I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've
looked up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that
seem to be most common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate
chipset and doesn't seem to be integrated into the recorded video. So it
looks as though the cameras record pictures, but the GPS track is
recorded separately.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer
seem similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a
tenner, so I'd really like to be way below 100.

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the
wifi and any laptop or Android software any good?
--
Bill

On 18/11/2016 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

GPS seems a lazy way of noting your position on the road since it is
only good to about 3m. I'm inclined to view it as a feature with limited
benefit that only serves to decrease standby lifetime.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've
looked up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that
seem to be most common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate
chipset and doesn't seem to be integrated into the recorded video. So it
looks as though the cameras record pictures, but the GPS track is
recorded separately.

I'd be more inclined to go with 1080 HD video and low light sensitivity
as the main priorities. Almost all of them have a quartz local clock
with date/time that is good to a few tens of seconds a month. That way
you have a better chance of reading number plates at greater distance or
having good footage of any wildlife that crosses your path.

The other good thing to have is the trigger on impact option when the
camera is in standby and some muppet drives into you in a carpark.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer
seem similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a
tenner, so I'd really like to be way below 100.

There are good ones (hardware wise) for around the £50 mark on Amazon
but the instruction manuals appear to have been translated out of
Sanskrit via Venusian and lost everything in the translation. You
basically have to experiment pressing different combos of buttons until
you hit upon the right key sequences to make it enter the right mode!

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the
wifi and any laptop or Android software any good?

Again I don't see Wifi as a priority - just another thing to shorten
battery life (and the standby battery life isn't all that generous).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 18/11/16 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've
looked up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that
seem to be most common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate
chipset and doesn't seem to be integrated into the recorded video. So it
looks as though the cameras record pictures, but the GPS track is
recorded separately.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer
seem similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a
tenner, so I'd really like to be way below 100.

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the
wifi and any laptop or Android software any good?

A guy calling himself Techmoan has a lot of dash-cam revues/advice on
youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OPrYBWCAYc

and a website:

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/category/car-dvr-dashcams

Well worth a look.

Another Dave
--
Change nospam to techie

Its getting to the point these days when pedestrians will need these cameras
to show the stupidity of motorists and cyclists when in these useless new
fangled shared spaces that are dangerous.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
news
On 18/11/2016 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

GPS seems a lazy way of noting your position on the road since it is only
good to about 3m. I'm inclined to view it as a feature with limited
benefit that only serves to decrease standby lifetime.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've
looked up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that
seem to be most common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate
chipset and doesn't seem to be integrated into the recorded video. So it
looks as though the cameras record pictures, but the GPS track is
recorded separately.

I'd be more inclined to go with 1080 HD video and low light sensitivity as
the main priorities. Almost all of them have a quartz local clock with
date/time that is good to a few tens of seconds a month. That way you have
a better chance of reading number plates at greater distance or having
good footage of any wildlife that crosses your path.

The other good thing to have is the trigger on impact option when the
camera is in standby and some muppet drives into you in a carpark.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer
seem similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a
tenner, so I'd really like to be way below 100.

There are good ones (hardware wise) for around the £50 mark on Amazon but
the instruction manuals appear to have been translated out of Sanskrit via
Venusian and lost everything in the translation. You basically have to
experiment pressing different combos of buttons until you hit upon the
right key sequences to make it enter the right mode!

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the
wifi and any laptop or Android software any good?

Again I don't see Wifi as a priority - just another thing to shorten
battery life (and the standby battery life isn't all that generous).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
news
Its getting to the point these days when pedestrians will need these
cameras to show the stupidity of motorists and cyclists when in these
useless new fangled shared spaces that are dangerous.

I could fill up several terabytes of hard disc with videos of the stupidity
of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists when I'm walking, cycling or driving.
No-one seems to obey rules any more.

Bill submitted this idea :
I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an incident
(now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and place would have
been useful.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've looked
up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that seem to be most
common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate chipset and doesn't seem
to be integrated into the recorded video. So it looks as though the cameras
record pictures, but the GPS track is recorded separately.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer seem
similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a tenner, so
I'd really like to be way below 100.

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the wifi
and any laptop or Android software any good?

Considering that the main reason for these things is to provide
evidence, your priorities should be a good, clear picture in both
daylight and night-time, so 1080p recording rather than wifi and GPS.
I've got a Nextbase 402G and it is excellent. Like someone else said,
have a look on Youtube at Techmoan's reviews.

On 19-Nov-16 8:26 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 18/11/2016 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

GPS seems a lazy way of noting your position on the road since it is
only good to about 3m. ...

That is more than adequate for a dash cam that is intended to provide
evidence in the case of an accident.


--
--

Colin Bignell

In message , NY
writes
"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
news
Its getting to the point these days when pedestrians will need these
cameras to show the stupidity of motorists and cyclists when in these
useless new fangled shared spaces that are dangerous.

I could fill up several terabytes of hard disc with videos of the
stupidity of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists when I'm walking,
cycling or driving. No-one seems to obey rules any more.

:-) I was easily confused yesterday when a cyclist pulled of the road
and rode along the footpath to allow cars to overtake. What confused me
was... having run out of path at a junction he then waited for me to get
by before rejoining the road!

12ish midnight on Friday so he might simply have been concerned about
pub departees:-)

--
Tim Lamb

"Nightjar" wrote in message
...
On 19-Nov-16 8:26 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 18/11/2016 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

GPS seems a lazy way of noting your position on the road since it is
only good to about 3m. ...

That is more than adequate for a dash cam that is intended to provide
evidence in the case of an accident.

Yes, GPS (with timestamp and lat/long stamp) and video would seem to be
fine.

If GPS is lazy, what alternative way of establishing location (apart from
video which is a "given" since the thread title is "Dash Cam") would Martin
Brown suggest?

In message , NY
writes
GPS (with timestamp and lat/long stamp) and video would seem to be
fine.

If GPS is lazy, what alternative way of establishing location (apart
from video which is a "given" since the thread title is "Dash Cam")
would Martin Brown suggest?

Thanks, everyone. I'd forgotten about the Techmoan site, which is
interesting and useful. It does look as though some cameras do "track
recording", but not a specific lat/long stamp. Not sure this would be
useful in a dispute.

FWIW, I've been involved in, witness to or related to someone in 3
events any one of which could have ended in a dispute or possible
prosecution, but not an actual accident.

In one case a vehicle found itself on a closed motorway because of
faulty, temporarily unmanned, diversion sign and coneage. A second case
was a dispute about a speed camera, where the driver is adamant that the
overtaking police vehicle must have triggered the reading, the third
case being a police vehicle speeding along the hard shoulder, throwing
up grit and debris, damaging paint and windscreen.


--
Bill

On 18/11/16 19:02, Bill wrote:

I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.

Looking on ebay, I see a few devices that feature wifi and GPS. I've
looked up datasheets of the Ambarella A7LA and Novatek chipsets that
seem to be most common, but on both GPS appears to be via a separate
chipset and doesn't seem to be integrated into the recorded video. So it
looks as though the cameras record pictures, but the GPS track is
recorded separately.

Is this right? I've looked on Halfords site, but the ones they offer
seem similar, just more expensive. The present cams were both under a
tenner, so I'd really like to be way below 100.

Has anyone got a cheap camera that does integrated wifi and GPS? Is the
wifi and any laptop or Android software any good?

After a lot of research, I went for the Blackvue - and the recording
quality is good. Very good in daylight and not at all bad at night.

In message , Tim Watts
writes
After a lot of research, I went for the Blackvue - and the recording
quality is good. Very good in daylight and not at all bad at night.

Well, I've ordered a DDPai M6 Plus like the one in the video pointed to
by Another Dave. It looks as though a second camera can wifi into it but
it's all a bit vague.

I have many reservations, not least that it relies on a mobile phone for
control which might not look good after an accident., The manufacturer
seems to be actively updating firmware very frequently.
I don't think it puts GPS data in the pictures, but maybe third party
programs can do that. If not, I'm gambling that the feature will be
incorporated in future.
--
Bill

On Friday, 18 November 2016 19:04:46 UTC, Bill wrote:
I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.



i got a Transcend camera which has v good video quality. The drawback is the internal battery for the clock only lasts a day. So if you don't use the car every day, and the cig. socket doewn't stay on, the date and time is lost unless you fiddle with the settings for 5 mins.
Some cars can have the socket set on permanently by swapping cables round, like my very old departed Saab 9-5

J

"therustyone" wrote in message
...
On Friday, 18 November 2016 19:04:46 UTC, Bill wrote:
I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.



i got a Transcend camera which has v good video quality. The drawback is
the internal battery for the clock only lasts a day. So if you don't use
the car every day, and the cig. socket doewn't stay on, the date and time
is lost unless you fiddle with the settings for 5 mins.
Some cars can have the socket set on permanently by swapping cables round,
like my very old departed Saab 9-5

I've not seen that with our Transcend DrivePro 220. Although my wife uses
her car every week day, there are times when it is not used between about 6
PM on Friday and 7 AM on Monday, and the time hasn't been reset.

Is there a setting to make the dashcam get its time from GPS rather than
from its own internal clock? If so, I wonder if yours is set to use internal
clock. I know that the internal battery for continuing recording after the
power is removed gives very little recording time (only a few minutes) but
as I understand it, that uses a separate battery (maybe even a capacitor) to
the one used for battery back up of the clock.

Leaving the cigarette lighter on when the ignition is off would have the
side effect that the camera would carry on recording when the car was
parked, overwriting earlier recordings after an hour or so (time dependent
on size of memory card).

On Monday, November 28, 2016 at 8:45:09 AM UTC, NY wrote:
"therustyone" wrote in message
...
On Friday, 18 November 2016 19:04:46 UTC, Bill wrote:
I'm thinking of upgrading the very cheap camera in the car after an
incident (now resolved) where a recording showing accurate time and
place would have been useful.



i got a Transcend camera which has v good video quality. The drawback is
the internal battery for the clock only lasts a day. So if you don't use
the car every day, and the cig. socket doewn't stay on, the date and time
is lost unless you fiddle with the settings for 5 mins.
Some cars can have the socket set on permanently by swapping cables round,
like my very old departed Saab 9-5

I've not seen that with our Transcend DrivePro 220. Although my wife uses
her car every week day, there are times when it is not used between about 6
PM on Friday and 7 AM on Monday, and the time hasn't been reset.

Is there a setting to make the dashcam get its time from GPS rather than
from its own internal clock? If so, I wonder if yours is set to use internal
clock. I know that the internal battery for continuing recording after the
power is removed gives very little recording time (only a few minutes) but
as I understand it, that uses a separate battery (maybe even a capacitor) to
the one used for battery back up of the clock.

Leaving the cigarette lighter on when the ignition is off would have the
side effect that the camera would carry on recording when the car was
parked, overwriting earlier recordings after an hour or so (time dependent
on size of memory card).

Mine's only a Drivepro 200 and other people have reported the same clock problem on this one. I hadn't realized when I bought it that the GPS enabled version would fix a clock problem that I didn't know existed.
I suppose they need a USP to sell the 220 for more money.

J