camera | Moto-Abruzzo

20/03/201603/05/2019

One way of checking the brake lights work!

Well it’s time to test out the prototype of the BMW-clone Dynamic Brake Light System ……… but how to keep an eye on the tail-light and hazards when riding around? Dig out a bit of scrap metal, the old Shorai battery and the Tarot 2D gimbal/GoPro camera combination – that’s how! 😀

Pardon the pun … but the Shorai battery was a complete non-starter as far as getting the Capo to wheeze into life (below 12C anyway!), so it spent the next few years doing various duties. Replacing the battery in my computer UPS (uninterruptible Power Supply) for one, then running the dashboard test-rig for a while before being the power supply of choice to run the Tarot gimbal or any home-brew datalogging/test kit that needed 12V. To be fair it’s 4½ years old, stored in the barn for extended periods, recharged with a crude 6V/12V charger, run flat as a pancake and overcharged …. and it still keeps working!

So now we’re ready to rock the highways and byways with the gimbal/GoPro hopefully grabbing the footage I need. Once it’s done I’ll turn the gimbal around and grab some more quirky footage facing backwards! 😯

28/01/201628/04/2019

Eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight!

Disposable_camera Many years back I started to carry one of these disposable cameras on the bike. Usually ratting around in the top-box with all manner of junk, it was their just in case of …… Well I’m sure you get the idea. Instead it ended up being used to take a picture of the speedo whenever it passed through an ‘interesting’ odometer reading – 12345, 22222, 33333. Sad I know, but it became a habit.

Taking a photo of these mileages has stayed with me and where possible I still take a snap of the dashboard if it’s convenient/safe to do it and of course, if I remember! This time around it was a biggie, the one that would use up all but one segment of the entire odometer – 88,888 – I wasn’t going to miss this one.

And so on a beautifully warm day with January knocking on February’s door the capo rolled to a halt just south of Penne and the picture was taken. The Capo’s running wonderfully and I’m (slowly) losing a bit of weight and feeling better for it – I have a feeling this year might just be the year we crack that 6th digit!

25/11/201426/05/2016

Go, Go, GoPro!

Replacement GoPro Hero 3+ ready for work! As the evening mist rolled down the valley and the receding glow behind the Gran Sasso a lingering reminder of today heading toward tomorrow, I trundled up to the main road in the Landy to meet a courier. A dashboard perhaps, or some silicone vacuum hose I’d ordered off EBay? No Idea.

When I saw the parcel I nearly fell off my perch … a replacement GoPro camera! 😀 And not only that, but also a nice new battery as well – thank you GoPro, what a nice surprise. All in all the turnaround was 1 week from shipping the old unit to the new one turning up, Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid - GoPro pretty damn good in my books.

The only thing to ask now is about warranty – I’m unsure about where the new camera stands. Does it only have the remaining warranty of the old unit (about 8 weeks!) or does it come with a new warranty of it’s own and if so, how long? So I’ve sent a last email back to GoPro asking them to clarify it for me. Meanwhile, I’ve charged it up, got it talking to the Wi-Fi remote and GoPro app, polished its case and got the bike ready for a nice little womble around the countryside ….. all in aid of product testing of course! 😉

13/11/201426/05/2016

Bye Bye Wi-Fi … one poorly GoPro camera

GoPro Hero 3+ WiFi failure Yes after 10 months of excellent service, the GoPro Hero 3+ Black has sadly ended up toes-to-the-sky in the bottom of the bird cage. Everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago, when all of a sudden the camera ceased talking to the wireless remote or my smartphone … in fact no Wi-Fi activity at all. So I twiddled and fiddled, reloaded the firmware, stood on one foot in a bucket of rice pudding reciting Winnie the Poo out loud…. nothing worked. Time to contact GoPro.

SDA Pescara Italy From initial contact (website form) I must say they were very quick to respond – the automated reply says 1-2 days, I got a response within 3 hours! After that things happened rapidly and within a few days I was standing at the local UPS office (actually sign posted SDA – don’t ask!) handing over the demised camera in its little cardboard coffin resplendent in a pre-paid return label for the journey to its final resting place in the Netherlands. That was Monday, it was delivered on Wednesday and today, Thursday, I’m getting my kit ready for a run out….. Helmet, gloves, wallet, phone, cam…….

…..I miss that little fella already. 😥

This I guess is the halfway point through the warranty claim, so far so good. I have to say the experience has been very smooth with GoPro being totally professional and helpful throughout. The emails were clear and concise with everything integrating seamlessly to avoid confusion. At this point I’m very happy with GoPro, let’s see how things pan out over the next week or so!

15/01/201416/01/2014

Lights, camera …….. action!

Video on bikes ……. Nothing new of course, it’s been going on for ages. But for what it’s worth, here’s a potted history of moto-abruzzo’s fumbling’s as a videographer.

This pic is probably where it all began, back in 1992 on a hot day in Italy when I was bored. I strapped my analog camcorder to the cylinder head of the 1500 Goldwing and had a fun afternoon playing. The low perspective added drama to the shots and I could watch the front end working in corners …. Well as much as you can corner on a Goldwing! But of course the kit was bulky and not waterproof in the slightest, Sony Video Walkman GD-V800 so once I’d had a play I never touched it again – especially in the rain soaked confines of the UK.

It was 2001 before I used video again. Now working as a full time Motorcycle Instructor I could see the value of using video as a training aid, so I fitted my Triumph Trophy 1200 with two 720×520 colour bullet cams (front & rear) and used a Sony Video Walkman GD-V800 deck to record. The cameras were interchangeable with PIP (Picture in Picture) so one image was primary while the other was a thumbnail in the corner. It all worked very well and I learned a great deal about camera placement, lens choice, filming and editing video from those days. Sadly, when the Trophy was written off in 2005 the video gear just sat in a corner of the workshop and never got fitted permanently again – mainly because no bike stayed long enough until I got the Caponord!

GoPro Hero 3+ Black And that brings me up to date I guess. 2014, a new year and all that jazz, will see moto-abruzzo once again playing with video. Hopefully this time it will add a new perspective to the website and move things in a slightly different direction. After a few weeks of internet-homework, weighing up the pros and cons of some amazing kit, I’ve chosen the GoPro Hero 3+ Black as the camera platform to use. I’m not going to bang on about the camera as a zillion websites and YouTube videos are available to review this kit, it’s enough to say that in comparison to previous kit I’ve used it look fantastic, is a magnitude more advanced and ……. well lets just say I can’t wait to get filming!