In Car Camera System

[craggle]

Hi Chaps

After a near collision last night with some Muppet that didn't think they needed to stop at a junction I got thinking about what would have happened if I'd have not stopped in time and rear ended them.

I'm sure we all know that most rear end collisions are caused by the person following either not paying attention, driving too fast of following too close but in my case it would have been my word against theirs and I'm sure they wouldn't have admitted to pulling out without looking.

Anyway, Had a quick search and was contemplating getting one of these. http://www.roadhawk.co.uk/ It's an in car camera that starts recording when you start up the engine, logs your position via GPS and is pretty small so can be hidden from view near the interior mirror. I was looking at the DC-1 version which is an external view only and costs £200. You can get an internal view one too but that adds another £100 to the price but could be useful if you can see what is behind. Not cheap I know but it would pay for itself in the event of an accident I think.

Anyone tried one or had any experience of similar things? The videos on the web site make pretty convincing viewing.

Craig.

[pamidoras]

you can buy cheaper alternatives without gps support but with good video quality for ~100-150usd

[craggle]

I have seen cheaper video only systems but the GPS and data logging is a pretty neat feature.

I like the look of these ones too, very discrete and not too expensive.

http://www.exeros-technologies.com/drivereye

Craig.

[sweet-dentist]

Yes.. I have one in the car for about a year and a half now... can not do without...

I turns on and off automatically...

It already "saw" 3 accidents... in witch one could help the guy on a motorcycle to claim from the maker of the accident... The causer had a total different story than the cyclist.. and was wrong..

And also I was almost molested from a guy that thought I was somebody else... all on film.. person / carnumber and all...

All these accidents where not involving my car... but just that it took an happining in front of my car on film....

So yes it is advisable... I do not think a GPS system is necessary.

In my Smart I have a simple VGA camera that I have to put on and off myself... it's better quality than the spaecial one.

I paid about 150 euro's for the first one. It's now cheaper on the Internet... about 95 euro's...

This one happened in front of me... while waiting for a traffic light... BAMMM... and the car passed left of me... This is not a photo from that camera... but on the film you could see the car coming by on my left... due to a collision with an opposit crossing car... Also completely flat... hardly any injuries... smoke from the airbags...

If you take a very good look in the background you can see my iQ... the red one.... and yes we drive on the wrongside of the road... :-)

This is the one I have... during the years I have replaced the plastic suction-thingie (rubbish) by a sturdier system one can bye at Halfords...

[surfcitylocal]

A great idea. Like the police use here.

[DFish]

But if you drive into the rear of someone it wont matter if you try and blame them, it will you YOUR fault. Firstly driving too closely. Secondly if not doing the first, you would be done for not paying attention.

The only way you get away with it, is if you are rear ended and that forces you into the car in front.

Fish

[Lorna2]

One time I was rear ended in a supermarket carpark, and the man wanted me to give him £600 for his bumper! How many bumpers did he want? He was driving a 2002 corsa, and he actually thought I'd believe a bumper for that would cost £600! Parts gateway has them for £85. Never heard from him since.

[sweet-dentist]

Once in Germany ... coming to a left turn in the road... I was driving with the turnig lights to the left on...

A German car in front of me, also with the blincklights on for the left .... started to decrease the speed... so did I...

As he was first at the turning point and I was coming just after him... (two guys in the car)...

As you know.. at that moment the cars tend to get somewhat closer to each other...

Well... just at that moment... they stepped on the brakes furiously.... squeeeeche..... Luckely I reacted as a Boass.... so no harm done... I think it was some centimeters....

Did not have a camera.. I stopped at the side and tried to phone... but who and what to say... Just over the border in Germany... No licenseplate number... just in somewhat shock...

Anyway... I drove around that place for a longer time and finally I found the house with the car on the driveway... BUT ... did not know what to do...

At that moment I did nothing... just drove by slowly...

But if I had hit them... they would have had a new rear.... not my fault... but on purpose from them...

--------------------------------------------------------------

With a camera .. it's all on film.... (Gearge Lucas would say... :-) ) Oh yeah...

Peter

[tarquin]

I have actually gone into the back of someone and the court deemed it the other person's fault. I had been in a queue of traffic feeding into (for those that know) Blackwall tunnel. 2 lanes were dedicated to tunnel traffic and are always busy. The right hand lane either goes straight on or turns right at a junction, the tunnel traffic curves to the left. Traffic creeps down the right hand lane looking to jump in being an opportunist. A car came up the right hand side and as the car in front of me pulled forward and I tried to do the same, he pulled in front of me, He didn't fully make it as the car in front of me didn't move very far and had to stop. As i had already pulled away to make up the gap left by the car in front of me, I had about 6 inches to stop in so I crashed into the back of him offset to the left of him. He said in court that he was already in the lane when I hit him, but the pictures of the damage told a different story. and he was prosecuted for dangerous driving.

David

.

[craggle]

Hmmmm, This thread has convinced me more and more to get one fitted and pretty soon. Hopefully it will be a complete waste of money and just sit there in the window never being required to do anything but if something does happen, I'll be glad I fitted one.

I'll make a decision, order one up and let you know what I think once I fit it.

Thanks all for the comments, appreciated.

Craig.

[johnan]

Once in Germany ... coming to a left turn in the road... I was driving with the turnig lights to the left on...

A German car in front of me, also with the blincklights on for the left .... started to decrease the speed... so did I...

As he was first at the turning point and I was coming just after him... (two guys in the car)...

As you know.. at that moment the cars tend to get somewhat closer to each other...

Well... just at that moment... they stepped on the brakes furiously.... squeeeeche..... Luckely I reacted as a Boass.... so no harm done... I think it was some centimeters....

Did not have a camera.. I stopped at the side and tried to phone... but who and what to say... Just over the border in Germany... No licenseplate number... just in somewhat shock...

Anyway... I drove around that place for a longer time and finally I found the house with the car on the driveway... BUT ... did not know what to do...

At that moment I did nothing... just drove by slowly...

But if I had hit them... they would have had a new rear.... not my fault... but on purpose from them...

--------------------------------------------------------------

With a camera .. it's all on film.... (Gearge Lucas would say... :-) ) Oh yeah...

Peter

Peter,

I believe what nearly happened in your case is the insurance "scam", as we call it in the UK, where a car in front will deliberately brake extremely sharply approaching a roundabout for example when they know you will not be expecting such sharp braking and off course you run into them, as they intended.

You then find their car is full of passengers who no doubt have very bad whiplash (neck injury) and your insurance company will have to pay compensation for their time off work , trauma etc etc.

You, being in the car behind, will normally be accused of not paying attention and therefore liable.

It is a diabolical, nasty thing these people do and I think steps are being taken to try to stop it, but I am not sure how.

I think you were very lucky to stop without hitting them in your case.

(Well done David, nice one!)

John

[craggle]

Well, Made a decision and bought one, Not the cheapest out there but hopefully worth the money.

http://www.novus-gps.co.uk/BlackVue_DR400G_HD.php

Got the 400G HD version so it looks forward only and records in 1080 resolution at 30fps with an internal microphone and has GPS speed and position logging too.

Got a free, second mount with it too so bought an additional power cable so I can wire one permanently into the iQ and have a spare one for the Cobra to record my outings and track days in that.

I'll scribble a quick review once I receive it and get it all working.

Cheers

Craig.

[tarquin]

I am a bit of a cosmetic nut. I cant do trailing wires. I would have to have a very discreet mount and cable into the head lining and the power fed within the dash. But would like tp read the review. Glad you found what your looking for Craig

David

[craggle]

I do intend to wire it in to the car and conceal all the wires, Comes with a 3 metre lead I think so should be easy enough to hide behind the interior mirror, Roof lining then run the power cable down the door pillar and into the dash from there. Just need to find an ignition controlled supply then to connect too so maybe join to the back of the accessory / lighter socket if that is ignition controlled?

Unless of course the interior mirror has a supply to it that could take the extra amp or so needed for the camera then reduce the cable from 3 metres to about 100mm! :)

Oh, I think I will need to keep the box on the plug though as that's a voltage regulator/ transformer as the camera only runs on 5V I think. Sure I can take that apart and wire directly to it if needed.

Craig.

[tarquin]

The Aux socket is indeed ignition controlled and it comes on at first stage ignition. Most of my "stuff " comes off the back of that socket. You could fit a floating socket behind the panel and scotch connect or solder splice it in.The socket can easily be cable tied behind that A/C panel as there are loads of anchoring points to stop it rattling around..Sockets available in Maplin and Halfords

David

[craggle]

Good to know it is ignition controlled, Thanks David.

I'll have a look at the plug when it arrives but adding an internal, hidden auxiliary socket is a good plan, simple task then to unplug it if needed. I'll keep you informed of progress.

Cheers

Craig.

[Adam-IQ2]

There's a app for that

iPhone app called iCarBlackBox that costs £0.69p.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/icarblackbox/id381736590?mt=8

http://www.21pixel.com/icarblackbox/

[craggle]

I did look at the iPhone apps but found the iPhone has quite a few limitations. Quality, recording time, power consumption, a bright screen at night, poor camera performance in dim light conditions Etc. I would need a mount for the screen too and a power supply then I'd have to remember to put it there each time I drive.

In the end I thought I'd invest in the real thing but the apps have their place I guess, just not really what I was after.

Craig.

[sweet-dentist]

Do not like any Apple thingie... sorry.... no iThing .. what so ever...ever...

Buy the thing that is built for it's work... or a very cheap old SD-card VGA camera on rechargeble batteries... I have this in the Smart 4/2...

Peter

[craggle]

Okay, I said I'd be back with an update so here it is.

As said on the last page I decided to get a Blackvue DR400G HD from here. http://www.novus-gps...e_DR400G_HD.php It arrived nice and quickly via recoded delivery.

Pretty impressed with first impressions, nice packaging and the unit is smaller than I thought so out comes all the contents and I get reading the instructions, all seems straight forward to use. The contents include the power cable, camera, screen mount, USB - SD card reader, 16Gb Micro SD card with a big SD card adapter, a few cables to connect the camera to a TV and some self adhesive cable clamps.

Only problem I had was the Micro SD card is meant (I think) to contain the software and manual for the camera but mine was blank so before I could use it I had to visit their website and download the relevant software and install it on the SD card. A minor inconvenience but could be a problem if you weren't quite as computer savvy as me.

It's all really easy to use though, I stuck the camera mount on the screen in the suggested place behind the mirror, inserted the Micro SD card and after doing an update which took about 30 seconds it told me that normal recording had started and that was that, All working.

I managed to hide the cable behind the roof lining and door pillar trim but haven't yet run it behind the dash, I'll save that for the weekend. The camera takes 12V in too so the plug for the auxiliary socket is just a plug with a 3 amp fuse in it, I think I'll get an inline fuse holder and a 3 amp fuse and wire it to the back of the auxiliary socket in the car to keep all cables out of sight.

Software is nice too, Shows a timeline where you can select date and time in the journey, Shows speed, G levels in 3 axis, GPS data and you can show the location on Google maps. It also records sound so now I can hear how bad my singing along to the Spice Girls really is! ;)

So all in all, pretty impressed, If I get any interesting sights caught on it I'll keep you posted.

Craig.

[craggle]

Oh, You might be thinking, Why didn't you stick it closer to the top of the screen, keep it out of sight more?

Well, truth is, I did just that last night then this morning went out there to find the car covered in dew turned on the wipers to clear the screen and realised the camera was looking out of a bit of the screen outside the wiper arc, Doh! :)

I have now lowered the camera so it looks out through the area cleared by the wipers.

Craig.

[tarquin]

Nice Review Craig.Nice to see your hiding the wiring. may think of buying one myself. Video quality is superb

David

[craggle]

Hi David

Video quality is very good, Those images I posted are off course shrunken screen shots from the laptop but full screen is pretty impressive. I'll set too and hide the last of the cables over the weekend, still a bit dark when I get home at the moment to do much in the evening.

Might have a crack at my footwell lighting too, Think I've got all I need, Just need time and dry weather! :)

Craig.

[johnan]

Nice Review Craig.Nice to see your hiding the wiring. may think of buying one myself. Video quality is superb

David

Just for info, I ordered one of the el cheepo-er ones which doesn't do HD output, but has GPS, yesterday and it has just arrived.

It is the same make as Craig's and seems very well made and presented.

So far I have just updated the firmware which went without a hitch but I found the micro SD card was reluctant to lock into place when first inserted, and I thought "here we go" but it did eventually, so all is well.

I am intending to use it in my MG too using a different memory card and I would prefer a more robust card location system if I am going to be putting them in and out occasionally.

Normally once in, the card will stay there for ages without needing to be removed I suppose, if only used in one vehicle.

Maybe there is an adaptor out there that I could plug semi permanently into the camera and plug the SD cards into it to save wear and tear on the camera's socket.

Anyway, so far so good, though I think fitting the camera and wiring will take a bit of care and attention to do properly.

Good heads up about the wiper arc Craig, thanks!

John

[DFish]

What size memory card comes with it and how long does that enable you to record for?

Might be a good idea as I spend most of my time driving in the city. Would also be interested to see what the quality is like at night.

Fish