DVR with sound??

[Brian Shaffer]

For those of you who record your hunts via a DVR being cabled to a NV or thermal scope and who have live audio, what DVR are you using to make this happen? While I appreciate what my little Angel Eye DVR does, it does not do live sound.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Yes I'm interested also. Mainly because I have bought three angel eyes. Not one has lasted over four months without breaking.

 

[ZenArchery]

I've always just used my IPhone to record audio. Just my .02

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Interesting. I just tried making a voice recording with my GS4 and dubbing it in to a video and it worked fairly well. Will need to work on getting things aligned properly so as to eliminate the Japanese movie lip sync issue, but I think it will work, not what I had in mind, but is a reasonable work around. Thank you, Ed.

 

[Hunt TXHogs]

I check the WORLD WIDE WEB weekly, still no alternative to the Angel Eyes (without sound) for less than 100 bucks. I also prefer not wearing a recording studio (separate mic) which is what i do now and forget half the time to turn on the audio.

HTXH

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Okay, what mic are you using with the Angel Eye specifically?

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I check the WORLD WIDE WEB weekly, still no alternative to the Angel Eyes (without sound) for less than 100 bucks. I also prefer not wearing a recording studio (separate mic) which is what i do now and forget half the time to turn on the audio.

HTXH

Yea but what good is it when they break every two or three outings? Maybe if you sit in a stand they will hold up, but walking several miles and shooting a lot has been bad for mine.

 

[Hunt TXHogs]

Okay, what mic are you using with the Angel Eye specifically?

I bought this, http://www.walmart.com/ip/15269106?...90695550&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34446969070&veh=sem , and spliced the wires into the dongle supplied with the Angel Eyes.

The wires within the Angel Eyes cable are super thin and fragile, it took numerous attempts at soldering the wires and taping heavily to get a connection that sustains on a hunt.

I don't recommend it because the sound sucks, but it is sound.

I will just continue to search the I-net searching for The One.......

Lawman - You probably slay too many pigs hence the DVR cannot keep up. Me, well I kill them one at a time (pigs) and keep my DVR in a velvet bag , never mounted to the weapon.

HTXH

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I went ahead and bought my fourth angle eye dvr last night in perpetration for the W1000. If it doesn't make it at least a year I'm done with them.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I hope that works for you. I carry mine in a butstock pouch and it seems to ride well there with no problems so far except rapid access.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I have been carrying mine in a old camera bag but they still keep going out.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I respectfully offer that it is something in the method of your carry that may be the culprit. I don't know that any other brand would necessarily do much better in the same circumstances without additional protection. Which leads to...

So nobody else is using a DVR with sound???

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I respectfully offer that it is something in the method of your carry that may be the culprit.

So a padded camera bag is not enough protection? Maybe I should add some Kevlar and ceramic plates? Lol

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I don't know what to tell you. Lots of folks use them. You can try a $500 DVR and see if it holds up better, but I would seriously re-examine your method of carry and use in the field regardless of your DVR choice.

 

[Hunt TXHogs]

Perhaps LAWMANS weather environment is to blame?

Brian and I don't see much in the way of rain or high humidity hence moisture doesn't contribute to early failure.

What are you doing with all your broken DVRs is the screen dying, battery cell, any consistency to the failures?

I'm sure tech support is non-existent but we are here to support ya

HTXH

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

They just go dead nothing on the screen. At least I have lots of spare parts now.

 

[EGarza04]

Guys,

what kind of output cables do the NV and thermal use? Does the DVR need HDMI, mini HDMI, micro HDMI, RCA, miniplug, S-Video, ...etc plugs? Those of you that use external microphones, does your recording device have different connections for video and audio (like RCA or otherwise), do they use the same plug (like HDMI and its variants), or do you use some sort of adapter to accommodate multiple types of input? What type of output cable does the microphone use?

Edit: Also do you have to be able to view the video feed on the recording device or could a simple recorder (sans screen) be used?

 

[Brian Shaffer]

The cables used depend on the units used. The Pulsar Digisight uses RCA connection video cable and the Angle Eye needs the other end to be a standard 3.5 mm plug (like your headphone plug, but with an extra connection on the stem). ATNs have a special wire for the unit to get you to an RCA connection...why, I don't know. http://www.opticsplanet.com/atn-vid...ngAVg&ef_id=UdWNDAAABf5eN1@z:20130910022644:s

Whether or not the DVR needs something like HDMI will depend on the DVR, but I haven't seen any that do with the little portable recorders, but they may be out there.

You don't have to have a view on the recorder, but it is nice to be able to do play back to see if you got the video or not. Pulsar makes a recorder that is just a recorder with no viewer, for example. The bonus there is that it doesn't emit a lot of light.

 

[EGarza04]

I am not sure of the ruggedness or quality of either of these as I have not used either of them but here are 2 options from B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/969381-REG/atv_dyk14g_mini_dvr_4gb_sd.html
This one has RCA inputs for both audio and video and runs on 2 AA batteries. Not sure of battery life though

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/906059-REG/KJB_SECURITY_PRODUCTS_DVR005_HD_Micro_DVR.html
according to the spec sheet I have attached from another site that rebrands it, it only runs for 90-100 min and uses a miniplug for AV connections.

I would assume that either one of these could use a small firearm mounted wired mic to get your audio feed (given you have the correct adapter to connect it to the DVR).

As for the ATN connector, it looks like that wire has a BNC plug at the end (I am assuming the gold plated end attaches to the ATN unit), there are numerous places to get a BNC to RCA adapter that should work just fine. Biggest thing there is to make sure you get one that is rated for video as I have seen both types of connectors used for things other than video.

 

[Hunt TXHogs]

I am not sure of the ruggedness or quality of either of these as I have not used either of them but here are 2 options from B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/969381-REG/atv_dyk14g_mini_dvr_4gb_sd.html
This one has RCA inputs for both audio and video and runs on 2 AA batteries. Not sure of battery life though

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/906059-REG/KJB_SECURITY_PRODUCTS_DVR005_HD_Micro_DVR.html
according to the spec sheet I have attached from another site that rebrands it, it only runs for 90-100 min and uses a miniplug for AV connections.

I would assume that either one of these could use a small firearm mounted wired mic to get your audio feed (given you have the correct adapter to connect it to the DVR).

As for the ATN connector, it looks like that wire has a BNC plug at the end (I am assuming the gold plated end attaches to the ATN unit), there are numerous places to get a BNC to RCA adapter that should work just fine. Biggest thing there is to make sure you get one that is rated for video as I have seen both types of connectors used for things other than video.

I do not believe either of these units has a built in microphone, they require external audio to come in via RCA or miniplug connections, they will process and containerize the file to (AVI / MPG / Etc) but standalone no audio capability.

HTXH