Dash Cam Thread
 

The purpose of this thread is all things Dash Cam. Cam selection, installation, use, software and of course questions.

Dash cams are becoming quite popular and handy. They are commonly used to document accidents for insurance (and legal) purposes. They are also used to share amazing and weird and stupid stuff other drivers do. In addition, I use mine to document wonderful roads, scenic adventures, strange weather and stuff I happen across while driving.

For everything you'd ever want to know about dash cams (and more) the site on the web is Dash Cam Talk where you'll find helpful forums, comparisons, reviews and tons more.

When I decided to put in a dash cam in my car for all the above reasons, I selected the pretty standard G1W

https://dashcamtalk.com/wp-content/u...W-Dash-Cam.jpg

This was a fine little unit that performed extremely well and was quite cheap. Unfortunately the thing quit working and I replaced it with a newer unit, not available at the time, the B40/A118. Like the G1W, this is a Chinese generic type unit, but made with a quality CMOS and video chip, the two most important things in a digital camera.

https://dashcamtalk.com/wp-content/u...014/06/B40.jpg

This replacement unit has essentially the same internal components but has a dramatically better form factor - more steady (no suction cup mount), an easier to adjust lens and more stealthy.

Here's mine mounted in the car.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1437273481

As you can see it's pretty stealthy. Normally in sunlight conditions it blends into the rear view mirror and is essentially invisible. From the drivers perspective, it's completely invisible as well hiding behind the mirror.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1437273551

I chose to do a completely hidden and hands free installation. I opened the cigarette lighter adapter, fished out the positive and negative wires, closed it up again and then wired it into switched power. The power adapter is secured behind the dash and the extra long USB cable snakes up behind the A-pillar, across the trim valance and exits at the seam between the two pieces. There's just enough pigtail to plug in the cam with almost no excess.

A 32mb microSD card gives about 5 hours at 1080p 30fps. Around town I leave one card in all the time as it just overwrites the oldest file automatically. On my trips I rotate 4 microSD cards (mostly because my laptop is so slow it takes forever) and copy off wanted videos to an external USB hard drive.

Very nice. I have a cam mounted right under my front license plate and one mounted in the back. I have the in-dash a/v switcher to toggle between the 2 and a 7 in monitor in dash, but I'm lacking the ability to record with these cameras. I need to purchase new ones, but the system I have them connected to is amazing and I can probably get a 1 tb hard drive on there for days of recording.

My camera
 

I have one of the older cameras mounted in front of the rear view mirror with the power connection in the dome light, since the sunroof switch gets switched power. I also get about 5 hours of recording on a 32 GB card.

Jeremy

http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/n...psa43ca419.jpg

Software
 

Once you've got your prized video in raw form, it's time to process it and turn it into a work of art (read minimally acceptable video that's not embarrassing). There are tons of different options that will vary with computer platform, quality required, investment dollars available and on and on.

The goal is to define a repeatable work flow that will allow videos to be processed quickly and posted for others to enjoy.

My primary tools are DATAKAM - registrator player. This is a free utility that has the ability to join individual segments, delete overlap (most dashcams add a 1 second buffer to each segment to ensure no dropped frames) and integrate GPS data if desired. If I'm doing to work on a long segment I'll pre-process the segments with registrator player to end up with one long file with everything I want to work on.

My primary editor is Microsoft Movie Maker. It's chief benefit is, it's free and has a basic set of tools that can get me by. I used to work in Adobe Premiere, but can no longer afford it. I've also used an old version of Ulead and also Pinnacle. There is no right answer, just what you can make work for you....and afford...and works on your platform.

This is a topic that could take it's own forum, so that's about it to get things started and headed in a decent direction.

Are the still photos you post in the threads still from the dashcam recording or a separate digital camera? Just trying to get an idea on image quality

Though are very crisp pictures you post

The road trip images are all hand held digital camera images. I'll post some frame grabs to show quality...it's really pretty amazing how good they are.

In about a month, I am going to start building my own dashcam. I originally posted a thread on Dashcamtalk with what I am looking for, followed by a few manufacturers saying that my view was a minority and then several other people chiming in saying they are looking for the same thing.

In my present view, the makers of these proprietary dashcams are offering very little extra value over what it is possible to make oneself. Many of them use open source software but proprietary components. For someone who understands how to build the components themselves and use the same or similar software, one has to ask where the value add is?

I am going to be adding a Raspberry pi and embed it somewhere behind the stereo set and then add a USB battery pack that can be turned on (park mode) if I so desire and charged from the alternator while the engine is running. The screen for the Pi will be connected to the video in to a stereo set with a single-pole switch that mimics the signal for the transmission reverse. I will be using a tiny bluetooth keyboard/mouse to control the Pi and will have full WiFi capacity with full software control which means I can sync video with my home network when I return home and a bunch of other stuff easy to do in Linux that seems to elude builders of these devices.

The stereo I am planning to get is a Power Acoustik PD-454B 4.5" screen which is an oversized single DIN unit. I previously had a 7" mechanized stereo and as expected the motor capacity failed in a year. I vowed with the money I spent (it was expensive then) that I would never again buy a unit with a motor. I realize that the text quality won't be the greatest, but I think it will still be readable and I'm not exactly going to be editing documents with it.

I'll post some more info as I continue developing it. There are a bunch of threads out there where people have built these, so it isn't exactly groundbreaking.

Dkr.

My first go at a dash cam set up. I like the idea for road trips but the questionable driving habits of others can be documented, as well.

I am currently using a GoPro which takes outstanding vids but is not necessarily the best choice.

I've got it on a 5 minute loop and hardwired to keep the battery charged....which is kinda good because it will stay running if the car inadvertently shuts down....but then you also need to remember to turn it off!

So for day to day use....probably not a good choice....for road trips / vacations....pretty good....I can remove it from the car with a fully charged battery and film other stuff.....re-install it and drive to the next scenic spot and have a fully charged video camera again.

I actually have Paul on video as I used the big ass suction mount on my trunk lid pointing backwards.

So it's versatile but not necessarily practical for day to day use.

Great info, thanks for posting!

My reasons for the dash cam would be to help prevent insurance fraud and to catch idiot drivers. Thinking a rear camera would be just as useful - on Friday evening I got bumped from behind in my truck! No damage, but the lady sure hauled butt out of there.

Thanks again, I'll be keeping an eye on this, a dash cam definitely got moved up the list.

Here is a sample dashcam frame grab image. I tried to upload full sized but the forum software downsampled 1920 px wide to 800 px wide.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1437356842

Here is a full sized portion of the image showing representative resolution.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1437357142

And here's the video that that frame came from as posted on YouTube -

https://youtu.be/IYLqPoctePc

Notice the greatly reduced quality when posted on YouTube. They really compress it to make it take up reasonable bandwidth.

The real issue on dash cams is capturing license plate numbers. Many of the high-quality cameras are excellent, but still lacking in fully reading plate numbers.

Dkr.

My dash cam will resolve a license plate only if the camera is close (<50 feet?). It also helps if the relative speed is low and if the camera is directly behind the plate. Any other situations greatly reduce the odds. I suspect professional software would improve the video quality but question whether authorities would be willing unless you captured the crime of the century.

It would certainly help in a hit-and-run situation. Once the authorities find the other car in person, you have real forensic damage that can be compared to the dashcam video.

Dkr.

At work I'm using a security DVR to record machine malfunctions, it was a discontinued model from a no name company. The recorder works great, the cameras so so but good enough for what I'm looking for.

The DVR runs on 12 VDC as do the cameras making it a good fit for a car. It uses a mechanical hard drive but a SSD could be installed for reliability / impact resistance. ( In a decent crash I'd expect a mechanical hard drive to be damaged. )

In the first pic of post 10 I'm expecting:

A Russian army tank to come across the road.

A flying cow.

Someone passing on the shoulder then taking a row of trees out.

. . .. .

I'm looking for a new dashcam myself. I've used the Mobius for the longest time on my W123. I'd been meaning to get one for the longest time after a few near misses with jokers overtaking me from the shoulder!!:eek: Never a cop when you need one around.

Ironically, it was a cop who insisted that I blew through a stop sign that was the straw that broke this camel's back! No amount of trying to tell him that I have never ever done that in my life (I'm the kind of guy who signals to enter his own driveway) and he must be mistaken changed him mind. Oh well. Next day, took pictures of the intersection and where he was when he claims he saw me, and found that the lying SOB could not have possibly seen me as there were cars parked there. Anyways, I got a cam soon after, to protect myself from these and other land sharks. :D

Anyways, here are some gems from my cam.

The idiots are so many now that I have run out of time getting my videos out, editing and then uploading them. I edit in Quicktime, free, easy and fast. But like I said, so many bad drivers out there....

Curiously, I've not seen a single instance where a supposedly "distracted" driver was driving dangerously. I drive about 80 km a day, and every single "dangerous" maneuver I've seen is an "impatient" or "aggressive"driver. There's one where the lady just blew through the 4-way stop with me in it....I don't know what to call that. She seems to be angry that I honked her and averted a potential accident.

So about dashcams...does that stealthy one you posted catch as good details as the mobius? The only thing I don't like about the mobius is the cable routing. It has to come from the back, so I've got so ugly wiring going on in my W123.