freewheeler
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- Oct 26, 2014
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Hi all, I'm intending to use a mobius camera as a rear-view mirror in my camper van, as you can't see out the back. I've been doing a bit of research, but thought I'd just run it by people here in case someone can see a flaw in my plan. I've been using a cheap reversing camera above the reg plate feeding a 7" monitor on the dashboard for a while, so I'm part of the way there, but that's too low, too wide angle and the camera is on the blink anyway (possibly fried by the battery putting out a good 14V or more). The AV cable with integral "12V" supply runs to the back from the fusebox under the dash, since the auxilliary (lighter) socket is always on, not ignition-controlled. I've bought a variable voltage regulator, which I'd mount at the back and tweak for the correct voltage for the mobius and wire that to the USB bit of the AV cable bundle.
The plan is to drill a suitable-sized hole in the back door outer skin (1/2" - 1" diameter should do), fairly high up, and cut a section out of the inner skin opposite it, then fit some plain glass or polycarbonate over the hole for the mobius to look through, mounted to the inner. Weird, I know, but I've considered a lot of other options and this seems pretty good. It keeps the camera out of the weather and harm's way, gives me a couple of options for angle of view, acts as security in case of a rear shunt or something, and means I've got a great action cam to use in other circumstances as well.
I think the narrowest setting on the standard lens would probably suit me. The wing mirrors can cover the wider angle, and I'd rather see what's coming from a fair distance on the motorway (the van makes too much racket to go much above 50). If I find that too narrow I can put it on 1080p. I've been reading a thread on how it performs in the dark, and that seems fine. Not as brilliant as full IR night-vision, but it looks like some firmware options will do, and I don't mind if the view is on the grainy side.
There's still quite a lot of things I'm not sure about:
Am I right in thinking none of the keyring cams would work for what I need? - it needs to auto-start with power and have video out while powered (although not necessarily recording). What else would I be losing? I'd be gaining about £20!
One site says about the mobius "Two user selectable video modes, toggled by the mode button after power up." - does it retain the last used setting? I probably want to set it to the narrower-angle (720p-60fps?) and have it power up like that.
Am I right in thinking that this 720p setting, using the central portion of the sensor, also makes it the narrower view on the AV out, not just the recording?
Do you think it's suitable for this, particularly for night vision? It doesn't have to be excessively amplified. Anything brighter than the actual real-life view is a benefit (I think a higher gain would also reduce the contrast between car headlights and background, so probably better than the glare of a real mirror).
Does the display ratio (4:3 - 16:9) affect the angle of view or just stretch it on the monitor? If it changes the AOV, this gives me another option to play with to get the best view.
I guess I need to replace the battery with a supercapacitor. I understand the capacitor loses clock settings after a day or so. Does it also lose configuration settings? This isn't critical, as I could take it out when we unpack. I'm thinking of using it as a helmet cam at times, so I'd want it on battery power then, so I guess it's best to swap to battery while we're at home and keep it charged now and then, while the capacitor can be discharged and stored. Does it just replace the battery, and do they just plug in?
Mainly wanted to share the idea and see what people thought, but any help gratefully received, especially heads up on any stoopid mistakes I'm about to make.
It looks to me like joovuu will work out the cheapest for the A-lens camera, AV cables and capacitor, at least to get them in reasonable time and not have to worry about import duty, but if I've missed a bargain somewhere, please let me know. It wouldn't matter if I went for something with lower recording quality - it's the features that are more important for this project. Great forum, btw.
Cheers, freewheeler.
The plan is to drill a suitable-sized hole in the back door outer skin (1/2" - 1" diameter should do), fairly high up, and cut a section out of the inner skin opposite it, then fit some plain glass or polycarbonate over the hole for the mobius to look through, mounted to the inner. Weird, I know, but I've considered a lot of other options and this seems pretty good. It keeps the camera out of the weather and harm's way, gives me a couple of options for angle of view, acts as security in case of a rear shunt or something, and means I've got a great action cam to use in other circumstances as well.
I think the narrowest setting on the standard lens would probably suit me. The wing mirrors can cover the wider angle, and I'd rather see what's coming from a fair distance on the motorway (the van makes too much racket to go much above 50). If I find that too narrow I can put it on 1080p. I've been reading a thread on how it performs in the dark, and that seems fine. Not as brilliant as full IR night-vision, but it looks like some firmware options will do, and I don't mind if the view is on the grainy side.
There's still quite a lot of things I'm not sure about:
Am I right in thinking none of the keyring cams would work for what I need? - it needs to auto-start with power and have video out while powered (although not necessarily recording). What else would I be losing? I'd be gaining about £20!
One site says about the mobius "Two user selectable video modes, toggled by the mode button after power up." - does it retain the last used setting? I probably want to set it to the narrower-angle (720p-60fps?) and have it power up like that.
Am I right in thinking that this 720p setting, using the central portion of the sensor, also makes it the narrower view on the AV out, not just the recording?
Do you think it's suitable for this, particularly for night vision? It doesn't have to be excessively amplified. Anything brighter than the actual real-life view is a benefit (I think a higher gain would also reduce the contrast between car headlights and background, so probably better than the glare of a real mirror).
Does the display ratio (4:3 - 16:9) affect the angle of view or just stretch it on the monitor? If it changes the AOV, this gives me another option to play with to get the best view.
I guess I need to replace the battery with a supercapacitor. I understand the capacitor loses clock settings after a day or so. Does it also lose configuration settings? This isn't critical, as I could take it out when we unpack. I'm thinking of using it as a helmet cam at times, so I'd want it on battery power then, so I guess it's best to swap to battery while we're at home and keep it charged now and then, while the capacitor can be discharged and stored. Does it just replace the battery, and do they just plug in?
Mainly wanted to share the idea and see what people thought, but any help gratefully received, especially heads up on any stoopid mistakes I'm about to make.
It looks to me like joovuu will work out the cheapest for the A-lens camera, AV cables and capacitor, at least to get them in reasonable time and not have to worry about import duty, but if I've missed a bargain somewhere, please let me know. It wouldn't matter if I went for something with lower recording quality - it's the features that are more important for this project. Great forum, btw.
Cheers, freewheeler.