DashCam

In July last year, I posted about a dashcam I’d fitted to the car.. well, the GPS unit packed up last week. Also, the connections on the mounting bracket (which were always a bit suspect) had got worse so I decided it was time for a new dashcam.

Unfortunately, of necessity, these cameras operate in what must be one of the worst environments possible for a bit of domestic electronics – stuck at the top of the windscreen in the full glare and heat of the sun (if we’re lucky) so I guess 18 months is a reasonable time for them to last – especially for low to mid-priced units such as the E-Prance 0803.

So, I ordered one of these. I don’t know if mine was faulty but the GPS unit wasn’t working and it wouldn’t remember any of the settings I’d configured. So, back it went for a full refund.

I’ve now ordered the latest version of the E-Prance camera – the 0806. So far, it seems to be working as expected (although it’s not fitted in the car as yet).

I thought it would be interesting (to me anyway) to open up the old E-Prance 0803 because I wanted to disconnect the defunct GPS unit internally and I wanted to see what exactly was used as the standby power supply. From the very short time the standby supply lasted, my guess was that it used a super-capacitor.

Click the pics for a larger version.

eprance01

eprance02

I was surprised to find that it uses a fairly large lithium-polymer battery rated at 400mAh. Presumably it was another victim of the excessively high temperature inside the unit as it didn’t really hold any meaningful charge at all.

Other than that, I was actually quite impressed at the overall quality of the camera’s construction. Two double-sided PCBs mated with three high-quality miniature two-row header plugs and sockets.

The latest model has addressed the overheating issue (basically by drilling loads of holes in the case) so, hopefully, it will last at least as long as the old one.

The old one is now re-assembled (and working!) so I intend to install it in the rear windscreen to see if it will deter the bane of my life – tailgaters!