nobb

I was wondering if there exists a video device that could record 24/7 but draw very little power? Would also be nice if the device could automatically delete older footage to make room for new footage...thereby making the device practically maintenance free. Hopefully can store atleast a day worth of video.

I could easily rig up the carpc to do this, but the high power consumption makes it unfeasible for 24/7 operation.

What do you guys think?

MP3Car.com

 

nobb

Bump...ok maybe ill lower my expectations a bit.

I dont necessarily need a 24/7 device, but maybe something that draws under 10watts that I can leave recording for 8-10hrs a day while I am at school.

shotgunefx

When i had looked into it in the past, I saw some flash bashed DVRs on ebay that weren't horrendously expensive.

__________________
GE Cache Builder | me@cardomain |Coolstuff :autospeed.com | bit-tech.net | Nitemax Ultra Pinouts

blackcobra487

What I would look into is something like a spycam. They make some now that use memory cards and write straight to the card. Usually, they're hidden in things like a clock, but you could take the circuitry out and do as you wish with it. Something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motio...QQcmdZViewItem

shotgunefx

This looks promising except for the record length

http://www.4hiddenspycameras.com/podivire2tft.html

Portable Digital Video Recorder 2.4" TFT Monitor (Schedule Recorder & Overwrite)
Rechargeable battery Powers the covert camera direct using the same power and rechargeable battery built inside, stamps date and time, schedule recording system (Time and date) , supports 4GB SD memory card for 3.5hrs of video recording time, 2.4 TFT color monitor, resolution VGA 30fps real time recording, Compression MPEG-4 Format, PC interface (USB2.0) and more.

Specifications:

MINI Mobile Digital Video Recorder
SD/MMC. card slot (support up to 4GB)
date and time stamping
loop overwrite record or continuous record
Extend Interfaceirect supply DC Power 9V output for Camera and Video composite input
Special Power save button (monitor sleep mode)
Display : 2.5" LTPS TFT LCD 960x240,230K
AV recorder resolution : 640x480(VGA) / max 30 fps.
Adapter : 5V DC adapter (USB port) / USB cable
Dimension:95.5mm x 63.5 mm x 21 mm

Schedule record.

3 level of selectable recording timer from 1 minutes to 240 minutes (4 Hrs)

Overwrite.

Settings REC MODE Continuous ( REC loop duration that continuously overwrite records to SD data storage)
Standby

Settings power saving star time 2,5,10 min.

__________________
GE Cache Builder | me@cardomain |Coolstuff :autospeed.com | bit-tech.net | Nitemax Ultra Pinouts

shotgunefx

Here's another, a bit pricier, but 4channels and 300+ hours

__________________
GE Cache Builder | me@cardomain |Coolstuff :autospeed.com | bit-tech.net | Nitemax Ultra Pinouts

nobb

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I have been using the wrong search terms on eBay all along. Ill keep looking and see if any of them suit me. I think the only features I really need are automatic write over and low power consumption.

nobb

Ok so after a bunch of searching, I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DVS-Digital-Vide...QQcmdZViewItem

Very cheap and even includes 2 night vision cameras. Also maintenance free since it automatically loops over old video. Might be difficult to hide the camera in the car though.

Any opinions on why I should not just go ahead and buy this?

MP3Car.com

 

shotgunefx

Certainly cheap, I wonder how good the video quality is. 2GB isn't going to hold a lot.

__________________
GE Cache Builder | me@cardomain |Coolstuff :autospeed.com | bit-tech.net | Nitemax Ultra Pinouts

nobb

^Well it appears to be the same as this unit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/USA-DVR-Camera-Vi...QQcmdZViewItem

Video resolution is 320 x 240 and picture resolution is 640 x 480, so I suspect it would probably be better to use automatic picture mode. Reading the specs on similar looking units on eBay, apparently the device can record 4380 videos. Each video is 10s, so doing the calculations, it means the device can store 12 hours of video. That should be more than enough because it only records when in motion.

kwchan

looking at something that can record in DIVX @ 30fps, preferably support >4GB SD card

The DVS can only record 8fps in AVI format

nobb

Well, I couldnt find any better system that would meet my needs of low power consumption and automatic loop recording. So I just pulled the trigger and bought the sd dvr:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=012

and a cctv camera (I hope those are real ir leds):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=018

Also bought some lm317 voltage regulators so that I can hook them up in the car. Total cost is just a little over $100CAD. The whole system should draw under 5 watts and will be run from my auxiliary deep cycle battery. Although having a high frame rate would be great, I think I will just set the system to automatically take pictures when there is motion. Hope this works.

kwchan

great...can post some sample video once u got it?

nobb

Sure, if I remember. It's shipping from China...so will probably take a while.

nobb

I was wondering if any electronic gurus would have a good recommendation to efficiently regulate the voltage from 12v to 9v and 5v to power the recorder and camera. I am most familiar with the lm317 chip, but that seems to dissipate the extra voltage as heat. I would prefer something as efficient as possible. Every watt counts, as I am running on battery.

MP3Car.com