Ausdom A261 Dash cam from GearBest.com Night video (Tractor Trailer)

The Ausdom A261 has better than average night video.   Thanks to gearbest.com for providing this camera for my use, and abuse.

I'll be using this cam in my truck over the next few months.  So far, I like it.

Impatient SUV passes truck on right, near miss Illinois

Venezia Truck #1287 Tailgating, I-85 in South Carolina 05-08-15

This video was made near Blacksburg, SC on I-85, heading north.   The Venezia truck tailgated the white car for as long as they were in my sight.   Truckers like this one can kill people.   Yes, cars drive this way, also, but the consequences of a big truck running into the back of you are usually much more deadly.   Slow down.   If you see a large truck driving like this, keep away from them, and try to contact the safety department at his company, with the truck and trailer number, or call the police.

It's no fun looking in the rear view mirror and only seeing the front grill of a large truck, a few feet behind you.   They tailgate other trucks, also, and if  you had a CB, you would hear what kind of moronic pig these drivers are.  

Video via an HP F200 dashcam, and Mobius dashcam

The two cams are mounted in my windshield about 8 inches apart, an

A118-C 1080p HD Dash Camera w/ Capacitor

This is a dashcam that looks promising to me. (Do I really need another one?)

A118 HD 1080p Car Dash Camera - $79.95
from: Spy Tec

The video is good, and it has some nice 'stealth' features. There is also an inexpensive GPS module available. This cam is better suited for a 'semi-permanent' installation, due to the use of sticky tape to mount it to the windshield. It's not impossible to move from car to car, but not as simple as using a suction cup mount. I do intend to try one of these out!
Check the details and reviews on this cam at SpyTec.

Quality Carriers tanker #702685 Hits parked truck in Hucks/FJ truckstop, Mt. Vernon, IL 3-28-15

In over 30 years of driving a truck, I've been hit many times by other trucks, while parked in truck stops. Too often the other driver will take off if he thinks he has not been seen. Often it happens when a truck is trying to back into a parking space next to you. In this situation, it's daylight, the parked truck is not exactly sitting in an official parking space, but there is plenty of room to get around it.
Watch as the Quality Carried tanker hits the trailer of the parked truck as it attempts to drive around it. The Driver of the truck did not get out of the truck to check on the damage to the other truck, or to try to contact the driver of that truck.
The tanker driver drove off to a back row of the truck stop, parked, then walked back to the truck he hit to look at the damage, and pick up a piece of his trailer fender that fell off in the accident. He took this piece of fender back to his parked truck, and placed it on the ground next to the damage he did to his trailer. (Two destroyed rims and tires, and a fender.)
Again, he never attempted to contact the driver of the parked truck he hit, who turned out to be in the cab, sleeping.
I was busy trying to find the dashcam video of the truck. I had video, as well as witnessing this mess.
A second driver who witnessed the accident, knocked on the door of the parked truck, waking the driver up.
(How he slept through that jolt, I don't know, but he claims he thought it was a nightmare.)
I don't remember if the driver of the tanker then wandered up, or if they walked over to where he was parked. The tanker driver did appear at the back of the trailer to look at the damage, and had some discussion with the driver of the parked truck.
The tanker driver was not going anywhere, due to two flat tires, which must have hit the edge of the DOT bumper on the parked Van trailer.
Making a mistake is kind of normal. This, of course is not excusable. It appears the tanker driver had no intention of checking with the driver of the parked truck he hit. This sucks.
With more dashcams in trucks, the chances JERKS like this are more likely to get caught.
This footage is from a Hewlett Packard F-200 dashcam.
Get a decent dashcam, for your own protection!

Using a Mobius dashcam on vacation in Thailand

 

Earlier this year, I spent a few weeks driving around Thailand.  I took a wide angle version Mobius with me, and it was placed in the windshield of my rental car before I left the airport.


Mobius 1080P HD Action Camera Wide-Angle
from: Spy Tec

The Mobius is a good travel companion, small, not obtrusive, and reliable.
I did have a netbook with me, and downloaded the video files at least daily. The 32mb memory card I had in the Mobius yielded about 6 hours of video, before overwriting the oldest file. (At the settings I selected)
(I have hours and hours of video from this trip!)
I purchased the wide angle lens version of the Mobius just prior to the trip, but I've been using the standard lens Mobius for over a year in my tractor trailer..  My thoughts now are I prefer the normal angle version a little more for 'dashcam' use.    The wide angle lens version seems to pick up vehicle 'A Pillars', and extraneous stuff, maybe a bit more than I want to.
I packed a small suction cup mount, a usb cable for power/download, and a 12v cigarrette lighter powered USB hub. 



Driving in Thailand for the first time?   INSANE.

What can I say?   I have never driven on 'that' side of the road before, coupled with driving from the 'wrong' (right) side of the vehicle.     To compound things, I was driving a manual transmission pickup truck, with the shifter on my left.
The pickup itself, a Toyota Vigo Champ 'Extra' cab, was wonderful, and priced well, via Budget Car rental in BKK.     I chose it over a 'clown' car  which was roughly the same price.   The pickup came with a sturdy and fashionable locking cap.   There was only a miniscule, barely padded bench for a back seat, but there was only two of us, and we have plenty of room up front.
The Vigo,  (Same as a Tacoma in the US) had a diesel engine, and did well on fuel, while offering decent performance.

I honestly didn't keep track of the MPG, but my guess is mid to high 20's.    There are no self serve gas stations in Thailand, or at least I didn't see any.   We generally stopped at a large 7/11 travel plaza, handed the attendant a 1000 baht note, and that filled the tank up, and we had change left for a snack.

Navigating Thailand was 'interesting'.   I had a Thai friend with me, who had not driven much in the big cities.    I bought a GPS map for my Garmin, which turned out to be worthless.    My suggestion is rent the GPS from the car rental place.

Just prior to my trip, I purchased a multiple USB outlet that plugged into a 12v cigarette lighter outlet.     It worked well for this trip, charging cell phones, tablets, and powering the Mobius.    The 12v outlet did lose power when the key was off and the truck parked.    I was hoping for it to stay powered, keeping the cam on while the truck was parked, offering us some protection while parked in tourist areas.

Yes, the first day in Thailand, an Elephant was within in inches of my parked rental car.
We were at the Royal Elephant Kraal, near Ayutthaya, after normal tourist hours.
(I didn't realize it.)

The elephants were being herded about, some coming home from town from 'work'.
I parked the truck, we walked around a bit, then I noticed elephants milling about the pickup.  I was nervous, the pickup was silver, maybe looking gray to a lovesick elephant, and they were CLOSE.   At the same time I was thinking, 'wow, this will be cool video on the MOBIUS!'.
Well, I didn't realize the mobius was not powered up, since the 12v socket I plugged it into was not powered when the key is off.

Next time I will take a large battery pack to power the Mobius, and maybe even a second Mobius to place in the rear of the vehicle.   The Mobius is so inconspicuous.   It's easy to tuck in near the rear view mirror.
The Mobius is good 'insurance' against some traffic accident scams that sometimes target tourists, and also helps to document your trip.

I'd heard of police corruption in Thailand, didn't have a problem, although we often passed through Police and Military checkpoints in the provinces.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip, more so after the first few days of getting used to driving there.   I may have left some unusual stains on the driver seat of the pickup during the first day driving there..

We traveled from BKK, toward Mae Hong Song, Chiang Mai, and later Issaan, and eventually back to BKK.  I think I drove 3000 km in ten days.

Do I suggest you  rent a car when if you go to Thailand?    Not if you are not used to driving on 'that' side of the road!

Will I rent a car on my next trip?  Yes.   Shop wisely online, I rented my pickup via USAA, and Budget.     I highly recommend the Budget agency at the BKK airport.
They were very helpful, the car was ready and clean, and at the curb.  Dealing with Budget was the easiest part of this long trip.  Thanks, I'll use you  next time!

On the temple grounds at Tham Erawan,  Nong Bua Lamphu province

Once you  escape BKK, slow down, enjoy the scenery, take your time.   I feel comfortable driving in Thailand now.  That doesn't mean I won't occasionally stray to the wrong side of the road or turn the wipers on when I'm trying to use a turn signal.
Thai drivers will tailgate, and pass where it is totally stupid.     (another reason for a dashcam)   The more expensive the car, the more aggressive they seem to be.
Then, you have the large, Toyota Vans that run inter-city, usually silver colored, hauling maybe 15 passengers.   They usually drove like maniacs.

Here's tour bus we saw at a Tourist attraction in Loei province.

My Thai friend told me 'don't tell people you  trucker in USA.  ' Here trucker is low life person, do drug.'.

Well, not so different than in the USA?    I was still curious about the trucks in Thailand.


Except in the rural provinces, the big trucks usually weren't going very fast, and I saw little in the way of what we'd think of as 'truck stops'.

You didn't see as many overly aggressive big trucks  in Thailand as I see in the USA.

Many big trucks were LPG powered.

The closest thing to  a truck stop I saw were wide spaces in the road where there was some roadside vendors, like a flea market, and some trucks parked on the shoulder.
The truckers could buy hot food, and apparently sometimes 'special services' at some, (Massages and beyond).

As far as parking to sleep, I saw many trucks with small sleepers just parked on the shoulder of the road.

Oh, stickers or mudflaps bearing the image of  Al Pacino in 'Serpico' are popular on big trucks in Thailand.   They see him as an anti-police corruption symbol.
It was kind of strange seeing 'Serpico' staring at you from mudflaps on the back of trucks.


 Here is video from the wide angle lens mobius, on the road to Pai, Thailand.   Other than around BKK or other big cities, this was some of the worst driving I saw in Thailand.

If you want to view it in HD, please view it at Youtube. (I did upload in 1080p HD)

Tailgating trucks compilation #3

A majority of motorists follow other vehicles too closely, but when a large truck does it, people can die or be seriously injured.  If you see a truck driving this way, try to give them some space.  They can kill you.
Reporting the driver to the company they work for doesn't always have much impact.
If the trucker is driving very dangerously, call the police, and give a truck description, direction, and any  other information that may identify the truck.
Of course, if you have a dashcam, you can save the video of the event, and post it online.
(Which seems to get the attention of the trucking companies, and the driver better than a phone call to the company.)

Streator, Illinois 11-14-14

Just another day in the life of a trucker, stuck in slow traffic.
Video from my HP F200 Dashcam.

 

Scenic footage from a dashcam, Snake River, near Clarkston, WA/Lewiston, ID

Footage from my Mobius dashcam The mobius is small, reliable, and produces good quality video.  
The video was accelerated slightly during editing. I'm not really going that fast, and that is not a martian or chipmunk voice on my GPS.

Knoxville, TN. Car hits another car trying to avoid being hit by pickup pulling trailer

Video from HP F200 Dashcam, on 09-16-14

 

This is a screenshot of an old Dodge pickup, pulling a trailer, which was later the cause of an accident when it forced it's way into an exit lane, which was already occupied by a small car.

The small car ran into a car to the right, to avoid getting hit by this pickup.

The pickup never stopped.

Watch closely to see this pickup and trailer appear from in front of the white box truck, and swerve into the exit lane.

Truck crosses median, two dead NY thruway 6-30-14

This is video from my HP F200 Dashcam of an accident on the NY Thruway, 06-30-14, near Mendon, NY.

Watch the oncoming lane in the distance and you can see a straight truck veer across the median in the Eastbound lanes, and plunge into oncoming traffic in the Westbound lanes.

Two men in a Westbound pickup died in this crash, and 6 other vehicles were destroyed,or damaged.

Please be careful!

Which Dashcams do I use in my truck?

I currently use two Dashcams. One is a Mobius, the other, an HP F-200. I recommend both, but each has some unique characteristics. The Mobius is more suited for somebody comfortable with tinkering with computers, programs, apps. The Mobius is used in various applications, from onboard video on R/C aircraft, 'action' videos, and as a dashcam.
There is no built-in display on the Mobius. You will need to download the video to a computer to view the video, or remove the memory card and play it via a computer. (Or other device).

Mobius 1080P HD Action Camera - $79.95
from: Spy Tec

The Mobius uses standard tripod mounts. You can find many inexpensive mounts on Amazon!
The Mobius is small, unobtrusive, and does pretty well as a 'stealth' dashcam. It's not much bigger than a matchbox. It's powered via the USB port, and you can use various USB cables, or power cords for other electronic products, like most Garmin GPS units.
Truckers, if you want to use a Mobius in your big truck, make sure you have a laptop with you. You will need a laptop to configure the camera, and download or view the videos. There are programs and adapters to configure the Mobius, and download video via a smartphone, but I have not used them. I have a laptop with me all the time, anyway.
The video quality is good, and you can vary the settings via the configuration program.
This is not a 'plug and play' dashcam! You will need a laptop for initial configuration, and periodic updates, checking settings, downloading video files, etc.
The Mobius has a strong following by avid users, and there is a lot of info online for specific uses, and tweaks.
I like the small form factor. Make sure you position the Mobius where you can see the small LED flashing to monitor it is recording and working properly. The LED is small!

The second dashcam I'm using is the HP F200. It has a decent video screen, fairly simple menu, and good quality video. The current price on Amazon is not so great, keep checking for a better price. This is a better dashcam for 'plug and play' type operation, with the exception that the one I bought arrived with Russian language menu selected. It took some fumbling to awitch it to English.
I will be honest, I don't use most of the features of this camera. I just set the time, put a 32gb card in it, and stuck it in my windshield.
This is a Chinese made camera, and I do see some other branded cameras that are probably clones, or the same camera as the HP F200. The HP F210 model has a built in GPS, and has some negative reviews. I've been happy with the F200.
The F200 uses standard tripod threaded type mounts, and has threaded holes on both the top, and bottom of the camera.
It is not huge, but not inconspicuous. It also powers via the USB port. I prefer dashcams to power this way.



Both of these cameras have turned out to be pretty reliable, and produce good video.

Blacksys Cw-100 dashcam with GPS

This is a dashcam I picked up  on Amazon, and have only used once.  The video quality isn't great, but it's nice to have the GPS feature.    I think this one will end up permanently installed in my car.
The mount uses two sided adhesive tape, to attach the cam unit to your windshield, so it's not something you can easily move from car to car.
I prefer dashcams to have the standard tripod thread mount, but the price at Amazon on this was good enough it was worth a try.

Blacksys CW-100 Car Camera CCTV GPS Car Dash Cam Driving Camera Black Box DVR

'Professional' truck driver spotting, Rock Hill, SC

It's rare you see such a skilled, and professional trucker like this one.   In this video compiled from two dashcams, you can see how he skillfully plows his way around another truck, waiting to exit a somewhat narrow electronically controlled gate at an Exel warehouse in Rock Hill, SC.
There are two trucks waiting to exit, you have to use the callbox at the gate to get it open, but the blue truck is operated by such an important person who can't wait a few seconds, and has such a high level of truck driving skills, he decides he will make his own roadway.  




Mobius 1080P HD Action Camera - $79.95
from: Spy Tec

Swift trying to back up Waterloo, IA 07-01-13

Yes, we all have to learn, sometimes, but this Swift driver was not having a good day. I found this situation more disturbing when the 'helper' walked under the trailer of the truck that was trying to back up. The 'helper' appeared to be a lease operator, who also had a toddler in the truck with him. The child was running around the truck staging area, playing 'hide and seek' under the parked trucks. These trucks were waiting to be called to a door to be unloaded, and may pull out at any moment.

Sorry about the bug splats on the windshield!

Orland, California CA-32 4 wheeler passing in a no passing zone

Video captured on my mobius dash/action cam.

I-40, Winston-Salem, NC Old caddie tailgates, brake checks small car

Road rage? Watch the tailgating Caddie brake check the small car, then barrel off back into the hammer lane.  Captured on my HP F200 Dashcam.
 

225 Auto transport truck, tailgating small car 10-01-14

No excuse! Too close, too impatient.