Dashcams, anyone?

Eagle I

Eagle I

Pre-takeoff checklist
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OK, I know there are a lot of people here who could give me plenty of advice about recording my flights on video, but I was wondering whether anyone has set up a dashcam in their car. From what I've read so far, it sounds like cockpit cameras and dashcams are two completely different beasts. Anyway, I'm not Russian, but I've suddenly become interested in having a dashcam. Maybe it's because I drive 70 miles roundtrip to work every day with people who on a good day seem suicidal, and on a bad day, homicidal.
 
I haven't done it myself, but would kind of like to. I don't know much about it, but I did read somewhere that there is an app that can turn a smartphone into a dashcam. If you've got one laying around that is isn't being used anymore or find a cheap one on craigslist or something, that might be an option.

I have an older GoPro. When I upgrade to a new one some day I'd like to figure out how to turn that into a dashcam.
 
About the only big difference is probably that you drive much more so it's probably more useful to have a fully automatic solution recording with the car running, etc.

On the other hand, my little Sony Action Cam works fine for the car(or bicycle, or plane).
 
chartbundle said:
About the only big difference is probably that you drive much more so it's probably more useful to have a fully automatic solution recording with the car running, etc.

On the other hand, my little Sony Action Cam works fine for the car(or bicycle, or plane).
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Right, I don't really want to have to mess with setting something up every time I start the car. I'd like to just be able to turn the key and know that it's running.
 
You can fab one up using a Contour or other brand of HD camera and do respectably well. Or you can spend several thousands for one that is police style with hundreds of gigs of memory and professionally installed. I do the helmet cam on the motorcycle from time to time.
 
It might be necessary to find a camera that can withstand the high temperatures of a parked car.
 
The flip cam in my office lives on a suction clamp hanging down off my sunroof, facing forward.

A young woman with a beaten up car backed up into my bumper in the Kroger parking lot. Accused me of hitting her. She made a big deal of it until I when to show her the video. People will try anything. I say "shut 'em down".
 
Eagle I said:
Right, I don't really want to have to mess with setting something up every time I start the car. I'd like to just be able to turn the key and know that it's running.
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There are two I have looked at that do just that. One is called the 'RedEye HD' the other one the 'Smarty BX1500'. You hook them to the cars power-supply with a cable that you route to a dome light or some other source. They have an integrated gps that records location and speed, they also have a g-sensor that records a possible impact and preserves the time around the impact. They are about $200 and record onto SD cards. Haven't bought either, so far I am using a 'moto-cam' lipstick camera.

There are more professional systems available for fleet vehicles, some of them with one camera on the roadway, the other on the driver, but they are 1k and up.

Make certain to look at applicable state law in your and adjoining states. In MD, 'surrepticiously' recording someone on audio is a felony that buys you 5 years. Now a lower court has decided that a police officer working on a roadway in plain sight has no expectation of privacy, but this has not been affirmed at a higher level. So if you get pulled over, you just may be the test case after some ill-informed state trooper hauls you in after he spots the camera :rolleyes2: .
 
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I use my go pro with a rear view mirror ram mount.

It's always fun to go back and watch the stupid stuff people do.

I had a s school bus driver one time call my boss and complain that I ran her off the road , when in fact it was her who ran ME off the road.


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weilke said:
Make certain to look at applicable state law in your and adjoining states. In MD, 'surrepticiously' recording someone on audio is a felony that buys you 5 years. Now a lower court has decided that a police officer working on a roadway in plain sight has no expectation of privacy, but this has not been affirmed at a higher level. So if you get pulled over, you just may be the test case after some ill-informed state trooper hauls you in after he spots the camera :rolleyes2: .
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Thanks for the heads-up on this aspect of my potential purchase. Privacy issues on a public road never would have entered my mind!

And thanks everyone for all the other info and suggestions.
 
bbchien said:
A young woman with a beaten up car backed up into my bumper in the Kroger parking lot. Accused me of hitting her. She made a big deal of it until I when to show her the video. People will try anything. I say "shut 'em down".
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Exactly, this is not exclusive to Russia.

I found that all dashcams on U.S. market were junk. All of them are repurposed sports cameras, whereas a real dashcam has to have one-touch "emergency" button, save unfinished video on power cut, have small yet sturdy mounts, etc. I ended buying an actual Russian dash cam. Those bastards enjoy a wide variety of excellent dashcams.
 
zaitcev said:
I ended buying an actual Russian dash cam. Those bastards enjoy a wide variety of excellent dashcams.
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What did you get?

Amazon has one for $25 that does a pretty good job. I do turn it on every time I get in the truck, but it's second nature to me now.
 
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