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5Nov/110

Timelapse GoPro extended by external power source

 

Ran the GoPro from about 2pm till 8pm on the upstairs balcony. I'm not sure how long the GoPro battery would last so I hooked it up to a LiPO 2650mAh battery via a uBEC. I checked the charge before and after and it had used about 40% or about 1060mA. I think the GoPro battery is 1100mA so it would have been pretty close to dead flat.

 

25Aug/110

GoPro Hero, External LiPo power

I recently tried my hand at making a timelapse video using the GoPro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO3IPMI9TEI) video and still image functions. I was a bit disappointed with the battery life and because I didn't have a spare battery, or access to power the device via a USB charger.

I needed a portable power supply to plug in via USB port on the side of the GoPro. To this end I took a UBEC, hooked it up to the balance tap of a 3S lipo and the output to a USB cable. In the photo below, I added the HK Wattmeter to see if I could measure any current draw by the GoPro. The lowest resolution of the Wattmeter is 100mA and didn't register. 

Next to do is maybe add a voltage detector so I can leave it running and get an audible warning if the LiPo gets low however I hope a 2650mAH battery will outlast a 32GB SD card in the camera. I'll have to hook up a proper multimeter and measure the average current draw and figure out how long batteries might last. Maybe integrate a low voltage cut-off circuit as well.

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