CamDo 180199 User manual
CamDo Time Lapse System MANUAL
1. Introduction
This manual describes how to get started with your CamDo Blink Time Lapse Controller for your GoPro HERO4 or HERO3+
Black camera (NOTE: HERO3+ Silver cameras may work but are not officially supported by CamDo due to the general
unreliability of the HERO3+ Silver cameras as they get older). Blink is a low power, WiFi enabled GoPro time lapse and
scheduler accessory that unlocks the full potential of the GoPro camera. Blink allows users to control when and how the
camera will trigger based on a daily schedule, motion detection, or other custom made triggers. Configuration is
handled through an easy-to-use web interface via a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Read our Quick Start Guide to get
started and this more detailed User Manual for further details. You can also view helpful instructional videos inthe
“Support” section.
2. What’s included
A. CamDo Blink
B. Wired Remote
C. USB OTG Cable (for future updates)
D. X-Band Motion Detector (optional purchase)
3. Blink Overview
1. miniUSB: Blink's USB interface is used for firmware updates (See section Updating Blink for more information). See Section
5. Powering Blink for available power configurations.
2. LED: This provides feedback to the user during operation, as well as for firmware updates. See section LED Status
Indicator for an explanation of the different LED indicators.
3. Port 1 (2.5mm stereo audio): This port accepts the Wired Remote or other custom trigger. The Wired Remote is used to
turn Bink's WiFi On/Off, as well as provide LED feedback during operation.
4. Port 2 (3.5mm stereo audio):This port is used for Motion Detector Schedules and can be used with our X-Band Motion
Detector accessory, or another 5V trigger signal such as a PIR sensor.(See section Motion Detection for more
information). *Do not connect anything other than the motion detector cable into this input!*
4. LED Status Indicator
Blink is equipped with an RGB LED which provides the user with a full range of feedback. Below is a list of each LED flash
type and what they represent.
Blue flashes continuously every 5 seconds: Represents that WiFi is on and the user is able to connect to the Blink Wireless
Access Point (AP). After 15 minutes, WiFi automatically turns off to conserve power.
Cyan flashes twice: WiFi turned off.
Cyan flashes three times: WiFi turned on.
Red flashes once: Error writing schedules to internal storage. Remove power and try again. If red blinks continue to occur,
please contact CamDo customer support.
Red flashes twice: WiFi error. Remove power and try again. If red blinks continue to occur, please contact CamDo
customer support.
During the firmware update, the LED will follow the pattern below
Magenta flashes continuously every 0.25 seconds: Firmware from the USB flash drive is transferring to Blink storage.
Green flashes twice: Firmware successfully stored.
Magenta flashes continuously every 0.25 seconds: Firmware from internal Blink storage is installing.
Green flashes three times: Firmware successfully installed.
Red flash: Any number of red blinks indicates an error has occurred. Remove power and try again. If red blinks continue
to occur during the firmware update process, please contact CamDo customer support.
5. Powering Blink
Blink will need to be powered differently depending on the model revision and camera you are using
5.1 HERO4 with Blink (Black Case)
If you have a Blink with a black case, you can choose the following power options:
Remove the internal GoPro battery and plug Blink into the camera. Then plug your USB power cable into Blink. Blink's USB
port does not charge the GoPro battery. If the GoPro battery is removed and the camera is powered through Blink's USB
port, it allows for Blink to reset the GoPro if Blink detects that the camera has become unresponsive. If recording 4k video,
your power supply should be able to supply at least 2Amps at 5Volts when connected in this method.
Keep the internal GoPro battery in the camera and plug Blink into the camera. Then plug your USB power cable into the
GoPro Camera's USB port to keep the GoPro battery charged.
5.2 HERO4 with Blink (White Case)
If you have a Blink with a white case, you only have one option:
Keep the internal GoPro battery in the camera and plug Blink into the camera. Then plug your USB power cable into the
GoPro Camera's USB port to keep the GoPro battery charged.
5.3 HERO3+ Black Camera
If you are using a HERO3+ Black camera, you also only have one option for powering Blink:
Keep the internal GoPro battery in the camera and plug Blink into the camera. Then plug your USB power cable into the
GoPro Camera's USB port to keep the GoPro battery charged.
6. Connecting to WiFi
Blink is programmed entirely through a WiFi interface. In order to connect to Blink's WiFi signal, follow these steps:
1. Plug Blink into a camera. Ensure the camera battery is fully charged or external power is connected to Blink.
2. Turn on Blink's WiFi using the Wired Remote plugged into the Blink's 2.5mm port by holding down the button of the Wired
Remote for 3 seconds. Blink's LED will flash cyan three times to indicate WiFi has been turned on. The LED will continue to
flash blue every 5 seconds while Blink's WiFi is active.
3. With a smartphone or laptop connect to the WiFi network labeled CamDoBlink_XXXXXX, where XXXXXX corresponds to
the MAC address of Blink. Use password “1234567890”
4. Now navigate to “http://192.168.1.1” with your standard web browser, such as Chrome or Safari. It’s important to
include the “http://” as some web browsers require this.
NOTE: Some phones and computers have WiFi settings that will automatically connect to a known WiFi network with the
strongest internet signal rather than staying connected to Blink. Since connecting to Blink's WiFi network does not provide
external internet access, some devices will not stay connected. You might need to temporarily adjust the WiFi settings or
remove any saved networks in the area for the period required to set up the new shooting schedule of Blink.
6.1 Controlling WiFi
Blink flashes the LED blue once every 5 seconds to indicate that WiFi is on and can be connected to. Once Blink is setup,
WiFi can be turned off to conserve power. This is done by plugging in a Wired Remote and holding the button down for 3
seconds. The LED will flash cyan twice to indicate WiFi turned off and will no longer flash blue every 5 seconds. Pressing
the Wired Remote button down for another 3 seconds will flash the LED cyan three times and turn WiFi back on.
NOTE: After 15 minutes, WiFi automatically turns off to conserve power.
6.2 Creating an iPhone shortcut
1. After you have connected to Blink with your iPhone / iPad, navigate to http://192.168.1.1 in the Safari web browser.
2. Click on the small box icon with an arrow pointing up. Then click on add to homescreen.
6.3 Creating an Android shortcut
1. After you have connected to Blink with your Android phone, navigate to http://192.168.1.1 in the Chrome web browser.
2. Click on the small triple dot icon in the top right corner. Then click on “Add to Home screen”.
7. User Interface
The following outlines the key features of the powerful Blink web based User Interface (UI).
A. Firmware Version: Displays the firmware version of Blink. CamDo support may ask for this information in the event of a
support request.
B. Camera Status: Status information such as the camera type, battery level, and remaining SD space are displayed here.
By default, these will show ‘-’ at startup until Blink establishes communication with the camera. Note that this information is
only updated when the camera is turned on by either synchronizing the camera time (firmware v2.00 or later), a
schedule or the Manual Test Controls .
C. Time and Schedule Status: Camera Time is the time Blink has established with the camera. Next Interval displays the
time for the next upcoming schedule, where the schedule# to be activated is contained within the brackets (#) . After
the Next Interval displayed has passed, you will need to refresh the browser to display the current Next Interval
scheduled.
D. Sync Camera Time: Clicking the Sync Camera Time button will push the local device time to the GoPro camera
making it very easy to keep the GoPro time up to date. If Camera Time is ever different from the local time, click Sync
Camera Time to update Blink and the GoPro camera with the devices local time.
E. Manual Test Controls: The Manual Test Controls drop down provides a way of manually controlling the camera. These
controls are typically only needed to test that the camera is communicating with the Blink.
F. Save All/Clear All: Clicking Save All will store the settings for all 10 schedules to Blink. Important: Be sure to click this if
any changes are made to the schedules . Clicking Clear All will reset all 10 schedules to their default settings.
G. Schedule 1-10: These are the 10 Schedules which determine when and how the camera will be controlled. Each
schedule can be hidden/revealed by clicking on the drawer. Each Schedule is comprised of a Time Window , Day
Selector , Mode , and Action . Setting these 4 elements will fully define what the camera will do and when it will do it.
H. Enable: The Enable button toggles the schedule. Blue means the Schedule is active and will trigger the camera at the
defined intervals. The drawer on each Schedule also turns blue as a quick way of determining which Schedules are
active.
I. Time Window: Choose when the start and end times for when the Schedule is active.
J. Day Selector: Choose the days of the week for when the Schedule is active. Blue means the day is chosen.
K. Mode: A Schedule can be set to Intervalometer or Motion Detector . If set to Intervalometer mode, the user must
input an interval for how often the Schedule will repeat within the time window. If set to Motion Detector mode, no
interval is needed because the motion detector will determine when the schedule is triggered.
L. Action: A Schedule can have one of three actions, Photo , Multishot , or Video . If Video is selected, be sure to set the
length in seconds or minutes. Be sure to set the particular camera settings (resolution, frame rate, etc) you require in each
of the modes that you select as these settings will be used.
8. Setting up a Schedule
1. Turn on the camera and set the beep, LED, and AutoOff settings to avoid having to touch the camera once setup. We
suggest an AutoOff of 1 minute in the event of an error to prevent the camera battery from draining.If using the HERO4
Silver, turn off the touch display from the GoPro settings menu to conserve power.
2. Remove Blink from its packaging and connect to a GoPro HERO3+ or HERO4 camera. *Ensure the camera firmware is
updated to v03.00 or higher*
3. Wait 10 seconds. After this time, Blink will turn on the camera, read the camera’s time, and turn off. Don’t worry if the
camera’s time is inaccurate, we’ll set it later.
4. Turn on Blink's WiFi using the Wired Remote plugged into the Blink's 2.5mm port (Port 1) by holding down the button of
the Wired Remote for 3 seconds. Blink's LED will flash cyan three times to indicate WiFi has been turned on. The LED will
continue to flash blue every 5 seconds while Blink's WiFi is active.
5. With a smartphone, laptop, or other wireless device, connect to the wireless network “CamDoBlink_XXXX”, where XXXX
is the MAC address of Blink. Unless you have multiple Blink’s you will only see one Blink wireless network to connect to.The
password is “1234567890”
6. Open a web browser and navigate to “http://192.168.1.1” in the search bar. You will be presented with the following
interface. Remember to create a shortcut on your homescreen as described earlier in this manual.
7. Click the “Sync” button to update the camera’s time with the local time on your browsing device.
8. Modify a schedule to suit your capture requirements. In this example, we will create a schedule to take an image
every 20 minutes, Monday through Friday, 10am till 4pm.To create the schedule, complete the following:
1. Tap the days of the week to enable the schedule for that day. As can be seen in the image below, M, T, W, T, F are
highlighted in blue indicating they are active.
2. Set the Start Time and End Time
3. Select “Intervalometer” under “Select a mode”
4. Set to your desired interval (20 mins in this example)
5. “Select an action” - in this case a Photo during the Day is selected.
9. That’s it! Follow the same procedure to set additional Schedules as needed.
10. Once the schedule has been modified, be sure to click the “Enable” button. A quick way to tell if a schedule is
enabled is by the dark blue colour of the drop-down box. If multiple schedules have been set, and there is a conflict
between them, priority is given to the lower numbered schedule. For example, schedule 1 has priority over schedule 2.
11. Click “Save All”. The page will refresh and your modified schedule should be shown in the appropriate drop-down
box. Clicking “Clear All” will reset all schedules to their default values and disable.
9. Email Notifications
Blink has the ability to setup a scheduled email notification every day*. In order to use this feature, Blink must be near an
active WiFi network. This notification will send the following information:
SD space remaining (HERO4 Only)
GoPro Camera battery life (does not display external battery capacity)
# of photos and video taken since last email
# of motion detections triggered since last email
To enable this notification, click the checkbox to expand the settings. Input the WiFi settings as well as the email address
you wish to receive notifications on. Adjust the time as desired, then click Save All.
A sample email notification is displayed below:
