Vandal camera?

Conmaicne Mara

Are there any cameras available to watch a parked car from the inside? Mostly I mean wing mirror damage and keying, that kind of neighbourly thing. My last car had three wing mirrors broken (yes, three), I know who's doing it, but proving it is another thing.

I know of the dash cams but they don't watch the same area.

readytosnap

you had 3 wing mirrors? sorry couldn't resist, if this is happening outside the house would you not be better off setting a camera up there on the wall or as close to where you are parking? there is no way you are going to see someone on a camera from inside the car, at least with one where you park you should have a good chance to catch the scumbag responsible.

Conmaicne Mara

Third mirror was on the tail fin

Car is parked here and there so a static camera on the house (there's already one for another car lol) isn't any use to me I'm afraid. I was sure there'd be something available say to clip onto a headrest stalk or on the back window cill thingy place... That's a technical term.

mickdw

Would be very useful no. I'd buy one. What about power use over longer periods?

Voodoomelon

I've been trying to figure out the best way of connecting my dash cam to a 5000mAh 12v custom airsoft battery, and have it charge in parallel with the car battery, yet have the camera run off the airsoft battery when the ignition is switched off. The battery would fit neatly inside the headliner.

Not sure what the safest way to wire it up though.

squod

Cheapy pocket cam OP. Mine cost €60, does 1080p and battery life is 2 hours or more. Think I had it running today as a dash cam for 2.5h @ 720p or something on an 8gb card. Quality is great in the day but at night it's of no use what so ever.

Think what you need is a CCTV system and some vandal proof domes with decent IR. Correctly installed. Not like the ones you see in everyday life, taking crappy quality video footage of the tops of peoples heads.

Eric Cartman

low end car dvr , 2 channel : http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-2-Channel-Motion-Detect-DVR-CCTV-Camera-Recorder-/320896987886?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item4ab6f372ee (76 euro)

higher end 4 channel car dvr with alarm triggers :http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CCTV-4-Channel-H-264-Realtime-SD-Car-Mobile-DVR-Recorde-4CH-Audio-1CH-D1-MAX-32G-/300792847161?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4608a69b39 (100 euro)

for in car cameras : http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Car-Van-Auto-Rear-View-Reverse-Backup-Waterproof-Camera-170-/281000335887?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item416cecda0f

outside car : http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Car-Rear-view-Waterproof-Camera-Backup-Led-night-vision-reversing-parking-cam-/170836598442?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item27c6a79eaa

backup battery for the car : http://www.ebay.ie/itm/12V-Mini-UPS-Time-Clock-And-Access-Control-Use-Back-up-Battery-Brand-New-/140862657808?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item20cc119510

ironclaw

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I've been trying to figure out the best way of connecting my dash cam to a 5000mAh 12v custom airsoft battery, and have it charge in parallel with the car battery, yet have the camera run off the airsoft battery when the ignition is switched off. The battery would fit neatly inside the headliner.

Not sure what the safest way to wire it up though.

Airsoft are generally 8.4 and 9.6V,not 12V. And if you even drop to 11.5V the dash cam would most likely turn off. A battery is not 12V for the entire charge range. As you use juice, the voltage will drop. Good batterys are expensive as they hold the voltage near the stated for much longer. As for charging, its not a problem to do it. Just don't use a LiPo. Would be rather dangerous and would require a much more involved install.

Average dashcam doesn't pull much juice, so you could easily run them for a few days off a decent enough battery. Obviously the bigger the better. A dashcam won't drain your main battery over night.

As to answer the OP's question, it really depends on the car. You can literally fit a camera everywhere (We're put one to monitor brakes, driver pedal actions, even on the roof of the dart) It just comes down to the car itself and what exactly you want to view.

Given that you want to view the exterior however, a camera looking at the car would probably be a much better idea.

Voodoomelon

ironclaw wrote: »

Airsoft are generally 8.4 and 9.6V,not 12V. And if you even drop to 11.5V the dash cam would most likely turn off. A battery is not 12V for the entire charge range. As you use juice, the voltage will drop. Good batterys are expensive as they hold the voltage near the stated for much longer. As for charging, its not a problem to do it. Just don't use a LiPo. Would be rather dangerous and would require a much more involved install.

Thanks, but i'm aware of all of this, i'd be making a custom 12V battery from two 8.4v 5000mAh batteries. With that kind of amperage i'd expect the camera to stay powered for a considerable amount of time when the ignition is switched off, just need to sit down and do the maths!

eringobragh

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Thanks, but i'm aware of all of this, i'd be making a custom 12V battery from two 8.4v 5000mAh batteries. With that kind of amperage i'd expect the camera to stay powered for a considerable amount of time when the ignition is switched off, just need to sit down and do the maths!

Voodoo easiest way of doing this is using a split charge kit and wiring your accessories off the second battery ..its just basically some relays but for the price of the stuff below you'd probably not source it for much less.

I used this crowd for stuff before:

http://www.rawcomponents.co.uk/split-charge-kits/standard-split-charge-kits

ironclaw

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Thanks, but i'm aware of all of this, i'd be making a custom 12V battery from two 8.4v 5000mAh batteries. With that kind of amperage i'd expect the camera to stay powered for a considerable amount of time when the ignition is switched off, just need to sit down and do the maths!

How are you going from 16.8v to 12v? Resistor divider won't work. Too much loss and heat I would imagine. Plus a constant load which will drain very quickly.

Eric Cartman

ironclaw wrote: »

How are you going from 16.8v to 12v? Resistor divider won't work. Too much loss and heat I would imagine. Plus a constant load which will drain very quickly.

a 12v regulator will usually have an upper tollerance of 18-24 volts , so id say hell be fine with one of those.

Voodoomelon

eringobragh wrote: »

Voodoo easiest way of doing this is using a split charge kit and wiring your accessories off the second battery ..its just basically some relays but for the price of the stuff below you'd probably not source it for much less.

I used this crowd for stuff before:

http://www.rawcomponents.co.uk/split-charge-kits/standard-split-charge-kits

Thanks for the tips and link, will definitely look into this.

ironclaw wrote: »

How are you going from 16.8v to 12v? Resistor divider won't work. Too much loss and heat I would imagine. Plus a constant load which will drain very quickly.

Maybe I explained poorly, i'd be chopping up the battery and resoldering to get x10 1.2V cells, I wouldn't be combining the two in full.

sf80

I saw something on TV3 or RTE a few months back about a private investigation company who will set up cameras in your car to catch. Not sure how the pricing would work out, might be worth it if you expect trouble in a short space of time; longer period you might be better buying cameras.

Might be worth finding out how the p.i.s do it, the camera footage they showed was quite good and from small hidden camera inside the car.

ironclaw

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Maybe I explained poorly, i'd be chopping up the battery and resoldering to get x10 1.2V cells, I wouldn't be combining the two in full.

That would have been my tack on it as well. Let me know how you get on!