I have the same thing in my O2-monitor when charging. The processor and such is just running all the time when on charge just to display that it is charging or 'full'. External power just turns it on, ready to do something real. Yes, special descisicons made
Uh, a beer with foam on top .. looks tasty 👍 Thanks for the teardown ! I have a cheap go pro imitation that is also novatek .. guess they specialize in camera ICs
I think it's reasonable for 1) A lithium cell to have built in protection, including under-voltage protection. It's thus reasonable for 2) a charging circuit to continue putting out power, even when observing "zero volts" from the battery. So it will charge even a "dead" (under-volt protected, but not yet beyond usable) cell. So I think it's reasonable for the display to indicate charging even with no cell connected: it can't tell the difference between that and a protection-activated cell. And as others have pointed out, ~1.5 watt to run the backlit screen and probably the whole processor to send an image to the display (even if none of that is going to a battery) might also be well within reason.
If you are going to have the main display show charging progress then you have to run the SOC which means you have to run all the power supplies. Poor design - a single LED would have done the job. Thank you for showing us the guts. Regards, David
I also see the option to mount a metal housing around the SoC etc. Like on an ESP module, but is not placed. Which for us is great. But wonder why the skimped on that... BTW, I also can't see the colour of the LED. And the fact that the SoC turns on, means it is stealing all your data. Hahaha BTW2. Did F-NIRSI stopped sponsoring you? 😔
Indeed. I get that it’s a budget gadget, basically a video viewfinder with the usual IR blocking fitter removed and a visible blocking-IR passing filter installed. So far so good, but why so much idle current? That doesn’t sound like an engineering decision to me, more like unforgivable laziness on the part of whoever wrote the software… or a really bad case of “hurry up and get it done” from management. Whatever. As much as I’d like such a gizmo to play with, there’s no way I would buy one.
Well I guess they have the main IC and screen running to display the charging icon on screen .. that there is no "battery present" detection is forgivable in that price range I think ;) Power draw if turned off, not charging AND battery present would be interesting .. ah well ;)
So are these things like junky bangood things ? , I was thinking making a night vision device out of a FPV goggles and composite camera attached to it or something.
You've made me curious if the device is consuming the same current from the battery on standby if the USB is not connected. Maybe if the USB is connected, it wakes the soc for data connection?
It doesn't kill the battery when it's in standby (at least not over a period of a couple of weeks), so I assume the SoC goes into a low power mote, turns off the screen , etc.
I have the same thing in my O2-monitor when charging. The processor and such is just running all the time when on charge just to display that it is charging or 'full'.
External power just turns it on, ready to do something real.
Yes, special descisicons made
Uh, a beer with foam on top .. looks tasty 👍
Thanks for the teardown !
I have a cheap go pro imitation that is also novatek .. guess they specialize in camera ICs
I think it's reasonable for 1) A lithium cell to have built in protection, including under-voltage protection. It's thus reasonable for 2) a charging circuit to continue putting out power, even when observing "zero volts" from the battery. So it will charge even a "dead" (under-volt protected, but not yet beyond usable) cell. So I think it's reasonable for the display to indicate charging even with no cell connected: it can't tell the difference between that and a protection-activated cell.
And as others have pointed out, ~1.5 watt to run the backlit screen and probably the whole processor to send an image to the display (even if none of that is going to a battery) might also be well within reason.
I had a "Christmas Story" moment when the SD card launched into "the abyss". Ahhhh fuuuuudge.
I still haven't found it yet.
If you are going to have the main display show charging progress then you have to run the SOC which means you have to run all the power supplies. Poor design - a single LED would have done the job. Thank you for showing us the guts. Regards, David
Good point.
A single hole to show the blue LED already on the board.
Out of curiosity, i wonder what current the battery is supplying when it's not on charge and it's supposed to be turned off
Very little. Not enough to drain the battery noticably after a couple weeks in storage.
I like the over head camera, but not it moving..
Aww, I put a lot of effort into getting it to move smoothly...
It runs the SoC for location sharing.
I'm as privacy conscious as the next guy, but there's no networking or GPS hardware in this thing.
And he never saw the SD card again. LOL.
Still haven't found it.
@@pileofstuff Oh no. I lost one in 2018. I stopped looking. 😞
I also see the option to mount a metal housing around the SoC etc. Like on an ESP module, but is not placed. Which for us is great. But wonder why the skimped on that... BTW, I also can't see the colour of the LED. And the fact that the SoC turns on, means it is stealing all your data. Hahaha BTW2. Did F-NIRSI stopped sponsoring you? 😔
They're still offering me stuff, but they haven't seen this video yet...
Strange
Yeah, not what I was expecting.
Indeed. I get that it’s a budget gadget, basically a video viewfinder with the usual IR blocking fitter removed and a visible blocking-IR passing filter installed. So far so good, but why so much idle current? That doesn’t sound like an engineering decision to me, more like unforgivable laziness on the part of whoever wrote the software… or a really bad case of “hurry up and get it done” from management.
Whatever. As much as I’d like such a gizmo to play with, there’s no way I would buy one.
Well I guess they have the main IC and screen running to display the charging icon on screen .. that there is no "battery present" detection is forgivable in that price range I think ;) Power draw if turned off, not charging AND battery present would be interesting .. ah well ;)
So are these things like junky bangood things ? , I was thinking making a night vision device out of a FPV goggles and composite camera attached to it or something.
It does what it claims to do. It's just got a few oddities.
@@pileofstuff It looks a bit back to front with the eye holes being a camera and IR illuminator 😀
You've made me curious if the device is consuming the same current from the battery on standby if the USB is not connected. Maybe if the USB is connected, it wakes the soc for data connection?
It doesn't kill the battery when it's in standby (at least not over a period of a couple of weeks), so I assume the SoC goes into a low power mote, turns off the screen , etc.