New Auto-Record Feature

[RandallNoll]

Wanted to take a quick minute to make sure everyone knew about our new Auto-Record feature.

When hard-wired to switched vehicle power, and G-Force enabled, the ChaseCam recorder with Auto-Record:

1) Senses when the car is switched on, and fires up simultaneously.

2) Begins recording when it senses motion. You set the sensitivity in g's. For example, once the recorder sees a 0.25g movement (acceleration, braking, or turning) it will begin recording. This can be set from 0.09 - 2.00g.

3) Stops recording a set time after it no longer senses the preset g-threshold. Example: If the recorder doesn't see a 0.25g movement for 60 seconds, it stops recording and goes to standby. Once it senses 0.25g again it will begin recording another file. This "timer" can be set from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.

4) Shuts down shortly after the vehicle is turned off. Using Supercaps, this is usually about a 5-second delay. Using batteries, you can program how long you want it to continue to run after it loses external power.

We use this Auto-Record feature on all the Speed World Challenge cars as well as the Australian V8 Supercars. We also used five of these systems on the 1955 Hagemann Jaguar we outfitted for Jay Leno's race team at the Monterey Historic races this summer.

Key Benefits:
-You can go an entire weekend without ever thinking about your video.
-You never miss a lap or session.
-Since it's fully user programmable, you can set it so you only get the footage you want.
-Once you use it, you wonder how you ever lived without it.

Auto-Record is now standard on all new ChaseCam recorders.

Auto-Record requires the G-Force module. All units with G-Force can peform #2-4 above with a simple firmware upgrade. Item #1 above requires a recent power board (identified by a red box with a white switch just inside the door to the left of the battery slots). We offer upgrade paths for most older units. If you would like to upgrade your recorder please call us for pricing at 619-337-2300. As always, the firmware required to run these new features is available free on our website under Support.

Thanks!

[pdisme]

Hello, can you give me the options I need to set for g-force, auto record and auto shutdown to accomplish the auto-everything configuration? I got a new PDR100 week before last and the defaults didn't do this, I didn't spend a lot of time on it at the track but I couldn't get it working.

Autorecord was easy enough, I set it on (going from my memory) like my older PDR100 and once powered up, it starts recording. However, my new unit, with the red box/white switch, did not power on automatically when presented with power from the car (it's a supercaps model so no batteries).

I messed with the auto-shutdown a little, it had several options though and I wasn't sure which one would be appropriate, I think I tried shutdown at ext power which I assumed would be the right one for a supercaps model where I want it to stop recording and turn off when power is removed.

For g-force, that also had several options, and then sensitivity options beyond that. I wasn't sure what the different options meant or which would be appropriate.

Thanks,

David

[RandallNoll]

David,

Great questions. Here's a quick writeup to get folks started.

Auto-On
This is accomplished simply by moving the white switch on the red box. This switch should be in the position furthest away from the door to enable the Auto-On feature. Push it with a pen or paperclip. Here is a picture of the switch:



Auto-Record
There are two parameters that need to be set to make the Auto-Record work:

1) Auto Record At Start. [MENU / FEATURES / AUTO RECORD AT START]
This needs to be set as seen below for both the basic auto record once the unit powers up, as well as for the G-Force record trigger. Highlight 'BEGIN RECORD AT START' and push the select (center/diamond) button to accept. Here's an image:



2) G-Force Record Trigger. [MENU / FEATURES / GFORCE RECORD TRIGGER]
This has three settings: Mode, Sensitivity, and Time Delay After.

MODE
turns on the trigger and determines how it will be used.

Difference Mode is what we use in 99% of applications. Difference Mode senses relative g-forces and triggers recording any time the g-forces sensed CHANGE by the predetermined amount. This mode doesn't care about absolute positioning and doesn't require re-calibration (zero-ing) of the accelerometer.

Threshold Mode uses absolute G-forces. This means the unit needs to be calibrated so it's resting position is 0.00 / 0.00 in the on-screen display. Then it will trigger recording any time the absolute forces are greater than the predetermined value.

SENSITIVITY
Allows you to set how sensitive the trigger is, in G's. This has a range from 0.09 to 2.00 in G's. We've found that 0.25 is high enough to allow you to move gingerly through the pits without triggering recording, but low enough to trigger immediately when you press the gas and mean it.

TIME DELAY AFTER
How you determine how long the unit continues to record after it no longer senses the preset g-forces. This has a range of 10 seconds to 30 minutes. For autox, we set this to 10-seconds, as it's very rare for an autox car to ever go 10 seconds without turning/braking/accelerating. For road racing, 60-seconds would probably work, unless you anticipate any long stops or slow pace laps during yellows. If this becomes an issue, and the unit stops recording when you don't want it to, try lowering the sensitivity value (making it more sensitive) which will allow the trigger to activate and the timer to reset more often.

Here's an image of the screen where these are set.
Note: when adjusting these values you must push the SELECT (center/diamond) button to accept the changed value.



Auto-Off
SUPERCAPS
Auto-Off was originally created using Super-Caps (our capacitors that we house in the original battery slot). Super-Caps run for approx. 5 seconds. When external power is lost (car is turned off) the recorder instantly saves the current recording and the Super-Caps power the unit down 5-seconds later. You never have to worry about having battery backup.

BATTERIES
[MENU / FEATURES / AUTO SHUT DOWN]
We've also created software that emulates Super-Caps if you have batteries. The EXT POWER option will basically start a shut-down timer once external power is lost. The user can set this from 10-seconds to 30-minutes. This feature is meant for battery untis using external (car) power and Auto-Record.

The RECORDING TIMEOUT is basically a battery saver option. It starts a shut-down timer any time the unit isn't recording, so if you forget to turn it off, it powers itself down. This unit is meant more for units used portably on battery power. If you turn it on and don't record, it will shut down after X minutes to save batteries. If you stop recording but forget to power the unit off, it will shut down after X minutes to save batteries.

Here is a picture of the AUTO SHUT DOWN screen:



SUMMARY
In summary, the Auto-Record essentially does the following:
-It records when it senses motion
-It starts a timer (time delay after) once it no longer senses motion
-If it senses motion again, it resets the timer
-If the timer expires the unit stops recording and awaits motion
-If it senses motion again, it begins recording again
-Once you pull off course and shut the car down it saves the video file, and powers down the recorder.

...all AUTOMATICALLY!

We like to say you can now "Record an entire weekend of racing without pushing a button!"

[pdisme]

Ah, yes I have some tweaking to do to my config now, I see where I went wrong.

On the auto shutdown, do you mean that on a supercaps model, there should be no "[MENU / FEATURES / AUTO SHUT DOWN]" menu, or that its settings are irrelevant? My PDR100 has supercaps but also has the auto shutdown menu, that's why I was messing around in there. Now that I've messed with it, what should I set it back to for supercaps use?

[RandallNoll]

Originally Posted by pdisme

Ah, yes I have some tweaking to do to my config now, I see where I went wrong.

On the auto shutdown, do you mean that on a supercaps model, there should be no "[MENU / FEATURES / AUTO SHUT DOWN]" menu, or that its settings are irrelevant? My PDR100 has supercaps but also has the auto shutdown menu, that's why I was messing around in there. Now that I've messed with it, what should I set it back to for supercaps use?

You are correct. While the menu option is still there, SuperCaps owners should turn AUTO SHUT DOWN off. The SuperCaps perform all this function mechanically.

As a side note, while we have built the software to allow the battery units to function like SuperCaps, it still requires the user to maintain good/charged batteries in the unit. For dedicated car use, we recommend the SuperCaps over batteries, as they are maintenance free.

Thanks!

[pdisme]

Followed the steps in this thread and my new PDR100 ran flawlessly at Road Atlanta all weekend; auto power, g-force record and supercaps worked as intended, unit powered up when the car's battery disconnect was on, recorded when I moved, safely saved when I shut off. Now I have more video than I know what to do with, gotta look for the good parts.

Only complaint is that the new PDR at custom audio gain set to minimum, seems to be a lot noisier than my old one. The new one doesn't have a rubber boot around the record button like the old one though; maybe that's letting more noise into the case?

[RandyChase]

YOu should have the boot. We can mail one to you.

Is your menu option set for sound using the low gain setting? In other words, there are two settings. The gross adjustment is first MICROPHONE LEVEL. Then tweak with the gain bars.

[pdisme]

Yep, I did adjust that. It's not horrible, but overloads when the car is moving fast since it gets noisy with wind and engine at 170 mph. I haven't moved the mounting position of the pdr so it's picking up the same sounds as my old pdr.

If you could send me the boot that would be great, it's from order 323.

[chrisdhorn]

I've got a PDR100, and it has the gForce functionality. However, it does not have that cool little red switch. Can I still make this work?

Thanks,

[RandyChase]

You can make it auto-record based on GForce, but your unit will not auto turn on based on sensing external power. We can upgrade power supply boards to a newer one that can auto-on.