Aqua View Micro Review

[buzbunni]

Thumbs down from me on the Aqua View Micro, at least for hardwater applications.

I have been through two of these units, and both of them failed to perform adequately in the cold. And by cold I mean 38-40 degrees F and colder.

In the trouble shooting section of the manual it says that if you have a blue screen on the monitor it may indicate that the camera is frozen, and you should put it in the water to thaw it out.

Camera frozen?

What?!

You're kidding me right?

Nope.

I've had two of these units in the back of my truck on a few of the past cooler days and when I powered them up I either had blue screen problems or poor image issues. Putting it in the water (lukewarm tapwater) did not help. Perhaps it would have over time, but not in the short run, and since I plan on using this for (among other things) run-and-gun fishing, well...it's a no go for this guy.

Here's the kicker: If I put the camera unit in my hand and let it warm up for a minute or so the camera worked fine.

I will be chatting with the Aqua View reps at the Ice Expo tomorrow (if they are there) and will report back on what they have to say, but as for now, I think this appears from my perspective to be a major blunder on the part of Aqua-View.

Again, this appears to be a cold weather only issue, and I will assume at this point that the camera would work fine in the warmer temps.

I'm pretty bummed cause I was REALLY looking forward to not having to lug around my old unit.

There ya go.

[CJH]

That's no good. I have one on order for Christmas that I plan on using specifically for hole hopping. Of course I planned on keeping it in my pocket while out on the ice and inside when not in use. (I keep my fishing electronics in the basement vs the truck or garage, figure its better for the batteries)

Let us know what you find out.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have a unit at home.. I'll do some testing tonight in the cold and see if I can repeat these results.. I have not had a chance to use it in colder temps yet.

[broman]

I have a unit at home.. I'll do some testing tonight in the cold and see if I can repeat these results.. I have not had a chance to use it in colder temps yet.

That would be my plan. Most electronics run badly when cold. However, they should know that ice fishing is where it will be used most. And it will get cold somehow. Hopefully it's a fluke.

[joneshat11]

I will hopefully using mine this weekend. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, it will be working in Rhinelander in a few weeks.

[walleye44]

Thumbs down from me on the Aqua View Micro, at least for hardwater applications.

I have been through two of these units, and both of them failed to perform adequately in the cold. And by cold I mean 38-40 degrees F and colder.

In the trouble shooting section of the manual it says that if you have a blue screen on the monitor it may indicate that the camera is frozen, and you should put it in the water to thaw it out.

Camera frozen?

What?!

You're kidding me right?

Nope.

I've had two of these units in the back of my truck on a few of the past cooler days and when I powered them up I either had blue screen problems or poor image issues. Putting it in the water (lukewarm tapwater) did not help. Perhaps it would have over time, but not in the short run, and since I plan on using this for (among other things) run-and-gun fishing, well...it's a no go for this guy.

Here's the kicker: If I put the camera unit in my hand and let it warm up for a minute or so the camera worked fine.

I will be chatting with the Aqua View reps at the Ice Expo tomorrow (if they are there) and will report back on what they have to say, but as for now, I think this appears from my perspective to be a major blunder on the part of Aqua-View.

Again, this appears to be a cold weather only issue, and I will assume at this point that the camera would work fine in the warmer temps.

I'm pretty bummed cause I was REALLY looking forward to not having to lug around my old unit.

There ya go.

Call up Aqua Vu & they will take care of you. They had a small batch of incorrect diodes put into some units. They were able to pull the majority of them before they hit retail stores but a few went out. That will take care of your problem.

I do keep the electronics in the house too until they are needed on the lakes. Seams to make them last longer.

[Werewolf]

I had the same problem with mine,They replace the camera and that solved the problem for now. I think they had a lot of them out there with the bad diode so they say. AV exchanged mine in three days so no complaits about the company.. great service..

[Chad Peterson]

This was a item I was going to purchase for both open and hard water. I think I am going to talk to AV tomorrow if they are there. Do you think that the issue is solved or do you think that it will continue?

Sniffer

[Nick Kuhn]

That would be my plan. Most electronics run badly when cold. However, they should know that ice fishing is where it will be used most. And it will get cold somehow. Hopefully it's a fluke.

This is untrue. LCD screens don't function well when cold but should still work down to about -20. The battery may also perform poorly when cold but again it should not be much of an issue until about -20. Everything else is built on silicon which performs better the colder it gets (this is why for extreme overclocking they use liquid nitrogen for a coolant, as the thermal cutoff for silicon is pretty close to liquid helium). This device should have no trouble in the cold unless they have poor soldering or connectors and thermal contraction is causing a problem.

[buzbunni]

Call up Aqua Vu & they will take care of you. They had a small batch of incorrect diodes put into some units. They were able to pull the majority of them before they hit retail stores but a few went out. That will take care of your problem.

I do keep the electronics in the house too until they are needed on the lakes. Seams to make them last longer.

Thanks walleye44; you are correct.

The crew at Aqua View were up front and more than accommodating in regards to the manufacturing mishap with the improper diodes. They had about 40 or so of the "bad" units, and (just my luck) I ended up bumping into 2 of them.

Anyone want me to buy them a lottery ticket tomorrow

I purchased both of my initial units from Thorne Brothers, and necessarily both of them must have been in the original "bad" shipment.

Thorne Brothers stepped up by offering me nice discount on the camera, and Aqua View stepped up as well by admitting the issue and throwing in a nice camera case free of charge.

Great customer service all around.

Problem solved.

Can't wait to hit the hardwater.

God Bless us all.

Epilogue: Left the camera in the back of the truck (32 degrees [or so] F) on the way home. Pulled it out and plugged it in before I brought it indoors.

And......?

Worked like a charm!

Nice.

I'm so pumped, as I was (am) really looking forward to the convenience that this product will provide.

PS. For those of us worried about Pike bite offs, damage, etc... Replacement camera's (including the 50' of cable of course) will be available for around $60. For that price I am not going to worry (much) about protecting the last foot or so of cable with some sort of cover. I chatted with the owner of the company, and he said that they have had zero issues with bite-offs/attacks up to this point. Not saying it can't happen, but I think the odds are quite low.

Happy Hardwater my friends.

[DTro]

Nice post Del. It's good to see company (1) stand behind it's product and (2) fix the issue.

I checked out these little guys at the show today. They look pretty darn cool.

[CJH]

This is untrue. LCD screens don't function well when cold but should still work down to about -20. The battery may also perform poorly when cold but again it should not be much of an issue until about -20. Everything else is built on silicon which performs better the colder it gets (this is why for extreme overclocking they use liquid nitrogen for a coolant, as the thermal cutoff for silicon is pretty close to liquid helium). This device should have no trouble in the cold unless they have poor soldering or connectors and thermal contraction is causing a problem.

Plus, don't the Lion batteries work better in the cold than NiCad/NiMh?

Glad to hear they took care of you and it worked out!!

[joneshat11]

Got mine on the ice today with no issues on the fuctionality. The one thing I wish i could turn off was the camera lights. I want the control as it was on when not needed today but I couldn't turn off. I just may perm blacken them out with paint now.

[Coon]

Just wondering if everyones diggin there micro now that your getting time on the ice? Hope to purchace one in a couple weeks.

[sjlund]

Anything new here? I'm really curious about these.

[simple1]

All I know is that I really want one. All the reviews I have read have been really positive and provided really good info. Having a really small portable unit, even it only works ok is a plus. I think this will be an attractive unit to a lot of people and I'm hoping this will eventually lead to iPad/iPhone/android integration, meaning the camera can be directly attached to your phone. It's getting closer.

[FishinFools]

Man, I have never really thought about a camera...but this one sounds pretty neat! I was thinking about a second Vex so my 11 year old son and I don't have to fight over our FL-18 when we are trolling together. A used FL-8 would be fine, but then I see this camera. He would sit with that in the Clam for hours!

[Chris Barlage]

After putign this camera threw the motions on ice this weekend. I am impressed. Very good performance from the camera. Did not have any camera freeze up issues. Used it outside and inside. Found it a little touchy to move the camera around and get it to say on target. Shows good detail in the image. Could not get a usable image after dark though. The dvr is a great compliment to the camera. Very easy to use also. Very straight forward. Was a little let down when I transfered the video from the dvr to my computer. Lost a little of the image quality but still usable. All in all I give this unit a solid 9 out of 10. Based on other cameras that I have seen and used.