Dash cam saves your ass (no Roundabout stuff please :)

Dirkster

I recently bought the smartcam dash cam from ebay that was recommended by a few people here. I find its quite good but I find that every 3 seconds of recording it jumps and so the recording isn't fluid and can in fact miss parts. Has anybody else had this problem or any remedy on fixing it?

Here's the link from ebay.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200745123135&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:IE:1123

CiniO

Dirkster wrote: »

I recently bought the smartcam dash cam from ebay that was recommended by a few people here. I find its quite good but I find that every 3 seconds of recording it jumps and so the recording isn't fluid and can in fact miss parts. Has anybody else had this problem or any remedy on fixing it?

Here's the link from ebay.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200745123135&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:IE:1123

Remedy to your problem is very simple - just buy faster memory card.

carbon nanotube

Shane_ef wrote: »

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Roadhawk-DC-1-Car-Black-Box-GPS-CCTV-System-/170835667003?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27c699683b

i bidded up to 135, went over

screw that, can buy new.

franksm

CiniO wrote: »

Remedy to your problem is very simple - just buy faster memory card.

Yep - I have learned to be careful buying memory cards off Ebay. Some didn't work (formatted as 32gb but would only accept 2gb; slower s[eed cards rebadged as higher; that type of thing).

Have bought some Transcend cards from Amazon and they've been perfect.

There are some SD low-level formatting tools out there, they're also good for running some benchmarking on the card.

Mr Magners

Tallon wrote: »

Attempted suicide clip

Driver reacted like a scumbag, especially with what sounds like a child in the back of the car

Tallon

Mr Magners wrote: »

Driver reacted like a scumbag, especially with what sounds like a child in the back of the car

True, although it is Russia, and the guy did try and make the driver kill him...

You're still right though, was scumbag move

Joe10000

Does anyone know the difference between the roadhawk DC 1 and the RH 1 ?

Nissan doctor

One from the M50 yesterday. The Mondeo in front of me joined the motorway in front of me at the Ballymun on ramp and didn't merge into the main M50 lanes so was obviously heading for the N2......you'd think.:rolleyes:

Count how many times 'N2' is painted on the ground of the lane we are in and how many enormous blue over head gantry signs they pass, not to mention the fact that the lane has thick closely spaced white lines meaning it is clearly an exit/separate carriageway lane:mad:

CiniO

Nissan doctor wrote: »

One from the M50 yesterday. The Mondeo in front of me joined the motorway in front of me at the Ballymun on ramp and didn't merge into the main M50 lanes so was obviously heading for the N2......you'd think.:rolleyes:

Count how many times 'N2' is painted on the ground of the lane we are in and how many enormous blue over head gantry signs they pass, not to mention the fact that the lane has thick closely spaced white lines meaning it is clearly an exit/separate carriageway lane:mad:

Yes, it definitely wasn't wise what he did, but take account that he might have not been familiar with area, and maybe had no clue what N2, Ballymun, etc means.

I consider myself quite experienced driver, but I've done something similar once near Paris, when my satvan was telling me to turn right, road signs were telling me to go straight, and my passenger looking at map told me to go left.

Mycroft H

Nissan doctor wrote: »

One from the M50 yesterday. The Mondeo in front of me joined the motorway in front of me at the Ballymun on ramp and didn't merge into the main M50 lanes so was obviously heading for the N2......you'd think.:rolleyes:

Count how many times 'N2' is painted on the ground of the lane we are in and how many enormous blue over head gantry signs they pass, not to mention the fact that the lane has thick closely spaced white lines meaning it is clearly an exit/separate carriageway lane:mad:

Its a regular occurrence on the M50. Especially between Belgard road and the Naas road exit with the short slip road.

ShadowHearth

Tallon wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKRpdN6ZOMU

Omfg it's bad, but I really loled. It's in Russian.

When fella started to kick the living shiet out of that man the girl says:

- he is an idiot or what?
-who?!
- why is he beating him?
- so he would not jump in front of the car...

Nissan doctor

CiniO wrote: »

Yes, it definitely wasn't wise what he did, but take account that he might have not been familiar with area, and maybe had no clue what N2, Ballymun, etc means.

I consider myself quite experienced driver, but I've done something similar once near Paris, when my satvan was telling me to turn right, road signs were telling me to go straight, and my passenger looking at map told me to go left.

He wanted to continue on the M50, every sign, road, and lane marking was telling him that the lane he was in did not do this so, IMO, this means he paid no attention to his surroundings on a busy motorway for at least close to 2kms!

CiniO

Nissan doctor wrote: »

He wanted to continue on the M50, every sign, road, and lane marking was telling him that the lane he was in did not do this so, IMO, this means he paid no attention to his surroundings on a busy motorway for at least close to 2kms!

I agree with you, but are you 100% certain, he really knew he wanted to go on M50?
Maybe he just wasn't sure if he needed to exit on n2 or continue over m50.
For you and me it's obvious what m50 is, but for someone else m50 might mean nothing (especialy for foreigners in rented cars).

Nissan doctor

CiniO wrote: »

I agree with you, but are you 100% certain, he really knew he wanted to go on M50?
Maybe he just wasn't sure if he needed to exit on n2 or continue over m50.
For you and me it's obvious what m50 is, but for someone else m50 might mean nothing (especialy for foreigners in rented cars).

I agree with the rented cars/tourist comment, I've made errors myself when abroad, but this wasn't a rental car, it was just another Irish driver paying no attention to actually driving.

I mean making an error is one thing, we can all do that, but he then causes the Golf in lane one of the M50 to brake and almost swerve and as Iwent passed the driver and passenger were laughing to each other:mad:

ardmacha

For you and me it's obvious what m50 is, but for someone else m50 might mean nothing (especialy for foreigners in rented cars).

Someone should check their map before going on to the M50. And it doesn't matter who they are, they should not be driving like that. If you are in the wrong lane stay there, you don't have a right to endanger other motorists because you are a bollix.

Pottler

CiniO wrote: »

Most likely it won't be any help to most of you here, but I'll put it here just in case someone needs it.
Over last year I collected few most interesting recordings from my dashcams on my harddrive (interesting road situation, places i've been to, etc). I just realised it's nearly 100GB data, which is quite a lot.
It's so much mostly due to cheap dashcams don't use any advanced compression methods - they just use most basic and very little hardware demanding codecs and unfortunately their result files are big. I've been writing some time ago, that Smartcam which I bought uses about 16kbit/s bitrate for it's 720p video which is unneceserily way too much. My other older camera is not much better.
So generally I decided I'll convert them all to H264 codec with 3600 kbit/s bitrate which after few tries I tested that it's enough without really any quality loss.
Unfortunately it was over 300 files spread in nice tidy way into directory tree, so it would be hell lot's of work to convert each separately.
That's why I wrote a little bash script for linux which using mencoder did all the job for me. It took long (nearly 2 days for all files) but was full automatic.
This script finds all files in all subdirectories of directory it was run, and converts all files with AVI extension, writing result file with additional S on begining of filename, with option to erase original file.
It can be very easily adjusted with few options in script file on top.
If anyone wants to make use of it, I attached it below, but I don't take any responsibility if it's going to work correctly for everyone.
It's just something I wrote anyway to solve my own problem, so I decided maybe someone here might need the same.

As a result I shrinked size of those recording from about 100GB to less than 25GB so I could fit all of them into single BD-R.

Thanks for this ^ Cinio. I now feel more stupid than I did yesterday. :)

cormie

Folks, anyone have a link to the latest firmware version for the DRS-1100 X-Driven, Roadhawk RH-1, Ub1 (all the same product, just different names). Been googling for the last 15 minutes with no luck

vibe666

ouch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhKaedPTtTg

doesn't appear to have saved anyone's ass tho.

Kenny Logins

vibe666 wrote: »

ouch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhKaedPTtTg

doesn't appear to have saved anyone's ass tho.

Jesus! What was the story there? That Ferrari didn't even appear to brake.

ottostreet

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Kenny Logins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIcWn-hNrvg

TheBazman

Jesus Chrriiisttt!!

ScrubsfanChris

Real shame about the woman in the taxi, but I have to sympathies for the Ferrari driver..

Not entirely a dash cam video, but thought someone might get a chuckle from it like me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pgm8I0B8bY

Edit:Skip to around 50 seconds in for the show off and crash.

Max Power1

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Omfg it's bad, but I really loled. It's in Russian.

When fella started to kick the living shiet out of that man the girl says:

- he is an idiot or what?
-who?!
- why is he beating him?
- so he would not jump in front of the car...

Best thing for that idiot (the guy tryiong to commit suicide)

What a completely sh!tty thing to do. The driver (if there was no dashcam) would be hauled through the courts for dangerous driving and manslaughter. Because of one muppet? Id like to think id have done the same

Shane732

Wow I didn't think there would be this much on dash cams.

I'm currently looking at getting one of these. My options are either go for a proper cam or use an iphone app.

I assume the proper cams are far superior than the iphone app?

Is the roadhawk generally recognized as the best option?

Shane732

Shane732 wrote: »

Wow I didn't think there would be this much on dash cams.

I'm currently looking at getting one of these. My options are either go for a proper cam or use an iphone app.

I assume the proper cams are far superior than the iphone app?

Is the roadhawk generally recognized as the best option?

Spend an hour or so and have a read through the thread, lot of discussion earlier about mobile apps.

I use an app, and have no problems with it. Only problem is 30 seconds to set it up when I get into the car, a standalone camera will start/stop when the car starts/stops.

But most high end phones will have better video capability the a lot of the dash cams (unless you get a HD one).

Shane732

Deleted User wrote: »

Spend an hour or so and have a read through the thread, lot of discussion earlier about mobile apps.

I use an app, and have no problems with it. Only problem is 30 seconds to set it up when I get into the car, a standalone camera will start/stop when the car starts/stops.

But most high end phones will have better video capability the a lot of the dash cams (unless you get a HD one).

Cheers.

A 2 hour loop uses 2 GB though!!

What loop are you using on yours?

Bohrio

The main problem with phone cameras is the field of view, also most people use the phone in a vertical position so for optimal perfomance horizontal is the way to go.

phones have their good bits too... but i rather keep the phone is my pocket and use the dash camera instead.

Shane732

Shane732 wrote: »

Cheers.

A 2 hour loop uses 2 GB though!!

What loop are you using on yours?

I'm on android and use an app called DailyRoads Voyager.

I have it set to loop every 5 minutes, and only use 800MB memory. As soon as it hits 800MB, it deletes files which I have chosen not to save. Most of the apps/dash cams allow this. So mine is on a constant 5 min loop, and videos will only be saved, if I touch the screen, or it detects more than 3Gs (gravitational force, not mobile network , such as an accident). So memory isn't an issue

vibe666

Bohrio wrote: »

The main problem with phone cameras is the field of view, also most people use the phone in a vertical position so for optimal perfomance horizontal is the way to go.

phones have their good bits too... but i rather keep the phone is my pocket and use the dash camera instead.

i've always had my phone in landscape mode, it makes it easier to use the GPS etc. and the dash cam app works much better too.

as for the field of view, you can pick up one of these to fix that: http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_nkw=mobile+wide+angle&_arm=1&_armi=Drives%2C+Storage+%26+Blank+Media&_armm=94&_ruu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ie%2Fsch%2FDrives-Storage-Blank-Media-%2F165%2Fi.html%3F_nkw%3Dmobile%2Bwide%2Bangle%26_arr%3D1&_rdc=1



it just needs the magnetic metal ring that it attaches to gluing into your phone holder so you can still add or remove it if you want to and you're all set with a decent field of view.

it's slightly distorted, but you get a much wider view on the video. you can get fisheye ones as well if you want to go all out, but i don't like the effect on the video personally. the wide angle one is just about right imho.

cormie

Hi everyone,
I'm at my wits end here. I have a few Xdriven (UB1/UBone.co.kr) DRS1100 recorders. One seemed to stop working and I suspected it to be the SD card but I decided to do a firmware update at the same time. I put this firmware on it: http://www.ubone.co.kr/cs/etc_view.asp?pag...rd=&s_word=

I formatted the SD card and put the .bin file on it, turned on the DRS1100 and the lights illuminated and then went off immediately and nothing else came on. Nothing happened with the SD card, and now it seems like it's not working at all. Because there was a problem with that DRS1100, I decided to try the same sd card on two more and the same thing happened to them both. So now I've potentially 3 broken DRS1100

The only reassurance I have is that I seem to remember the very first one I got, I think I had a similar problem which I eventually fixed, I just have absolutely no recollection of how.

I've tried 3 different SD cards and it's the same thing. I've tried an SD card which is from a DRS1100 which is still working fine, but the .bin file on it and nothing different happened as to when I put the .bin file on formatted SD cards, from 2GB to 4GB. Same thing, both lights come on when I plug it in, then nothing happens until I plug it out again, where the two lights flick illuminate and then fade out.

No beeping, no flashing, nothing.

Please, if anyone can help I'd greatly greatly appreciate it!

All units are DRS1100 as stated on the sticker on the unit, doesn't mention PRO on the sticker..

cormie

Anyone see this one before? Blackvue DR400G-HD

Seems to be the newest and best Blackbox recorder around. Has all the essential features and a nice full HD capture quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOLs1PziqWY

Look at some of the 1080p videos on youtube for a proper example of quality.

Bohrio

vibe666 wrote: »

i've always had my phone in landscape mode, it makes it easier to use the GPS etc. and the dash cam app works much better too.

as for the field of view, you can pick up one of these to fix that: http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_nkw=mobile+wide+angle&_arm=1&_armi=Drives%2C+Storage+%26+Blank+Media&_armm=94&_ruu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ie%2Fsch%2FDrives-Storage-Blank-Media-%2F165%2Fi.html%3F_nkw%3Dmobile%2Bwide%2Bangle%26_arr%3D1&_rdc=1



it just needs the magnetic metal ring that it attaches to gluing into your phone holder so you can still add or remove it if you want to and you're all set with a decent field of view.

it's slightly distorted, but you get a much wider view on the video. you can get fisheye ones as well if you want to go all out, but i don't like the effect on the video personally. the wide angle one is just about right imho.

Interesting little gadget!

I prefer to have a dash cam... i rather dont have to worry about setting everything up on each journey, and also being able to leave the camera on while parked in case someone does a hit and run is handy. Also, in the event of an accident i dont know how well the phone cradle will hold.

Maybe im just lazy... i do get your point though... it is handy using your phone, and it does the trick

eringobragh

cormie wrote: »

Anyone see this one before? Blackvue DR400G-HD

Seems to be the newest and best Blackbox recorder around. Has all the essential features and a nice full HD capture quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOLs1PziqWY

Look at some of the 1080p videos on youtube for a proper example of quality.

Have it Cormie does an excellent job

C.D.

cormie wrote: »

Anyone see this one before? Blackvue DR400G-HD

Seems to be the newest and best Blackbox recorder around. Has all the essential features and a nice full HD capture quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOLs1PziqWY

Look at some of the 1080p videos on youtube for a proper example of quality.

Cormie, check out my review here.

cormie

Wow, that's some review But you reckon there's better out there still? You mention the pro's and cons that video is fuzzy, g-sensor too sensitive (this would be a problem in a big clunky van), bad audio and that there are better quality cams?

C.D.

cormie wrote: »

Wow, that's some review But you reckon there's better out there still? You mention the pro's and cons that video is fuzzy, g-sensor too sensitive (this would be a problem in a big clunky van), bad audio and that there are better quality cams?

There are better quality cameras.. as in units that take better video. I think in terms of the whole unit, I have not seen better. In terms of value for money, CiniO and some of the other guys picked up some decent units for less than half the price. Comes down to what you want and what you are willing to spend.

cormie

I'd definitely be after the whole package myself in terms of GPS, software and a general "black box" unit as opposed to just a decent video recorder. So you reckon it's the best "black box" to date?

vibe666

Bohrio wrote: »

Interesting little gadget!

I prefer to have a dash cam... i rather dont have to worry about setting everything up on each journey, and also being able to leave the camera on while parked in case someone does a hit and run is handy. Also, in the event of an accident i dont know how well the phone cradle will hold.

Maybe im just lazy... i do get your point though... it is handy using your phone, and it does the trick

funnily enough, i'm actually starting to come round to the permanent dashcam way of thinking.

that 720p one from a few pages back is cheap enough that you could have one in the front and rear to keep yourself (almost) totally covered without spending too much.

cormie

I don't suppose there's a product out there that's:

A) A Blackbox
A Sat Nav
C) A gps tracker?

I know a smart phone could probably do it all, but would be nice to have a dedicated device always plugged in in the car, would be handy to have a rear view mirror attachment for it too so it's disguised, and the Sat nav screen could be switched off if not in use of course.

Basq

Anyone pick up one of these?

franksm

You need a Car PC ;-)

That's what the cops have, in the UK anyway according to the Police-Camera-Action type programmes. If you look carefully, you can see a Windows-XP screensaver on their in-car PC screens.

cormie wrote: »

I don't suppose there's a product out there that's:

A) A Blackbox
A Sat Nav
C) A gps tracker?

vibe666

Basq wrote: »

Anyone pick up one of these?

is that the HD one techmoan reviewed?

sorely tempted to get a couple of those.

Basq

vibe666 wrote: »

is that the HD one techmoan reviewed?

sorely tempted to get a couple of those.

No.. this is the Techmoan one - it's twice the price of the one I linked to.

That one does look like the one to go for but the one for €30 looks decent enough too.

vibe666

franksm wrote: »

You need a Car PC ;-)

That's what the cops have, in the UK anyway according to the Police-Camera-Action type programmes. If you look carefully, you can see a Windows-XP screensaver on their in-car PC screens.

i saw a demo of some software a couple of years ago that took in video from 4 fisheye lenses around a car and stitched together a full 360 degree view of the surroundings that was re-flattened out that would let you pan and zoom around to anywhere around the car during recording and playback of the video and even extrapolate a top down view.

it was being showcased as a driving aid for parking, but would make an awesome dash cam set up.

i've been meaning to build a car pc with front & rear dash cams and gps etc. for a couple of years now, but just never got around to it and with a 9 month old baby the size of a 2 year old eating all my money i doubt i ever will now!

vibe666

Basq wrote: »

No.. this is the Techmoan one - it's twice the price of the one I linked to.

That one does look like the one to go for but the one for €30 looks decent enough too.

sod that, too cheap not to, just bought one there as a test.

as soon as i have it, i'll throw up some test video and a mini-review here for anyone who might want to take a punt on one.

it's a UK supplier, so hopefully he sends it out quickly enough and i have it by the weekend.

edit: feck it, just remembered we're going away on wednesday evening, so that might well screw up my plans if he's not quick off the mark.

double edit:

Your item(s) should arrive between May 25 - May 31, 2012.

anyways, as soon as i have it in hand a review and sample video will be forthcoming.

Basq

vibe666 wrote: »

as soon as i have it, i'll throw up some test video and a mini-review here for anyone who might want to take a punt on one.

Good man.. will wait to hear your mini-review so vibe!

vibe666

i'm trying to see if he can post it sooner and use some kind of express delivery, but i just got an out of office email so i don't hold out much hope.

cormie

Surprised there's not a commercially available product that does the lot. Garmin should release a GPS with 1080p recorder and tracker