powering a GoPro off the boat battery?

Iced-D

Iced-D

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Will be experimenting with recording on a GoPro mounted under the hardtop, facing back to the cockpit. Wondering if anyone has used the boat's battery power for a GoPro, and if so how you rigged it. (I plan to remove the camera's internal battery to minimize overheating.)

(I've run a GoPro all day with a YoloTek Power Stick plugged into the nav light port of a bass boat, which had a lithium battery.)
 
The GoPro camera uses a USB3 connection for power. This is 5VDC. You need a power supply to convert 12VDC to 5VDC. See part below.


GoPro cameras that are externally powered may overheat if internal battery is left in. They are charging the internal battery. Some powerpacks will shut off when internal battery is charged and the camera will run off internal battery until it dead.

I use a power pack and plug into my overhead camera. No battery in camera.
 
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Very helpful, thanks. Do you have a YouTube channel for your videos?

It took a while for me to find an external power bank that was compatible with my GoPros (10 and 11). With the internal batteries removed, the cameras kept reading incorrectly that there was insufficient power. Finally tried Aukey (anot Anker) and that worked. So I mount one on a hat with the power bank in a passport holder hanging around my neck, and sometimes the other mounted somewhere on the boat, or hand held.

With my own boat, I want to have one camera mounted under the hardtop, and your solution looks like it will work.
 
How many hours are you out on the water and wanting to record? I've got an older GoPro, which I bought a second battery for, they're about $20 on Amazon, and each one will last about 90 minutes. The two of them combined will total about 3 hours of video recording, of which I rarely fish for more than that much time in a single outing. Even still, you could always bring your battery charger with you, swap out batteries and recharge the first dead battery you just pulled out of the GoPro and recharge it while the second one is recording. Takes about 2 hours to fully charge a battery, but you can always swap back and forth between batteries if you really needed to. Or at $20 a battery, you could always just buy a couple more batteries and go about it that way instead...
 
Mustang65fbk said:
How many hours are you out on the water and wanting to record? I've got an older GoPro, which I bought a second battery for, they're about $20 on Amazon, and each one will last about 90 minutes. The two of them combined will total about 3 hours of video recording, of which I rarely fish for more than that much time in a single outing. Even still, you could always bring your battery charger with you, swap out batteries and recharge the first dead battery you just pulled out of the GoPro and recharge it while the second one is recording. Takes about 2 hours to fully charge a battery, but you can always swap back and forth between batteries if you really needed to. Or at $20 a battery, you could always just buy a couple more batteries and go about it that way instead...
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'm looking for wired external power so that I can record all day without changing internal batteries. If I can get it rigged up, I won't have to pay attention to when that camera needs a new battery, or risk missing any action. Another GoPro will stay on my cap, with an external power bank in a neck pouch under my shirt, and I'll switch that power bank out once, after four hours. Depending on the fishing on a given day, the edited video of the outing will be anywhere from 3 minutes min to 8 minutes max.

And if I had wired power for the cameras it could lead to edited video highlights of other trips, just cruising.
 
While you can buy a large SD card and record all day finding video you want is challenging. I use the Hindsight feature that records all day but only saves the last 30 seconds on the camera. When an event happens you touch the record button and camera will start continuous recording including the pre-event footage. This works well but you have to remember to start the recording.

You may be able to setup a voice command to start Hindsight recording. Hindsite time can be changed with a GoPro Labs modification. Normally 15 seconds I set mine at 30 seconds. Hindsight does not save power - it is recording the whole time - just not saving all the video.

I'm using a GoPro12 with Max lens mounted to a tower leg under the hardtop. I made a holder for the battery that slides into the awning track for the enclosure.

IMG_1187.jpeg

 
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Thanks for the additional info, and the photo of your camera / external battery setup. That's looks like it would be a good solution if turns out wiring isn't easy.

It's interesting that you got Anker power bank to work. Maybe GoPro fixed the way the camera "reads" the external power with GoPro 12, when the internal battery is removed. Anker doesn't work on my 10 and 11, but Aukey does. Maybe I'll get a 12 too, eventually, when the prices drop with the next model release.

I got the Max Lens but haven't used it yet, and will experiment to see how it compares with the camera's wide angle. For the GoPro on my cap I use the normal field of view and 60fps in case there are some fish acrobatics to edit in slow mo.

Don't mind finding the footage I want to use in 256GB micro sd cards. As you know, the recording is broken into 5 minute segments, and I more or less remember where to look for the strikes, and the B roll. Having fun learning to edit with DaVinci Resolve. Lots of good tutorials on YouTube.
 
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I setup the battery pack for use on the tournament boat I fish on. They have a hardtop mount and a awning rail for the battery pack. The Max lens covers the area outside the cockpit and plenty back behind the boat. Cockpit anarchy is also covered. It would be best if it was up in the tower with the Captain for a better cockpit view but he has enough to do. Overall it's good eve in a small boat. I'll try to put some video stills and clips up to show the field of view. All of this is with Max lens. Haven't tried with standard lens.

On my boat I just carried it over. Never bothered to add a USB/USB3 on the hardtop.

You may have to reset time/date on the camera if it's been off for a while without a battery. I use GoPro Quick to do that as well as for quick review and edit. They don't download the whole video until needed (lower resolution edits) and it works well. Nice product. I'm not publishing anywhere but GoPro Quick and video server are easy and quick to use.
 
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FYI - I spent DAYS/WEEKS this past Summer trying to get a GoPro to work as an underwater camera before giving up. Not the right camera - nothing more to discuss...
 
Thanks again to all for the info. I've tried to hold a GoPro underwater, just on a float handle, but the water is not clear enough where I have fished. I'll be retired soon (about a year more of work, but slowing down), so will have more time to try different cameras / mounts on my own boat. Have seen some great work on YouTube (like Reel West Coast, and Captain Zac). Maybe a drone and lavalier mikes are in my future.

If anyone may be interested, here is a link to GoPro fishing videos on my YouTube channel (not monetized, just for fun) that I've done over the past three years (started video recording and editing as a 65 year old). Fishing with Iced-D
 
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The camera mounts in the waterproof cases are garbage. Don't waste your time.
 
Hookup1 said:
The camera mounts in the waterproof cases are garbage. Don't waste your time.
Click to expand...
Never tried those square, clear plastic cages, made for diving. I have wondered, though, whether this half dome, held halfway above and halfway below the water, might make for some interesting shots of netting and release. GoPro camera dome
 
You are better off without the case. Your call...I'm out of here,.
 
For many years I used a Hero4 attached to half a fising rod. It had the clear UW case. Only used battery, didn't try cable power underwater nor on hardtop.
I got a lot of great great UW video by sticking the rod in the water. That is fish at the boat. Hookup was trying to look at the bottom in a live feed.
The rod up in the hardtop got some great pix too.. Really like the gopro for pulling pictures out of video. Use the superwide and you don't have to look at what you are shooting.
Lost the Hero4.. I have a gopro max 360 now. Not good UW but great for pulling pix out of video.
 
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