[olyolson]

Greetings all,

Just fitted a Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 camera to a mount (it fits all Go Pro mounts as well) and doing some video testing. The VIRB Ultra 30 has the ability to keep the camera on ship power and record cockpit audio simultaneously.

I was able to source a cable from Pilot Communications to do everything in one cable. Unfortunately when I do both it still records audio but I get a buzz whenever it's plugged into USB. Without ship power it records audio beautifully with crystal clear sound. I swapped out the USB ports to the ones Stein Air sells that they said on this forum would be quiet USB ports. There is a filter on the USB wire and I have also tried ground loop isolators with no luck. I do not hear any buzz on the intercom.

So either the cable isn't right, the Garmin VIRB has issues or the USB ports aren't the right ones. I have double checked the grounds on the USB ports and they seem to be correct. I have contacted the Garmin reps but so far their solutions have not worked and I'm not sure how to isolate the problem to the camera or the cord.

Any smart guys out there want to help out?
Oly

 

[PixelWorker]

Can you hook up the USB cable to a USB power source like the portable ones they sell for phones and test? That should identify if the cable is the problem.

 

[snopercod]

If your goal is longer battery life and you can't get the buzz out of your USB port, another option is to use an external battery pack.

 

[olyolson]

Camera

Thanks for the inputs, I did try two different portable battery packs and got the same result so it could still be either the cable or the camera I think.