In car cameras

Have gone for the Roadhawk HD and on reading Darren's (wack61) experience of the excellent customer service at dogcamsport I have ordered from them instead of locally....just hope sods law stays away from me until about Tuesday when I expect it to arrive.
 
Nice one, would be interested to see what setup you end up doing and also perhaps some footage.
 
gman said:
Nice one, would be interested to see what setup you end up doing and also perhaps some footage.
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Will do Graham, it should be good as it is the first to have image stabilisation.

When I tried strike a deal with him.....as I always do no matter what I am buying... he said the model had only been available for about 3 weeks so can't do anything on it at the moment, but after trying for a free suction mount I did manage to get £5 knocked off one :D.
 
I have a dashcam purely for insurance reasons and it paid off big time. I was driving through luton last year and stopped at the traffic lights. The car in front of me, hit the reverse and bashed right into me, breaking my numberplate. Some asian driver gets out and starts accusing me of driving into the back of him, because the car behind is always at fault, right? Anyway I keep it quiet that I have been recording the whole incident and argue the toss that he deliberatly reversed into me, so he decides to call the police. I am secretly thinking to myself, "be my guest, you are really going to regret this, you cocky idiot."

So the police turns up and the driver tells him all about how He was waiting at the lights and I came speeding down the road and smashed into him and that I was going to pay out bigtime for this etc... So the officer turns to me and says "Is this true?" I just lean into my car, pull out my still recording dashcam and say. "No officer, I got the whole thing on film, lets review the evidence, shall we?" Suddenly asian mans face completely drops and actually stops speaking for the first time. As I am showing the officer the video, some other asian woman appears out of nowhere and says "I saw the whole thing, he drove into the back of him, this driver (Me) is at fault. I turned back to the man and said "Ah, just like clockwork, I assume this is your wife, cousin or sister acting as the independant witness in your favor." The officer finished reviewing the footage and arrested the man for dangerous driving, he also told the woman that it ws in her best interests to shut up and go home or he would arrest her for perverting the course of justice. I tell you, the whole incident really made my day, and if I hadn't had my dashcam then I would have lost this. I had my damage paid for and the man received a serious fine and 6 points on his licence, we tried to push for fraud too, but it didn't happen. I also sent the video to my insurance company too because it is a proven there and then who is to blame.
 
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archamedes said:
we tried to push for fraud too, but it didn't happen. I also sent the video to my insurance company too because it is a proven there and then who is to blame.
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Makes you wonder just how much evidence you'd need to make that stick... it's no wonder they carry on doing this, a fine and 6 points, wow that's really going to put them off :shrug:
 
exactly, I mean I got all my damage paid for and I was very lucky to be recording, but I heard there was a massive Asian gang doing this scam all over luton. They would just drive around a set route all day until the prefect opportunity presented itself. The police were starting to get suspicious about the high volume of rear end accidents, and the same 'victims' always being in an accident, however nobody else had a dashcam so it couldn't be proven, because of my dashcam they finally had something to take action. For every other poor sod it was just their word against the other party involved.

So the more people who get dashcams will prevent these scams from happening
 
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archamedes said:
So the more people who get dashcams will prevent these scams from happening
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........and from tomorrow I will not be one of those caught out :), the only thing I have to sort out is how tidy I can hide the cable. I have power going to the rear view mirror so will be looking into the possibility of powering it from that.
 
My big worry is the camera being visible from the outside and someone smashing the window to get it. I have a plan to disguise it with a soft toy though (not furry dice).
 
gman said:
My big worry is the camera being visible from the outside and someone smashing the window to get it. I have a plan to disguise it with a soft toy though (not furry dice).
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In the box was a sticker for the inside of the window about 6ins by 2in advertising the fact that I have one fitted......I think not !!
 
gman said:
My big worry is the camera being visible from the outside and someone smashing the window to get it. I have a plan to disguise it with a soft toy though (not furry dice).
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mine can be taken out after each trip it has a mount very much like a satnav, it also records sound too which can be fun when the wife starts singing and you play it back ot her
 
I've got a Contour Roam 1 that I use on a sucker inside the car and on a slide mount when on my bicycle. It's great and was only £100 from the e of bay.
 
We have had similar claims apart from they (e Europeans)decided to reverse a maestro into the front end of a jcb fastrac with about a ton of counterbalance on the front. Ouch!!!"
 
I'm disgusted with any insurance company for doing so little about fraud.

Also if someone reverses into you at speed tyre marks on the road will show the impact was the wrong way round. Your car will be pushed backwards but they won't have any forward marks.

Also common round here at a particular roundabout. Seems to be few groups that are involved. They got one of my parent's friends. She got stiffed for loads of fictitious damage and whiplash. It's also common to lie about car occupants to increase claims.

Insurance companies need to do more but they're so busy defrauding each other they won't bother.

I think you can get phone apps that do recording too but I wouldn't really want to have a phone on the dashboard.
 
srichards said:
I'm disgusted with any insurance company for doing so little about fraud.
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"we" (as in my employer) are all over it like a tramp over a bag of discarded chips.
 
archamedes said:
mine can be taken out after each trip it has a mount very much like a satnav, it also records sound too which can be fun when the wife starts singing and you play it back ot her
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I used to do that with my phone but every now and then the suction mount would suddenly drop with the phone still on it! I want to setup something using the dash camera that is always there so I don't need to think about it.
 
gman said:
I used to do that with my phone but every now and then the suction mount would suddenly drop with the phone still on it! I want to setup something using the dash camera that is always there so I don't need to think about it.
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Just get a blackvue. Fit and forget, until someone reverses into you, and then be smug in the knowledge you have it all in HD with time stamp, GPS and g force data.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Just get a blackvue. Fit and forget, until someone reverses into you, and then be smug in the knowledge you have it all in HD with time stamp, GPS and g force data.
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Looks like one of those cylinder type cameras will be a lot more discreet and saves on big suction cups. Cheers!
 
gman said:
Looks like one of those cylinder type cameras will be a lot more discreet and saves on big suction cups. Cheers!
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I used the accessory suction cup for mine today but it is too big to allow it to hide discreetly behind the mirror so I am fixing the much smaller permanent one tomorrow.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Just get a blackvue. Fit and forget, until someone reverses into you, and then be smug in the knowledge you have it all in HD with time stamp, GPS and g force data.
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If someone does reverse into you while trying to do an insurance scam, never let them know you are recording. They could get aggressive, or just jump into their car and drive off. Let them think they have the upper hand and when the police arrive, the satisfaction and smugness you get when you pull out the camera is more rewarding
 
i'm thinking about fitting these in all the work vehicles - not only will it protect against fraud , it will also deal with the fairy stories from staff about the mysterious dents which jusdt occur and no one knows anything :annoyed:
 
gman said:
Looks like one of those cylinder type cameras will be a lot more discreet and saves on big suction cups. Cheers!
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You can't really see it, unless you are looking. The latest models are grey which isn't ideal, I know some people have painted them black to hide them even more.
 
Hmmm the Roadhawk has a matt black finish which blends in well behind the mirror but the 3m tape used on the permanent mount against the glass is grey...... not good.
 
I'll take a pic of mine from outside when I get my car back.. Still having a new gearbox fitted.
 
I'm wondering if some black gaffer type could do the trick, whilst also making it look a lot less valuable! lol
 
The only problem is the blackvue gets really hot.. Like unable to touch hot.


The new version is a lot better than the previous one, but you still need asbestos hands to hold it. I'd be worried covering it up with thick tape.
 
gman said:
Nice one, would be interested to see what setup you end up doing and also perhaps some footage.
Click to expand...

Verdict on the Roadhawk HD......not at all pleased with the quality of the video !!, I know nothing about video or how it works but compared to what I have seen on Youtube it does not seem to expose properly and the video is too dark especially on the outside of the images.

I will be contacting Dogcam this afternoon and letting them know my dissatisfaction.
 
I know when using my phone I have to try an make sure there's not too much sky in view otherwise it goes a little dark?
 
I have to point my blackvue down a lot, so there is more bonnet than sky. It uses matrix metering , so the less bright parts you have, the better exposed it will be.
Some people with certain cars use the tinted top part of the screen as a nd grad and it seems to work well.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I have to point my blackvue down a lot, so there is more bonnet than sky. It uses matrix metering , so the less bright parts you have, the better exposed it will be.
Some people with certain cars use the tinted top part of the screen as a nd grad and it seems to work well.
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Cheers Tom, off out again now so will give the unit a bit more tilt and compare the two when I get back.
 
rjbell said:
Range rover drivers are the reason i want one of these! All the Chelsea tractors around here driving around like manics in the snow. 4x4 or not these idiots in there 2ton vehicles will slide like any other vehicles if they have to brake.
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WHAT!!! I own Discovery td5 and helped several drivers in in floods and snow recently. As did hospitals around here asking 4*4 owners for their help to move hospital staff and day patients when the snow was about.

Might be idiots on the road but not all drive 4*4's:razz:
 
My Blackvue cant be too obvious.
Ive just got my discovery back from the garage and reviewed all the footage it took over the 3 weeks it was in there.

Lots of pushing the car back and forward around the yard, up onto the ramps, and several test drives. Not once did anyone seem to notice they were being filmed..

At one point you hear someone say "what was that?" as the blackvue turns on when they fire the car up and annouces "blackvue, for your safe driving" in an annoying amercian accent.

Another voice says, "oh It must be a speed camera warning thing" :LOL:

Luckilly for them they didnt say anything derrogatory about me on camera, or thrash my car around!
 
Happy enough with my Roadhawk HD after trial and error on the settings, just a bit miffed that I could have saved 10% if I had bought direct from Roadhawk and applied a Pocket GPS World coupon PWRH10 :bonk:

That coupon is still live at the time of posting.
 
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Just taken delivery of my £49 chinese dash cam. Not sure I could justify the kind of money that Roadhawk charge.

I've got it set up behind the mirror (just a bit to the passenger side due to length of cables) and the cables are well concealed (especially when it's got 3 going into it!).
It records in 720p at 30fps from the front camera. The second camera is just below my rear brake light and it records in 720x576 at 30fps. It's got GPS and the software it comes with pairs up the front and back camera footage nicely and tracks you on google maps. It apparently has a G-sensor but if I'm not sure it does (will look into it though!).

All in all it's a handy bit of kit, easy to install and doesn't break the bank! Result!
 
rssmrry said:
Just taken delivery of my £49 chinese dash cam. Not sure I could justify the kind of money that Roadhawk charge.

I've got it set up behind the mirror (just a bit to the passenger side due to length of cables) and the cables are well concealed (especially when it's got 3 going into it!).
It records in 720p at 30fps from the front camera. The second camera is just below my rear brake light and it records in 720x576 at 30fps. It's got GPS and the software it comes with pairs up the front and back camera footage nicely and tracks you on google maps. It apparently has a G-sensor but if I'm not sure it does (will look into it though!).

All in all it's a handy bit of kit, easy to install and doesn't break the bank! Result!
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Sounds good to me, let's see a link to what you got for £49.
 
been a while since I'v been on here, but this topic inspired me to post!

I was involved in a collision a few weeks ago, and I am sure that a camera in my windscreen would have saved my no claims! but I didnt, so I had to accept blame because I hit the rear of the third party.

I'm not protesting innocence, but I have to advocate the use of camera's!

And i was recently looking at forking out for a black box system, but id never have thought about using my phone's video recorder, will be buying a cradle now!!
 
The Roadhawk HD I bought developed a fault whereby it was turning itself off and on for short periods and sometimes for the whole of the journey. They said it was a bug in the firmware and was promised an update on Monday, then they said it would be Friday coming, I was not going to wait any longer in the hope it would be Friday, and in any case I am not convinced that it was a firmware fault as the fault only appeared last week after using it for a month so it has now been returned.

Back to doing a bit more research on a replacement, possibly the new Blackview DR500GW
 
Saw an interesting article earlier starting that any in car recorder with a viewing screen is illegal, also any car camera with a suction mount could be illegal.
I'll try find it again and post it up.
 
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