Dashcam with GPS overlay (alternate)

[erkme73 0]

First off, hats off to Scruit for his multi-channel DVR dashcam as described in his thread here: http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11052

 

While I certainly wouldn't mind having a system that can record every angle, my primary concern has been with defensive driving and protection from police who claim I'm speeding. Consequently, my version is only a single camera - out the dash with a 2.6mm lens to provide a clear pillar to pillar out the windshield view.

 

The system is comprised of four basic parts: DVR, camera, GPS/Overlay box, and monitor.

 

The DVR is an SD-based recorder (12 FPS @ 720 x 480). Can be found on eBay for about $200 to 250.00. It can be configured to record several ways. I chose to record upon ANY motion in the camera's view. This means if my truck is parked, and someone walks by, they get recorded. It records for 2-3 seconds after the motion stops. In my driveway, facing my garage door, it does not record at all. A 4GB card will hold anywhere between 2-3 days of solid driving, to 1 month of occasional driving. I have it wired to be 'always on' - though after about a week of not driving, it (along with the camera and GPS/overlay unit) will run my battery down. It is a little larger than a deck of playing cards, has A/V in and out - and a full menu with playback capabilities.

 

The camera is a cheap $60 12V outdoor camera (also from eBay). I removed the outdoor housing, leaving just the postage-stamp sized PCB and lens mounted to the back of my R/V mirror. It's so small no one knows it's there. The camera has no microphone, so I use a separate $9 high-gain microphone (see picture below). Standard RCA video out will connect to the adapter cable from the DVR. The camera I use has night vision, but I had to disable the IR LEDS (reflection from the windshield at night).

 

The GPS video overlay unit is from a manufacturer in England. The GPS unit and overlay electronics are inside a small box. It runs about $250 and has an external SIRFIII antenna. It picks up 6 sats on the 5th level of a 7 level parking garage! The manufacture that makes this box, has customized the software for me so that it now displays heading, speed, number of sats being tracked, and (very important for court) horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP).The overlay unit has a video in and video out jack. So the camera output goes to the video overlay box, the output of the overlay box goes to the DVR. The DVR output goes to a clip-on sun visor mounted 7" LCD monitor.

 

The LCD monitor($60-$80 / eBay) is about .3" thick, and hides nicely under the visor. If needed you can flip it down, rewind the DVR, and instantly review any questionable event (i.e. did I really beat that light?)

 

I've attached a photo of the components... ignore the garmin GPS. It's not part of the current installation. The pictured overlay box includes both GPS and overlay electronics.

 

I have successfully used the video from this setup in court to prove an officer's laser gun was off. I've posted the video of the stop on YouTube here:

 

Since Brett Darrow's run in with the police in St. Louis (infamous badgering by a Sgt who later lost his job due to the incident), i've recently added a concealed microphone to record conversations within 10' of the driver's door (with window open).

 

The beauty of this system is that it's completely autonomous - and it's always on. It's also completely transparent - virtually invisible unless you know it's there. If it comes to my defense, you bet I'll use it... if it proves I was in the wrong, no one but me will know it's there

 

So, why do I have this setup? Well... About 10 years ago, I had an elderly lady put her car in reverse, back up, and slam into me on a main road. My wife and I were in disbelief. We called the police and waited with the lady on the side of the road. "I'm sorry. I missed my turn and wanted to back up and didn't see you", she said. About 10 min later, she said "I don't really remember what happened. I stopped and felt a thump." I could see where that was going. We signed a hastily written contract on the side of the road that neither party would hold the other responsible, and left before the police arrived. That day I started my search for an always-on, always recording system. Thank God for the digital age.

Edited January 14, 2008 by Guest

[rory 0]

Nice, only issue I see is that the camera is not protected.

[erkme73 0]

Protected from? Keep in mind it's 12V, and hidden behind the mirror. The original enclosure (or any enclosed camera) is too big to fit between the mirror and the windshield. Discrete is more important to me than electric code compliance

[rory 0]

if any water/liquid splashes up there it could fry it.

Right side window down then it starts to rain .. for example .. only takes a spry to fry.

[erkme73 0]

Call me a neat freak, but I try to avoid that (for other reasons). @ $60 for the camera, I'll take that chance.

[rory 0]

you never put your window down?

leaving an electronic board exposed like that is not a good idea, but its your $$

[erkme73 0]

I put my windows down, yes, but no not my windshield. The camera is near the roof line, in center of the window. If water managed to get from either front windows to that point, I've got other problems. I have this installation in both my truck, and my wife's car. Mine has been installed for over 2 years - hers for just about 1 year. No problems with moisture or other electrical issues.

[rory 0]

Seems you have been lucky so far, I wouldn't recommend anyone else reading this do that though, especially when an enclosure for those board cameras only cost around $5, however I would suggest a weather resistant bullet camera to begin with anyway (or a mini box camera).

 

Still, looks good.

Edited January 14, 2008 by Guest

[Scruit 0]

I'd love to see a shot from that camera when the sun is visible. The bigger camera I have is purely because it does a better job of handling lighting extremes.

 

The main reason I have mine is because out of 9 accidents I've had some involvement in (4x as a party ot the accident and 5x as a witness) every single one involved at least one driver lying to the police - except one, when I was at fault and I told the truth.

 

When the accident is impossible to prove (ie both drivers accuse each other of drifting out of their respective lanes) you are relying on the at-fault drive to be honest - and faced with a potentially significant financial loss the vast majority of drivers will say anything to avoid liability.

[scorpion 0]

Nice!

 

Where is the source for the overlay product?

 

If store weblink then please PM.

 

Thanks!

[Scruit 0]

Here's an example of the value of the driver and rear cams. While pulling away from a burger king drive-thru I glanced over my shoulder to make sure it was clear then set off - only to get in a near-accident with a passing car. I had no clue why I didn't see the car before I set off, and if it *had* resulted in an accident then I'd probably have been blamed, and maybe even would have believed myself to be at fault.

 

But then I replayed the video.

 

 

In the top two pics you can see me glancing over my shoulder, and no moving cars behind me.

 

In the bottom two pics you can see I've already set off moving as the car comes around the corner very quickly - quick enough to nearly hit me. If I really needed to I could figure out his speed from from the camera.

 

 

Also, the driver cam is about to get a fisheye lens that will show the entire inside of the car - and I'm going to connect the power controller trigger to the car's interior light controller (has an output that I can use that will tell me if any door or the trunk or hood is opened). Anyone who breaks into my car will be filmed - just hope they don't find the DVR behing the false panel in the trunk.

[scorpion 0]

Ha! Ha! Ha!

 

You should become a reserve sherrif's deputy then you can pull him over, and ticket him!!

[Scruit 0]

Ha! Ha! Ha!

 

You should become a reserve sherrif's deputy then you can pull him over, and ticket him!!

 

Funny thing is many folks who see my camera ask if I'm a cop or PI. I'm like; "Dude, I drive a subaru. How many subaru police cruisers do you see?"

 

Yeah, here is my "police car".

 

[rory 0]

I dont even have a stereo in my jeep and yall talking about cameras in there

 

Scruit, now you need audio like Erkme has

[Scruit 0]

I dont even have a stereo in my jeep and yall talking about cameras in there

 

Scruit, now you need audio like Erkme has

 

I have audio...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASIlM5TtgbM

[rory 0]

I dont even have a stereo in my jeep and yall talking about cameras in there

 

Scruit, now you need audio like Erkme has

 

I have audio...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASIlM5TtgbM

 

Ok whoops .. ok now you need the portable mic for when you get out and smack the other driver

[erkme73 0]

Here's the link for the overlay box:

 

http://www.blackboxcamera.com/pic-osd/gpsboxplus.htm

 

This is their standard offering. Since I didn't need to input additional characters and was only interested in speed, heading, sats and HDOP, they were able to squeeze the electronics with my custom program in a much smaller box (see above) - about the size of a dollar bill by 1" thick. It also reduced the price a bit. The guy's name is Simone, and he's very knowledgeable and friendly. I told him I would give him credit since their component was the missing piece of my puzzle.

 

Again, my primary concern is with what happens in front of me. Knock on wood, but rear-endings in parking lots and drive thrus have not yet yielded any 'close calls' or hits.

 

More likely is to be popped by laser/radar for doing a 'few miles over' when the cop inflates the numbers.

 

Ask yourself this... how many times have you been driving down the road - maybe a bit faster than you should - and suddenly you see a cruiser in the median ahead.... Simultaneously you'll think #@$!! while hitting the brakes. Only then do you glance down (nonchalantly) to see your speed. You have no idea how fast you were going when you first saw him (and he likely saw you). We all slow down - even if we're not actually speeding - when we see a speed trap. If you get pulled over, what are the chances you really KNOW what speed you were going before you hit the brakes? And, suppose you did know (i.e. had cruise set), try to prove it in court!

 

An officers testimony in court is considered "trustworthy and honest" unless proven otherwise. Well, this is my 'otherwise'.

 

Same holds true if you 'run' a red light. We don't do it on purpose, but sometimes we get caught on a short yellow. Well, my State's laws say if any part of the vehicle has crossed the white stop line at the entrance of the intersection BEFORE the light turns red, you have NOT run the light. In fact, if a vehicle on the cross street hits you in the intersection, it would be their failure to wait for an intersection to clear (if you can prove it).

 

So, rewind for the officer to show your front end was in the intersection before the light changed, and you're golden.

 

Look, I don' t make it a habit to speed, or run lights (last stop prior to this one was 8 years ago). But, given the unfair guilty-until-proven-innocent operation of traffic court, I'm moving the odds in my favor a bit.

 

When the cop in my video finished writing my ticket, and I showed him the video, he said "wow, that's cool... our cruisers don't even have that!". I told him, "Yes, but you're missing the point. My speed was 4MPH slower than what you cited me for." To which he replied, "I test my laser gun every morning, and I have complete confidence in my equipment". He would not reduce the citation (which is all I wanted). After all, I have no problem paying for my actual infraction. So, off to court it went.

 

After the court session, the officer came to me and said, "I have no idea why my equipment was off by that much." We then went outside the courthouse, where he let me play with his LTI 20/20 laser gun. Wasn't a bad guy after all.

 

So, Scruit, your needs or interests are different from mine. I wouldn't mind having the extra views, but from my perspective (pardon the pun) I'm happy with this setup.

 

I'll try to catch a screen shot of the rising/setting sun and will post it here.

 

Rory, have you seen the video or read the transcript of what happened to Brett Darrow? If you have a moment, check out this link: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1961.asp

 

It made national news. While I respect law enforcement officers (I have three in my immediate family), I know how quickly an individuals rights can be trampled by an overzealous, aggressive, power-tripping, and yes, rogue cop. While every officer that has ever stopped me (and it hasn't happened often) has been nothing but professional and polite, if a road-side stop ever turned nasty, I want to be able to defend myself.

 

Nesides, just because your paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

[Scruit 0]

Are you dissin' my setup? Why I oughta....

 

But seriously... To each his own.

 

 

Did someone say "Close calls in a parking lot"?

[erkme73 0]

No way dude! Even after all these posts, my hat is still off to you...

[rory 0]

well down here they would have dragged him out of the car with machine guns to his head, search the vehicle, then if no weapons (pepper spray, guns, etc) were found they might have let him go.

[erkme73 0]

And the worst part is, they drive on the wrong side of the friggn road!

[Scruit 0]

Nah really... Even the police only have front cameras. For me it more about the hobby of setting up cameras than the end result - as evidenced by the fact that I never quit 'improving' the system. If all i wanted was evidence in a crash then I've have a single camera and no GPS. I'm just glad to hear from someone else who put a dashcam in their ca - I'm not the only freak in the world! I now know I belong to a *very* exclusive club of freaks. We need our own forum! Or at least a subforum. Or maybe a padded cell?

 

 

I like the SD card solution. I'm having a problem with my DVR right now because it has a temp sensor and won't spin up the hard drive below freezing (most HDs are only spec'd down to freezing). I'm working on a solution with the manufacturer and we've discussed using a camera heater or maybe modifying the firmware to allow a dedicated cold-weather hard drive to be used. Your SD card DVR definitely wins points in the K.I.S.S. category.

 

 

Mind you, I always get interesting video every time I get out on the road. Every day is an adventure. Always someone doing something stupid. God forbid one of the idiots causes an accident in front of my camera, hopefully I can provide video evidence to help the victim.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKYNIKx4v0Q

Edited January 14, 2008 by Guest

[rory 0]

 

Seriously though the cops down here would scare the worst cop up there .. i bump into these plain clothes all the time at the gas station, basically walk out side and some guy that looks like a thug is pointing a machine gun at me .. no badges nothing ..

 

and check this, the cops here are told that when they draw their weapon they have to shoot to kill. .. so basically they do. Park a car like that in an empty car park down here at night, most likely to get robbed or killed before a cop hassles you.

 

Anyway sounds like the cop needs some meds.

 

But other than the couple minor rude outbursts, he sounded polite compared to what I hear the cops say here when they pull over people outside my apartment at 3 in the morning. .

[Scruit 0]

And the worst part is, they drive on the wrong side of the friggn road!

 

If Turks & Caicos is anything to go by, they drive onthe British side of the road, but in American cars becuase it's cheaper to get them from Florida than from England.

[rory 0]

If Turks & Caicos is anything to go by, they drive onthe British side of the road, but in American cars becuase it's cheaper to get them from Florida than from England.

 

Plenty US cars, but more Japanese right hand drive vehicles now, lots of diesel (dirty old ones) too. Infact here this city is one big environmental disaster right now from all the bad exhaust and nobody enforcing any laws to prevent it .. every day now im choking behind some nasty old car .. gets annoying .. and I live 15' from the main road and have a fan on the window all the time to blow the fumes back out during morning traffic

 

And oh yeah, here they run the red light on purpose!