[reader50]

Originally Posted by subego 

The vertical rear window aims the GPS sensor down the street instead of towards the sky, and also tilts the camera too low.

Perfect tilt. You can see down the road, but you can also see almost to your bumper. Lets you catch the guy stealing your plate for toll roads. Also catches the lying SOB who said you backed up suddenly at a stop light - shows he definitely rear ended you.

[subego]

Toll plate stealing?

[reader50]

Many toll roads / bridges got rid of toll workers in favor of cameras during the pandemic. And kept the policy since, to improve profits (less labor). Cams photograph your license plate, and the toll bill is mailed to your car's registration address. Too many overdue tolls may prevent registration renewal.

So steal a plate from a similar-looking car, and drive all the toll roads for a month. You travel easy, they get the tolls. Maybe steal a new plate each month, around when the toll bills start arriving. So the old plate disappears before the cops flag it for attention.

This can work for parking fees too, in some cases. And for bank robberies of course. Send the fees and cops to someone else's house.

[subego]

Ah. Do you have window transponders?

[reader50]

It's not for people who use transponders. License-plate reading is for cars who aren't signed up for the easy-pay systems.

[subego]

How expensive are tolls in California?

[reader50]

Last time I saw the Oakland Bay bridge, seemed like they ranged from $6-$12 depending on time of day / holiday / etc. But that was over a year ago. If someone commuted daily during rush hour, that might exceed $200 per month.

I'm not aware of any toll roads in CA, so it's a few bridges. Mostly in the SF Bay area.

[subego]

Gotcha. I was trying to work out the economics. I also forgot California has freeways.

I mentioned in a different thread my frame of reference is the 25 mile stretch of toll I take which is $1.50 round trip

[subego]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Perfect tilt. You can see down the road, but you can also see almost to your bumper. Lets you catch the guy stealing your plate for toll roads. Also catches the lying SOB who said you backed up suddenly at a stop light - shows he definitely rear ended you.

I got distracted by the plate stealing and never addressed this.

I guess it isn’t bad for the more likely scenarios where I’m going to need footage from it, however it’s a cap model, so I’ll only get a thief if they try it at a stoplight.

It’s not ideal in terms of recording my surroundings at speed though. Lots of barrel distortion where all the action is taking place.

[reader50]

Originally Posted by subego 

... however it’s a cap model, so I’ll only get a thief if they try it at a stoplight.

Most cams use very little juice. You could just wire it with continuous power. Shouldn't drain the battery if you run the vehicle once a week.

Alternate plan, assuming it's powered by a USB plug. Get one of the portable cellphone charging battery packs. Plug the pack charger into the usual place, and plug the cam into the pack. Cam will continue to work with the van off. Cam will stop if/when the pack dies, without threatening your main battery.

[subego]

Not driving for more than a week happens to me frequently enough it would be a problem.

If I was comfortable with a battery, I wouldn’t have gotten caps.

[reader50]

Can you determine the actual power draw of the cam? From its specs sheet perhaps? If you already have a pack with known capacity, you could power the cam exclusively from it, then check the mem card for final datestamp after it dies. That would let you calculate the usage per hour.

I suggested a week as a safe figure. Car batteries typically have 150-350 watt-hours when fully charged (lithium replacements seem to be about 50% higher). Probably any draw up to 100 Wh would be OK. If the cam sips power, that could work out to several weeks.