I have the 720 high speed w wide angle lens, L bracket brace, ext mic. 1st two sessions it ran fine. Third it cut out about halfway thru. I cut a credit card to fit over the battery, but the fourth session it still cutout partway thru. I haven't done the frankencharger yet, but had a good charge. I'm at roebling, so a smooth track. Any suggestions? Does the frankencharger negate the need for a battery connection? One observation: the sound is almost better without the external mic

 

You can pick up a power inverter (12v to 120v AC - 24 hour Super Target, WalMart, etc) and plug the charger into it. I'm going to guess that a Cup has no cigarette lighter, so just cut off the lighter plug and hardwire the inverter to 12v. If the charger is plugged into the camera, no battery is needed. I put a couple of big pieces of foam around my external mic with a rubber band to cut the wind and rumble down.

 

Try wedging something UNDER the battery to keep the battery in contact with the, well contacts. I used a little piece of paper folded over a few times. In my car, it's the up/down of the battery that makes it turn off.

G'luck.

-td

 

Thanks!

 

I'm on the frankencharger, so I can't help you with that one.

Where did you locate your mic? Mine sounds MUCH better with the external mic, which I have under the center tunnel carpet (I realize you have no carpet). I guess it depends on the mic, and mine is nothing fancy, but just get it out of the wind and it should sound great.

 

David - get that thing wired up to run on 12V (5V actually)! As for sound, I think I shoved a piece of band-aid padding over the mic in my camera because I get very little wind noise. That or i'm just too slow to CAUSE wind noise...

 

Not sure if this has anything to do with your situation, but I ran across an issue last weekend at the track with my Aiptek. I use the frankencharger but on my new track car, the frankencharger only gets power when the ignition is turned on. Meanwhile, I'd left the camera on (display open) between sessions when the car was turned off and it apparently drained the camera battery completely. I thought, 'no problem, once I start the car for the next session, the camera will get power and be fine'. No, it didn't work that way. The camera didn't stay on in the next sessions and in fact quit after the first lap or so. Apparently, once it is drained completely, it takes a LONG time to charge it back up. I put it on the charger overnight at home and now it's fine. Lesson learned for me is to remember to close the display to turn off the camera between sessions. OR find a constant hot 12v source in the car to plug into.

 

David, for your car I suggest you buy one of THESE and splice it to the AC Power Supply. Wire the step down converter directly from power, after the Kill Switch, this will give you fulltime power to the unit while the car is running. You will still have to turn it on and off but it won't be running 24/7.

 

Ended up getting rained out today, so I didn't get to try the battery wedge; but I much appreciate the help. I'm always amazed that I can get help like this from an iphone in my trailer at the track!

I bought an inexpensive mic from amazon that was mentioned in the big Aiptek thread. I mounted it on the side the transmission tunnel by the rear seat. I left the foam cover on it, and sealed it w/ duct tape. At hight rpm, it gave off almost like an interference noise. I was going to experiment w/ it today, but.....

Since my car has no cig lighter, I ordered the 12v to 5v hard wire to connector mentioned in the big thread. It's meant to hard wire in a garmin or tom tom. That's what I'll have to splice together w/ the wall charger. Wind noise....my car just makes a lot of noise period, that the wind isn't so noticeable; similar to Brian Watt's videos. I'd like to get rid of more of it though w/ the mic, and I'll try covering the mic on the camera as well.

Thanks for the heads up on the battery. Mine turned off on it's own while sitting stationary; did you leave it recording?

I believe that Gilsson unit is the one I ordered. There's a switchable power source under the dash that I used for an hour meter that I'll probably go to.

So far the picture seems really good, and hopefully wedging the battery, and/or the frankencharger will solve my cutoff issue. Now if I could only figure out my AIM.....

 

In my case, it wasn't left recording. However, the display was left open and the camera power stayed on until the battery eventually died while it sat between sessions.