Dash Cam In Car Recorder

ian wrote:................

I was in France a couple of years ago and I had my wing mirror taken off by a Lexus/4x4. He just took off. The camera would have helped me

.............

Ian,

I also was in France (every year since about 1986) and have swapped wing-mirrors with two passing motorists who failed to stop. 

However, I think at best you would get a Gallic shrug if you reported to the police that someone had removed your wing-mirror. 

Which compares very favourably the Middle East where, if you hire a taxi and the taxi is then involved in an accident, it's your fault.  The logic being that if you hadn't come to the country and hired the taxi it wouldn't have been involved in an accident. 

I have ordered a Mobius camera from the same outfit as yourself and I am now hoping that I never have need to use it as evidence!! 

Best regards,
 
Ian

Chris at Webbex seems a decent bloke.
I was going to order an SD card off his site but baulked at the £4 p&p for such a small item.
I emailed an enquiry why the postage was so much on such a small item and he replied that it was the way the site was set up. He also said that he would refund me the difference if I ordered the card.

True to his word, he emailed me to say that the recorded delivery cost £2 and the jiffybag was 20p so he has refunded me £1.80.

Can't say fairer than that  

Frank

Reply to Ian(Dutto)

I'm under no illusions as to how far I would get if I wanted to pursue 'a small incident' with the French Police.

Having said that the British Police would be even less interested!!!

The camera is more for my protection against false allegations.

A picture is worth a thousand words and when you only have half a dozen french words .........

Having said all of that make no mistake I love France and have found most of the French people very helpful....

We shall be setting off once more later this month....can't wait!  

Cheers Ian

The Mobius footage looks pretty good. Does anyone know if the video software is compatible with apple laptops? Sometimes you have to use Windows based software on some camera products?

Thanks

journeyman wrote:The Mobius footage looks pretty good. Does anyone know if the video software is compatible with apple laptops? Sometimes you have to use Windows based software on some camera products?

Thanks

I've been using this for a while now:

http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

Has been quite a handy program

PB

Cheers PB, 

I think I might get one of these. We drive along the N Wales roads on many a sunday returning from camp sites and witness some horrendous behaviour from "some" weekend motorbikers.  I think this would be useful from a legal aspect in protecting ourselves.
I've sent Webex a series of questions, i'll publish the reply, if I get one.

Jmn

A prompt response from Chris at Webex regarding the Mobius system:


1. What's the battery life.  
60-80 mins on its own internal battery. (Indefinite using the car
charger).

2. Does it include a 12v (cigarette type) power lead.

Yes, it includes an 800mm USB lead. You will also need a USB car charger.
If you want longer than 800mm, I sell 3m leads also.


3. What SD do you recommend. (I intend to let it record continually, on a 15
min cycle).

I sell the Kingston Class 4 Micro SD cards which are recommended by the
manufacturer.

4. I assume I need to buy the dash/screen mount separately?

The mounts are optional extras.

5. Can the camera be hardwired into the veh system?

I imagine it could be done, but I have no knowledge of how to do this.

6. From order point, how long before its delivered.

If you order today before 4pm and select Special Delivery, it will be
with you tomorrow.

journeyman wrote:The Mobius footage looks pretty good. Does anyone know if the video software is compatible with apple laptops? Sometimes you have to use Windows based software on some camera products?

Thanks

The GUI setup programme is a windows application but the video files it produces are .MOV which are Apple format.
If you watch Techmoan's review, he tells you how to configure the camera using a Mac.

Frank

boxerman wrote:

journeyman wrote:The Mobius footage looks pretty good. Does anyone know if the video software is compatible with apple laptops? Sometimes you have to use Windows based software on some camera products?

Thanks

The GUI setup programme is a windows application but the video files it produces are .MOV which are Apple format.

Frank

This will convert .MOV files no problem:

http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

PB

Don't bother with 'special delivery' I got mine the next day in 'rural' Lincolnshire.

Cheers Ian

peugeotboxer wrote:

This will convert .MOV files no problem:

http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

PB

Careful with this one folks  
It tried to install an online gaming thingy
AVG found a Trojan during the install  
It altered my default search engine to "Delta" even though I told it not to.  
Hope the app works OK PB

Frank

We've just got back from Whitby & Staithes & the dash-cam was set to constant-loop record, it does this in 15min batches, until the card is full whereupon it starts all over, pulled the card from the camera & shoved it in the laptop & there are loads of avi files. Mine is only 640 x 480 but more than adequate for registration  info etc, also, what I like about it is that I don't need to remember to switch it on or off, as as soon as the ign  is on, so is the video!!

modelman wrote:We've just got back from Whitby & Staithes & the dash-cam was set to constant-loop record, it does this in 15min batches, until the card is full whereupon it starts all over, pulled the card from the camera & shoved it in the laptop & there are loads of avi files. Mine is only 640 x 480 but more than adequate for registration  info etc, also, what I like about it is that I don't need to remember to switch it on or off, as as soon as the ign  is on, so is the video!!

So after each 15min loop, does that produce a file that's saved on the SD Card and takes up space, or does it record over it?

Thanks

Sorry re-read now, so it only re-records once the SD Card is full.

boxerman wrote:

peugeotboxer wrote:

This will convert .MOV files no problem:

http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

PB

Careful with this one folks  
It tried to install an online gaming thingy
AVG found a Trojan during the install  
It altered my default search engine to "Delta" even though I told it not to.  
Hope the app works OK PB

Frank

That's a bit odd Frank.

Have been using this for a while now (where other programs failed)

I do know that some of the 'free' software out there will 'load' other rubbish if you don't deselect the ticked boxes or such.

Sorry if you had issues, obviously anyone else, make sure you are not agreeing to download other stuff!

PB

ian wrote:Don't bother with 'special delivery' I got mine the next day in 'rural' Lincolnshire.

Cheers Ian

Ian,

I'm intrigued. Where exactly is "big city Lincolnshire"?  

 
Ian

Come off it....I hear you're on superfast broadband...........we've found pigeons are faster  

Cheers Ian

Wingrider8368 wrote:CruizingComet

A quick question on the dash cam you posted the link for, can it be mounted with the suction cup on it's base?
I have a notion to fit it nearer the bottom of my windscreen, it would be less intrusive and nearer the 12v socket.  Like that I could have the suction cup at the bottom of the screen and the camera perched above it.

Many thanks for the link.

KR

Ken

If you use one of those round discs like a sat nav it will fix to the dash, which I may try at some point.... At the moment it is mounted at the base of the screen just above the wipers and from outside of the vehicle it's barely visible as its pretty compact.

Hi there,

My Mobius arrived from Webbex this morning (thank-you Chris) without any Instructions!

For the first thirty minutes I probably looked like a chimp playing with a Rubik's Cube but then Webbex (thank-you Chris) sent an email with all the links I required. I actually found the most useful to be this pdf file that I printed off.

http://www.mytempfiles.info/mobius/MobiusManual.pdf

I have now:

o  Done a number of test films at both wide and narrow angles.

o  Taken a few test still photographs.

I have a MacBook Air so I wrote a SYSCFG.TXT file and then:

o  Set up the date and time.

o  Switched the "Sound Record" off.

o  Put the new SYSCFG.TXT file back on the camera.

I didn't break anything so "Whooooo!!  Who's the Daddy??"  (Though I have to admit, it was really easy.) 

At the moment "Petal" is in for a few rust spots to be touched up so it will be a few days before I get the camera installed.

I am still trying to work out the best position.  As we are overseas a lot it may be wise to install it so that it can be angled to slightly favour the "off-side" for both the UK and overseas.

I'm very happy with the bit of kit so far and still amazed at how tiny it is!  

Best regards,

Thanks Duetto,

Glad your pleased with it.

I had a look at the PDF instructions, to be honest I think setting up the text file for a macbook is a little to complicated for my level of skill. Its almost like your buying a product that"s not been fully finished. I may hold back on this purchase.

Thanks again for the user review.

Hi there,

There is no problem if you use a PC with Windows XP or later.

My "problem" is that I use an Apple MacBook Air so it's easier to go into the SYSCFG.TXT file than trying anything else.

I have to say that it is really easy to do.

Basically, what you can change is on he left of the page and what it means is on the right.  Something like this:

2013.01.12  20.03.15                 Date/Time Format yyyy.mm.dd   hh.mm.ss

This means that the date was factory set as being 1st December 2013 and the time you are looking at is 2012hrs and 15 seconds.  These are the things that you need to change.

Another example would be:

Microphone [1]                 Microphone [1] = "On"     [0] = "Off"

This means that the [1] indicates that the microphone is switched "On" so to switch it to "Off" all you have to do is to change the number in the brackets to [0] to switch the microphone off.

It really is an impressive bit of kit.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

Cheers Duetto,

I've also got a Macbook, hence my concern. I agree the footage looks excellent. Maybe I will bite the bullet next week. It's certainly a piece of kit that would be useful.

With regard to 'positioning' in the vehicle... mine is almost centre(see earlier post photograph). 
The video that it takes is as good as what you can see with your eyes. 
I don't believe you will need to set it 'off centre'...you get such a wide coverage.

Having said that the roads here in 'Rural Lincolnshire' are not that wide.  

Cheers Ian

I'm hoping to get some footage from my dash cam later today which I should be able to link to, would be interesting if others can do the same in order to give other members a visual review as to what they are buying and what to expect.

I think these cams are likely to become more popular in the future so hopefully as demand grows the quality will improve. Design wise many of the cams look awful IMO but the most important aspect all said and done is the quality of the recordings and the reliability.

CruizingComet wrote:I'm hoping to get some footage from my dash cam later today which I should be able to link to, would be interesting if others can do the same in order to give other members a visual review as to what they are buying and what to expect.

Excellent idea  There are quite a lot of sample videos / reviews on the Techmoan site, and he often puts up links to files which have not been downgraded by Youtube.

If anyone is shopping for a dashcam I would suggest looking at Matt's (Techmoan's) reviews. He gives an honest, down to earth review and if something is rubbish, he will say so. I've seen all his reviews and I based my choice of the Mobius on them. His latest review is of a camera that is probably better than the Mobius, but it's too late now  

Frank