Camera not turning off in Car Mode when power is disconnected!

Okay, I have updated my SJ7 to the latest firmware (V1.20), but car mode or dashcam mode is still not working. It does start up and start recording when I turn the car on, but when I turn the car off, it continues to keep recording. So, I pulled the battery out thinking this would solve the problem, but the camera does not even start up with the battery removed when I turn the car on. Again, I have firmware version V1.20. Is my camera defective? I have only had it for about 10 days?

 

The camera should power down within a couple of seconds of losing external power. Are you sure your power cable to the camera shuts off when the car's turned off? In some cars the power stays on (e.g., BMW X3 &325).

 

If the power does not switch off when the car is turned off, then it would not start recording at car start too. This case it should start recording right after it is connected to the external power cable.

I suspect, that you may use a poor quality (too thin and/or too long) cable, that has too high impedance. So the camera works basically from the battery juice and may ignore this small voltage drop from the external source. Try another cable and/or another phone charger, if possible.

 

Impedance applies to AC circuits; in DC circuits impedance is at zero phase angle or resistance and impedance are the same thing. Voltage drop (in-line resistance) is possible, but I doubt it in this case. A loose or corroded fuse might cause a problem, I suppose.

The SJ7 won't power up, from an external power source, without a battery. I agree that it seems as though the battery has taken over when the car's turned off. NTL, please verify that outlet only powers up when the car's turned on. Also, you might as well leave the camera on and if it powers down after, give or take, 45 minutes. If so, then you've managed to shift to battery power. If the camera's still switched on after 60-90 minutes, the outlet's powered up.

 

DC current is very sensitive to the length of the wires and the small cross-section. The camera can't get enough amps if the cord is too thin or too long.

BTW: English is my 3-rd language. For me the impedance and the resistance are the same. I use those words as synonyms. I do not want to argue about technical aspects of their differences.

 

Okay. I tried it with an external power pack (like what you use to charge your smartphone). I tried it with two different cords. When I plu the cord into the power pack, the SJ7 turns on and starts recording. When I unplug the cord from the power pack, the camera continues to record and must be manually stopped by pushing the button. It does this with both cords and will not power on automatically unless the battery is installed, although I can turn it on manually without the battery installed with the external power pack connected.

 

OK, to keep it straight in any language: impedance applies only to AC circuits, whether it's 50 Hz or many GHz. Impedance is measured in henrys. Resistance exists in AC and DC circuits. Resistance is measured in ohms.

A 6 ft/ 2m cable made with very thin 18 AWG wire (24/0.2 metric equivalent ) with 12.5 VDC and a 750 mAh (3/4 amp) draw will have a voltage drop of 0.03 volts.

18 AVG has a resistance of 6 ohms per thousand feet of wire or 21 ohms per km of wire. 6 ft/2 m of 18 AWG wire has very little resistance - 0.04 ohms.

Voltage = Current x Resistance
0.03 V = .75 A x 0.04 Ω

Voltage drop is a non-issue.

 

Henry is unit of inductance, not impedance. Impedance is measured in ohms, like the resistance.
If you don't know this, then every other thing you know about impedance might be wrong also.

BTW Wikipedia: "When a circuit is driven with direct current (DC), there is no distinction between impedance and resistance"

No distinction = no difference, they are the same.

 

I can't reproduce the problem. I turned on Car DV and Quick Capture. The camera started recording when I plugged into a battery pack, and powered down, when I pulled the plug, after counting down 5-4-3-2-1-off. I'm using V1.20. About the only thing I can think of is to install a different firmware (V1.15?) and then re-install V1.20. The idea is to try to flush the current firmware installation. It's a desperation move but "desperate times demand desperate measures".

 

You're right about henrys and ohms.

 

I can't find a way to downgrade the firmware. I downloaded the V1.18 firmware and put it on a formatted Micro SD and inserted it and turned the camera on. Nothing happens. I went to setting and click on the firmware version to start the downgrade, but it won;t do it that way either. Any advice on how to do this procedure you suggested?

 

Let me ask you this. I am a video influencer and make video product reviews. I bought this camera for my own use, but I am actually in the middle of making a review of it. I do a lot of hands on testing in my reviews and my past action camera reviews have gotten over many tens of thousands views each. I must admit that right now, I am not happy with how this camera is turning out. It has disappointed me several times. First, I bought an highly rated external microphone for it, only to find out after that it would not work with the SJ7 star. Some say there is a pin configuration issue, which may mean that the SJ7 does not have a standard mini usb pin layout. Then I lost valuable footage while in Costa Rica because of an incompatibility issue with a standard USB mini usb cord. This may also have been caused by the non-standard pin configuration issue. Now there is this issue with in not working properly in car mode. Also, the stills I have taken with the SJ7 are horrible when in a side by side comparison with my other action cameras.

Now, I want to be fair here and not make a review based on a lemon camera. Do you think I should let SJCam know that I am making this review of the SJ7. Do you think they would be interested in working with me to help solve the problem I am having, or should I just finish my review and put it out there based on my experience with this camera?

 

Go to this link and download the file. Drill down past the folder with the Chinese title. Copy SJ7_FWUPDATE.bin onto the root level of an SD. Go to the camera's menus, take the "tools" menu section and scroll down to the listing for your current firmware version. Tap on it. Pick the white box with a circle in it, and you're done.

Or you can copy firmware.bin onto the SD card. Supposedly, the update will happen "automagically" when you power up the camera. I opt for the menu route.

@sjcam_admin There is no clear link to V1.20 on the SJ7 support page! The link is a dead link:
http://support.sjcam.com/support/so...09268-sj7-star-firmware-update-newest-version

AFAIK the only place to get the current firmware, V1.20 is on Poshgadgets. IMNSHO opinion it's not a great idea to have the current firmware rev. only on a Wordpress site off in an obscure corner of the Internet.

 

Okay. This fixed the car mode problem. Thanks. Now when the usb cable is unplugged the camera stops recording immediately, but take 30 seconds to power down. Is this normal?

P.S. The SJ7 Star help page on http://sjcam.com is dead. As a internet business owner myself I just want to advise that having dead help pages for your flagship products does not inspire consumer confidence that SJCam is very professional company.

P.P.S Is there a solution to enable the SJ7 to work third party external mics, or was the SJ7 Star intentionally mechanically designed to only work with the SJCam external mic?

 

OK, a win for the dashcam. IIRC there is a setting for the duration of the shutdown cycle. I didn't fiddle with resolutions, but my guess is Delay Off is enabled or disabled by resolution. Turning Quick Capture on and off didn't enable or disable it.

Re: external mics: there is no clear answer. SJCam is silent on technical details. The argument "if we don't tell you how to use 3rd party gear, then you must come to us" is older than Apple and Macs. And that's nothing to be proud of.

I think I've posted at least once "if you're experimenting with mics, please let us know what does or doesn't work." So far... crickets. To answer your question, if you can get a mic to accept having a 3.5 mm plug go to a 3.5 mm jack, give it a try. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won't. Maybe something will let out the magic smoke that makes things work. Experiments are like that. [/grin]

@sjcam_admin @The Jungle Explorer - The matter of pages and where to find stuff is a point I've tried to labor with SJCam on. Without success. TJE makes a very important point: if pages don't work, and vital information (e.g., firmware) can't be found, customers will go elsewhere.

 

First: Mini usb pin layout standard says nothing about mic. See: http://pinouts.ru/visual/mini-USB.jpg'
Second: If you have an issue that needs attention from the SJCAM team, then better create a support ticket: http://support.sjcam.com/support/home
As much as I understood, here is basically just a place, where SJCAM customers can share experience and suggestions to each other.

I am glad, that you managed to fix the car mode problem!

 

Agreed

Agreed. Thanks for the reply.

 

I am here not only to find fixes for issues, but also to do research for my review of the SJ7. The opinion of a Moderator on the official SJCam forum holds much weight. I make honest reviews. I praise those things worthy of praise and point out those things that fall short. I hold loyalty only to the bare truth. The truth is this, while the SJ7 Star does produce better quality of video then my other action cameras, I have run into a host of problems with it that I have never encountered with other cameras. I need to know if these problems are with my unit in particular or if they are common problem.

Contacting SJCam directly is something that is only right to do once I have identified an actually Defect with the camera. So far, I have not found a defect. What I have run into is design flaws that many other people are experiencing. Why would I call SJCam about these? Would they issue a recall to fix the design issue, of course not. As with common now days, Companies never look to fix an existing product. They simply release a new model and promise that it will be better, which in most cases it is not.

Now if you think think that SJCam has an interest in working with me to resolve the issues I am having, as some other companies have done in the past, I am willing to work with them. The video review I produce will potentially influence the buying decision of tens of thousands of people and I want to give each company a fair chance to work with me on issues I find lacking. I do not know SJCam, so I ask you. Do you think they would want to know about the review I am doing on their flagship product?

 

I got moderator slapped on my name because I talk too much. LOL

Seriously, I've got no juice with SJCam. I don't work for them, I don't contract with them. I know a marketing guy on a personal basis as much as anything. And I own one of these cameras. That's the name of that tune.

I've told this story before but... my previous camera came from Sena, who does BT intercoms, mainly for the motorcycle market. The gear's pretty good. They did two cameras, one integrated with an intercom (10C???). IMHO combining the worst of both worlds. And the Prism. It has a much sleeker body and it's well integrated with the intercoms (surprise!). Both camera can't go past 1080p at 30 fps. And they have miserable DSP's. I just posted a Prism video as a sample of pixelation. Back to your issue.

The Sena products vary from not too bad to downright inadequate, and users posted about it on the company user forum. Sena said exactly nothing. So try to talk to SJCam? They worst they can do is say nothing.

 

Thanks. Hey, let me ask you one more question. Is the SJ7 have an in camera video playback function? I cannot find a way to play video back on mine.