Video Cameras
U wanna try me young boy?
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,024
I've considered a camera system for my car after being in / witnessing accidents where the lack of a witness makes the cop believe the at-fault person's lies and go "Fault undertermined" or even blame the innocent party.
I was once rear-ended by a kid who told the cop that I cut him off in the lane and braked hard, causing the accident. I told the cop I merged into that lane 1/4 mile before the red light that I was stopping for when I was hit, and that the kid was gesitculating with both hands all during that time, and didn't even have his hands on the wheel when he hit me. Cop had no witnesses, so didn't believe either of us and recorded the accident "Fault Undetermined". His insurance company refused to pay out more than 50% of the cost of my damage and even though I managed to beat them up to 75% they reached a point where they just said; "If you want more, take us to court - here's the address of our laywer. Don't contact us again." I finally settled on the 75%, because the damage was less than $1000 and even a win in court would mean I came out worse off.
As for a Camera system... You can buy a minute colour camera with a wire that will plug straight into the composite VID port (the yellow Vid port, next the the red & (white or black) sound ports on the VCR.
I was thinking about a VCR with a VHS tape installed in the trunk with a 500W power inverter. Install the camera at the back of the roof looking forward for the widest angle view possible, and maybe even a small mirror so that a portion of the screen can see backwards.
The only real problem is controlling the VCR. I would want to have it record only when the engine is running, and until the tape runs out - when it will rewind the tape and start recording again. The best I can do for that would be to build a logic device that can be programmed with the VCR's remote control outputting the Power, REC, REW, Stop commands (Actually record the InfraRed signals output by the remote) and will playback the signals at the appropriate times. Sensing when the tape is finished may be more difficult.
Another option is to get real medival with the VCR and hard-wire the logic outputs from the control device to the control panel inside the VCR. Output a digital 1 (+5v) and have that close a small relay that is wired across the contacts behind the Rec button in the vcr so your control unit can control the VCR. Maybe a micro reed switch attached near the tape loading mechanism to detect if the tape is in record mode...
Or just purchase a cop video system. A cool $10K
I was once rear-ended by a kid who told the cop that I cut him off in the lane and braked hard, causing the accident. I told the cop I merged into that lane 1/4 mile before the red light that I was stopping for when I was hit, and that the kid was gesitculating with both hands all during that time, and didn't even have his hands on the wheel when he hit me. Cop had no witnesses, so didn't believe either of us and recorded the accident "Fault Undetermined". His insurance company refused to pay out more than 50% of the cost of my damage and even though I managed to beat them up to 75% they reached a point where they just said; "If you want more, take us to court - here's the address of our laywer. Don't contact us again." I finally settled on the 75%, because the damage was less than $1000 and even a win in court would mean I came out worse off.
As for a Camera system... You can buy a minute colour camera with a wire that will plug straight into the composite VID port (the yellow Vid port, next the the red & (white or black) sound ports on the VCR.
I was thinking about a VCR with a VHS tape installed in the trunk with a 500W power inverter. Install the camera at the back of the roof looking forward for the widest angle view possible, and maybe even a small mirror so that a portion of the screen can see backwards.
The only real problem is controlling the VCR. I would want to have it record only when the engine is running, and until the tape runs out - when it will rewind the tape and start recording again. The best I can do for that would be to build a logic device that can be programmed with the VCR's remote control outputting the Power, REC, REW, Stop commands (Actually record the InfraRed signals output by the remote) and will playback the signals at the appropriate times. Sensing when the tape is finished may be more difficult.
Another option is to get real medival with the VCR and hard-wire the logic outputs from the control device to the control panel inside the VCR. Output a digital 1 (+5v) and have that close a small relay that is wired across the contacts behind the Rec button in the vcr so your control unit can control the VCR. Maybe a micro reed switch attached near the tape loading mechanism to detect if the tape is in record mode...
Or just purchase a cop video system. A cool $10K
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