Roadhawk in-car camera GPS and black box system

Darren · Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:25 pm Post subject:

In the Merc, although I used the cigarette socket for power I found it quite easy to tuck the cable into the windscreen surround and down the inside of the A Post to the dash.

We've changed car now so I'm in the same boat and need to identify a suitable ignition controlled power supply.
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Darren Griffin

NickG · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:09 pm Post subject:

Woohoo, I've found that there's ignition controlled power for the auto-dimming rear-view mirror in the headlining of my car. Should make for a very short cable run and neat installation. Ideally I'd like to get a spare cable/connector so I don't have to dismantle/damage the one that came with it.

Darren · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:51 pm Post subject:

Maplin's may have a suitable plug but getting one in right-angled form may be more problematic. Some suitable candidates here.

I wonder if Roadhawk have a spare cable they may sell you?
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Darren Griffin

NickG · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:52 pm Post subject:

Just got a reply from them.. they suggested I modify this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=37423

Darren · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:59 pm Post subject:

That would work but quite expensive just to avoid cutting the supplied lead. If you're not fussed about the power plug being right-angled then one of these would work for a £1.29 plus some power cable.

I'm going to see what power options I have in the map light module, doubt there is ignition controlled power but you never know!
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Darren Griffin

NickG · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:03 pm Post subject:

You can probably get a right angle one off eBay. Something like item http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=280391158278 . I don't know the size yet... if you find out please post Smile

I've also ordered some of these connectors for "stealing" power out of a cable without having to cut it:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=310162974965

mikealder · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject:

Nick, go to Halfords or your local garage for the electrical "Scotch locks" as £2,50 for six is to put it bluntly a rip off, also being yellow 35A type they will be way too big to make a decent joint on thin gauge cable, I would only use the blue ones for wiring up this sort of feed - Mike

NickG · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject:

Actually I did order the blue ones.. not sure why I linked to the fatter yellow ones. To be honest, I've not done any car electrical work and I had no idea what those things were called - that was the first thing I found that I knew could do the job.

I need to also check that the RoadHawk can (safely) accept unregulated 12V straight from the battery and that it's not expecting 5V etc. Don't have my instructions here so I can't check.

Darren · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:17 pm Post subject:

Duddy · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:00 pm Post subject: Roadhawk

Most impressive especially the accident video. This is on my Xmas wish list for sure.
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HUAWEI P30 Pro (new edition) with Speedtrap Alert & alcatel1 for SatNav
CoPilot 10 with CamerAlert
RoadHawk in-car video
Reading glasses getting thicker as is my waist
Retired but want to go back to work for a rest.

Darren · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:51 am Post subject:

A question raised by NickG in the news piece about the van driver who escaped a speeding prosecution thanks to evidence from the GPS tracking system fitted to his van.

Assuming that a court would consider the data from a Roadhawk as evidence that you were not speeding in a case, it would require you still had the Roadhawk data and it had not been overwritten.

An NIP has to be served within 14days of the offence. If we allow for delays etc let's say 21 days. So the options as I see them are a larger card that can record 21 days of driving data before over writing or four memory cards sufficient to store 7 days data each which you remove and store in a cycle each week.

Someone mentioned a 16Gb card could be used. It would be useful if those of us who have them collate data on how much can be stored on cards.

Having this data could be another useful string in the Roadhawk arsenal. It may well prove your guilt but it would be very handy to have the data as a reference if unlucky enough to be served with an NIP. And what greater evidence than GPS data AND video of you and most likely the speed camera van or police officer !
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Darren Griffin

NickG · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:05 am Post subject:

Darren, I'm currently expermenting recording samples at various different resolution and quality setting (apart from the lowest quality which is awful), so I can post a library of vids to see so any new peeps can just look at the results without having to go through all this themselves. I agree it would be useful to have stats about capacities. Currently I seem to be getting just over an hour at VGA/Standard on a 2GB card. 16GB card is in the post...

Darren · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:10 am Post subject:

I've got an 8GB Card in mine currently and it's lasting about a week in normal use, school run, shops etc.
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Darren Griffin

BigPerk · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:24 am Post subject:

The only thing is I thought someone said there was no date/time stamp on the RH files. Is this right, and if so, would that make it difficult to use for a NIP?
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

NickG · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:29 am Post subject:

The UB1 files are not only time and date stamped, but they contain the GPS trace (with totally accurate time therefore) synced to the video footage. The UB1 file format is apparently tamperproof and CRC checked so it doesn't work if you try and alter it. This could actually work against you of course - if you're even slightly over the speed limit when a non-fault accident is recorded, you probably won't want to submit the video as evidence. I can't remember off hand if you can turn off GPS logging. You can export it as a standard MPEG4 video, but this won't necessarily be admissable in court as that will remove the time/date/position stamp.

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