Continuous Recording Dash Cam

D'boss

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I tried to search for an answer to this, but was unable to find one on this forum. Thus my new posted thread.

I am looking for a Dash Cam setup that performs continuous recording anytime that my vehicle is running. I want to take that recording, and put it on an external hard drive so that I have a record of all of my dash cam recordings permanently stored. Is there an option for this?

I was looking at the BlackVue DR750S-2CH...

I am also wondering if there is a solution to getting side views as well and recording it all simultaneously. Any options for this?

Thanks in advance.
 
So front + back + left + right, at 16Mbps each = 64Mbps = 8MBytes/second = about 1TerraByte per week? (maybe 2TB if you drive a lot.) = 52 TB per year.

It is going to get expensive in storage space, and time archiving it, and then ... nobody is ever going to watch it!

Are you sure this is what you want to do?
 
Good point & question.

I was thinking I could transfer the files every day or two if I need to onto an external hard drive.

I could do only front/back for continuous and activate the sides only when I need them. If thats possible, it would save storage space.

I'll explain my situation: I'm in the middle of a divorce and being falsely accused of following my wife in my car. The car is already gps tracked, I was thinking that if I had video proof than all I would have to do is ask her the day that I 'followed her' and then be able to pull up the recording to prove I didn't do it. I know it sounds extreme, but I'm just trying to protect myself. Also, when we exchange the kids, she usually approaches the car from the side, so I would love to have side view camera to use for that...
 
Doable but like Nigel is saying, it's going to be tedious and arduous.

Something that will somewhat ease the process is to get a bunch of SD cards and swap them out once they are filled up, so you can then transfer videos every couple of days or more, rather than every single time the card fills up.
 
I should add that I don't need it to record in park mode. I would only need the recording when I am operating the vehicle.
 
A camera generate about 100 Megabytes of video every minute, so 4 cameras = 400 megabytes every minute, so 3 minutes of driving will for sure be 1 gigabyte of storage space on a hard drive.
But really saving everything are silly if you ask me, i just salvage the moments i want to share, nowadays in the RO folder as i have those tagged as events by pressing the event button.
And the way Danes drive thats about 10 seconds or so of actual footage ( after editing ) for every 1 hour of driving,,, and thats worst case, some days the other motorists actually appear to be sane, and so i have had no reason to press the event button.
All in all it add up to around 1 minute of footage in a small compilation i upload to youtube every 1 - 2 weeks. and of that all i would care about saving are the final edits that come out of my editing software.
The raw files i put on my desktop, then edit my video and after that delete the raw footage as its not the whole 3 minutes i need just a few seconds or so.
In the case of a accident i would of course secure the raw footage in a unaltered state for evidence, but so far in close to 10 years i only had the need for that 1 time, and i have been driving in over 30 years and with 2 accidents in total my average is 30 years in between.
While spinning disks are mighty cheap nowadays i cant really be bothered with saving everything, not even if it in some way was automated over wifi or whatever.
Bulk offloading of filed from a memory card on my USB 3.9 card reader i only get like 40 megabytes every second, somewhat slower than the max speed of the cards so i think its the file sizes that do that ( i record in 3 minute segments on all 10 of my dashcams.

Yes 10,,,,,,, i do a little testing ASO, and don't mind to admit i might have a addiction,,,, but at least its not to drugs anymore.
 
Maybe look for the DVR systems that are used in trucks, busses etc. You can find 4 channel systems where you can use 1, 2, 3, 4 cameras (your choice). Video recording resolution will be 720p or 1080p with 10-15Fps and low bit-rate (5-8Mbps), but for your purpose should do the job.
They use up to 2TB hard drive storage which should last you 1-2 weeks weeks (+/-, depends how much you drive). Via USB 2.0 port you can transfer all videos once per week to external HDD or burn to DVD.

Sent from my VKY-L29 using Tapatalk
 
I didn't realize they have an event button. Maybe that is the way to go... If I push the event button, does it record until I shut it off? OR for a set amount of time?
 
It sort of depend what kind of system the particular camera have, i favor the system where instead of a small memory buffer to get you saving before the event ( if you are quick to push the button ) the camera instead deal in video segments.
So say you are 2 minutes into the current video segment when you press the button, then this current 3 minute file + the following 3 minute file will be saved, where as if you are 1 minute into the current 3 minute segment, then current one will be saved + the previous 3 minute segment too.
So either way 2 files will be saved ( single channel camera ) or 4 if it is a dual channel system, so you have 2 from front camera + 2 from the rear camera.
Thats what i prefer, the memory buffer mean you have to be quick on the event button, and then it only save some seconds after too, so if you need additional footage outside of the event you will have to get that from in between the regular files,,,, which are easy to find as the event folder indicate time/date, so you only have to hope you haven't driven a lot after the event so those regular recordings have been recycled to make room for new recordings.
I cant tell for sure what brands use this segment approach Vs memory buffer, i know street guardian have it for sure.

Also i don't use G- sensor when driving, i will just press button, and should i get bad off and knocked out i have room for 8 hours of footage on my memory card, and no way in hell will a car be powered for so long after a severe accident.
Family & friend have been told to go retrieve memory cards in case i end up in hospital.
 
Thank you. Thats very helpful.

Another followup question: Is there a good solution for side view cameras? OR would I basically have to purchase two 2-Channel systems? And are there good mounting solutions?
 
Some brands are about to release dual channel systems, but where both cameras are remote on a wire and so have pretty small camera units, that in turn give you a larger chance of placing them on the side of your car.

BUT ? it is still something that require a little fantasy and DIY skills as no one have made a system yet for dedicated side use, as mounting options are so different in cars, as you can imaging you cant just stick a camera on your door glass, at least not if you want to be able to roll your window all the way down.
Me i am fortunate as my little Suzuki car have a little fixed glass on both front and rear doors, so when i get the chance i will put side cameras on that piece of glass on the rear doors.
So routing cables via the doors will take a while, but it will be done.
Where to put the main unit i am not so sure yet, but will formulate something when i get the cameras and have taken my car apart for the install.
But the main feature of the dual remote systems are that the cameras are remote on a wire and so you can hide the main unit in the car out of sight, it will not be well suited to install the main unit in plain sight due to all the wires that will come off it.

suzuki-splash-7.jpg


The remote cameras will probably be < 1 x 1 x 3/4 inch in total size, you can see what current rear cameras are in size here + the one camera of the new K2S system i am testing on.
These new dual remote systems should release over this summer, but no fixed dates yet, several brands are working on such systems.
img_20190126_141410-jpg.44306


PICs and info on the K2S system here, so you can get a feel for what dual remote means. https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/k2s-received.37896/
 
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In general a front camera are a must, a rear camera really nice but not a must have.
Side cameras i have run for some years and it is rare i go to them for footage for my youtube uploads, if you would like to shame people on youtube you cant have too many cameras.
Some of us also have "zoom" camera on the windscreen that give you a much better view of things "far" up ahead, much better than the wide angle lenses, but trade of is a very narrow field of view so you can not get by with a "zoom" camera alone.
Zoom we do by exchanging the wide angle lens in a camera with a 8 - 12 mm lens instead.

A little from a side camera of mine.

ZOOM Vs ordinary camera comparison ( middle 50% in hight from each camera )



you have to remember what the front camera alone do is document what you do in your car, and if you do nothing wrong, then that guy sideswiping you from behind he better not say you changed lane in front of him, cuz your front camera alone can prove that you are driving in your lane and do not change lane in any way.
 
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Man, so much good information. This is quickly becoming my new fav forum. Thank you much
 
No sweat boss, you just holler if you need some help.
 
I tried to search for an answer to this, but was unable to find one on this forum. Thus my new posted thread.

I am looking for a Dash Cam setup that performs continuous recording anytime that my vehicle is running. I want to take that recording, and put it on an external hard drive so that I have a record of all of my dash cam recordings permanently stored. Is there an option for this?

I was looking at the BlackVue DR750S-2CH...

I am also wondering if there is a solution to getting side views as well and recording it all simultaneously. Any options for this?

Thanks in advance.
Good point & question.

I was thinking I could transfer the files every day or two if I need to onto an external hard drive.

I could do only front/back for continuous and activate the sides only when I need them. If thats possible, it would save storage space.

I'll explain my situation: I'm in the middle of a divorce and being falsely accused of following my wife in my car. The car is already gps tracked, I was thinking that if I had video proof than all I would have to do is ask her the day that I 'followed her' and then be able to pull up the recording to prove I didn't do it. I know it sounds extreme, but I'm just trying to protect myself. Also, when we exchange the kids, she usually approaches the car from the side, so I would love to have side view camera to use for that...
I'm pretty sure the viofo A-129 has a low framerate/bitrate parking mode. You could keep it in parking mode (might want to confirm this but I don't see why you couldn't)... it won't be all that great of a video but would save you majorly on storage space. You could use two of them, one for front/rear and one for left/right.

But yeah, saving all the video adds up but isn't that bad. My street guardian cams in high bitrate mode use about 7gb an hour per camera (1080p 30fps), I'm guessing around 5gb set to a lower resolution. Using the high resolution you'd be looking at around 30gb per hour of video with 4 cams. If you drive an hour every day you'd be looking at around a TB a month in storage. With 8tb harddrives availible for ~130 now you'd be looking at roughly $20 a month for storage, or $40 if you want to keep backups which I'd advise. For your purpose a camera with a gps wouldn't be a bad idea either.
 
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