Another dash cam

[billymansell]

I've been wanting to fit a dash cam since someone reversed into my sister's car and she ended up being held responsible but I hadn't seen a camera that ticked all the boxes for me - I wanted a fit and forget device so it had to meet certain technical requirements to be autonomous and had to be small and discrete so it didn't obstruct anyone's vision from the inside and wouldn't attract attention from the outside.

Eventually, Mat at Techmoan tried this one from China;

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2013/8/31/ ... creen.html

It looks like many other cameras out there but as Mat has tested many car cameras over the years and this is the first one he's happy to keep in his cars then that was a good enough endorsement for me.

Once it arrived from China it didn't take very long to fit it;



I've stuck the sticky pad beside the rear view mirror with the usb cable running up to the roof lining and down the A pillar, and with the mirror in place it's invisible both inside and out. I initially tried it in the 12v socket but of course it would always be on so I bought a 12v extension, cut the socket end off and spliced it into the ignition accessories so it comes on and goes off with the ignition (It does have motion detection for when you're parked up if you have it permanently powered).

It does come with software for playback and gps analysis but I prefer to use RegistratorViewer which you may have to also download the basic K-Lite codec pack to assist playback.

[rapiddescent]

I have dashcams on the cars and bongo. The funniest thing was when the subaru was in the subaru dealer for service - the mechanics left the ignition on and it recorded them arguing about which subaru model it was (!!!!) and then watched them slam the bonnet down on top of the oil filler cap (which they didn't screw back on). Made for interesting viewing with the service manager later.

Mine come on with the ignition so you don't need to do anything.

I these ones:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-720P-Dual- ... 3a85fad22c

It's a bit cheap and cheerful and even though I have three of them, they are all slightly different! (typical Chinese quality) but they do record and do their job. These are getting cheaper and more functional over time so I'll probably change them for new ones in a year or so's time.

[ELZE]

£68 OUCH!

[Simon Jones]

I bought one for £99 which is a good quality one, but does need a reset now and again. Second one was £15 but does the job. Wouldn't be without one now with the amount of idiots on the road

[billymansell]

£68 OUCH!

It's not's cheap (and it was cheaper when I bought mine) but then neither are increased insurance premiums resulting from others' actions.

There are all sorts of devices at all all sorts of prices but this one suited me both in terms of performance and it's discreetness, plus earlier (and cheaper) models of the same design tested on Techmoan weren't great. Hopefully it will be a 'fit and forget' device that is there just for emergencies but in just the first few days I've been using it I've had several reasons to call upon it, once involving a cyclist being driven into by a motorist.

[ELZE]

I have two, got it from Amazon £38 each, records in 15 minute segments on a loop system. I have a 32G cards in . The quality of the film is not brilliant but enough to show what lying bast*rds people can be when in a jamb! Cheap and cheerful but does the job.

I have it on the rear and I use my iPhone on the front which has a good quality footage.

The reason I got them is because someone approached my missus a while back in a carpark claiming she had scrape their car when reversing. She had not but then a witness appeared suprisingly from nowhere No damage or marks on wifes car but the old fiesta was riddled with rust , scatches and dents.... it was suggested at the time that if she could just settel for £80 cash on the spot and save her NCB.

it was a scam.

Still Ann being honest she told her insurers and they said to forget it until a claim has been made, which is never was. Yet on insurance renewal she had lost her NCB for the incident they told her to forget ???

We got that corrected after 18 months and a load of correspondence, police reports and phone calls. It was a nightmare and the burden of proof was on us not anyone else. The insurer just ingored our correspondence.


Now as we have these cameras on both vehicles it should at least put off any potential scammers when asked..would you like to see our cctv footage to see what did happened then

[briwy]

Does footage from these cameras count as evidence in court if it comes to that?

[Darkstar]

I've got a "MiWitness" http://www.store.mi-witness.co.uk/mi-witness-range.html

Now when you've all picked yourselves of the floor after looking at the price!

When it is hard wired to the battery it goes into sleep mode when the ignition is off and wakes up if someone or something enters the camera range and recording, so you will get the person who backed into the front of your van in the carpark. also has wifi so you can view the recording from your smartphone (handy when the police arrive at the accident).

Yes i believe the footage can be used as evidence, also helps to prove fault so long as its not you

The miwitness forum has plenty of video footage and some offenders have been procecuted for offences recorded from the camera's

[Simon Jones]

Still Ann being honest she told her insurers and they said to forget it until a claim has been made, which is never was. Yet on insurance renewal she had lost her NCB for the incident they told her to forget ???

Did you take this further? Surely, by definition, it's a bonus/discount for not making a claim? If no claim was made & no payment given, then they have no right to do this.

[ELZE]

Still Ann being honest she told her insurers and they said to forget it until a claim has been made, which is never was. Yet on insurance renewal she had lost her NCB for the incident they told her to forget ???

Did you take this further? Surely, by definition, it's a bonus/discount for not making a claim? If no claim was made & no payment given, then they have no right to do this.

I would like to mention the insurers name but cannot for obvious reasons unless you PM me. Honestly we knew nothing until renewal then it all kicked off taking her NCB down to 3 years when she has 9! They ignored the correspondence so we complained to insurance ombudsman. Finally we got a letter from them to say that the claim stays open for 18 months even though they did not claim. because of that they adjusted her NCB despite no claim or loss!

In the end we were able to claim it all back as well as the extra costs of insurance but it was an 18 month nightmare.

It seems anyone can take your details and claim you had an accident with them and your stuffed. They just tell their insurers and they peruse it relentlessly. Innocents are being penalised for nothing and there's nowt you can do but wait it out and suffer the stress and indignation.

[ELZE]

Does footage from these cameras count as evidence in court if it comes to that?

not sure but the police would ask for it if they knew it was available as they like a smoking gun without it they just might say contact your insurer! Anyone trying to take the p*ss should if they have any sense back off once they knew you had a vid

Camera's definitely have their uses. as for cost then you get what you paid for but I am happy with mine so no need to pay more. it switches on and off with the ignition and works on its own without any input from me! Any incident then I just take out the card, place it in my on-board DVD /SD card reader and away we go.

[Simon Jones]

I'm glad you stuck to your guns & got it sorted. That is a pretty poor reflection of the insurance industry & hardly encourages the law abiding driver to be open & honest at renewal time.

[ELZE]

I'm glad you stuck to your guns & got it sorted. That is a pretty poor reflection of the insurance industry & hardly encourages the law abiding driver to be open & honest at renewal time.

To be honest Si if it were me I doubt I would have said owt ( On yer bike mate) as it were clearly a scam but my missus is s decent sort from a good background and therefore gullible at times. still I am pleased I got her, she's certainly knocked the corners off me over the years. I was the total opposite (Geordie Nud) and never knew why she settled on me but glad she did.

There seems to be a lot of this crap about these days and its sad the length decent people have to go to for to protect ourselves. If my camera captures an incident and it helps someone else I will be more than happy to help.

[David Edwards]

I have mine and it cost 14 quid,lol and it is superb,has night vision and a host of features, more than happy with it, stuck a 32 gig card in and away I went.

[longhaul8]

As a lot of people will have android phones I have been trying out an app. Daily roads voyager

it does all the other cameras do it's on your phone so easy to move car to car a little battery heavy but left on charge no problem.

I have a it set to record to my memory card and a 16gig limit set records a full 9 hour drive in my truck without rewriting over any of the footage.

you can also choose to have gps running as well so you geotag locations. you can also set up for g force so if you slam the brakes on it records not tried that function yet.....