Kawboy & ryan00,
I later learned the Trooper wasn't a jerk. I was going 72 or 75. Speed limit 60. Morning commute, so typical traffic speed is 68 to 75.
I updated my original post with details. The Trooper actually did me a favor, of sorts. Much lower fine than what I coulda been hit with.
And if I knew then, what I know now, I very likely could have beat the ticket altogether.
Recommendation for 4 cam car system?
I don't have one. The systems we sold were mainly for city buses. 12 to 16 cameras. 16 alarm inputs, to record many items: brake applied, L turn signal, R turn signal, door open, over the engine rpm redline, shock (in case of collision), headlights on, flashers on, engine on/off, etc, etc.
And an input for GPS (via RS485), to show the exact location for corresponding video footage. And based on a pre-entered set of GPS coordinates, the NVR would mark the footage. You wanna know how timely buses are in keeping on schedule? Well, you don't have to send someone out to sit in a van with a clipboard anymore. Instead, review the footage later, and skip from bus stop to bus stop (using the GPS event markers on the video) and view the video's timestamp. It greatly simplified tweaking and updating bus schedules.
The NVR supported WiFi and cellular.
Cellular to dial out for "important" events, such as a collision or a fight on the bus. Cellular to dial in if Bus Dispatch wanted to see the unruly passenger (to coordinate the police response), to check on bus location, or to surf in to simply look at the number of passengers (handy if a Football Game crowd justified sending additional buses), etc.
WiFi for when the bus returned to the depot. It's cheaper to download video with WiFi. (the NVR typically stored one week of HD, and 3 wks of substream lower res).
The management tool included many powerful ways to decide what to download for everyday immediate use.
eg:
- The lady who called Dispatch to complain the "bus drive right by me and didn't stop!" Or "He was very late, I froze my tush"
- When pre-set G-forces were exceeded (when the bus was empty, the driver wasn't slowing for speedbumps). So only G-Forces events would be downloaded.
- When the GPS, using Google maps, showed the bus exceeded speed limits.
- Using GPS set points, download video for every train track crossing.
- Download video if a camera triggered on "tampering" or Video Loss
Etc.
Size: This box is same width and length of my dahua NVR, but 2.5 times taller. Takes a bite outta my trunk space.
Cost: This system is expensive. It's very durable, and backed by a long-life warranty. So municipalities spring for it. For them, the "Total Cost of Ownership" makes it reasonably priced. But it's not "consumer priced"
Conclusion:
The system is too big, too expensive, and the features/capabilities don't match the majority of passenger car situations.
And the cameras, which fit well mounted inside a spacious bus, would not fit well in most cars. The cameras are way larger than a dash cam.
When I told the Trooper we put camera systems in Police Cars, I was telling the truth. But I left out "However, we're a very small player in that market".
Our stuff was a) overkill for a car and b) trunk space in a Trooper Cruiser is at a premium. Our stuff was too big.
Kawboy, good question. Sorry about the long answer.....
Fastb
