More on the GoPro

As luck would have it, I'm not as dumb as I'm sometimes made out to be. When I tested the GoPro last weekend, and then *somehow* wiped out the card (not just the footage, but the formatting!) during file transfer to my computer, I was accused of not following instructions and somehow making a mistake. Mistakes happen, and yes, I make my fair share. But I do transfer data between devices quite a bit in my daily life, and I really couldn't fathom what *I* could have done wrong.

This was a bigger deal than would normally be, because it required looking up all the stuff that was done to make that particular card work with the camera (firmware update) to get it to work again. But I also wanted to know how it got screwed up in the first place. So $37.64 and three new SD cards later, now I know.

I had never used the SD card reader on my laptop I bought year before last. Rephrase. I had never used the SD card reader on my WINDOWS 7 LAPTOP I bought year before last. I bought that laptop before many drivers had yet been released for Windows 7. (I discovered that at work, trying to connect a scanner to it.) Immediately, I suspected Windows 7 foul play. And you know what? I. WAS. RIGHT.

If you Google Windows 7 and SD card issues, you'll see that it's a known issue in everything from cell phones to cameras and whateverelse uses an SD card. The fix was a simple (and FREE) download of a driver from Windows, and several reboots of the computer during installation. Voila! Back in business.

Here is how the camera is set up on the SV650S. My resident expert simply unscrewed one of the side reflectors and put a bolt in its place with a piece of scrap metal attached to the bolt, to hold the camera mount.



Initial reviews - The camera doesn't allow you to zoom. You get what you get. I aimed it at a herd of deer that were grazing up at Hurricane Ridge last night, and you can't see them at all. I had to stop behind a car in front of me to let a deer wander across the road. You can't see that deer either. And I was really close to it.

We've been using this camera with great success over the past year and almost a half while we dirt bike. And even on the street bike, as far as seeing what the road was like, traffic, scenery (but not deer!), it's perfectly adequate.

Tomorrow I'll put it the test as I'm planning a ride to an area I've never been before. It should be quite scenic!