Dan Robinson
While browsing the Tiger Direct store here in Raleigh, I found a small surveillance camera set, with a microphone and RCA A/V outputs, for $50. I bought it and will be installing it as a full-time dashcam on the car, with a VCR running on SLP for 6 hours of recording at a time. Basically I'll have the camera running every time I'm on the road. If nothing of note happens after 6 hours of driving, I'll rewind the tape and start again. 6 hours will cover most trips I take and should last me a week or more of normal day-to-day driving.
The little camera is about 3/4 inch square and is only slightly better than VHS quality, but still captures at 30fps, has auto-iris and gain, and the image doesn't look all that bad on a TV.
I'll be beta-testing this setup for a while and may eventually buy a second camera and VCR for a rear-facing view. It's a cheap way to add a couple more camera views for the amazing one-in-a-million shot that happens when you don't have a camera in hand.
I've also been looking around at DVRs that can capture multiple full-screen video streams simultaneously. That's a little more money than I want to spend at the moment, but if the setup works I may consider it later.
The little camera is about 3/4 inch square and is only slightly better than VHS quality, but still captures at 30fps, has auto-iris and gain, and the image doesn't look all that bad on a TV.
I'll be beta-testing this setup for a while and may eventually buy a second camera and VCR for a rear-facing view. It's a cheap way to add a couple more camera views for the amazing one-in-a-million shot that happens when you don't have a camera in hand.
I've also been looking around at DVRs that can capture multiple full-screen video streams simultaneously. That's a little more money than I want to spend at the moment, but if the setup works I may consider it later.
