We used a GoPro more for taking time-lapse images of trips. It was mounted near the top of the windshield of our last truck. Biggest downfall is that it was sitting in the sun all the time and, when it got hot enough, would just shut off.
Dash Cameras
- Thread starter porthole
- Start date
We used a GoPro more for taking time-lapse images of trips. It was mounted near the top of the windshield of our last truck. Biggest downfall is that it was sitting in the sun all the time and, when it got hot enough, would just shut off.
Jeff,
Those Lukas cams are pretty cool. Read a bunch of review on Amazon. Mostly good - some fails. Thanks for sharing.
porthole
Retired
So, I've had my Garmin 20 dash cam for several weeks now. Not bad for what we are trying to do.
Of course bright sunny days give you way more resolution then dark rainy nights.
The camera saves video in an AVI format. If you have an event that is shock related it saves X amount of time before and after the shock. You can also save a current clip at anytime. Basically what that does is besides making a new 4 minute clip, it sets the file attributes to lock.
And, since I am now still struggling with a Macbook ......... Macs don't play AVI files, so software is needed to convert before I can do anything.
2 examples below.
The first is on our way to the Bath, NY rally. We are entering the Garden State Parkway from a rest/fuel stop near our home. Monmouth rest area for those familiar.
On a normal commuter day this merge is worse then a NASCAR race at Bristol. At least with NASCAR, drivers try and maintain the speed limit. On a typical weekday commute, this entrance to the roadway requires an 80-85 mph merge speed. No way to do that with an RV though, especially with a heavy toy hauler.
But, it is a good thing we are running a Ford otherwise who knows how scary it would be.
No sound on this one as I had to censor the right seat to keep it G rated.
I have a clear lane for our entrance. Watch for the white van on the right.
The video does a good enough job that if I freeze it I can clearly see the car model, S-550 and license plate F77-6MS, from florida.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDasSeOy3as&list=UU4bURhXf7WkHQ7u-8SjpP3A
This is an edited screen shot from the clip.
Next we are on our way back from the RCMP campout.
11:40pm+, and raining.
Slow lane, 6 mph under the limit getting ready to once again merge onto the Garden State Parkway, this time from Rt 287.
The SUV passes me on the left, brakes already on and cuts in front of us.
In the dark and rain, I can't even tell what make model this truck is, let alone a plate number.
Some of the right side comments are edited out on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58TuO8s-mRo&list=UU4bURhXf7WkHQ7u-8SjpP3A
Of course bright sunny days give you way more resolution then dark rainy nights.
The camera saves video in an AVI format. If you have an event that is shock related it saves X amount of time before and after the shock. You can also save a current clip at anytime. Basically what that does is besides making a new 4 minute clip, it sets the file attributes to lock.
And, since I am now still struggling with a Macbook ......... Macs don't play AVI files, so software is needed to convert before I can do anything.
2 examples below.
The first is on our way to the Bath, NY rally. We are entering the Garden State Parkway from a rest/fuel stop near our home. Monmouth rest area for those familiar.
On a normal commuter day this merge is worse then a NASCAR race at Bristol. At least with NASCAR, drivers try and maintain the speed limit. On a typical weekday commute, this entrance to the roadway requires an 80-85 mph merge speed. No way to do that with an RV though, especially with a heavy toy hauler.
But, it is a good thing we are running a Ford otherwise who knows how scary it would be.
No sound on this one as I had to censor the right seat to keep it G rated.
I have a clear lane for our entrance. Watch for the white van on the right.
The video does a good enough job that if I freeze it I can clearly see the car model, S-550 and license plate F77-6MS, from florida.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDasSeOy3as&list=UU4bURhXf7WkHQ7u-8SjpP3A
This is an edited screen shot from the clip.
Next we are on our way back from the RCMP campout.
11:40pm+, and raining.
Slow lane, 6 mph under the limit getting ready to once again merge onto the Garden State Parkway, this time from Rt 287.
The SUV passes me on the left, brakes already on and cuts in front of us.
In the dark and rain, I can't even tell what make model this truck is, let alone a plate number.
Some of the right side comments are edited out on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58TuO8s-mRo&list=UU4bURhXf7WkHQ7u-8SjpP3A
porthole
Retired
Another experiment. Haven't checked with the resident LEO yet on this.
Suppose you get a ticket for blowing the light, turned red before you made it through the intersection.
Your word against the LEO.
The cam also records position and speed. This video is once again taken on a nice day.
Playing the video frame by frame I can see that the light is still yellow when the front of my truck is about adjacent to the light pole.
GPS speed can verify the speed, showing it is within the limit. Speed limit here is 45 mph
http://youtu.be/jgjgV4EKjlg
Screen shot from the video
Suppose you get a ticket for blowing the light, turned red before you made it through the intersection.
Your word against the LEO.
The cam also records position and speed. This video is once again taken on a nice day.
Playing the video frame by frame I can see that the light is still yellow when the front of my truck is about adjacent to the light pole.
GPS speed can verify the speed, showing it is within the limit. Speed limit here is 45 mph
http://youtu.be/jgjgV4EKjlg
Screen shot from the video
porthole
Retired
Your screen capture appears to be a lot lower quality then mine. Is it the way you did the capture, or just the quality?
Weather conditions at the time? With my Garmin, I can see a real drop in quality based on the sun, clouds or overcast.
My capture - mackbook pro, playing video in full screen, pause, screen capture (saves to dropbox as a jpeg), open photo, crop, adjust color etc, resize to 1024x780 and save. That is what I posted. The original pic is much clearer then what I posted.
On the yellow light video and picture, I was only able to see the posted frame by pausing and stepping through the video to get the capture I posted.
//heartlandowners.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32801&d=1415045087
https://heartlandowners.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=32803&d=1415053469
porthole
Retired
None
porthole
Retired
2 nights ago I witnessed a MVA, SUV pulled out of a side street without stopping and tagged a small car, putting the driver/vehicle into a PIT maneuver - right into my lane. We managed to avoid each, went and turned around to go check on the drivers.
By the time I got out to ask the car's driver if she was all right the belligerent male from the SUV was screaming at the girl for pulling out of the side street without stopping - totally opposite of the chain of events.
The girl was ok, shaken more buy the idiot screaming at her.
PD was called and I had to leave for a meeting, but gave the girl my name and number. I did go back to speak to the LEO, and the guy did change his story to what actually happened. And it wasn't for another 20 minutes or so before I realized 'doh - I have a dash cam....'
Now, if I can figure out how to get a common AVI file to work on my Mac I'll post the accident.
By the time I got out to ask the car's driver if she was all right the belligerent male from the SUV was screaming at the girl for pulling out of the side street without stopping - totally opposite of the chain of events.
The girl was ok, shaken more buy the idiot screaming at her.
PD was called and I had to leave for a meeting, but gave the girl my name and number. I did go back to speak to the LEO, and the guy did change his story to what actually happened. And it wasn't for another 20 minutes or so before I realized 'doh - I have a dash cam....'
Now, if I can figure out how to get a common AVI file to work on my Mac I'll post the accident.
Last edited:
Duane - VLC is a great app for OS X that will play nearly any video file
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
Duane's recent experience witnessing an accident and then remembering his Dash Camera records what it sees has prompted me to "pile on" to Duane's point.
I just completed a very long trip and while I didn't witness any accidents or near misses, I have peace of mind knowing that I have a co-pilot that remembers all he sees and hears. I too am talking about my Dash Camera. Once these things are installed and configured, the decent ones "just work". They require no care, no turning on/off. And that's a good thing. If I needed to remember to turn it on each day, it would rarely happen.
There are so many brands and models out there with a myriad of features and getting better all the time. I have a unit with a rear camera that I have mounted on my back window. So I'm auto-recording two-directions. When I upgrade, perhaps in the next year or so, I'll get one that has WiFi for data offloading.
There's a few review sites out there too. Here's the one I like to use:
http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/
I just completed a very long trip and while I didn't witness any accidents or near misses, I have peace of mind knowing that I have a co-pilot that remembers all he sees and hears. I too am talking about my Dash Camera. Once these things are installed and configured, the decent ones "just work". They require no care, no turning on/off. And that's a good thing. If I needed to remember to turn it on each day, it would rarely happen.
There are so many brands and models out there with a myriad of features and getting better all the time. I have a unit with a rear camera that I have mounted on my back window. So I'm auto-recording two-directions. When I upgrade, perhaps in the next year or so, I'll get one that has WiFi for data offloading.
There's a few review sites out there too. Here's the one I like to use:
http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/
porthole
Retired
VLC is what I use, but I want to get the video into an editor to remove all the extra and just put the 10 second clip up.
The Garmin dash cam takes approximately 4 minute video clip/files.
Duane,
Download and install Handbrake (free), then convert the AVI to MP4. Open in Quicktime, trim and save. I just did a test with Handbrake to convert an AVI to MP4 and it worked. I was able to open it in Quicktime.
View attachment MOV00782.mp4
For what it's worth, I think I found my next Dash Camera - the Lukas 7950 WD.
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
There was a road rager arrested and charged with assault, reckless driving and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, just the other day based on the evidence from a dash cam. Evidence is evidence, the notion that an officer cant cite without witnessing is bogus, because that is what the dash cam video is for. It is for LEO to witness the incident. The trouble is that it has to be the cops idea not yours.
How many times have you been "brake Checked" by a road rager. Dash cam evidence would turn that from a rear end collision to the theoretical victim having intentionally causing and accident. The importance of dash cam evidence is becoming more and more important in this dishonest and litigious world we live in.
AZ is a state where the officer will allow you to sign a traffic citation which summons the perpetrator to court.
How many times have you been "brake Checked" by a road rager. Dash cam evidence would turn that from a rear end collision to the theoretical victim having intentionally causing and accident. The importance of dash cam evidence is becoming more and more important in this dishonest and litigious world we live in.
AZ is a state where the officer will allow you to sign a traffic citation which summons the perpetrator to court.
MotoLynx27x
Active Member
Driving around San Antonio and the surrounding areas where I live is enough for me to always drive with a camera rolling. I just upgraded to the BOYO Vision VTR103 http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_75458_BOYO-Vision-VTR103.htm.
I'm about to test it out on the camping trip I'm starting today (Friday).
Jim.Allison
Well-known member
No kidding, years ago people in this town used to come to a complete stop at stop signs, and before turning right on red, no-one ever ran a light. Today we have people that cut across parking lots to avoid red lights, no-one comes to complete stops for right turns on red or stop signs and worst of all when a light turns red there are always about 6 cars that blow the intersections. Don't you dare pull out because you have a green or you will get creamed.
I had a knucklehead about 20 years old, had his wife and baby in his car. He did not like the speed I was driving on Bandera Rd. He passed me then brake checked me 3 times. You know if I would have hit him it would have been lawsuit city, so dash cams are going to be a necessity if not already.I like your link and the price. I'm going to look into it.
I had a knucklehead about 20 years old, had his wife and baby in his car. He did not like the speed I was driving on Bandera Rd. He passed me then brake checked me 3 times. You know if I would have hit him it would have been lawsuit city, so dash cams are going to be a necessity if not already.I like your link and the price. I'm going to look into it.
JohnD
Moved on to the next thing...
When buying memory cards, make sure you get a class 10 SD card, and get a high speed card as well!
And don't get one smaller than 4GB is it will only be a class 2 card . . . nowhere near fast enough for HD video!
While a memory card doesn't dictate the quality of the image or video, it can determine how choppy the video is!
HD video is a lot of info flowing to the memory card.
If the card is not fast enough for the flow of information it is trying to write . . . then you'll get interuptions in your video.
And don't get one smaller than 4GB is it will only be a class 2 card . . . nowhere near fast enough for HD video!
While a memory card doesn't dictate the quality of the image or video, it can determine how choppy the video is!
HD video is a lot of info flowing to the memory card.
If the card is not fast enough for the flow of information it is trying to write . . . then you'll get interuptions in your video.
