I'm trying to develop a research recording device for field studies. I have a miniature video camera that I plug into my Pinnacle VTD, and have plugged a 64GB flash drive into the other end. I hit "record" and everything worked great. I recorded for 12 hours, but when I plugged the flash drive into my computer it had only 6 hours (4GB) of video on it. I understand this is because FAT32 formatting only allows this size file. Sooooooo . . . is there a way to set it up so after one file is full, the VTD will create another file and record another 6 hours, and then another file and another? I think this is called "seamless capture."

 I think it would be great if Pinnacle would create a VTD formated to NTFS which would allow unlimited recording to a disk. But, that's just my humble opinion.

 Thanks in advance

I believe I read elsewhere that after the first file reaches the limit it should automatically start a second (then eventually third) file.

When you looked before you disconnected it did it look like it was still recording? If so did you hit the 'stop' button or just disconnect it? If you just unplug it mid-recording it will usually loose the file

Thanks a lot for shedding some light on this. Actually, there was a second file, but it had 0 bytes. I was running the whole system -- camera, VTD and flash drive -- off a battery and had just let it run until the battery died. That may account for the lost file.

Will crank things up and see what happens.

Yes, make sure you're still recording when you want to stop. Then hit stop and wait for the cycling blue lights to all go to steady blue before powering off. It can take a minute or 2 for the cycling blue to stop indicating that the file was flushed to the flash drive.

 The zero byte file is caused when it suddenly stops mid-recording.

Let us know if it worked.

It worked like a charm. Recorded for eight hours. Hit "stop" then recorded for 10 minutes. Plugged flash drive into computer and bingo. There were three files of 6 & 2 hours and 10 minutes.

 Thanks again for your suggestion. I wasted several days looking for a much more complicated solution, trying to find someone at Pinnacle, the flash drive maker, HP (my computer) and various forums who could tell me what to do. And, no one had a clue. Jeeezzzz, "just hit the stop button." How complicated is that?

 Now I just have to find some kind of wonder battery that will power all this for 24 hours. You wouldn't think it would take that much juice, but it looks like I'm going to have to lug a 56 lb., 80 amp battery out into the woods. Take a look at www.birdhousespycam.com if you're curious.

Thanks again.

Glad to hear it worked!!

 You should hook an ammeter between the battery and equipment and with it all running (camera on, PVT recording) see how much power it draws. I'd guess 1-1.5A, suggesting that you'd want at least 30-40Ah of power for 24 hrs and not the 80 you're considering using/lugging.

One suggestion might be a motorcycle battery (6v) If your camera will run on it,  they are usually rated at at least 10-15Ah..  The 6V ones usually weigh 4-8 pounds which would be better than a 56 pound one.. You could hook 2 in parallel for an equivalent 20-30Ah. You might be able to pick up a used one cheap at a motorcycle shop.

I'm not sure their rating, but I was thinking about the rechargable batteries used in kids cars and the like. I looked and found under the search term "riding toy batteries" a 6v 14Ah for $25..

 

Wow, you're a wealth of information. I suppose this whole project could have been quickly resolved if I had the faintest clue about electronics. I consider myself lucky to get the batteries into a flashlight the right way, and so have to content myself with a lot of trial and error . . . mostly error.

 I figured power requirements by adding the amparage on the two AC/DC adapters; 0.5A for the 9V camera, and 1.5A, for the 5V  Pinnacle VTD. Basically ignored the flash drive as I understand they use so little power. So, if the system is consuming 2A x 24 = 48A. There do make a 55 A battery (37#) but figure that might be cutting things too close. My sole source of information has been the folks at Batteries Plus, so maybe I'll start asking around elsewhere. Will definitely get my hands on an ammeter and explore the motorcycle battery option. Would sure make things a lot easier if I can make the system compact.

Thanks again.

hey, found something cool.. Sears (of all people) has a portable power unit that even has usb!  search on sears for portable power (they have them in different 'sizes'. see http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02871987000P?mv=rr

Thanks for the heads-up. I see by the description though, that it is only 18A. I tried a similar unit from Black and Decker. Made the mistake of thinking that if it was large and heavy, it would be enough. It only runs the camera and VTD 8-9 hours. Neither the camera nor the VTD run off the USB.