Mounting A Video Camera On the Dash

Submitted: Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 08:40
ThreadID: 22678 Views:2658 Replies:9 FollowUps:20
This Thread has been Archived
Hey Everyone,
Has anyone mounted a Video Camera on/in/near the dash to record the Trip? Preferably with minimal mounting holes! I seem to miss a fair bit when I’m Driving.
Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Member - iMusty (VIC) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 08:50

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 08:50
I've seen it done on Motorbikes at the track. But even that gets boring after a while.

River crossings would be great to see though.

Goood luck.

Maybe those professional stage equiptment hire guys can help ??

AnswerID: 109769

Reply By: 3.0turbob - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 09:38

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 09:38
Matt,
I have a piece of timber (about 35cm or so, long) which I have drilled 2 holes into one end so that the drivers headreast posts go through it and back into the seat, the other end sticks out roughly above the centre console and on this end I've drilled another hole, and with a bolt to suit, mounted my video camera so it points forward through the windscreen. I use the remote to turn it on and off. I had to do some initial setting up in that the timber needed to be angled slightly (with the camera already mounted) to get a good view out of the windscreen. Works fine.
As far as legality goes, I've no idea, and the safety of this would be questionable in an accident, However I only use it on the odd occasion in the bush, and yes the view can get boring so only video when I think it's interesting.

Rob
AnswerID: 109777

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 09:57

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 09:57
Goto Jaycar, get one of them small 'security cameras' colour or b/w... mount it to rear view mirror, or even outside the cabin in middle of wipers, and have your normal video camera on the floor out of harms way.

dude in my club has this setup , but you still miss heaps of stuff as it only views 1 direction, which is usually where your driving.
AnswerID: 109781

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 15:50

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 15:50
Yep, that's the way to do it. You can get some colour cameras for less than $100 trade that are also water proof. Mount to bullbar etc. We had one mounted in the grill of a GU at work for some covert work and it was hooked up to a 4 camera digital video recorder in the back. Theoretically you could run 4 cameras looking at different angles, one of those things I have access to but can't be assed doing as it's "talking shop".
0
FollowupID: 366408

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 22:45

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 22:45
You can get some colour cameras for less than $100 trade that are also water proof.

Yea? any info on em :)
0
FollowupID: 366507

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 11:23

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 11:23
These ones are stainless steel flush mount, you could dill a hole in your front bumper and flush mount it, they are tiny so you'd probally never know they were there. Might get a little muddy and need cleaning after some mud bashing! :-))

These ones are about 120ex tax Trade at Altronics. Don't know what the RRP is. They are IP 67 waterproof and made from stainless.
There were some bullet cameras for $70 ex but they have taken them off their price list (apparently they were fogging up). Bummer. Would have been good as an internal one.

Specifications

Pixels: 512 x 582
Resolution: 380 lines
S/N Ratio: >40dB
Input Voltage: 12VDC Reg.
Image Sensor: 1/3" CCD
Dimensions: 40Ø x 54
Focal Length: 6mm
Light Sensitivity: 2 Lux
A/V Connectors: BNC
Suggested power supply: M9243
0
FollowupID: 366577

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 12:45

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 12:45
I was thinkin something similar to these
http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S9078A

or these on the rear view mirror idea
http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S9078A
0
FollowupID: 366591

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 12:45

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 12:45
Change that second one -

or these on the rear view mirror idea
http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S9060
0
FollowupID: 366592

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:04

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:04
Yeah I'd stay with the colour ones. If you need any of these just give me an email: jeff .at. austechsurveillance.com.au
I can probally get you a much better price on them.

The bigger silver ones are better quality (video wise) as they a CCD instead of CMOS however they are rather large in size. (I've used them before). I've also got access to some relativly cheap pin whole cameras from a different supplier that are around the $150 mark and are excellent video quality, we use them for our investigation work and find them far superior to the altroncs/jaycar type. The only downside to them is that they are not water proof/resistant and would need to be mounted inside the vehicle.
0
FollowupID: 366601

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:15

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:15
Yea I think which ever would have to be external, internal you get the reflection of things on the windscreen which I find annoying.

The other thing is tryin to keep mud and crap off the external ones, you would almost want them in a perpex box, or with a large perpex screen infront of them that you could clean.. Cant think of many places external that would be PERFECT - was thinkin between the wiperblades up against the screen maybe?
0
FollowupID: 366603

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:21

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 13:21
How about the middle of the roof rack? Or bolted to the side of the snorkel air ram?
The one inside the grill worked well on the GU but for offroad purposes it would just get WAY to dirty. What you need to do is run a bit of plastic tubing from the windscreen wiper motor and put a retic squirt type nozel on it. That way when you push the winscreen wiper button it sprays a small jet of water accross the lens of the camera cleaning the mud/dust off while your cleaning the windscreen. The other advantage of this is that you would'nt forget to do it, because you'd be doing it to the windscreen so you could see where you were gong! Wadya reckon? I reckon that would work a treat!
0
FollowupID: 366606

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 20:51

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 20:51
No roof rack.

Thought of the snorkel, but you suffer from trees there..

the washer bottle thing, thought of that, but mine leaks LMAO

So far I have the camera idea and perpex down, the rest is a mystery!
0
FollowupID: 366663

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, May 16, 2005 at 10:52

Monday, May 16, 2005 at 10:52
Im all keen to sus this out now.

wanna get something happening in next few weeks

what you think of this style?

AU $185.00

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43807&item=4550247266

Record your adventures with this dust and splashproof 'lipstick' camera. Only 8cm long! Power is derived from the car's accessory/cigarette lighter socket. Output is standard PAL format video to run into your camcorder's AV input (check your camcorder is able to record from an external video source).
Supplied with 3 metre cable, fully adjustable mount and heavy-duty 13cm suction cup for attaching to the vehicle's body or glass.

Mounting on uneven surfaces may require additional securing eg., gaffer tape.
3 month warranty and FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.
GST included for Australian buyers.
0
FollowupID: 367759

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Monday, May 16, 2005 at 11:24

Monday, May 16, 2005 at 11:24
It's quite neat, considering there is no freight charge. I mean personally I would bleep off the ciggy plug and hard wire it. Are you planning on it going inside or out. Are they able to send you a copy of the specs? It worries me that they havn't put any up there...
0
FollowupID: 367767

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, May 16, 2005 at 11:32

Monday, May 16, 2005 at 11:32
I was thinking the same on the lack of specs or brand name.

would rather pay a bit more for better if needed.

will ask em
0
FollowupID: 367770

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 10:18

Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 10:18
Well 3 emails to the bloke, and no reply..

so I think JOHN SMITH the seller, can jam em! Might go for run to Jaycar later
0
FollowupID: 368253

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 23:28

Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 23:28
he finally replied.

1/4" Sharp color CCD.
Sharp chipset.
500 x 582 pixels.
420 TV lines.
1 lux.
12VDC at 400mA.

whats that all mean
0
FollowupID: 368366

Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Monday, May 23, 2005 at 15:10

Monday, May 23, 2005 at 15:10
1/4" is the size of the CCD and that's what you would expect for a cheapy. The fact that it's CCD and not CMOS is good.

Sharp chipsets are the cheapest of the named brands, sony and panasonic make excellent units, the sharps are just "ok".

420TV Lines is not being measured correctly I'd assume, it's probally actually 330TV Lines, normally colour CCD cameras are 330 or 480. I've seen a lot of cheap cameras claiming 420 latley, but I doubt that they are. 330 is still as good as VHS.

1 lux means that it won't do well in low light, ie night time, dusk etc. For day use it will be fine.

12vDC @ 400ma, pretty much straight forward.

Looks alright anyway, worth a go.
0
FollowupID: 368703

Reply By: Pluto - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 12:12

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 12:12
Matt,

Have a look at this mount.

AnswerID: 109800

Follow Up By: Matt (W.A.) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 14:04

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 14:04
Pluto,
That’s It! Exactly what I’m looking for. A little exy at $164.20AU if I can find one in Oz that would be Perfect.
0
FollowupID: 366391

Follow Up By: Pluto - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 07:16

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 07:16
Can't say I can help you there, but I know someone who might. I'll message you.
0
FollowupID: 366539

Reply By: Outnabout David (SA) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 15:44

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 15:44
I think you can get a RAM mount with suction pad from either GPS OZ or Johnny ASppleseed. I have a suction mount for my IPAQ and I am sure I noticed the camera fitting when looking for that.
AnswerID: 109846

Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 19:57

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 19:57
Mat, there used to be a guy at the Gosnells Markets that sold a system for mounting the camera out the passenger window. Suppose similar to a coppers radar gun. Check the camera shops.

Dunc
Dunc
Make sure you give back more than you take

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 109900

Follow Up By: Matt (W.A.) - Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 20:21

Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 20:21
Cheers Duncan,
Will do i may take a drive out to Gosnells to check out the Markets too?

Matt
0
FollowupID: 366464

Reply By: drivesafe - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 22:39

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 22:39
Hi Matt, if you don’t have any luck getting a ready made one and if you can do a bit of modifying, try Windscreen O’Brian’s.

Probably best to ring there head office and see if you can get one of the suction pads they use to carry large sheets of glass.

I’ve been doing amateur video work for a few years but this is one of the best posts I have come across for mounting Info.

Cheers all and I’m going to try and modify one of those glass handling suction pads as soon as I can track down a supplier.
AnswerID: 110100

Follow Up By: Matt (W.A.) - Friday, May 06, 2005 at 23:21

Friday, May 06, 2005 at 23:21
Cheers Drivesafe,
I was looking at StickyPod for some Ideas if this helps? Also make sure that you look at the Suction Cups that have the Mechanical Handle on them I mean the type that you squeeze the handle to get better suction with the last thing you want is the camera Falling off the windscreen!!

HTH
0
FollowupID: 366688

Follow Up By: drivesafe - Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 17:21

Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 17:21
Good site Matt, thanks for that.

Cheers.
0
FollowupID: 368301

Reply By: Grubba - Saturday, May 21, 2005 at 20:42

Saturday, May 21, 2005 at 20:42
We have used video tripods strapped tight to the drivers seat to capture some good footage. Works well with adjusting height etc. It s a good position if you can get some of the rear vision mirror in the shot so you can see the stress/excitement on their face.

The other thing my mate has done is strapped a metal rod with the camera onto the spare wheel out the side looking up along the vehicle. Leaves it very open to trees etc., interesting shots but wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep your camera for long!
AnswerID: 112235

Reply By: Matt (W.A.) - Sunday, May 22, 2005 at 09:08

Sunday, May 22, 2005 at 09:08
Cheers Grubba & Evereyone who replied,
I have made my own mount and will take some pics of it and post sometime today. thanks again for all the info.

Matt
AnswerID: 112275

Sponsored Links