Factory option requested: Dashcam

wrote:


I had to install one in my car after taking out a restraining order
against someone who had assaulted a member of my family.  It was
installed to provide video evidence of his continued harassment of my
family while he awaited trial.  Once I informed the court and his
lawyer of its presence, his harassment magically stopped, because he
knew he wouldn't be able to lie his way out of any harassment or
intimidation of state witness charges.

But I went on the cheap.  I bought a VCR, infrared video camera, tape
rewinder, power strip, portable B&W NTSC TV, and 250w power inverter.
I used heavy duty velcro to mount everything to a board I built which
I could seat belt into the front passenger seat, with the camera
mounted to a board which was held in place by the pressure of the
headrest.  Total cost was about $120.  Since I wasn't able to mount
the camera flush with the glass, I had to put electrical tape over the
infrared illuminators to keep glare from appearing on the windshield
at night.

While it never captured any illegal acts by the defendant, it did
capture a couple of traffic collisions (in which I wasn't involved)
and the police were absolutely thankful to view them.

Now, to your question.  Harbor Freight sells a security DVR which I
think would work for such an application.  I would have gone this
route had it been available then.

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-channel-surveillance-dvr-with-4-cameras-67139.html

Disclaimer:  As with any electrical item from Harbor Freight, buy the
extended warranty coverage.  It's (sadly) usually well worth the
money.

The cameras that come with it are quite conspicuous, though, and
there's only one audio record track.  But you may be able to find
smaller, more concealable cameras to hook up to the unit.  You could
also mount the unit in your trunk and use an IR range extender to
transmit the remote signals to the recorder.  Costco sells similar
units with up to 16 camera and multi-audio track support.
http://tinyurl.com/Security-DVR

BTW, I casually mentioned to my insurance agent about the unit being
installed.  Use of dash cam systems is so rare in civilian vehicles
that they had never thought of giving discounts for having one
installed.  But they did like the idea, and told me if I was ever in a
collision, to make sure they got copies of the video it captured.

On 19/02/2011 8:20 AM, Tim J. wrote:

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-channel-surveillance-dvr-with-4-cameras-67139.html

But it should be cheap too do.  Cell phone CCD in a record loop with 4
hours of memory.  Pull the CCD memory card as soon as the accident is
over and not much guess work.  Say one in the front, one in the back
with a 2 cent wide angle lens.

And if the cop sees it, and you say it wasn't working well they then
know you are a liar.  Works both ways, but the truth is always best.
Too many liars out there.  Lots of intersections now have them.

--
Socialism is a great ideal as long as someone else pays for it. And when
no one is left to pay for it, they all can share nothing.

On 2/19/11 1:39 PM, Canuck57 wrote:

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-channel-surveillance-dvr-with-4-cameras-67139.html

They already have dash cams for backing up although without recording.

The video can also be used to show where drivers are making mistakes, to
improve driving. Drivers might also see all poorly they drive when they
try to do more than one task at a time (task-switching).

Jeff

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:39:22 +0000, Ted Vincent wrote:

If this option can be kept below $500 it will be worth every cent in
peace of mind.

---
Probably easy to meet the $500 price point.  Harmon Kardon Integrated
system for the Lacrosse is about $2100 which includes AM-FM-XM radio,
rear wide-angle camera, 40gig of HDD, and Nav with GPS and OnStar
interfaces --plus ample profit for GM and the Dealer.  

responding to
http://www.motorsforum.com/toyota/Factory-option-requested-Dashcam-210645-.htm
DailyRoads wrote:

I complied a list of currently available dashcam solutions for mobile
platforms,
also including stand-alone units:

http://www.dailyroads.com/blogs/entry/Car-black-box-solutions-from-mobile-apps-to-
hardware-dashcams


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