Suggestions where to mount camera for minimal vibrations (big stereo issues)

Maurice

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Just wondering if anyone had a suggestion on how I can mount my camera without having vibration issues

I doubt many dashcam people encounter this problem as most people don't have big stereos in there car.

The only thing I can think of is mounting a camera on the front bumper bar.

I currently have a a118 mounted on the window I have mounted a thin rubber plate in between mount and camera but this hasn't stopped the issue
 
I assume it is not your stereo that causes the issue, but a mono bass unit that is vibrating the glass?

I can see 2 options:
  1. Filter out the frequencies that cause the glass to vibrate, you could do this in an audio editor before downloading the track to your stereo.
  2. Fit an FIA approved roll cage to stiffen up your car so that it doesn't vibrate, and mount the camera directly to the roll cage.

Generally, the closer to the edge of the glass you can mount it, the less movement there will be, and if you can mount it to the metal at the top then there will be even less movement. Maybe your car has mounting points for the sun-visors that you could attach a strong aluminum mounting bracket to? A mounting bracket that reaches down from the top should not vibrate much because the low frequency pressure waves will reach both sides of the bracket causing a net zero movement, it will only be affected by vibrations from the road. The problem with the windscreen is that the pressure waves are only on one side, so they move it. Also any movement in the metal at the top will be vertical, much better than the windscreen glass that is changing its angle.
 
Well in my 3 door hatchback back in the day with big stereo i had 3 X 15 " subwoofers, and everything including my eyeballs was shaking, and to this day i am amazed it is my eyesight that is deteriorating and not my hearing.
Really there is little you can do but turn it down.
You will soon have the option to do outside cameras in waterproof housings, but they have the downside that they get dirty and have no wiper to take care of the worst of it.
So weather big BASS shake your footage, or outside cameras covered in bugs or whatever environmental, then IMO the best option is to have a camera in the regular place and just turn it down, or at least not have the stereo at full tilt all the time.
I am afraid the big hits from the bass are something you cant fight well with a vibration dampening material in the normal sense, i even think a gimbal like used with action cameras and phones cant deal with the abrubt hits of the bass.
You can try Nigels mount approach if you can fab something up in a stiff material, and not least mount it solid too, i know in my cheap little Suzuki car the mirror are shaking at some RPM and its a 3 CYL 65 HP engine.
And the mirror are still secured with 2 6 mm screws to the roof / windscreen / room supporting stricture above the headliner.
 
there is a reason it is called BOOM cars :p
From the outside my Opel / vauxhall hatchback sounded like a 20 foot container with metallica playing inside falling dowm a mountainside, just rattle crack and pop and creek with X music in the background.
 
Common sense dictates that you turn your stereo down. Not only will it reduce your "vibration" issue but it will also make you less than a target by other drivers, including law enforcement, (some areas have noise ordinances) of being an annoying, immature inconsiderate asshole. Besides that, playing your stereo too loud also is a distraction making it more likely that you won't hear sounds you should be listening for, such as emergency vehicles.
 
I was almost T boned 2 times by ambulance and fire engine i did not hear due to loud music in my car, not even with them passing right by me did i hear them, after that i learned to be visually vigilant, to a degree that when i years later got my license for the big rigs the teacher did not have to remind me once to check my mirrors, something he had to tell others in the class several times in just 1 driving lesson.
I still like loud music in the car, but i am not spending money on it like back in the mid 90ties, today i consider phone zombies ( driving or walking / cycling ) a bigger danger in traffic.
 
I assume it is not your stereo that causes the issue, but a mono bass unit that is vibrating the glass?

I can see 2 options:
  1. Filter out the frequencies that cause the glass to vibrate, you could do this in an audio editor before downloading the track to your stereo.
  2. Fit an FIA approved roll cage to stiffen up your car so that it doesn't vibrate, and mount the camera directly to the roll cage.

Generally, the closer to the edge of the glass you can mount it, the less movement there will be, and if you can mount it to the metal at the top then there will be even less movement. Maybe your car has mounting points for the sun-visors that you could attach a strong aluminum mounting bracket to? A mounting bracket that reaches down from the top should not vibrate much because the low frequency pressure waves will reach both sides of the bracket causing a net zero movement, it will only be affected by vibrations from the road. The problem with the windscreen is that the pressure waves are only on one side, so they move it. Also any movement in the metal at the top will be vertical, much better than the windscreen glass that is changing its angle.


I can guarantee it is my stereo
 
Well in my 3 door hatchback back in the day with big stereo i had 3 X 15 " subwoofers, and everything including my eyeballs was shaking, and to this day i am amazed it is my eyesight that is deteriorating and not my hearing.
Really there is little you can do but turn it down.
You will soon have the option to do outside cameras in waterproof housings, but they have the downside that they get dirty and have no wiper to take care of the worst of it.
So weather big BASS shake your footage, or outside cameras covered in bugs or whatever environmental, then IMO the best option is to have a camera in the regular place and just turn it down, or at least not have the stereo at full tilt all the time.
I am afraid the big hits from the bass are something you cant fight well with a vibration dampening material in the normal sense, i even think a gimbal like used with action cameras and phones cant deal with the abrubt hits of the bass.
You can try Nigels mount approach if you can fab something up in a stiff material, and not least mount it solid too, i know in my cheap little Suzuki car the mirror are shaking at some RPM and its a 3 CYL 65 HP engine.
And the mirror are still secured with 2 6 mm screws to the roof / windscreen / room supporting stricture above the headliner.

I only have 1x JL audio 12w6 pushing 600wrms, unfortunately even at half volume the picture slightly jumps
 
Common sense dictates that you turn your stereo down. Not only will it reduce your "vibration" issue but it will also make you less than a target by other drivers, including law enforcement, (some areas have noise ordinances) of being an annoying, immature inconsiderate asshole. Besides that, playing your stereo too loud also is a distraction making it more likely that you won't hear sounds you should be listening for, such as emergency vehicles.

I don't think you have common sense, not everyone is a grandma these days. I have driven pass law enforcement many times and booze buses many times with no issues.

As for hearing ambulances I am still able to hear sirens clearly as I drive with the window slightly down. Even without the sirens on I still notice them as I often know what's around me due to checking my mirrors regularly as you should.
 
3 X phoenix woofers each on its own Ti500 amp, and the 6X9 speakers in the rear was powered by a Denon DCA- 800 Amp in 3 channel mode ( had no front speakers in that little 3 door hatchback.
Come to think about i think the woofers was also "just" 12 "
 
Its insane, really just one 12" are fine if you want to listen to music, even loud in your car.
I also just used one of those speakers in a closed box in my Mitsubishi pickup and the Suzuki gran vitara, still had plenty of get up and go to make the ears go Uuuuuuuiiiiii after a few tracks with the knob turned well over.
 
From an older geezer who is nearly deaf now, I'd advise lowering the volume to both fix the cam issues and to save your precious hearing. There are several ways your hearing can be irreparably lost, some of which get worse over time anyway even when you remove all loud sounds. I can't hear kids, I can't "chat with the babes" I meet, I miss phone calls unless it's in my pocket on vibrate, and if I turn the volume up on the TV to where I can barely hear it, it is too loud for anyone else. A loss of hearing is a loss of your social life :(

If you mount the cam case more solidly to the car the vibrations will simply be made stronger where heavier components mount inside of the cam, so it will shake apart and fail earlier. If you devise a very soft mounting to eliminate the vibration transfer the cam will move excessively from inertia when you are driving, rendering the video almost useless. So essentially there is no solution which is optimum save for eliminating the source of the problem, and that can (and should) be easily done.

Phil
 
@Maurice, many action cam users who are into capturing FPV drone footage use various vibration damping schemes to ameliorate this problem. You could at least try some DIY experimentation to see if this approach might work for you. Of course, powerful low frequency vibrations from sub-woofers are a different kettle of fish from the higher frequency vibrations encountered by drone users dealing with electric motors and rotors but it could well be worth exploring.

Probably the most common type of passive mechanical vibration damping used on drones (unlike motorized gimbals) use rubber bushings sandwiched between two or more metal plates. Many different types of rubberized elastomer materials are used with some being better than others.

damper.jpg

damper2.jpg

Another type of vibration damper that is becoming more popular for small cameras is the wire rope vibration isolator. This type of isolator has been in use for many years by heavy industry, the military and in major motion picture production to eliminate vibrations on large cinema cameras. They range in size from massive, like as big (or bigger) than a washing machine, to tiny, such as the size of a finger tip. Sometimes multiple wire rope isolators are used in concert.

wire_damper.jpg

multidamper.jpg

multi_rope_damper.jpg

tiny_rope_damper.jpg

Assuming you don't want to get rid of your sound system but you want a usable dash cam setup, some form of vibration reduction scheme may be your only option. It may not be the perfect solution or make for the most discrete install but it may well solve your problem enough to make a dash cam viable. My hunch is that a wire rope isolator system would be the best option for ameliorating the intense low frequencies of your base speakers because they are not only highly effective for eliminating vibrations but also attenuate shock as well, whereas elastomers alone cannot. One issue may be that vibrations coming through the chassis of your vehicle may be different than sound vibrations coming through the air in your vehicle's cabin that may affect the camera directly. The only way to find out if this method will work for you would be to try it.



 
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