Dogcam 480 & what dvr?

[snowfruit]

Firstly, this is my first post on this forum, but I have been reading all the prvious posts for a while now. I must say, excellent forum

I just managed to get myself a Dogcam 480 for a nice price on ebay not as good as the 550 I know, but much better than I would have been able to get normally for the money and hopefully good enough for my needs (I like to make MTB & snowboarding videos of our antics and burn them to DVD after a bit of Affter Effects fiddling, my other hobby - I used to do this with my digital camera, but the video quality is waay too low for TV watching).
Anyway, now I need something to record onto. I cant afford the DVR offerd by Dogam, unfortunately. I've seen some people use the Archos PMPs, so I would like to ask:
a) what do you need to connect the two?
how much of the camera's quality will be lot by rcording on the Archos?
c) is any particular model of the Archos range better at recording than others - I know the higher end ones have tons of features, but I only really want it to record the video from my camera?
oh and d) would one of these be better suited than the PMP http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bermpiclw9.jpg?

Thanks for the help

 

[magnatom]

Hi snowfruit! Welcome to the forum!! Some would say I know a thing or two about helmet cameras!

As you may have read I have the HQ 550/580 camera and I am very impressed with it and I use it with the Archos 404. Have you seen my recent videos using the new set up?

I think your cheapest and best option to use with the 480 would be the Archos. There is no need to go for the more expensive versions, unless you want all of the extras, the 405 would be more than capable. You can't officially change the battery in this one, but I'm sure someone will come up with a mod soon, they did for the 404!

If I were in your position I would go for the 405 solid state version. It would be better where vibration was an issue and if, God forbid you had a crash, it would more likely keep recording.

To connect to the 480 you will need the travel adapter for the 405, and an AV cable to connect the camera to the travel adapter. If you want sound, you will also need a seperate microphone. Finally you will need a battery to power the camera and the microphone.

It sounds like a lot, but the Archos is the expensive bit, the rest is fairly cheap. Go to docamsports and ask them for some advice. They were very helpful to me. Also remember there is 10% off if you use the discount on this site (look at the discounts tab at the top of the page).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me. I seem to have becme a bit of a helmet camera nerd!

 

[snowfruit]

Just the man I've been reading your helmet cam posts.

i managed to pick up - ebay again - a new Archos 405 solid state for £24 I decided on the solid state for the very reason you said, crashing - very likely in my case

Now I'm trying hard to find the DVR travel attachment. Is it just a regular AV cable I need to connect the cam to the adapter?

I'm not sure how useful the mic would be as I'll be using it mostly to record down hill cycles and same for snowboarding - lots of windnoise...

I hadn't thought about power for the camera at all

 

[snowfruit]

Ha, two problems solved. Re-reading the camera's description, which is a 480 Pro if that makes a difference, i spotted this:

The Kit Includes: ​

​

• 
  [*]
  1 x DogCam Pro 480 Camera.​
  [*]
  1 x 12v A/V Mic.​
  [*]
  1 x suction mount (three suckers).​
  [*]
  1 x 8xAA Battery Holder.​
  [*]1 x Hard carry case.
  [*]1 x Mic stereo splitter
  [*]
  1 x Fixed mount.​

So i have power to the camera (and the mic also?) and i have a mic. I also have a mount. How useful is the mount on a dirt style bike helmet - glossy plastic finish?

Out of curiosity, how would the 480 Pro compare to your 550?

 

[magnatom]

Blimey! a 405 for £24! How'd you manage that?! If they are going at that price I'd be buying one myself!

It looks like you have most of the stuff needed, you just need the 405's DVR travel adapter and an AV cable for the Archos. I've no idea about the mount, I suspect it won't be designed for bikes.

The AV cable needs to have the correct polarity. I believe there are two ways the jack type AV cables can be wired. Have a look here for one that will work. You can get cheaper, and I initially bought cheaper, but it didn't fit very well and was poor quality.

It would be interesting to see how the 480 pro compared to the 550 when using the Archos to record (I think the 404 and the 405 will have almost exactly the same recording quality). The archos does hold the 550 back as it could record to a higher resolution than the Archos can cope with, so the quality might be very similar. Dogcamsports do claim the the 550 has better white balance and a better digital signal processor in it, so it should be better, but we'll see. Just be sure to post some footage!

 

[snowfruit]

The Archos was bought on ebay.co.uk from a vendor called luzerntech. they sell all types of Archos - and some at very good prices

Any suggestions where to look for the travel adapter? I found the best price on Amazon so far but they won't post electrical products outside of the UK and I live in the Rep of Ireland :/ luzerntech on ebay only sell the Gen 4 adapter

 

[magnatom]

The Archos was bought on ebay.co.uk from a vendor called luzerntech. they sell all types of Archos - and some at very good prices

Any suggestions where to look for the travel adapter? I found the best price on Amazon so far but they won't post electrical products outside of the UK and I live in the Rep of Ireland :/ luzerntech on ebay only sell the Gen 4 adapter

Mmm. Refurbished, but I'm sure they would be fine. I'd be tempted if my current DVR adapter would work with it, but I doubt it would.

A quick search for google brings up cheaper suppliers of the DVR for the 405, but I wouldn't know who to recommend.

 

[snowfruit]

Sorry for the 20 questions, but the cables shown in he photogaph of te Archos travel adapter on http://www.data-mind.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue__Archos_404_Accessories_35.html are they the cables rquired, or do I need more? They show the same pic on the 405 accessories page.

 

[snowfruit]

Yes, sorry the 405s are refurbished, I forgot to mention that :/
Datamind, from the link you gave me, supply the DVR adapter at a good price. They also state that their has had the ridges removed making the adpater compatible with Gen 4 & 5 players....

 

[snowfruit]

How do you find the battery life on the Archos? I've seen some battery packs fo al that allow you to either run or charge the Archos from several AA batteries, not sure if they are necessary?

 

[magnatom]

Sorry for the 20 questions, but the cables shown in he photogaph of te Archos travel adapter on http://www.data-mind.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue__Archos_404_Accessories_35.html are they the cables rquired, or do I need more? They show the same pic on the 405 accessories page.

No, the cable you would need would be the one called AV cable megapixels code: 812115 and costs £13 including VAT.

 

[magnatom]

How do you find the battery life on the Archos? I've seen some battery packs fo al that allow you to either run or charge the Archos from several AA batteries, not sure if they are necessary?

My commute is about 20 mins each way. Using my 404 I can probably get 3 journeys out of it, i.e. about an hour. I'm not sure what the 405 will be like. As you say, you can get packs to extend the life. Have a look at dogcams batteries. They have one which you can use to power both the Archos and the camera (i.e. has 5V and 12V out). Or you can get a spliter and a converter to provide power for the Archos as well as the camera.

 

[snowfruit]

ahh power both from one pack - now that makes sense. I was starting to dread the amount of batteries I'd need to carry. I'll take a look at theDogcam site again.

 

[magnatom]

ahh power both from one pack - now that makes sense. I was starting to dread the amount of batteries I'd need to carry. I'll take a look at theDogcam site again.

Don't forget to tell them magnatom sent you!

(One day a helmet camera company will think of sponsoring me....)

 

[snowfruit]

Heh I did just that They all know you by name now

I've just ordered the 12v 6000mAh 12v/5v pack which according to Dogcam sport should power the camera and recorder for up to 8 hours. That can't be bad.

So my kit so far is:
- Dogcam 480 Pro + microphone (£70 on ebay)
- Archos 405 2GB SD + DV travel adapter (£24 for archos, £30 for adapter)
- 6000mAh 12v/5v Battery (£60 - 10% discount)
- suction mount, double hook & loop mount, right angled hook&loop mount (suction included with camera, other 2 @ £6.99 - 10% each)
- AV cable (£5)

I can wait for all this to arrive and try it out

I just hope my wife never finds the credit card statement