Car Security,

neko · 11-04-2007, 07:25 AM

Recently got my car back from the body shop due to someone vandalizing it and looking for something that will basically record video while my car is parked so that if it happens again my insurance/police can take the right form of action against the perps.

Anyone recommend something, remember this has to go in my car and also has to be able to record unless somehow i can set it up where it's connected to car pc and records to the harddrive.

I was thinking the inferred camera would work well, but how can I get it to record to the harddrive of a car pc, and on top of that I would think the car pc would pull to much power from the car battery while the car is off.

DarquePervert · 11-04-2007, 07:27 AM

In order to do what you want, the PC would have to be on all the time to do the recording.
That will drain your battery in relatively short order.

neko · 11-04-2007, 09:43 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

In order to do what you want, the PC would have to be on all the time to do the recording.
That will drain your battery in relatively short order.

Yeah I know, but this is where a laptop would come in handy, question is enough laptop batteries for the length of atleast 12 hrs.

FC3S · 11-04-2007, 02:49 PM

an actual camcorder would probably be more simple in this situation, you can buy batteries that last upwards of 4 or so hours.., or if you wanted, just get a bigger amperage battery that'll last you for 12 hours, mind you it wouldnt automatically record to a computer, but it would be simpler

neko · 11-04-2007, 06:15 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by FC3S

an actual camcorder would probably be more simple in this situation, you can buy batteries that last upwards of 4 or so hours.., or if you wanted, just get a bigger amperage battery that'll last you for 12 hours, mind you it wouldnt automatically record to a computer, but it would be simpler

Well, if I got the rear camera isn't the setup the same as hooking it up to a tv, so if so a tv tuner card with record would work just as well.

DarquePervert · 11-04-2007, 06:37 PM

But a TV Tuner card would require a PC being powered on.
That's where you're going to run into power problems.

neko · 11-04-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

But a TV Tuner card would require a PC being powered on.
That's where you're going to run into power problems.

That's why I was thinking a laptop not connected to the car power system during off which would mean I would need a cut off switch in between the car power source and the laptop.

however, battery life on a laptop wouldn't last more than 3 hrs so it would still need it's own supply of battery life.

Has anyone heard of solar powering it or know of how long it's suppose to last. This might be a solution.

another thing the motion sensed camera that snaps pictures, know anything about those / have any links that might be of help.

nobb · 11-04-2007, 09:13 PM

I think you will need to take into consideration the power draw of the recording system, and the number of hours you drive in a day to see whether that is enough to keep your battery charged. Keep in mind that it takes over 8 hours to charge a flat lead acid battery. Realistically, I think with a 24/7 based system, you will probably be drawing more power from the battery than it can be charged. Using a computer is not a good idea, because even a laptop will pull around 20 watts. You might be able to pull it off with camcorder type system, but even with that, I doubt you will be able to charge the battery faster than you drain it. Unless you drive hours and hours a day.

BIGGKATT01 · 11-05-2007, 12:04 AM

I think this is what your looking for dont know anything about the company just knew about the website http://obsusa.com/products.html

neko · 11-06-2007, 07:45 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by BIGGKATT01

I think this is what your looking for dont know anything about the company just knew about the website http://obsusa.com/products.html

That would work. I was also looking at this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IN-CAR-SPY-SUR...QQcmdZViewItem
which would work as well but I couldn't see if it supported nightvison/infered

BIGGKATT01 · 11-06-2007, 03:23 PM

That looks pretty good just send the seller a question and ask. with a 4gb sd card you could get 10 hours of run time good luck.

neko · 11-06-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by BIGGKATT01

That looks pretty good just send the seller a question and ask. with a 4gb sd card you could get 10 hours of run time good luck.

Only thing is won't ship to the usa, so I have to find another place that sells that.

RedGTiVR6 · 11-06-2007, 06:43 PM

you might be able to purchase from one of the listed retailers on the site....I know al & ed's is in california.

ilikebuttons · 11-06-2007, 10:35 PM

I have often contemplated something similar to this myself as an added security measure. The big problem is incorporating all of the desired functions into a single unit for a reasonable cost to the average consumer.

1. The recording system should be capable of being in 'standby' when not used. Extended periods of time without driving the car while still providing protection would then be possible. (so a computer that could wake from hibernation or similar to immediately record from an input trigger)
2. A simple micro field sensor designed for car alarms can be used to generate a trigger when any motion is detected. That means if anyone/anything gets close to the car the sensor will activate. The sensitivity can be adjusted with a small pot on most units.
3. Long recording times to capture the most information when most critical.
4. Low power consumption under normal operating conditions. Always think about the worst case scenario in devising your system. ie. you leave on vacation and the car sits at airport parking for a week. Several events trigger the recording over that week, so battery power has to be utilized.

The proprietary system at that link has been designed with all these things in mind...except cost.

An much cheaper solution would be to use the same micro field sensor output to trigger a dc vcr/dvr. With a timed relay you could rig the power to come on, then activate the record button. If only one camera is used it is simple, but if multiple cameras are used one more step is needed. Add a video multiplexer. Audiovox used to manufacture a dc model, but I think it has been discontinued.

I searched for awhile for a vcr/dvr with the trigger input built-in but only found units designed to be used for home security systems. The size was bulky and so was the power consumption.

The bottom line is this.
If you want peace of mind get more insurance. Let the punks steal what they will no matter what security you have.
If you are serious and competent with electronics, more power to you.

I decided even the lower cost of the homebrew system and the time to put it together far outweighed the functionality for me.

More power to you man!

wi77iam · 11-07-2007, 11:55 AM

A simple system would be a DVR like this one and a IR camera like this.

The DVR runs on 5v dc or batteries, camera and dvr are very small, it records on SD cards, has multi-zone motion detection trigger to preserve power, and has date/time overlay.

Here's a thread in the GPS section where someone used a similar setup and added GPS overlay to provide car security.