Drift Ghost questions

Lurch

Lurch

Administrator
Evening all.

Got a regular Ghost and was wondering if anyone knew how long the battery in the remote lasted? Also, those who have had the Ghost a while, how does the battery perform down the line? I'm getting just over 3 hours from mine, which I think is near what is advertised if you set the screen to turn off, wondering if it'll drop from that. Following from that, how do you power the camera while attached to your lid, or do you just swap batteries once in a while? Did toy with a travel charger, but I suspect it can't charge at the discharge rate of the one that you'll be using in the camera.

Also - the jack lead extension thingy - what's it for? I assumed it would be an adaptor if you are using a different mic with a fatter shroud than will fit in the hole, but the jack on the short lead is way skinnier than the hole in the back door.

Back to the remote - it's not waterproof, looks like it might be water resistant though, anyone had issues with it in the rain?

Think that covers it...

Cheers!
 
Lurch said:
Evening all.

Got a regular Ghost and was wondering if anyone knew how long the battery in the remote lasted? Also, those who have had the Ghost a while, how does the battery perform down the line? I'm getting just over 3 hours from mine, which I think is near what is advertised if you set the screen to turn off, wondering if it'll drop from that. Following from that, how do you power the camera while attached to your lid, or do you just swap batteries once in a while? Did toy with a travel charger, but I suspect it can't charge at the discharge rate of the one that you'll be using in the camera.

Also - the jack lead extension thingy - what's it for? I assumed it would be an adaptor if you are using a different mic with a fatter shroud than will fit in the hole, but the jack on the short lead is way skinnier than the hole in the back door.

Back to the remote - it's not waterproof, looks like it might be water resistant though, anyone had issues with it in the rain?

Think that covers it...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

ok ... here goes ..

3 hours camera battery sounds about right ... depending on how much you stop and start the vids.. even brief flashes of screen on do reduce it each time... i do have a spare battery if im intending to use helmet mount all day ... but if i happen to forget the spare then i put the camera into my fairing mount and plug in the USB to the 12v cig lighter socket on the bike... it does charge a little while using it but not much .. a variation in camera angles doesnt hurt though... and i keep a drift mic tucked into the saddlebag so i can have fairing mount and still chatter away .. got a vid to edit with this setup.

so yes it can keep the camera alive and 'just' add a little charge over time..

the remote... not sure absolute hours on battery life but i HAVE used it over a few days without charging in between... even with the led flashing i dont think it uses up much power!? .. plus .. if it did go flat i still have the usb cable with me to plug into the charge point also! ..

waterproof?... well im not gonna drop it into the bath or something to test it... but i HAVE ridden in absolute PISSING DOWN rain with no ill effects yet... just make sure you close up the little rubber boot over the mini usb point ... it is certainly more than good enough for riding in the rain!!

the jack lead extension? ... not sure what you mean.. mic jack? or usb jack? ..

on the charging while riding thing again.... you plug the cable in .. and if the camera is on then it will turn off! (to increase speed of charging .. to which i initially thought 'oh bugger and drat!' .. but you can turn the camera on again and use it as normal... but in 1 hour of riding and charging and recording .. i increased the charge from 5% to 9% ... usb/12v charging is SLOW anyway .. but use the camera during that period and its glacial!! .. still better than missing footage though! ..

what WOULD be completely awesome!! is if Drift make a small charging dock!! .. then you could put your spare battery in camera and keep going merrily along while having the 1st battery in a saddlebag or something getting a feed! .. great for extended touring...

but a thought occurs... as much as i do chatter and crap on while vlogging... 2 batteries worth of chatter? .. thats a LOOOOONG time!! .. track days would be good for that length of time... or touring...

i have noticed though... while the batteries shouldnt discharge much while camera is at home and not used... i found its better to plug the camera in for a final 'top up' before going out.... left it sitting for a week or two a couple times and while the camera reported 100% on battery when powered up... it went dead just under 2 hours later .. so apparently fresh electricity lasts longer than matured electricity! ;)

one last thing... the drift mic plug .. fits neatly into the jack and port gap in the cover... but not tight... the aftermarket mic I use now in my helmet.. has a elbow shaped plastic bit where the lead goes into ... its wider and i need to push very firmly to get it to seat all the way in... and its a slight bastard to get out again.... but i think this is a good thing... as a tighter seal AND a downwards heading lead is good for not catching on stuff or letting moisture in ... especially if its raining!! .... speaking of which ... the port/jack cover .. ive not got any water in past it while rain riding yet .. but it doesnt have a o-ring or gasket on it... which would be good peace of mind!! ... im thinking of putting a little smear of silicon or something around the edge of the cover 'just to make sure' ... an oring would be even better if there was a groove for it!! ... maybe they will get around to it....

MR DRIFT!! listen up!!! ... charging dock!! ... o-ring on the ported cover!! .. and some little graduated marks around the housing/rotatable lens, so we can put a little dab of something in the marks for our favorite angle/alignments and have nice straight/level videos!! ;):D (i just used a tiny dab of paint pen to mark where the lens is 'upright' on two of my fairing mounts, but it rubs away slowly.. a slight indent in the housing would help!!)
 
Cheers for the info, and have a look at this, might be of interest to you!

I was trying out the TRS jack extension last night. I don't quite get the point of it, it's only, what, 3" long? And it's too slim for the hole in the back door. Weird. Also discovered that with my phone paired, the intercom lead to the Drift allows audio, but if I've not connected the phone it does;t - unless I hook it up through the extension... err???!!! Anyway, I can't get the intercom shroud through the back door, so the extension will allow me to keep it on when it's a wet day, always add a bit of PVC tape if I'm concerned.

Have to agree - 6 hours talking in one journey is a lot, but I also have my camera there as a "witness" as well as recording the scenery, plus if you're on a long ride, you might just want to talk about points of interest, or that idiot that just cut you up rather than a whole extended topic!

Cheers!
 
:eek: ... Goddam!!! A cradle charger!!!! Awesome!! Cheers brother! ....... !!!!!!! :D

That's definitely going on the paypal shopping list!!

Haven't messed with intercom or phone stuff in helmet yet... Gonna get a G9 when I can though and figure it out then... Couple of mates have them and a bit of chatter to mates while riding could be good... Though they may wish my batteries go flat :rolleyes::oops:

Mostly though ... While the idea of phone while riding has it's good points... Ride time is MY time .. Phone is in jacket pocket if I need to call for help... Apart from that it can friggin ring!!:D
 
I had the cradle charger on a two week bike trip last year. Although I never timed the charge time, if I needed to change batteries at lunch time, the 2nd battery was fully charged. I don't think it would be fully charged in the three hours it took you to discharge the other battery. If I needed to record all day I would charge while recording, to extend the three hour battery life, then swap batteries periodically.
 
Lol .... I have been known .. Back in deep history of forums... 2 years ago.... To break through 3000 words ... :rolleyes::oops:;)
 
I have had the drift ghost a year and the remote still stays charged for at least 12-15 hours.
I have a drift 20 hour external battery which, on long rides, I keep in my pocket with the camera running on it via a usb lead.
When travelling I can ride all day and charge everything up each night. I plug the 20 hour battery into the mains and, as it's charging, I plug a passive usb hub into it which then charges the camera, remote and both our SenaSMH10's. a hint for travelling - all motels/friends houses have digital TV's theses days and all digital TV's have a usb port which you can charge your stuff with. By using that I can also charge our phones with the TV whilst the camera stuff is charging on the other set-up above. Since I got the 20 hour battery I have never run out of charge on anything :)
 
That's sounds great Cranky! .... Another item to add to shopping list! ;)

.. Note to all though.... USB port charging via laptop or 12v etc ... And not off a mains charger/USB link ... Is slower ... About half speed I think? If camera is off .... Still possible but always get the best option you can!
 
Here you go guys:
http://driftinnovation.com/accessory/drift-power-pack/

The assortment of connectors they provide as part of the pack will fit all phones, cameras, ipods, Bluetooth comms, etc. etc.
The only thing I added was the passive USB hub so I could charge more than one thing at once. The collection of leads and adapters that came with the battery pack and with the camera and Senas meant I didn't need to buy anything extra.

Janx, I think you are probably right about the slower charging time - but that doesn't seem to be a problem when I charge from the battery pack WHILE it is itself being charged off the mains.

Also - charging while riding (running the actual camera off the battery pack) is awesome - it will use the battery pack until it runs out and then start using the 2-3 hours of the internal battery. I have ridden and filmed almost continuously from 8am until 10pm with this set up.
 
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