Car cameras...

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glalt
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Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 14, 2018, 3:22 pm

I have cameras in all three of my vehicles. The old pickup that is used on the farms had one called Toguard ($25) from AliExpress. It had excellent video and low light performance. It appeared to work great for about a year and a half. It seemed great until It was really needed. Some guy ran into the right front of the old Nissan when my wife was driving it. The camera was knocked off the windshield and no longer would work. I wasn't too worried because I was sure the memory card would be OK. I was WRONG, apparently the camera scrambled the memory card and the crash portion was lost. I spent $50 for a program that was supposed to recover the videos. That didn't work either. I think that you are better off to buy a better more expensive camera. Now the insurance company from the car that hit her is saying that they will repair the guys car but I will have to repair my truck. The old truck has only class three insurance that will not pay for the truck. The police said it was the fault of the car but now they are waffling. It looks like a screw the farang deal. The truck is in my name. The camera would have settled things in my favor. Now there is no proof. Of course when they discovered there was no video, the car driver totally changes his story.

Now having researched the car cam situation, I found that the camera was not the problem. Car cameras are very hard on memory cards. Many manufacturers will not honor the warranty if the card is used in a car camera. Many car camera experts recommend using a high quality card and changing it every six months. The other option is to buy an expensive High Endurance card. The experts recommend Transcend brand that is designed for car cams. It's a live and learn thing. I learned too late. I have ordered a 32 GB and a 64 GB. The 64 GB is for the new Yi ultra camera that I also ordered. It records in very high resolution. The 32 GB is for my Yi smart cam that records in lower resolution.

It's very disappointing that when you think you have your bases covered with video proof then to discover that the memory card is corrupted when you really needed it. Higher end car cameras will warn you if there is a problem with the memory card.



bluejets
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by bluejets » August 14, 2018, 4:21 pm

Only certain memory cards are guaranteed to work with dvr units.
It's the continual writing and re-writing that wears the card out.

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tamada
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by tamada » August 14, 2018, 4:42 pm

Good point and timely reminder. I would wager that most people who buy over the counter just stick with whatever settings the sales guy programmed in and don't check what's actually been wrote to memory. The instructions that come with some cheaper online purchases can be a struggle but usually, once you select the English language option, they're pretty easy to set up.

Because dash cams record in loops, they will max out the read/write cycles of any SD card, even the most expensive ones.

Make sure you buy a genuine memory card. Transcend are a good brand. So is SanDisk and Kingston but lazada and retail shops are chock full of fake Kingston cards. Either way, make sure you buy a Class 10 rated card for best results and reliability. This is marked with the class number inside a large C symbol. Older cameras maybe won't support Class 10 cards so better upgrade the dashcam too.
sd.jpg
SD cards with different Class ratings
msd.jpg
Micro SD cards with low Class ratings
I take the memory card out once a week, check what's on it making sure that date stamping is current as some cheaper cameras will give the appearance of working normally when the card is actually full and nothing is being recorded. Then I do a card format and re-insert in the dashcam. Some cheaper cameras also use their bespoke formatting so may prompt for the card to be formatted again. Either way, a weekly reformat is recommended.

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Barney
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by Barney » August 14, 2018, 7:14 pm

Good advice Tamada, i'll have to check the card when next home. But my camera has a small memory capability when no card installed. Will check that aswell.
Other things to come out of the post which was unfortunately encountered by glalt is , don't buy a cheap camera and don't advise at the scene that you have camera evidence immediately, keep that knowledge in your pocket as a last resort. Only advise and provide the camera video evidence when it appears you are losing the case. Surprise is a good defensive move.

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tamada
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by tamada » August 14, 2018, 10:19 pm

For the OP, there's a free utility from Convar that I have used with great success to recover data from corrupted and otherwise unreadable or unmountable SD cards.

http://www.pcinspector.de/SmartRecovery ... language=1

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runrunshaw
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by runrunshaw » August 15, 2018, 12:53 pm

Great info. The car cam I bought at Advice for about 1000 THB lasted about 18 months. Now I'll go high-end and get a Class 10 mem card. Any recommendations for car cam model/manufacturer?
The best gadget is the human brain.

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TicToc
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by TicToc » August 15, 2018, 3:28 pm

My recommendation would be Transcend DrivePro 200.Had mine for years,no problems.
Available on Lazada or if you want to check it out first Powerbuy sell them in Central.

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Re: Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 15, 2018, 7:34 pm

I am happy with a Xiaomi Yi car camera. I have another higher end unit on order from Lazada. They are highly rated on Internet reviews. Yi units are priced very cheap for what you get. Transcend are also highly rated. Viofo and Rexing are also very good. I had settled on one of those four brands. I wanted one that I could view the videos with wifi on my smart phone. Since I already have a Yi that I like, that's the one I chose. I also ordered two Transcend High Endurance memory cards. A 32 GB for my old Yi and a 64 MB for the new higher resolution Yi.

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Re: Car cameras...

Post by LoneTraveler » August 16, 2018, 7:52 am

If you want to go high end buy a Garmin GDR E 560 they are available on Lazada. It has an app for wifi which enables viewing data and can hookup to computer to update software. I considered Xiaomi Yi but most reviews I read, state there is a problem with the battery not having the ability to operate in high temps, such as we get in Thailand, especially if left in a car sitting in the hot sun. I agree with comments about high class 10 sd cards I purchased Transcend 32 for car cameras.

glalt
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 16, 2018, 10:06 am

Over the years I have had five different dash cams. All five were battery powered. None of them, even the two cheap ones ever had battery problems. I read a long detailed article about batteries versus capacitors. One problem with the capacitor is that they self discharge over time and when they totally discharge, you lose your settings. Maybe this seldom happens but since I have never had a battery problem here in Thailand, I have stayed with the batteries. I do avoid parking in full sun whenever possible. Most of the higher end cams are tested up to 70 degrees C. That's pretty hot. If I have to park in the full sun for a long period of time, I usually take the camera off the windshield, not so much because of the heat but to prevent it from being stolen, the same with my Garmin GPS.

Actually the GPS gets more direct sun than the dash cam and it has never had battery problems.

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Brian Davis
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by Brian Davis » August 17, 2018, 10:44 am

Transcend SD cards, quality 10, high performance??? appear to be particularly recommended for car cams.
Any recommendations of where to buy in Udon? I appreciate it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd hope to get a genuine one at a fair price. :lol: Thanks.

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tamada
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by tamada » August 17, 2018, 12:49 pm

Brian Davis wrote:
August 17, 2018, 10:44 am
Transcend SD cards, quality 10, high performance??? appear to be particularly recommended for car cams.
Any recommendations of where to buy in Udon? I appreciate it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd hope to get a genuine one at a fair price. :lol: Thanks.
I think PowerBuy in Central would have genuine stock but cannot confirm if they have Transcend SD's. I do know they had some other, genuine Transcend USB products.

Otherwise check the shops in Tukcom/Landmark as there's loads of shops selling different brand memory products including the 'no name' vendors. I think the key if buying at the latter is if the price is too good to be true, then it's fake. Best to go check the prices at Banana, JIB and the like first and then go compare. Unfortunately, lazada pricing can be dismissed as a large amount of their stuff is from China but maybe invadeit and other reputable local online vendors would be a good start if browsing from home.

glalt
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 17, 2018, 4:22 pm

Brian Davis wrote:
August 17, 2018, 10:44 am
Transcend SD cards, quality 10, high performance??? appear to be particularly recommended for car cams.
Any recommendations of where to buy in Udon? I appreciate it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd hope to get a genuine one at a fair price. :lol: Thanks.
There are many counterfeit memory cards sold here. I bought both my cards from Lazada. They came from a company named Transcend Thailand. I would think that they are the Transcend distributor here. They weren't cheap.

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tamada
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by tamada » August 18, 2018, 10:11 am

I did a quick check on stocks at IT City, PowerBuy, and JIB in the plaza yesterday. All have SanDisk cards and IT City also has Apacer brand. No sign of Transcend, Kingston or any other cards. Noted that there's a newer, high-resolution class microSDXC cards that seem to be targeted for drone camera usage and are about 70-100 baht more expensive than the regular 'ultra' microSDHC Class 10 cards. I reckon the 16Gb 'ultra' should be adequate for most dash cams, especially the dual-camera models. I also recall reading that some cheaper dash cams may have problems with the 32Gb and higher capacities. If in doubt, RTFM*

*(read the effing manual)

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Brian Davis
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by Brian Davis » August 18, 2018, 4:28 pm

I was in Central myself and tried to scan types etc. But would have helped if I'd remembered my glasses. :roll: Didn't see Transcend, but other makes, which included some well over 1000 baht.
After an accident about a month back, my car repaired and returned today, so straight in to S Auto to have, what I hope is a reasonable camera, fitted. Now just to try and figure all the settings! (Some woman was telling me, in Thai, too close and keep left etc. :lol: ) I was given a Kingston 32GB Grade 10 SD card, as part of the package. I tried to enquire if this was a good un', with all the copies about. He implied yes, so it MUST be ok. :-k

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runrunshaw
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by runrunshaw » August 18, 2018, 6:20 pm

Brian Davis wrote:
August 18, 2018, 4:28 pm
I was in Central myself and tried to scan types etc. But would have helped if I'd remembered my glasses. :roll: Didn't see Transcend, but other makes, which included some well over 1000 baht.
After an accident about a month back, my car repaired and returned today, so straight in to S Auto to have, what I hope is a reasonable camera, fitted. Now just to try and figure all the settings! (Some woman was telling me, in Thai, too close and keep left etc. :lol: ) I was given a Kingston 32GB Grade 10 SD card, as part of the package. I tried to enquire if this was a good un', with all the copies about. He implied yes, so it MUST be ok. :-k

Ring Road Powerbuy had a limited selection of cards yesterday. I think I might have a shop do the install on my next one. Where is S Auto located?
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 18, 2018, 7:35 pm

Just off the top of my head, the Transcend High Endurance 32 GB cost 890 baht. The 64 GB was 1,890 baht. Not cheap but I don't want to save a few baht and have the card fail when I most need it.

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Brian Davis
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by Brian Davis » August 19, 2018, 9:02 am

runrunshaw wrote:
August 18, 2018, 6:20 pm
Where is S Auto located?
From the Prince Prajak monument/roundabout up from the University main campus, the place is about 250 metres up Srisuk Road on the right hand side. It's set back a little, but room to park out front, or drive right in.

Maybe I can ask a few more 'dinosaur' questions? :lol: I drove home with the new camera and all seemed fine. Incidentally, it was the camera offering driving advice, NOT my wife moaning away. The video was playing and I have to say that was distracting, although in time, I guess you get used to that. At home, wanting to check set up, menus etc. I pushed a few buttons and received almost an immediate "battery low" message and an icon, not normally there I think, appeared. Shortly after, I couldn't get anything to come up on the screen, although power light still showing. So, I presume the battery is 'dead'.

1. I've seen a lot of references about battery discharge. I presume these are referring to the camera's own battery, and NOT the car's?
2. Is it possible to recharge the camera battery outside of the car without causing a problem? e.g. connect to a computer USB port?
3. As above, driving home the video stayed on all the time, presumably using up more power. Is it usual to have the video on all the time, because really I've only a need to see that in the event of an incident? I think I understand the car's own battery should be charging the camera's battery at the same time. So. it's possible to turn off the actual video, whilst still recording?
4. I've also still to comprehend the protection offered when parked. So, with the ignition off, the system remains alive(using just the camera's own battery?) and recording would kick in, if someone came near, or tampered with the car? If you're off for a few hours, wouldn't that be a big drain on the camera battery alone? And worth it, if the camera only kicks in AFTER the event, may not catch the culprit, particularly at the side of the vehicle.

I think Youtube answers some of my other queries, otherwise I'll be back! Thanks.

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Re: Car cameras...

Post by glalt » August 19, 2018, 11:52 am

It sounds like you have a combination GPS and camera, maybe a Garmin? If you have it direct wired to the vehicle battery, it should always have power when the car ignition is on. Some cars have a cigarette lighter that is always hot. That is a problem. Most car cigarette lighters go off when the ignition is off. In any case the device battery should never be discharged. I'd take it back to whoever installed the device and let them take care of it. I have an AC to DC 12 volt converter in the house that I use to program my GPS and car cameras before I put them in the vehicles. So, yes it can be charged in the house. The USB connection on a computer will power the unit but charging the unit will be very slow. Just not enough amperage.

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Brian Davis
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Re: Car cameras...

Post by Brian Davis » August 19, 2018, 4:14 pm

Thanks for your reply.
The camera I bought is a Proof PF720. No GPS. So many cameras, so many views, I settled for one stocked at an outlet I knew, cost 4,500 baht, which I think is mid-range. I believe it's aluminium casing, which I thought would last longer in the sun and I wasn't certain of the cameras clipping on the rearview mirrors - just my preference, right or wrong.
I confess that, whilst I looked in a bit as the technician was fixing, I'm not certain where he wired to. I've never grasped electrics! There doesn't appear to be any new wires to the car battery itself(if that's what you meant). But my Honda has a 12V power outlet under the console, which I guess he used (wired at rear under console?), although there's nothing plugged into the socket itself.
As you say, the device battery should never be fully discharged and I don't think I messed up in my ignorance. In just trying to look at settings, menu etc. 'battery low' appeared immediately, then black screens not long after.
I asked about separate charging of the camera, in case that was something users chose to do. But, presumably that shouldn't normally be necessary, if the camera is working and installation correct.
Probably back at shop tomorrow and insist wife gets involved to translate/explain. Thanks.

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