I think I'm going to add an 'in car camera' to my car

[Cyclone 10]

We see quite a lot of threads where someones car has been damaged in a car park, or where another driver has hit them and then disputes what has happened.

 

http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/roadhawk-dc-1-in-car-camera.html

 

I think I'm going to add 1 (or maybe 2) of these to my car at some point in the near future.

 

Most useful for when you're actually driving, but I wonder if a bit of electrical cleverness could provide them with a separate battery so that they don't kill the main one if left running, maybe a switch to turn them off when parked on the drive, but leave them running in car parks.

 

I suspect that in the long term cars will start coming with this sort of kit fitted (as an optional extra maybe) from the factory.

[cgksheff 44]

Pretty prominent aren't they?

 

I'd guess that they would vanish fairly quickly.

 

Wouldn't you be better with something a little more covert?

 

http://www.pakatak.co.uk/shop/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=489

 

http://www.eyetek.co.uk/car-camera-kit

[AJ sheffield 11]

I already have blackbox software recording the road in front of my car from my android phone when I'm driving but I have thought about something like in Cyclones link.

A mate of mine has just bought an expensive motor and has four cameras fitted to it, they are covert and have very good resolution but they cost a fortune to buy, impressive though.

[Resident 1,190]

We see quite a lot of threads where someones car has been damaged in a car park, or where another driver has hit them and then disputes what has happened.

 

http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/roadhawk-dc-1-in-car-camera.html

 

I think I'm going to add 1 (or maybe 2) of these to my car at some point in the near future.

 

Most useful for when you're actually driving, but I wonder if a bit of electrical cleverness could provide them with a separate battery so that they don't kill the main one if left running, maybe a switch to turn them off when parked on the drive, but leave them running in car parks.

 

I suspect that in the long term cars will start coming with this sort of kit fitted (as an optional extra maybe) from the factory.

 

Second battery and a split-charger.

 

Usually it's how the in car audio boys do it for powering big amplifiers but there's no reason why it wouldn't work for your application.

[Cyclone 10]

I don't think it would be that difficult to make these more covert (so they don't get nicked).

The one on the front (if in a waterproof housing) could be placed behind/inside the engine grill, looking out just above the bumper.

 

Or, better, have them permanently mounted up near head height inside (where they wouldn't be very visible), looking in the 'wrong' direction, ie from front out to the back, and from the back out to the front, that way they'll also catch anything happening at the side of the car.

[Cyclone 10]

Pretty prominent aren't they?

 

I'd guess that they would vanish fairly quickly.

 

Wouldn't you be better with something a little more covert?

 

http://www.pakatak.co.uk/shop/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=489

 

http://www.eyetek.co.uk/car-camera-kit

 

They look like good options as well, although they lack the g-force trigger (for an accident) or GPS (I think that's just a battery draining gimmick anyway).

The 2nd one at least appears like it will stop when the SD card is full, which is a definite problem, the one I'd linked keeps looping and only stores a snapshot if it's triggered somehow.

[truman 10]

Second battery and a split-charger.

 

Usually it's how the in car audio boys do it for powering big amplifiers but there's no reason why it wouldn't work for your application.

 

It's been done in 4x4's for years to power winches etc etc..

[Cyclone 10]

So the power problem is sorted, it's just a question of mounting it somewhere not obvious, getting the best coverage and making sure that it captures an image if triggered by either an impact or motion.

 

This could save a lot of trouble in the event of disputed claims or a lot of expense when coming back to the car park to find your bumper hanging off and no note.

[adk4 10]

Hello all, noticed this thread come up on click throughs to our website. Sorry I should introduce myself first, my name is Alan and Pakatak is my site.

 

I know all three of the products well (the dogcamsport, pakatak and eyetek systems) so would be happy to answer any questions you may have on any of them and will do my best to remain impartial and unbiased!

 

Somebody mentioned positioning of the cameras and perhaps having a a camera sited to view through the engine grill. Remember that none of the systems are weatherproof and so ideally should be sited inside the vehicle.

 

Primarily the dogcamsport camera is for journey recording but, as has been mentioned, could be adapted to record all of the time and powered from the cars' battery etc.

 

Also mentioned was that the Eyetek system stops recording when the SD card is full, this is actually not the case and all 3 systems can be set to loop or stop when the SD card is full.

 

We, Pakatak, put together our system after receiving many calls and equiries for a system to monitor a vehicle whilst it is parked up in a car park or outside your home etc, so we put it together with the batteries to make it a very simple set up for customers.

 

The Pakatak and Eyetek systems have motion detection recording, which is based on pixel change within an image - so in effect this does offer the same function as the G-force trigger. but in a different way - however they can also be set to record continuously or at certain time of day by using the scheduling.

 

As I said , if anybody has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Edited June 18, 2012 by adk4

[disc5245 10]

Yes, quite agree that in a short future that most cars will come with this kind of car dash camera fitted from the factory, maybe 3-5 years later. There are already many taxis come with dash camera embedded in the rear view mirrors covertly...