Update #2 in comparison table |
| 2010 Jan 12 | Add
ezmobileshop
as a #2 camera seller Add Note about losing the date in the gumpack camera Add Rob note to use SetTime.txt for the camera #2 set date time. Add link to Chinese software website. |
| 2010 Jan 14 | Add Test Video Comparison
of the #1 and #3 camera Add How to insert a micro SD card. Matts new #2 camera with mTec processor, video about 5 duplicate frames per second. 28.821 fps. AOV=40.7 degrees. |
| 2010 Jan 16 | Updated the Duplicate Frames description for
the #2 and #4 cameras. Update the photos in 15 Nov 2009 - Tear down photos of #1 and #2 |
| 2010 Jan 18 | Add: A charge lasts about 50 minutes,
or 20 minutes in cold weather. Add: For faster delivery and higher price, there are sellers in the USA. |
| 2010 Jan 20 | Note that
webcam link
http://www.upload-thai.com/download.php?id=a4e8abb85ada9c57ce61bfda47ea87f5
is a dead link. Add disclaimer about spying and legal. |
| 2010 Jan 21 | Add "Speculating about Software Architecture" |
| 2010 Jan 22 | Add link to
http://www.ziddu.com/download/8271466/SPCA1528.rar.html Add 2010 Jan 22 - Cool. Silent. Winter. UK. RC Soaring. #3 Camera. Add quick summary Update the Sunplus mM logo and information |
| 2010 Jan 25 | Move the instruction sheet that camera with the #3 camera to another page. |
| 2010 Jan 28 | Add The Best Version of the #2 Camera - Toshiba CPU |
| 2010 Jan 29 | Add info about Camera #3 uses an F16-100HIP which is a 2 megabyte SPI serial flash memory |
| 2010 Jan 30 | Add visiting cities |
| 2010 Feb 01 | Add how to adjust the focus. |
| 2010 Feb 02 | Correcting f from 0.9mm to 3.14mm.
Note about one possible manufacturer TGF Group. |
| 2010 Feb 03 | Add note about failed #2 camera flash socket
pin Add How to Open the Internal Flash Card Socket, #2 Camera |
| 2010 Feb 04 | Note that NTFS can not be used. Added comment about repair attempt and conclusion, #2 camera broken pin problem. |
| 2010 Feb 05 | Add This camera is for you if |
| 2010 Feb 07 | Add VID PID and Webcam Drivers Updated bootstrap mode |
| 2010 Feb 08 | add #4 camera hardware id is 05E1 0B01 Add reference to 4D6 65E ANYKA driver |
| 2010 XXX XX - XXXXXXX |
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