New Missouri guy looking for a CCTV system for my car

[Maxima 0]

Hey guys. I'm so glad I found this forum. Like before any project, I try to find a forum about it so I can get honest options from real people and not the normal BS from the makers of products.

 

I'm looking to put a 4 hidden camera system together for my car with a DVR. I'm a little concerned about heat and cold with the DVR though in the trunk. Any ideas or other links about similar projects are much appreciated.

 

Thanks again, and I'm going to get started reading.

[CSG 0]

they make DVR's specifically for car use. Do a search here and u will find prior posts

[scorpion 0]

Is this a basic system? Do you plan on having gps overlaid on the video?

 

On the high end side, you can have the dvr transfer the video when you get back to the garage using transmitters.

 

I did not know if this is for a personal vehicle, commercial vehicle, or a goverment vehicle. How do you plan on getting the video off of the vehicle, transfer to vcr tape, built in cd burner?

 

What gauge wire are you running to the battery? What kind of fuse box will you install? I recommend a full wave bridge rectifier from the battery to the DVR. I am not familiar with the vehicle, but sometimes when the cars stops, the alternator stops, and the collapsing magnetic field "may" create a reverse current. It is momentary but it may be a large "spike".

 

Are you running a large sound system? I would recommend a large capacitor to even out the power to the DVR. Have you ever seen dashboard lights flicker with the bass?

 

Do not use any lens smaller than a 6mm for the dashboard if you are using minicameras.

 

Too many questions? Sorry! Just wanted to cover all of the bases.

[Maxima 0]

Is this a basic system? Do you plan on having gps overlaid on the video?

 

On the high end side, you can have the dvr transfer the video when you get back to the garage using transmitters.

 

I did not know if this is for a personal vehicle, commercial vehicle, or a goverment vehicle. How do you plan on getting the video off of the vehicle, transfer to vcr tape, built in cd burner?

 

What gauge wire are you running to the battery? What kind of fuse box will you install? I recommend a full wave bridge rectifier from the battery to the DVR. I am not familiar with the vehicle, but sometimes when the cars stops, the alternator stops, and the collapsing magnetic field "may" create a reverse current. It is momentary but it may be a large "spike".

 

Are you running a large sound system? I would recommend a large capacitor to even out the power to the DVR. Have you ever seen dashboard lights flicker with the bass?

 

Do not use any lens smaller than a 6mm for the dashboard if you are using minicameras.

 

Too many questions? Sorry! Just wanted to cover all of the bases.

 

No, that's great thank you.

 

I don't need GPS or anything of that sort. Just about as basic as I can get with 4 cameras and 1 audio. This is going to be on a personal vehicle.

 

As far as getting the video to a computer, I was hoping to use USB or a flash drive if possible. Anything wireless is going to be way too much at this time.

 

The car is a Nissan Maxima. Recently replaced the alternator and don't have any problems with the electrical system. I'm not running anything else that draws power and it stays very consistent thru start up and while driving.

 

As for the cameras, they need to be hidden and able to see in dim light. I was hoping to have one in the headliner facing out the front window, one inside the car, but needs to be on the speedometer (possibly in a rear pillar to capture the speed and part of the interior of the car), one up in the headliner facing out the rear, and possibly another to get a larger view out the back and cover more of an angle.

 

I also need it to be a decent amount of frames, and not so much of a picture taker, but more like a movie. I'm unfamiliar with what frame rate that would be though. Making out faces clearly outside of the vehicle isn't very important though if it means much more money on cameras. The hard drive doesn't have to be that large though as any incidents I need uploaded will be done so immediately.

 

I've searched hard thru all the posts of mobile products and have sent emails, but many don't seem to one to deal with me for one unit.

 

The main reason for this system is for dealing with the police. I have a current lawsuit pending and they like to harass me a lot. This includes fabricated moving violations to make stops and give me trouble. This is my current camera system...please don't laugh, I needed something...anything, but I know they can easily make the camera disappear as they've already mentioned doing just that.

 

*Can't post the picture yet beacuse of forum rules about me being a noob*

[kensplace 0]

Have you discussed the problems with a lawyer? Police harrasment etc? Keep a detailed diary, officer names/badge numbers, dates/times etc.

[Maxima 0]

Have you discussed the problems with a lawyer? Police harrasment etc? Keep a detailed diary, officer names/badge numbers, dates/times etc.

 

Yes, I'm doing just that. The problem is, these officers are stopping me and saying that I've done something wrong like "crossed over a line" or "speeding". Without video proof it makes it hard to prove the stop is an illegal one.

[kensplace 0]

Be careful, check legal implications with your lawyer regarding audio / video recordings. Dont give the police the original footage, give a copy through your laywer if possible.

 

I recall reading (but cant recall the link, may have been on this forum somewhere) about a man that video'd police officers breaking the law at his home. When he used the footage to prove this, the police confiscated his equipment, and if I recall, even tried to prosecute HIM for illegal survailance or something similar....

[Maxima 0]

Be careful, check legal implications with your lawyer regarding audio / video recordings. Dont give the police the original footage, give a copy through your laywer if possible.

 

I recall reading (but cant recall the link, may have been on this forum somewhere) about a man that video'd police officers breaking the law at his home. When he used the footage to prove this, the police confiscated his equipment, and if I recall, even tried to prosecute HIM for illegal survailance or something similar....

 

Oh yes, I've checked this out already. In Missouri, I can record with both audio and video anything that happens within public view. Although some of the cops seem to think overwise. They've threatent to arrest me for taping them, saying it was a felony. I've confirmed otherwise and I'm good to go. I've checked with my attorney, another one, and a few law professors at my school.

 

As far as teh footage, they will get to see a copy of the footage in court when they keep this up.

[kensplace 0]

I guess in that case, if they did arrest you for filming, then you could add false arrest to the list of charges against them..

[scorpion 0]

I was trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill!

 

Lets go the other way.........

 

Lets set up a 12 volt to 120 volt inverter. Lets plug a VCR in to this with a quad multiplexor. Plug in some mini cameras in to the quad. You all ready have a 12 volt power supply. How does this sound?

 

Maybe add a tie, or a button cam, or a hat camera w/ microphone. Plug in the wireless receiver in to the quad. When you get out of the vehicle you have video and audio that follows.

 

You will have night time video failures when trying to do this on a limited budget. When you get pulled over try to go to a gas station, or a parking lot that is well lit. This does not solve the lighting problem, but it will help some.

 

Note to others who may read this. When you get pulled over at night turn on your blinkers if you are going to drive a "bit" to pull off the side of the road, or to turn off a side street, or to get to a parking lot. This will let the police officer know that you have acknowledged him. When you come to a stop turn on your interior lights, and place your hands in plain sight. You will make a cops night if you do this. Those who say this will not help.......OH BOY! You got real problems. Maybe this will calm a police officer down a bit.

[Maxima 0]

I was trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill!

 

Lets go the other way.........

 

Lets set up a 12 volt to 120 volt inverter. Lets plug a VCR in to this with a quad multiplexor. Plug in some mini cameras in to the quad. You all ready have a 12 volt power supply. How does this sound?

 

Maybe add a tie, or a button cam, or a hat camera w/ microphone. Plug in the wireless receiver in to the quad. When you get out of the vehicle you have video and audio that follows.

 

You will have night time video failures when trying to do this on a limited budget. When you get pulled over try to go to a gas station, or a parking lot that is well lit. This does not solve the lighting problem, but it will help some.

 

Note to others who may read this. When you get pulled over at night turn on your blinkers if you are going to drive a "bit" to pull off the side of the road, or to turn off a side street, or to get to a parking lot. This will let the police officer know that you have acknowledged him. When you come to a stop turn on your interior lights, and place your hands in plain sight. You will make a cops night if you do this. Those who say this will not help.......OH BOY! You got real problems. Maybe this will calm a police officer down a bit.

 

Yeah, it was a little complex for my situation, but your help is much appreciated.

 

I do have a decently powerful inverter that comes on and goes off with my vehicle. Adding a switch to allow it to stay on when the vehicle has been shut off shouldn't be a problem.

 

I was hoping to use a DVR just because although I won't need to upload very much, the system will need to be on whenever I drive (2-5 hours a day). I haven’t had a problem with the hard drive in my Sony Handycam handling the bumps of the road, but I assume the HD in that is built differently than most CCTV HDs. Plus since I want it to turn on automatically, I didn't think a VCR situation would work very well with this. I may be wrong though.

 

I was also hoping to avoid any cameras/audio on myself. The problem with this is, I would have to fumble around for it whenever I got stopped, and is something that could easily get me shot around here, or at least create reasonable suspicion to search my car. That's why I was going to get a mic out the back, and have the cameras in the car facing out the back when they get me out.

 

I did find something similar too what I need on eBay under the title "Mini Mobile 4-Ch Stand Alone DVR for Auto & CCTV". Seems to have the features and stuff I'm looking for.

 

I'd like to not spend more than $700 on this project.

[scorpion 0]

I thought you would push record on the VCR when you started the car. I would say buy a 9 hour tape. I would buy seven tapes and mark them sun/mon/tue/......ect/sat.

 

Do not forget to mark the tapes BE KIND REWIND!

 

I would def recommend a dvr! No rewind! I think you pretty much got in the bag.

 

Good Luck! Keep me posted! I want to see how it turns out!

[Maxima 0]

I guess in that case, if they did arrest you for filming, then you could add false arrest to the list of charges against them..

 

Yeah, I was real close to having just that happen. I told the officer he was about to make a big mistake and better check with his chief. He finally got a hold of him on his cell phone, and then told me I could go.

[cachecreekcctv 0]

Avermedia makes a mobile DVR just for this purpose. Very small in size. Your battery (or any wet cell battery) is actually 2.2 volts per 'cell", meaning your battery should read 13.2 volts fully charged, not 12 volts. If your battery reads 12 volts, it is probably dead, or 1 bad cell. Most standalone DVR's run on 12vdc power supply. I myself have taken an older model DVR out, run it on my power outlet ( I fused it of course), along with 1 camera in the daytime. Drove around for about an hour, came home and downloaded the video to my laptop. I didn't have any problems at all with the video. I didn't know if it would work or not, but now I do. Had to find out for myself, rather than asking someone. Now, 4 cameras is quite a bit, but if you remember to put an inline fuse on all cables, and add components slowly, you might be able to make it work.

[Maxima 0]

Avermedia makes a mobile DVR just for this purpose. Very small in size. Your battery (or any wet cell battery) is actually 2.2 volts per 'cell", meaning your battery should read 13.2 volts fully charged, not 12 volts. If your battery reads 12 volts, it is probably dead, or 1 bad cell. Most standalone DVR's run on 12vdc power supply. I myself have taken an older model DVR out, run it on my power outlet ( I fused it of course), along with 1 camera in the daytime. Drove around for about an hour, came home and downloaded the video to my laptop. I didn't have any problems at all with the video. I didn't know if it would work or not, but now I do. Had to find out for myself, rather than asking someone. Now, 4 cameras is quite a bit, but if you remember to put an inline fuse on all cables, and add components slowly, you might be able to make it work.

 

I thought all devcies could handle the power difference? My battery, while the car is turned on, puts out 13.6Volts When it's off, it's about 12.

[Maxima 0]

I got some quotes....

 

4 channel from linovision is $780

 

and 4 channel 60GB (MDVR-4-60) from zepco $1525

 

Those are just too much for what I need.

[scorpion 0]

On the 60GB HD's price, I will take $1000.00 off of that price!!!!!!!

 

I was hoping that was just a typo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Maxima 0]

On the 60GB HD's price, I will take $1000.00 off of that price!!!!!!!

 

I was hoping that was just a typo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

No typo....

 

MDVR-4-60

Mobile DVR System 60GB HDD

$1525

 

MDVR-4-80

Mobile DVR System 80GB HDD

$1625

 

WAY too expensive

 

MDVR-4-100

Mobile DVR System 100GB HDD

$1850

[cachecreekcctv 0]

I didn't mean it wouldn't work. Quite the contrary, as I tried it myself. I am sure a DVR would handle the small difference in voltage, as I put an old one in my car and used it. A fully charged automotive 6-cell battery, without anything attached to it, will run 13.2 volts(plus or minus). Now, you can overcharge a battery, that is true. The term "battery" means "a group of", which in this case means "cells". Count the caps on any wet-cell battery, double it, and you will know the battery voltage. Each cap is a separate cell. When your car is running, your alternator is producing around 14 volts, so you have to take that into consideration when measuring voltage at the battery. I spent about 15 years working on Electric Lift Trucks in an Industrial environment, running 24/7, so I have a lot of experience in that field. I worked on all sorts of electric lift trucks, sit down, stand up, ride along, etc. etc. Mostly 48volt General Electric EV contollers, as they were always the industry standard. The only thing I would add, is that I would put an inline fuse between the 12v power source and the DVR and/or cameras.

[scorpion 0]

How is your project coming along Maxima?

[Maxima 0]

How is your project coming along Maxima?

 

OK and thanks for asking. I'm at the end of college finals for the year, so they has paused my research for about a week. I'm actually typing a 3500 word paper right now that is due in a few hours. I plan to have some things ordered by the end of the week though.

 

I'll let you know how it goes and I'm sure I'll have more questions for you guys.

[Maxima 0]

Hey guys, I have a few more questions I need the system more than ever.

 

I've still have been having some problems on what to get. I've found a Mobile DVR with 4 channels that record at 30FPS per channel and has one audio input.

 

I am looking at two Sony Ex-view cameras with a Lux rating of .01 for the front and back. I'm pretty set on those. Do all the Ex-views have a mechanical IR cut filter?

 

I've found another Sony board camera that should work well for the interior.

 

The problem camera I've having is the speedometer camera. It will be about 4 feet from the speedometer and all the hidden cameras I can find have wide angles. I need a tight angle so I can see the speedometer better and I've got to be able to see it during the day and it night when it lights up.

 

With the mono audio input, can I use 2 microphones and put them thru a stereo-to-mono converter cord and have them work ok or will that cause interference?

 

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

Why I need this system more than ever...

 

I got stopped again the other night and got a ticket.

 

Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2370992900576659750&hl=en

 

The same cop who arrested me when I was arrested for assault on a drunk police officer that attacked me 2 years ago, saw, followed, and stopped me. She then issued me a traffic ticket and lied about it. Thankfully I had my camera going. Unfortunately, I don't have me new hidden camera system in yet.

 

I saw this unmarked green new Impala following me, but they were way back for several turns and thru an alley. I then made a LEGAL U-turn according to the St. Louis City Statutes.

 

 

17.12.020 Limitations on turning around.

 

A. The driver of any vehicle shall not turn such vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction unless such movement can be made in safety and without interfering with other traffic.

 

B. No vehicle shall be turned so as to proceed in the opposite direction upon any curve, or upon the approach to or near the crest of a grade, where such vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of any other vehicle approaching from either direction within 500 feet.

 

 

 

I already saw what I thought was a cop so I wouldn't have done any illegal and know our local laws very well. You can see her in my rear view mirror at 4 seconds coming from the alley. Once I make the U-turn, you can see the cop still coming the other direction (16 seconds into the video). Then you can see her making a U-turn if you look at my rear view mirror (20 seconds). She doesn't even use her turn signal. She then tries to pull me over with flashing headlights only. No Red or Blue lights at all. I stopped anyway since I didn't want to get shot at.

 

She yelled at me to put my hands on the steering wheel even though they were already on there. I was a little confused about the stop and tried to be polite to figure out what was going on. I didn't recognize her as my arresting officer at that point.

 

Another officer showed up so now there were 3 there since she had a partner. They laughed and joked (I assume about me and when she arrested me). She then came back to the car about 15 minutes later. She said she was giving me a ticket for illegal U-turn because I interfered with her and she had to brake. She then lied once again and said she was 50 feet of less behind me which the video clearly disproves.

 

As I'm leaving, she just stands there and smiles at me until I'm out of sight.

 

Here is the picture of the first charges when I was arrested 2 years ago with this officer's name on it:

http://img379.imageshack.us/my.php?image=page3b5td.jpg

BTW, all the charges were dropped by the Grand Jury, but to the police, an arrest is as good as a conviction.

 

Having the camera where I do now, they know to watch what they say to me. Here is a picture of it.

[scorpion 0]

SSSSSSSWWWEEET!

 

I am going to send you a PM on how you can get the officers face in the video with a hidden camera.

[scorpion 0]

I had a problem for a while. I cannot describe it so I will make up a fake story to give you the point.

 

A dirty cop gets busted on tape red handed (court authorized). Cops know how the video was shot. Guess who the bad guy is now.

Now I get all of the tickets for not signaling 100 feet prior to the intersection, failure to signal changing lanes. I am doing the exact same speed everyone else is doing and I get pulled over. Here is what is said in court.

 

Your honor, I do not know why I was pulled over and given a ticket for 5 miles over the limit. Judge to officer..What happened?

 

Officer.... Your honor everyone was speeding, and I turned on my lights, and my siren and he was the only one who pulled over!

 

Ha! Ha! Ha! That court house went nuts!!!! SILENCE! SILENCE IN THE COURTROOM. Needless to say the ticket was dropped.

 

I was asked by a high ranking person for a video surveillance system for his house. I was speaking to him at his office when I decided that we should go to the show room so that I could give him my "dog and pony show". On the way we get pulled over. He treats my passenger exactly as he treats me. Hey buddy, if you are going to act like that you need to know who your superiors are.

 

Busted!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I thought all of the officers were "out ot get me". It turns out the whole force hated this guy. His departure was the best thing that ever happened.

 

It is really nice knowing that I do not have to look over my shoulder anymore.

 

Oh ya! I got pulled over for doing the speed limit!!!!!!!

 

Do you know why I pulled you over? Nobody does 35 miles on this stretch of a six lane highway at midnight. The ticket was dropped in court.

 

The road goes from 55 to 45 to 35, and then back up to 45, and then 55. The slow part is right in the "hood" where they have a lot of problems.

I knew I would get pulled over for minor infractions, so that is why I was doing the "speed limit". During the daytime if you do 35 you will get run over!!!!!!!!! (or rear ended)!

[Maxima 0]

Unfortunitly you need video to prove your side in court vs. the cops so that's what I've got to do.

 

Also, another question. With a 3.6MM 1/3in lens, I was expecting to get about a 90 degree view. Is this about right? And will this make the shot look strange?