ESP Sting User Manual

Miniature Digital Recorder

TM

Table of Contents i

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION................................................ 4

Box Contents ...................................................... 5

TECHNICAL SPECS ............................................ 6

STING COMPONENTS ........................................ 8

Top View ............................................................ 8

Left- and Right-Side View ..................................... 9

Accessories......................................................... 9

GETTING STARTED.......................................... 10

1. First-Time Charging ....................................... 11

2. Installing STING Media Center......................... 12

3. Setting Current Time...................................... 14

4. Formatting Microdrive .................................... 15

5. Connecting the A/V Cable ............................... 16

6. Connecting Camera / Microphone .................... 18

RECORDING WITH STING BUTTONS & LIGHTS....... 20

Recording Readiness Indication ........................... 21

Setting Recording Mode & Quality........................ 22

ii Table of Contents

Starting and Stopping a Recording....................... 26

Memory Status Indication................................... 28

RECORDING WITH REMOTE CONTROL ............ 30

Starting and Stopping a Recording....................... 31

Low Battery & Low Memory Indication........................ 33

Alarm Indication................................................ 33

ALARM TRIGGER SWITCH ............................... 35

VIEWING AND MANAGING RECORDINGS........ 37

To Connect STING or Microdrive to PC........................ 37

Accessing STING Files Directly ............................ 39

Starting the STING Media Center......................... 40

MAINTENANCE AND TROUBLESHOOTING ....... 41

Caring for the STING ......................................... 41

Troubleshooting ................................................ 41

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES ............................... 44

About this Document iii

About this Document

This user‘s guide explains how to install, connect,

and use the STING, a portable digital recorder. It is

intended for users of the device, and does not

require special technical knowledge.

The STING ships with a Windows software program,

STING Media Center, used for playing and

managing recordings. For more details on using this

program, press Help in its main screen.

4 Introduction

Introduction

The STING™ (patent pending) is the smallest

video/audio digital recorder in the world. It is a

wearable recorder, able to record video and audio,

or audio only, using MPEG-2 format. Recordings are

stored on Microdrive or Compact Flash plug-in

cards. The STING™ ships with a 4GB Microdrive.

The STING is designed mainly for surveillance

purposes by law-enforcement and government

Introduction 5

organizations, for portable video/audio recording

featuring the highest quality available.

The STING accepts composite video input from any

video camera.

Box Contents

A/V cable

Vibrating remote control cable

6-foot USB cable

5-inch USB cable

4GB Microdrive

PCMCIA adapter

Multi-standard universal battery wall charger

Car battery charger

STING Media Center installation CD

User‘s guide

6 Technical Specs

Technical Specs

Physical
dimensions

78mm X 60mm X 32mm

(3.07" X 2.36" X 1.26")

Weight Recorder net: 98g (3.45 oz)

Recorder w/drive: 114g (4 oz)

Memory type Microdrive or Compact Flash

plug-in cards.

Storage
capacity

Shipped with a 4GB Microdrive.

Accepts any Microdrive or

Compact Flash card.

Video storage
format

Digital MPEG-2.

Recording time 2-8 hours video (depending on

quality) or 75 hours audio.

Video
download time

Approx. 15 minutes for 4GB,

with USB 2.0 connection.

Technical Specs 7

Memory erase
time

10 seconds.

Internal
battery

Lithium-iron. Provides approx.

3 hours of operation.

External
charger

Accepts 90-240 VAC.

Connectors for Europe, US, UK.

Camera power
source

5V, 500mA output for a 5-V

camera (2 hours recording

time). 1.3 mm connector.

External power
input

7-12V (min. 800mA), 1.7 mm

connector (center +).

Video input PAL / NTSC std. composite

video. RCA / 3.5mm connector.

Audio Input Line-level audio. RCA connector.

PC interface USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 (USB 2.0

recommended).

Video/audio
playback

MPEG-2 compatible players

(e.g. Windows Media Player).

8 STING Components

STING Components

Top View

STING Components 9

Left- and Right-Side View

Accessories

PCMCIA
Adapter

Micro-

drive

V/A

Cable

USB
Cable

R/C with
vibrating
cable

Battery
Charger

10 Getting Started

Getting Started

When you receive your STING, remove it from the

packaging, check that you have all the accessories

(see page 5), and then follow the instructions

below. Each step is explained in more detail in a

following section.

To get your STING up and running:

1. Charge the unit.

2. I nstall STING Media Center.

3. S et the current time.

4. I nsert and format the memory card.

5. Connect the A/V cable to the STING.

6. ConnectacameraormicrophonetotheA/V
cable.

Getting Started 11

1. First-Time Charging

The STING ships with its battery uncharged. The

first time you charge the unit, a 6-hour charging

period is required. Afterwards, the unit charges fully

in 4 hours.

To charge the battery for the first time:

1. I nsert the charger plug into the unit, as shown in
the image below. The green light comes on,
indicating that the battery is being charged.

2. Charge the battery for 6 hours.

12 Getting Started

2. Installing STING Media Center

STING Media Center is a software program that

communicates with your STING, and allows you to

preview, upload and delete recordings. The program

also allows you to set the current time (see page

8).

For more details on using STING Media Center,

refer to the help file, accessed by pressing Help in

the program‘s main screen.

To install the STING Media Center:

1. Insert the STING™ mini-disk into the CD drive in
your computer. The Visual Introduction screen

appears.

Note:

Getting Started 13

2. P ress the button labeled Install STING Media
Center, located at the top-right of the screen.

The installation wizard starts.

3. Click Next, accept the license agreement and
press Next again.

4. Press Install. A progress bar is shown.

5. When installation ends, press Finish.

The options at the bottom-left of the startup
screen (Charging, Microdrive, etc.) show images
and instructions on how to operate the STING.