GoPro Remote and Wifi Testing

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Today I did some tests of the GoPro remotes.

  1. Hooked up 7 GoPros (4 Hero2s with WiFi bacpacs, 3 Hero3s) to one remote. It was very difficult to synch more than that to one remote. I also hooked up a separate GoPro to the phone app. I placed them around the boat.
  2. Upon turning on the first remote, it bounced between 6 and 7 cameras ready.
  3. When it bounced back to 7, I started recording for all 7. Checked to see all were recording, hit stop and repeated this  process three times standing on the tramps, the hull near the nose, and the hull near the rudder. Each time I also entirely powered them on and off via remote. The third time, it took 15 seconds for the remote to register that there were 7 (instead of 5) cameras ready.
  4. The phone app worked well on the chair cam from the helm. I was able to turn it on, off, live preview, and change modes successfully.
  5. I measured out 20 feet from the nose of K2 into the yard. From there, the phone app worked great. The remote read “7 cams ready,” but only “6 cams recording” after I pushed start. I checked, and H3_6 was not recording. I hit the button to stop recording and the remote stopped the 6 recording cameras. Then the remote said “1 cam rec,” then it stopped on its own. None of the cameras actually recorded. Then the remote said “6 cams ready,” as opposed to 7.
  6. Turned remote off/on; it said “5 cams ready,” then after 8 sec, “6 cams ready.” I pushed start. It said “6 cams rec,” and 6 cameras were recording. H3_6 was still frozen. I took out the battery, reloaded it, and powered on the camera. It was still frozen. Repeated. H3_6 now on and ready. Went back out to 20 ft from the boat nose.
  7. Turned remote off/on, and it said “6 cams rec.” went to K2 and only 1 cam was recording, then remote changed to “1 cam rec,” but I had not hit any buttons. Checked, and sure enough H3_S1 was recording solo.
  8. Stopped recording. On K2, I powered the remote off/on. It said “7 cams ready.” I pushed record , and it said “7 cams rec,” but only 6 cameras were recording (H3_6 was not). After checking all of them, the remote changed to “6 cams rec.”
  9. Powered remote off. H3_6 died.
  10. I went back 40 ft. Remote read “5 cams ready,” then “7 cams ready.” Hit start and it said “7 cams rec,” but only 6 cameras were actually recording after checking the boat. When I took the remote to K2, the display changed to “6 cams rec.”
  11. H3_6 turned back on and froze since WiFi stays on for the Hero3s even when the cameras are powered off. I took the battery out entirely. Should not turn back on.
  12. Remote off/on. Remote read “4” then “5 cams ready,” then after 8 seconds, “6 cams ready.”
  13. At 40 ft, the phone app was still fully functional.
  14. At 50ft, remote said “5 cams ready,” then after 6 seconds, “6 cams ready;” I pressed record, and it said  “6 cams rec;” I checked K2, and all were recording.
  15. At 60 ft, the remote read “4 cams ready,” then read “5,” “6,” “5.” I hit start. It read “4 cams rec,” then “5 cams rec.” 5 cameras were actually recording on K2. Took remote to K2, and remote read “6 cams rec.” Still only 5 actually recording.
  16. At 80 ft, remote off/on. Remote said “4 cams ready,” after 12 sec it read “5 cams ready,” after 29 seconds, “6 cams ready.” Hit start, then said “6 cams rec.” Only 5 cameras were recording. Sternpole camera was off, so I turned it back on. No change on remote.
  17. Tried 80 ft again. Turned remote on/off. Remote said “3 cams ready.” Then, without touching it, “3 cams rec,” then “1 cam rec.” Pressed button several times and it would not stop recording.
  18. Powered remote off/on. Remote said “4 cams ready,” then “3 cams ready.” Hit start. “5 cams rec,” then “3 cams rec,” then “4 cams rec.” Checked K2, 4 cameras were actually recording. Sternpole camera had died and was powered off. Mast was still on but not recording.
  19. At 100 ft, powered remote on/off. Remote said “5 cams ready.” Hit record. Remote said “4 cams ready,” “3 cams ready,” “3 cams rec,” then “4 cams rec.” 4 cameras were actually recording. Mast still not recording.
  20. Phone still connects at 100 ft but seemed a little less functional. Could also simply be my phone. Buttons took longer to load, preview took longer, and buttons were sticky.

End of test as many cameras were dying.

Conclusions: As we noted on K2 yesterday, the remotes seem more reliable with fewer cameras synched. I have only been able to successfully synch and test 7 GoPros at once. At one point, I did synch 11 cameras, but even in my office the remote reading fluctuated between 9 and 11, and eventually two powered off on their own accord at full battery.

The remotes appears to work more reliably with the Hero2s than with the Hero3s. Only one out of four Hero2s (the mastcam) failed on the remote over the course of these tests, while all three Hero3s failed at some point. The remote readings seem to fluctuate at any given moment and do not work very well in terms of stopping and starting recordings reliably. Also, upon powering on the remote the cameras do not all start immediately. It takes about 30 seconds to a minute for them all to turn on.

The phone app seems pretty reliable, but we have not tested it on the water yet. The live preview has about a 5-10 second delay and is incompatible with recording (you cannot preview while you record), but it’s useful for checking the positioning of the cameras. The inconvenience of this app, however, is that you can only check in with one camera at a time. To switch from camera to camera you also need to switch wifi networks on your phone and then relaunch the app. The other inconvenience is that because the WiFi controls are set on the camera, you cannot use the remote and the app on the same camera. It’s either one or the other.

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