Neuros Technology Forums

Thanks IPRESS.

bobkart is correct about the power.  I pulled the power for the R2 units from the HOT side of my master kill switch.  This setup is just like having the R2 connected directly to the battery.  The only issue is leaving the unit on and draining the power down, which would take some time.  In any event, we used an illuminated switch, so it was always obvious when the R2 units were powered.

I did the same with our radio.  Why?  Well, should something happen to kill power during the race, it would be handy to be able to communicate with the crew. 

Installing the R2 where the passenger airbag goes is a great idea.  My next install will have the units in the glovebox with the controls wired to the custom panel.  It is always a great idea to separate the video & power wires, as they can cause interference with each other (and result in noisy video quality).  Putting the R2 units away from other components and wiring is a step in the right direction...   

Looks GOOD!

The addition of the DB-9 connector should alleviate a few of the issues I had!

Well done O!

Ooops...I've been outed by Ex-Navy!   
Thanks for the comments. 

We did get audio during the race and during all of the other track time I've recorded with the 2 R2 units.  The video with the data overlay was done in TrackVision, which for some reason could not handle the audio.  I'm sure it is a problem with the audio codec.  For whatever reason, the DV files (or any files) I've exported from Final Cut Pro do not play well with the TrackVision software.  I've tried everything short of outputting the FCP project to a DV tape and re-capturing on a Windows box.

A note of caution on recording:  I had intermittant problems getting the system to STOP recording.  This is a PROBLEM!  Why?  If the system is powered down while recording, whatever you've been recording will be LOST!  I was able to work around the problem by triggering the "stop record" command several times repeatedly, but we are still looking into the source of the problem and a solution.

With regards to grabbing race comm, I wouldn't splice into the wiring harness to grab the signal.  As great as grabbing video and audio is, the actual racing has to come first.  I would not want to deal with extra connections or adding potential sources of problems to anything directly related to the race car or racing in general.

My work-around was to use an extra radio in the car.  The radio should grab all communications and be a nice stand-alone system.  The only thing you have to worry about is changing out the radio's output (headphone level) to line-level to feed the recording unit.  You need a mini mic preamp, something like the Beachtek DXA-10 should get the job done.  There are probably cheaper options, but I haven't looked into any (yet).  If you are looking for an all-in-one solution, and it sounds like you are, then you'll be feeding all of the mics into the mixer/preamp, as you'll want to adjust the radio levels separate from the external mics.

My system was designed around having options.  The front camera recorder grabbed audio from a stereo microphone.  The rear camera grabbed right-channel audio from an external mic, and left-channel audio from the race radio.  This setup lets us watch each of the feeds full-screen without any editing, etc.  It also allows us to edit the video and audio to our liking.  For example, the picture-in-picture video samples currently on the site.

I continue to work on making the process as easy and idiot-proof as possible.  Unfortunately, the incompatability of the TrackVision software is making us jump through hoops that shouldn't exist.  Part of this is due to my cross-platform preference for editing, but I haven't had much luck even working 100% on the Windows side with StreamClip.  For example, native Neuros files exported to DV, AVI, or any other StreamClip friendly formats also do not play well in TrackVision.

For the time being, I can come in from a race, connect the CF card to my laptop, and start watching the video immediately.  This of course, is all non-linear.  Jump to any time in the video, replay, fast forward, freeze frame, etc.

As you can see from the site above, the Neuros can capture some good quality video.  I've downloaded episodes of "Lost" from the iTunes store, which are recorded at 320x240, and which look good full-screen on my 23" monitor. I have yet to watch it on TV, but there is a lot more to high-quality video than just resolution/pixel count!  As they say, garbage in, garbage out.  On that note, Apple just announced compatability with 640x480 video with iTunes/iPod video, which should be a significant increase in quality.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to have a season's worth of races (recorded on the R2, of course!) on your iPod?  The TrackVision (or similar) overlay would be even better. 

Hi IPRESS / Mac,

Are you an SCCA guy? 

I have been working on a project with Ex-Navy & the folks at Olson along with some input from the Neuros team.  I have 2 R2 units,  an Olson circuit, and a 5V BEC  in a racecar.  The project revolved around a 6-hour endurance race.  We had a camera pointing forward and one pointing out the back window.  Each R2 had an 8 gigabyte CF card, which would hold 8 hours (each) at the highest quality video setting of 640x480, including audio, of course.  We ran two 12v stereo microphones in the car, and I even installed an extra radio inside the car* and ran the feed to one of the Neuros units to record race communications.

In short, the R2 is a great solution for incar video, and the Olson circuit can make operation much easier.  There is something to be said about solid state electronics!  We've learned a lot from our experiment, and look forward to sharing the info soon.

For your racer-types, below is a list  of the electronics we ran.  All electronics were housed in a custom dash center-stack enclosure: 

2 Recorder2 units
1 Olson Circuit, which operated BOTH units
5V BEC
2 bullet cameras
2 stereo mics
Data acquisition (DL-1)
Race radio
Cool Suit (flow control)

Each had its own illuminated switch, fuse, etc.

We made provisions in the custom dash to be able to see the LEDs on the R2 units (which were removed from their OEM enclosures).  We also used an illuminated switch to trigger the Olson circuit.

More to come!

Cheers,

Will

*edited!

What exactly are the compression codecs and settings which the R2 records?

I would like to edit my footage in Apple's Final Cut Pro, but cannot seem to work with the video without very long rendering processes.  I've tried several project settings/codecs, but continue to come up empty handed!  My goal is to edit the clips I've captured with minimal loss to image quality.  I think many would be interested, or dare I say "impressed", with the R2's high quality settings if we could actually take control of the data without having to convert the files into a different (and less efficient) format.  I have been working on a project that I'd like to share with the community, but I'm currently at this stumbling block.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Will

I believe the guys at Olson-Engineering are closed down for vacation. 

I think I can answer some of these questions.  I have a functional but bare circuit (no housing), but I believe the finished product includes a custom case which houses the circuit and the Recorder2.  I do not know if the unit will come with a switch pre-wired.  The unit I have does, but I will be changing it to a different type of switch, which will be very easy to do.

The circuit works exactly as Ex-Navy described.  Connect power at one end and the Recorder2 at the other.  Flip the switch.  The recorder powers on and starts recording.  There is an approximate 7-second delay between when the pressing of the button and the commencement of recording (by the way, this is faster than manually turning on the Neuros and pressing the record button on the wireless remote).

The circuit I have also has a 5v regulator wired to it.  12 volts are fed to the (small) 5v regulator, and the regulator then feeds 5v to the circuit.  Power to the regulator comes from my 12v car battery.  I also branch off of these leads (the wires between the 12v battery and the regulator) to feed two 12v bullet cameras.  I branch off of the other leads (the 5v wires between the regulator and the one-touch record circuit) to power two Recorder2 units.

I've run some basic tests and have had very good results.  Stay tuned to these forums, and look for a detailed write-up elsewhere soon.

2 cameras
2 Neuros Recorder2
1 Olson-Engineering cirucit
Endless opportunities. 

Don't want to say too much as Ex-Navy can do a much better job answering your questions.  Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that if replies seem slow from Ex-Navy and the guys at Olson, it is because they are on vacation for a couple of weeks.  I can confirm that the product works, it is simple to use, and one circuit can trigger (at least) two Neuros Recorder2 units. 

Well, I have answered my own question.  I purchased a couple of Transcent 8GB 120x CF cards.  First thing I did was plug the card into my computer and learned that the cards came pre-formatted in FAT32.

Plugged a card into the R2, and it worked perfectly.  The R2 could see all 8GB.  Did a test recording of 6+ hours on 640x480 super-fine last night.  Recorder still had 111 minutes worth of memory available.

Does the R2 support 4 or 8 GB CF cards?  What are the largest card sizes supported?  Are there any specific manufacturers recommended?

I have an event coming up where I would like to capture 7 hours of high-quality video continually.  I realize that the R2 will break up the recordings into 2-hour segments, which I can live with for now.  However, am about to purchase some CF cards and would like to be sure that they will work with the Neuros.

Also, does the R2 prefer FAT16 or FAT32?

I get very good quality at 640x480, super-fine.  This is with the supplied cables.  I can sometimes get a wide, verticle, bar that cycles slowly from left to right on the screen.  I attribute this to "hum", which is probably a result of the lower-quality connectors on the R2, and *probably* correctable with a higher-quality cable.

Hi Ex-Navy,

Thanks for the info.  Email sent!

Cheers,

WP

I would appreciate any info tips, or suggestions on how to power a R2 from my car.  Ideally I'd like to hardwire one (or several).

Has anyone had luck with this?  I would appreciate info on scratch-built setups as well as over-the-counter / RadioShack solutions.

It seems that a few people are already using the R2 in cars.  How are you powering the units?!?!

Thanks in advance!