The Cycliq Fly 12 bike camera / light

A couple of months ago I saw the price for the original Cycliq Fly 12 (non CE) drop, and thought I got to get me one of those!
As an avid commuter, having reliable footage, which I can access quickly, is great. If for nothing else, to show others some of the weird and wonderful sights I see daily in South London.

It's a bit old unit, but does what it says on the box, records great footage, and allows nice Strava overlays too. Perfect I though, and bought one.

When I first got it, it connected to my phone via the app fine. ONCE !! After that, for two months it has been hit and miss, mainly miss. Until today. Frustrated, I did some playing around, and researching. Seeing people complaining about the connectivity were Android users, I recruited the help of a work colleague with one of those iPhone things. Installed the app, et voila, connected no issue.

OK, so it's an Android app issue then. So lets get thinking and see what I can work out. Resetting everything, I started fresh, still caught in the same eternal "connecting" loop. Nope, that't not going to work.

Now at this point it is worth noting, the device connects via both Bluetooth AND WiFi , depending what you are doing. All settings and status is done via Bluetooth, and footage is reviewed via WiFi.
Deleting all its remembered connections on the phone, I tried again, but this time, for some reason I decided to start from Flight Mode, and let it ask for each connection.

Turning the Fly on and scanning, it asked for Bluetooth connection, so I clicked "allow". Finding the device in record time, it checked the status, then I hit "review footage". This time it asked for WiFi connection....."allow".
To my surprise, but secretly confirming my suspicions, it connected and viewed thumbnails almost immediately.

So, I turned the Fly off again, closed the app and tried again, voila, lightning fast, it connected.
Turning cellular data back on again, re-opening the app, it was a big fat NO! Back to the eternal loop of searching and connecting.

So, my fellow Android using, Cycliq Fly 12 owners, when you want to review footage, turn off your cellular data / GSM network. Quite simply, as the Fly 12 creates a local WiFi hotspot with no internet connection, the handset will NOT drop its GSM connection to connect with the Fly 12. On the off chance your cellular network drops out during the time you are trying to connect, you might be lucky enough to get it to work.


I have to say, with that sorted out, I am now back to being delighted with my Fly 12, and cannot recommend it enough. Great footage, super overlays, and once working, nice app too.

PS, Cycliq, you are welcome :) If you want to send me a Fly 6 as thanks, I would be more than happy to accept it.

Have you parked in Brighton recently?

For the first time in a while, a serious entry.

Have you parked at a pay and display machine using the Pay By Phone app, in Brighton since 1/11/16 ? If so, please read on and share. You MAY have been seriously over charged!

Before travelling to Brighton last week I looked up the parking fees, so I knew what to expect.
On Tuesday I parked on Madeira Drive for 4 hours, paying via the Pay By Phone app as recommended to make it swift and simple. I was charged £11 (plus 40p booking fee). And thought nothing more of it.

Parking again on Friday, and knowing the expected price was £7.20 (plus booking fee), but to my alarm I was charged £16.40 (inc booking fee), When my friend arrived I warned him that I had paid more than we were expecting. As he had not yet set the app up, he used the meter, and was charged, yup, £7.20.

So it turns out, the tariffs which changed for Brighton and Hove on the 1st Nov, have NOT been updated via the app. As a result of this, I have been over charged by £15.60. Have you been over charged too?

I am currently trying to get a response from B&H Parking re this. On Twitter I was informed that an error had been found and rectified on the system. This unfortunately does not mean I get an automatic refund.

So, I am writing this, and making it known, so anyone else who has parked in one of B&H's zones, and paid by app, or even maybe ANY parking area controlled by Pay By Phone , it is possible that you may have been over charged. So I would recommend you check your receipt against the online published parking tariff for where you parked, just in case.

I am £15 out of pocket, and that's just one car. How many more paid by app over the past 10 days, and how much has been taken? Does the money get passed on to B&H, or does Pay By Phone just pass on the correct charge? So many questions right now.



UPDATE

After being contacted by Pay By Phone via Twitter, I was initially told by them that there was no issue with the rates at the locations.
"The rates are correct at both Madeira Drive locations and have been correct since the seasonal change on 1st November."

However after an investigation, and a very detailed explaination of what had happened, they replied again with the following.

through my investigations, i have found that we have two locations that cover Madeira drive (85325 & 85327). It appears that 85325 was amended correctly ready for the change on 1st November. However, 85327 was incorrectly left on the summer rates until we were notified by B&H Council of this error on Friday morning (pre-9am) when it was then changed to the winter tariffs.

i have therefore arranged for both of your sessions to be partially refunded so £8.80 and £6.80 have been refunded back to you today. we have also pulled off a list of all transactions which went through at the Summer rate from 1/11-10/11 and are arranging for the over payments to be refunded via our finance team. we will ensure each customer affected receives an sms to advise them of this error.

Thank you to Pay By Phone for their openness and honesty on this matter. I hope this is a very isolated incident, and checks are made to ensure this has not occurred elsewhere.