erkme73

Just to clarify, the video system I have installed - and hope others would as well - is inconspicuous, and for defensive purposes only. If I am at fault, you can bet I will play dumb and not admit to any video of the offense.

If the auto manufacturers sold options, or insurance companies offered discounts - much like they do with OnStar or car alarms - that would encourage more to get these installed. I'm not in favor of a mandatory system, or one which the user could not disengage or delete as needed/wanted. Thus, I don't see this as a surrender of any rights.

Now, the black box recording ability of most electronic control units (which record speed, yaw, throttle position, RPM, and a host of other data when the airbags deploy) - that data is a) not driver accessible, and b) cannot be deleted by the driver. This is a definite invasion of privacy.

That being said, take a look at how many 'dirty' cops are being exposed by the ever increasing pervasiveness of cameras (cell phones, surveillance, ordinary cameras). Do a search on "officer caught" in google.

I'm not a cop basher, but I do believe there are MANY bad apples among them, and the system protects them. Dash camera video from cruisers are exempt in many states from the freedom of information act - and those that aren't often are only released under legal pressure (law suits). Often they turn up 'missing' or the recorder was conveniently damaged/inoperable when accusations of police abuse are asserted.

If just 10% of the cars on the road have such recording ability, it would help remind officers to stay calm and within their legal limits.

I'm sure many remember Brett Darrows - who recorded an irate cop. That cop was fired, and then turned on his captain and mayor (child porn and weed) - bringing the whole city down. Had the kid not had a video recorder in his car, he would have ended up in jail (or worse) and the cop would have been a hero. Yet, to this day, on cop forums, the fellow LEO's defend the officer.

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NelsErik

I now a have a similar setup in both of my trucks.

I have one quesiton though, has anyone figured out a good way to upload the video to a "secure location"?

If you watch the Brett Darrows video he says the video is uploaded to a secure location.

I'm working on a system to my video clips to my server via wifi or through my Onstar phone. If anyone has done this before please let me know. I'm just in the research phase currently and would definitely like some input.

Thanks,
Nels Erik

erkme73

I think that's called a 'bluff'... which probably saved his life. I don't know of any real-time uploading. 3G and Sprint's new 4G have enough bandwidth to upload grainy real-time, or higher quality non-real-time...

Gawelo

Hi all:

Here is another technical hint for this setup:
The power source to the camera should be the same as the power source of the DVR. If you wire the camera directly to car power (approx. 13.8v) the image will be blurred despite good camera quality. See this video for an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyYfdQ3CleQ

If you use the 12v (or even 9v) regulated power source the image is much more clear. See this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ5-P-A5Y8E

Cheers

erkme73

Very interesting find. Right now my camera and GPS overlay box are being powered by straight vehicle power. The DVR, which needs 5V, is powered through an old cell phone charger adapter.

I never considered noise in either device. I'll play with this over the weekend to see if it has the same affect on my system.

Question: What are you using to regulate the vehicle power to 12V? Is there a low-cost transformer that drops the 13.8 to 12V?

Gawelo

To convert 13.8v to 12v I use a adaptor similar to this one:

Actually I have it set for 9V - this is fine both for the camera and for the GPS video overlay unit.

To covert to 5v I use DC to DC Adaptor with USB Outlet:

I assume that old cell phone charger adapter also workes fine but this particular USB adaptor has a very good quality. I decided to use this USB adaptor to protect the DVR.

I also used DC Power Extension Lead similar to this:


It is important to:
1. connect the 5v adaptor directly to 12v adaptor and
2. connect the camera's both leads (+,-) to the output from the 12v adaptor (and not to use the car body for (-)).
3. connect the GPS overlay unit directly to the output from the 12v adaptor.
4. you should also check if the 12v adaptor really gives 12v output. Mine camera actually works better after I switched this adaptor to 9V.

cheers

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