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Help please with dashboard camera

Romaway

May 12, 2015
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May 12, 2015
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Good morning. My problem is really causing my brain to spin and wonder if anyone on here can help.

I bought one of those dashboard cameras from Halfords. Everything was fine and I set it up according to the instructions. Date and time all up to date. So far so good. BUT after a few weeks I noticed the 'date' was wrong. It was a few days behind, the 'time' was spot on though. Maybe I had set the date incorrectly I thought, so I re-set it and it happened again after a few weeks, wrong date but perfect time. Phoned the company and we agreed to try it again. All seemed fine for a few weeks but then on 2nd May I noticed the camera was displaying 21st April but still with correct time.

The manufacturer can offer no explanation and has asked me to return it to them to look into but I am not sure how this will help as it is an intermittent problem. Before I decide whether to just ask for my money back or another camera, I wondered if anyone could explain any reason why this fault could occur and is it curable. No one I have asked can offer any reasonable explanation but then we are all pensioners and not au fait with this technological world.

Any help would be appreciated..
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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Welcome to electronicspoint.

I can give no bullet-proof explanation, but an idea: Time and date are usually kept in a circuit called RTC (Real Time Clock) which can be a discrete component or part of the controller chip in the camera. An RTC is essentially a dedicated counter made from simple storage elements (so called flip-flops) and designed such that it counts time and date in the usual fashion (i.e. 60 seconds to the minute, 60 minutes to the hour etc.) and can typically account for leap years and sometimes even for daylight savings time etc.

It can happen that one or more of these tiny flip-flops has a defect and doesn't store the information correctly. If the information in this flip-flop toggles (e.g. a logic 1 becomes a logic 0), the date (or time or whichever information is stored) is distorted which may manifest as a wrong date in the camera's display. This would be a fault of the chip in the camera or could be a consequence of an electromagnetic disturbance (although in th elatter case I'd think it unlikely that always and only the date is affected).
Another possibility is a weak battery in the camera. The RTC (and the flip-flops therein) require power to work. If the batttery's voltage is low, some of the flip-flops may still work correctly, others not. As the camera seems to be quite new, a drained battery is unlikely, but not impossible. Can you measure the battery's voltage? Could you try a know new battery?

Otherwise returning the camera to the manufacturer is a good option.
 

Romaway

May 12, 2015
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May 12, 2015
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Thank you so much Harald. You have explained this in such a way that even I can sort of understand. Just one question more though, if my phone or main camera runs out of charge and I leave it for some time before recharging it, the date and time are still correct so surely if this Dashcam runs out of charge the date and time should not be affected.

I have decided to return it to the manufacturer and hope they are as knowledgeable.

I wish I understood all this electronic stuff, it seems to be so interesting.
 

Harald Kapp

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if my phone or main camera runs out of charge and I leave it for some time before recharging it, the date and time are still correct so surely if this Dashcam runs out of charge the date and time should not be affected.
Typically the RTC has its own backup batttery or capacitor to "survive" a certain downtime of the main battery. This is quite typical, but not mandatory. Therefore your dashcam may or may not have this feature.

Harald
 
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