dashcam to review & track small kerbside signs

[adrianjt]

hi,

awaiting arrival on B4K, perhaps A129 would be better?

i'm hopeful either will be adequate to (re)view (mostly) night time vision of signs we place/affix near kerbsides (signs are approx 1m x 0.5m) and to supply waypoints where signs affixed to clients (van parks while staff affix signs)

ideally i want to place a dashcam in each van to;

- record time taken to validate contractor/employees hours,
- track signage locations via gps waypoints (vans will be parked briefly where signs are affixed
- record vision of (some) signs whilst driving past
- supply (reasonable) night or day vision & gps waypoints to clients

accessing files easily with ios/android/mac/pc (without removing card) ie decent wifi is important, (would be great if this could be done remotely but...)

and of course budget oriented - we run on fumes atm

appreciate any suggestions

thanks
adrian

 

[kamkar]

I do not like to access files with a phone and wifi, but that is probably me being a avid phone hater, and to top that off with old tired eyes so even with a big phone screen then if you enter recorded videos you get a lot of small icons for each clip.
But in your case with expected times of arrival and departure of people it might be okay, if the guys are not running in and out of the work site.

Though accessing files easy, well it depend on what you think of easy, to get the camera wifi going you have to turn it on, and then subsequent turn wifi on

A 4G GPS tracker would probably be more easy, and those are remote accessible i think.

But reading signs even in moderate light can be done if the speed are not too high and the writing on them not too small .

it all seem very complicated to me, but i am the kind of person that feel insulted if anyone even question the quality of my work, though as i found out once, it did save my and the company's ass as i totally bodged a whole series of axles for MRI scanners.
Though other axles i made with even higher tolerances, they did not go into the QA room for inspection,,,,,, which blow my mind but of course those gears was not for expensive MRI scanners, and a tolerance fault on those axles would be picket up by the guys assembling the gears.

 

[Nigel]

B4K should be OK for that, only real issue is that it has more motion blur than some, it will read the signs fine while parked, at night they will be somewhat blurred when driving past.

perhaps A129 would be better?

You will get a slightly better image from the Viofo camera due to it using higher bitrates (it can store more detail), and on the non-4K versions you also get less motion blur at night, but for a budget solution, the B4K is probably fine, and the difference is nice rather than huge.

 

[adrianjt]

thanks for your suggestions & thoughts

having read a few more threads I think remotely accessing files via LTE (mobile/cellphone) would be great, but that can come after getting going with something simpler/cheaper.

I note that blueskysea use different file type to most, sort of avoiding need for capacitors, however that file type doesn't work with dashcam viewer app which seems like the 'go to'. May have to import B4K files to vlc and export mp4...

cheers
adrian

 

[Nigel]

having read a few more threads I think remotely accessing files via LTE (mobile/cellphone) would be great, but that can come after getting going with something simpler/cheaper.

The files will be too big for that to work.

I note that blueskysea use different file type to most, sort of avoiding need for capacitors, however that file type doesn't work with dashcam viewer app which seems like the 'go to'. May have to import B4K files to vlc and export mp4...

They work with their own viewer, and I expect Dashcam Viewer will support them when they get around to it, you could ask Dashcam Viewer when...

Most editors will read the files no problem, they contain standard H265 video, it is only accessing the GPS data that is a little difficult, unless you turn on the GPS overlay so that it is part of the video image.

The B4K is also H265 only, with the Viofo you get a choice of H265 or H264, which may work better on some computers.

The Viofo files are definitely more standard and less likely to cause problems.

 

[kamkar]

If you want to store live footage in the quality captured a camera that could, would need to upload 100 MB every minute it is on / driving, so you will have to be within good 4G coverage all the time ( at least )

So 1 hour of driving is roughly 6000 MB / 6 GB of footage, and say your car drive just 2 hours every day, you need to upload 12 GB every day, thats about 360 GB monthly, so if you have a cloud storage that much data will cost something too. + your 4 - 5 G plan SIM card needed for each vehicle.

BUT ! most of the expensive smart cameras dont even support this, i assume the reason is the large volume of data.

Many Danish work sites now have CCTV on them, due to theft in and outside hours, with the right "LPR" camera you could set it to LOG all license plates that enter the site thru the main gate.
I would be more inclined to trust that approach, which i assume can be pretty mobile as a camera + a way to access it ( 4G modem or something ) with a memory card in the camera i dont even think a main hub ( NVR ) in needed.
I would contact some local CCTV specialists and hear what the options and prices are for something like this, but if work sites just have 1 access point, capturing / logging what vehicles come and go and when, should be easy.
Of course then there also is any local privacy and surveillance laws to take into account.

 

[SawMaster]

It was announced yesterday I think that DashCamViewer now supports .ts file format. I was supposed to check it but forgot- will do that shortly as my B4K is on the desk right now.

Phil

 

[SawMaster]

Well I did something stupid and formatted the card before I should have, but DashCamViewer worked most excellently viewing a video of my desk. Will have to wait till tomorrow to see if it handles the GPS functions but I think it will.

VERY nice to see h265 and .ts playing smoothly on my cheap old laptop- a first for me with that

Phil

 

[adrianjt]

That’s great to know Thankyou!