HI Folks Can anybody recommend a reasonably cheap camera/recorder that could be mounted inside a parked car (well, Partner van, really) and could record images of somebody interfering with the vehicle? Haven't got hundreds to spend, but it'd be nice to catch the &*^%& who's been stabbing my tyres! Thanks
Er how are you going to mount a camera to see who is outside from the inside, particulary a van...
CPC have a £24.75 + VAT dash cam CP06226006. supposed to be HD and 16 hours recording to a 32 GB SD card (not supplied). Also has a 2.5" screen!
At that price I wouldn't expect much in the way of low light performance, or much at all TBH but you never know.
In message , Adrian Brentnall writes
I've just bought my second one of these, although I paid 20p more from a different seller.
Both are working well. The night vision is not much good in the car, and I think would give nasty window reflections, but they are amazing for the money. The instructions that come with them are utterly incomprehensible, and the many features take a lot of guesswork.
I'd say you'd need several to cover all round the car...
I've a couple of these, they work quite well, but the resolution is pretty poor and you need good street lights for night vision.
How would you get one camera to do that though, surely you would need them all round the vehicle somehow disguised. Its a pity tyres metal innards could not be electrified with 10000 volts so the stabber gets fried. Brian
It's a smallish car-based van - was planning on having the camers look through a side-window ?
That sounds promising - 8 hours recording would be fine - as the problem is occuring while the van's parked during my working day Thanks
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As I read it - it only works while the car's in motion - it's the opposite of that I need (damage is happening while the van's parked up...
Yes - tempting!
Sadly the Garda won;t let me/us take 'defensive' measures - as there's something else getting damaged that could so easily be attached to the 'hot' end of a cattle fencer..
Apparently that's not allowed....
Taser should do it. Interesting DIY project. For that matter on a petrol vehicle you've already got a system capable of generating 30 kV. But perhaps the tyres are too conductive owing to the large amounts of carbon black filler.
Provided there is a 12V supply my units can be configured for constant recording in up to 15 minute consecutive files or the same size file with motion sensing. The units record to internal memory all the time they are powered and only when an event occurs, if set to the motion sensing mode, is the data before and after the event sent to the 32G card. In daylight or decent street lights, results can be quite good. The internal battery is only good for a few minutes if no 12V.
An infuriating situation, my sympathies.
The best spot may be in strange places like hidden in the bumper end caps facing along the sides of the vehicle or in the door mirror housings.
It'll require some careful waterproofing of course and probably a wipe over the lens when leaving the van after parking.
The benefit of these locations is that you will likely get a close-up of the scrote. Sadly, if this is happening frequently is that you may capture someone you know.
No cams to suggest I'm afraid, just principles although someone recommended a PIR triggered cam from TLC not that long ago which would minimise the recording time and searching through.
To prove who is doing your tyres you need to be able to have the tyres in shot along with the scroat. The suggestion of bumper caps isn't a bad one, or perhaps wing mirrors for the rears. CPC has a range of covert cameras that will be easier to squeeze in but you'd have to have something else doing the recording.
I was going to suggest putting cameras outside the van looking at each side but that only works if you have control of the area.
So the former is a "journey recorder"? ie it dumps n minute long files to the SDCard until a (configurable?) amount of freespace is left then it starts deleting the oldest to make space. In this mode how long is the time gap between consecutive files?
I have a "dash cam" app on my phone which works reasonably well but does tie up the phone...
Any chance of short sample video upload somewhere? Or pointer to some already on the web? Very tempted for a tenner but HTF can it be much good at that price?
That's a bit of a downside.
The files are consecutive, no dead space. Sorry, I've never downloaded the files, only viewed them on TV playback. The Amazon reviews are quite good, if you ignore the difficulties of setting the damn things up from the totally crap instructions, which in one case were in Russian when delivered!
One of mine was this:-
I can probably get a short video of my tenner one, but probably not immediately, owing to pressures of "children" and having to manage all their projects for them.
It is marvellous for the price. Its real resolution is lower than the
1080p usually quoted, but set down to the real resolution, the pictures are OK.My car has an always-on ciggy lighter socket, so mine just loop-records
24/7. I haven't tried the motion-detection. The battery is best thought of as covering the power needed as it closes down. It's a standard phone battery.There are several modes of working and with perseverance and a lot of searching it is possible to find instructions. The logic involved in the design (presumably a standard chip) is actually very well-thought out.
The only problem I've had with the one in the car is when SWMBO knocks the stupidly positioned power socket and bounces the plug, it can crash. I haven't found a reset button so I have to take it out of the car mounting to remove the battery for a reset.
As to how they are made for the price, I think I've posted this before here. These are among the products shown under construction.
Indeed. I'd settle for an image of the person I think it is approaching the van and then leaving the area. It may not happen again... but I'll be parking in an alternative location for a few days..
No - public (open-air) car park, I'm afraid. Thanks
Fill the tyres with a knock out gas? you'll find the scrote laying by the side of the van after he's stabbed the 2nd one :)
Or even better, some sort of gas that ignites when in the presence of air, if such a gas exists.... the tyre would need filling with the gas and a mix of Co2, yes i know it's not allowed, but sure would be nice to be able to identify the scrote every time you see him in town due to his missing eyebrows/hair/face :)
Or you could make up a 'silent' alarm to alert you he is in the process of stabbing the tyres and get out there and kick the shit out of him before he's done the last one...
Wireless doorbell, block of wood, doorbells push button mounted on a block of wood so it sits under the van and the button is about half an inch from the bottom of the floor pan, might have to tape/glue a marble or something to the switch if it's the usual slightly recessed rubber push button, anything so the switch can be activated easilly just by the van lowering onto it. you have the receiver in a socket by your bed.
Some great creative ideas there!
I know exactly who's responsible as it's part of an ongoing saga of sillyness, it's just a matter of getting some proof.. The van was parked in a public car park about 500yds away from where I work - sadly no cctv in the car park..
Tempting though the various forms of reprisal are, the Garda would take a dim view of any direct reaction, so we have to keep it legal... (shame!)
It's the Garda - they'll fob it off as a "civil matter" and go back to eating their breakfast rolls.
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