I was joking, should have inserted an emoji of some sort perhaps, although there's people who drive here with a sat nav mounted directly in front of them, yep right in the centre of their field of vision. You probably have them there too, natural selection will prevail in the end......
I've had TP running on my Pioneer through screen mirroring for a couple of years & also Google maps, so it's really just a simplification of what I already have.

 

Sous, about that 5 minute segment recording time. Might consider shorter if the software allows. Sure, it will make a trade-off of using a bit more file space. Reasoning is that I recall reading a few case studies where longer segments hurt the camera's owner as they allowed stray information to enter into a legal argument.

 

The software does allow for shorter segments, down to 1 minute at least and maybe shorter. Although, I don't understand the "stray information" concern, but am interested to hear your perspective.

Are you referring to the audio being recorded? That can be shut off/muted as well, but I prefer to have the audio in a recorded segment.

Are you referring to the reaction I or someone else may have if there is an incident (hopefully never does)?

A recording is just that, everything that took place in the field of view of the lens which is committed to a data file. If the video needs to be trimmed or shortened in order to email or transfer, that us easily accomplished.

The ATOTO dash camera is no different than any other dash camera in function. It is only different in that the recordings are accessible through the "HD DVR" app. The segments can be locked, deleted, copied, moved, saved or exported just like any other video file. They are in MP4 format and are viewable on any smartphone, tablet or computer.

I look forward to your comments as I am always looking to learn.

 

Also, I almost forgot an update...

I ran the A6 Pro on my table with the dash camera for most of the day. Turning the 12v switch on and off from time to time to simulate the truck ignition being turned on and off. Everything went well for several hours.

I plan to do some more testing and familiarization going forward and will install the head unit, dash camera, wireless charging pad and a few other little creature comforts after Christmas.

I'm still on the hunt for a good deal on an OBDLink MX or MX+. I'm hopeful for a holiday season sale and will post it here if I find one.

 

Reasoning for shorter recording intervals is, that should something adverse happen, to provide just the recorded segments which show details of the incident and nothing more or less.

If the incident goes down a legal path, an opposing counsel (attorney) will expect the entire segment. Trying to edit / trim a file will only raise questions and can lead to the opposing counsel digging-in hard. Naturally, the amount of money on the table will drive how hard the opposing counsel will push.

Another element is that longer intervals might include imagery of the camera owner making a simple mistake (ie: going over the center line, briefly exceeding the speed limit, not seeing somebody in a crosswalk and not stopping, etc...). While none of these simple items might appear to have anything to do with the incident that shows later in the recording segment, opposing counsel will look to use it for their client. Sure, this is a smoke-screen move, but it is the opposing counsel's job to introduce doubt about the camera owner's purity / innocence as any doubt helps their client. Again, amount of money in play will drive the effect.

Ideally, we would live in a world where none of this matters, but seeing as a stated requirement of the imagery is for protective purposes, knowing how that landscape works should factor-in when configuring the DVR's settings.

Granted that none of this risk might ever surface. And at the same time we pay insurance companies a lot of money for things that should never happen.

 

I think the possibilities of catching only the incident on the segment recorded by the dash camera are slim to none. If only the incident is requested, the segment will need to be edited by myself, or someone else that is "authorized" to do so. In which case, there is nothing more to snipping a video file at 2m25s into the video than snipping it 15s into a video. I see your point though, and thank you for the clarification.

The chances of an incident going to court or even to an attorneys office is slim, but it is there. In which case, the entire segment, be it 1 minute or 5 minutes and the brief incident segment can be provided simultaneously. I will have the capability and resources to provide either or both if the need arose. Hopefully, this will never be anything I need to be concerned with, but I like to be prepared. Money is not the concern and is not what I strive for when taking precautions such as a dash camera. If there were to be an incident, I would only look to establish enough blame (be it on me or the other individual or both of us) in order to perform the required repairs. Even when I crashed my first motorcycle twice because people turned in front of me and I had nowhere to go, I never went after them for money or sued them.

All of these are good points, but all of these might place equal blame on myself as well in which case I would own up to. I am not looking to "catch" anyone or achieve a "gotcha", I am only looking to enhance my ability to remove the possibility of the "he said, they said". If the dash camera can do that, fine with me, if it cannot, then nothing really lost because it was free anyway and saved me money for buying a dash camera for the Subaru.

I drive the truck (especially with the trailer on) like I have nowhere to be. 65 MPH in right line even in OK, MT and TX where the speed limit is far higher than that. I am comfortable with my abilities and I am also comfortable in using the dash camera footage to prove a case for the other party involved if it came down to it. Although, I suspect a "yup, it was my fault" to the LEO and signed report would be sufficient enough. I make mistakes and I am not afraid or too proud to admit when I make them. It happens, no one is prefect, even though some people think they are perfect.

If the "amount of money in play" is a drive for the other party, then I will have the original recording and the incident segment of that recording. In my opinion, this could be a blessing in disguise in saying "look, I have nothing to hide and here is everything proving that". If it was in fact my fault, then I have good insurance and will take care of what I need to. If it was not my fault, I only want to get back on the road and back to enjoying life with my family.

If there were lawyers (counsel), jury members or just a judge involved due to say a manslaughter charge or in small claims court, I will deal with that. I don't ever seeing it go that far, but I didn't see us not having kids either, and here we are...

There are a lot of people with bad intentions, but there are many more with good intentions. Karma is real and so is a person's perception of their reality. For example, do you say "FML" or "GFML" even when facing a challenge that may seem big at the time, even though in the grand scheme of things it is miniscule.

I agree with you to a point, but disagree as well and that is OK. We are each obligated and fortunate enough to have the mental fortitude to make decisions for ourselves that we feel are best for our situations and instances. Perhaps, one day I will regret having a 5 minute video segment instead of a 1 minute video segment, but I don't think so. Perhaps one day I will regret having Hawk SD pads instead of EBC Yellow, but I don't think so. Perhaps one day I will regret having a Borg Warner SXE turbo, but I don't think so. Perhaps one day I will regret having a South Bend clutch, but I don't think so. The list goes on and on, as does your list and everyone else's list. We make choices everyday that have the possibility of being wrong, but most of us do our best to negate those possibilities.

If I do make a mistake in a decision or action, I own up to it and try to learn from them. If I see others making a mistake, I try to learn from them as well.

That is what life is to me and my family. A series of events that we choose to enjoy or become angry about. A series of events that we have to fight and endure through in order to get back to where we can be and should be happy. Life can be tragic and full of strife, but it can also be wonderful and full of joy...

If I am counting on the negative aspect of life, that is what I am going to bring into our lives.

Thank you for your thoughts and advice. I appreciate you taking the time to teach me some things that I may not have considered.

 

A few years ago, an FTE member posted a video of a hit and run.

The other driver, who was pulling a utility trailer, was traveling in the same direction as the FTE member with the dash cam, so the collision was more of a side swipe lane change. But it was no accident.

Had the camera DVR recording depth (where "depth" is being used to describe the amount of look back time is preserved from the point of a key event, like a collision) been, say 60 seconds, then that would have been plenty adequate to record the other driver's approach, impact, and failure to pull over after the impact. Collisions usually happen abruptly.

But what such a brief look back window would have failed to capture is the previous 15 minutes of taunting, yelling, goosing the throttle, and other evidence of road rage that finally culminated in the Mad Max style demolition derby side swipe, which was intentional. The evidence of intent was developed from the long and tortuous to watch preamble of two parties ambling down the road, and somehow not being able to share the road peacefully.

This is quite a conundrum, because on the one hand, using a vehicle to intentionally harm another party is quite an elevation of charge over a mere accidental hit and run. In fact, during the subsequent adjudication of the case (the driver was caught, due to the officer responding to the scene at the behest of the FTE member being able to see the video out of the FTE member's truck, capture the license plate and description, and radio ahead to other officers) the offending driver claimed that he had "no idea" that he had side swiped the FTE Member.

It appears the perp driver was betting on the plausibility of his assertion that he had "no idea" being supported by the fact that only his trailer impacted the FTE Member's truck. As it was the trailer, he "didn't feel" it. Perhaps he was also banking on a judge or a jury or the insurance adjuster having no experience towing trailers, because we with experience know that if we induce what essentially is an "inversed" pit maneuver with our trailers, we are definitely going to feel it. But ultimately, the other driver DIDN'T bank on the FTE Member having a dash cam DVR. This was a number of years ago, so these devices were not as ubiquitous then.

So let's get into this video, and the length thereof. First of all, in the few seconds following the point of impact, it was clearly evident that the other driver KNEW that his trailer had impacted another vehicle, due to the trailer's sway induced from the impact, and the offending driver's actions to recover from the sway, and the offending driver's rapid acceleration following the recovery. So that proves that the hit was known, and the run was intentional. But it doesn't quite yet prove that the hit was intentional.

That's where the previous 15 minutes of recording came in handy. In that long form recording, we see an escalation of increasingly aggressive behaviors on the part of the other driver, which when taken in totality, outline a clear path of intent behind the final maneuver.

Yet there is a caveat. The @JayTheCPA caveat. In the long form video, we also see an escalation of increasingly provocative behavior of the FTE Member. That was hard to watch, because you naturally want to be rooting for our fellow FTE Member, but at the same time you can clearly see that FTE Member kind of invited the aggression by egging it on, accelerating and decelerating... not doing anything illegal... not inflicting damage or physical harm... but not being very nice either. And certainly not backing down to dissipate the conflict.

So it is a two edged sword. Let he who hath no sin swing it freely.

 

I remember this video being posted and it in fact may have been one of the reasons why I bought a dash camera for the truck. The very same dash camera I plan to move from the truck and install in the Subaru soon.

I was just in the garage changing the transmission fluid and engine oil in the 2016 Escape. I was thinking about what JayTheCPA said and think there are good points to both sides of the argument. I came to the realization though that it does not matter what the segment length is in my mind because if the requesting party/agency wanted to view further prior to the incident or further past the incident, they could simply request this of the recording owner. Simply saying "I deleted that" may lead to am implication of something not right and therefore not being able to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt.

I have purchased and am using a 256GB microSD card, which allows for hours and hours of video footage to be stored. If I ever need to present the footage to an LEO, judge or jury, I will be prepared to show any and all of the video requested or required. If I am at fault, I would not be looking to hide anything and would provide the same video requested.

Clearly there are at least two sides to this discussion and thankfully we live in a country where we, the user and owner have the ability to choose.

Integrity is not only a word in the dictionary, it is doing what is right, even when you think no one is looking. Helping when the opportunity arises and being a person willing and able to defend your actions, or also admit when you have made a mistake.

We make mistakes and sometimes we pay for them dearly. Sometimes we are able to walk away unscathed and learn from those mistakes.

I feel my method of using the video segments in 5 minute increments is a good practice for me and my intended use. Since there will be hours and hours of video, the 5 minute segment has no impact on what I can or cannot, will or will not provide to a requesting authority.

Thanks again for the discussion, I enjoy this sort of back and forth as I can normally pick nuggets of information out of them that I can reflect upon in the future. I don't mind and actually encourage people to think differently than I do as I may have something to learn from them.

 

As for an update on the A6 Pro and ATOTO dash camera working in harmony, they are in fact still doing great. I will probably break down my "test bench" area on the kitchen table in the next day or two once I am satisfied with the testing.

 

I have confirmed that the "minor issue" I was experiencing with the ATOTO A6 Pro "preparing the USB" connection and music player opening has been resolved!

All that was needed was a firmware update on the ATOTO AC-44P2 dash camera to version "1.2.5" from the version it came in the box with which was "1.1.8".

I ended up putting the firmware update on a USB drive and installed it onto the A6 Pro by accessing the front USB port through the File Manager app. All I had to do was double click the firmware update 1.2.5.apk and about 30 seconds later it was done. No restart, no issues with install nothing...

So far, I am very happy with the ATOTO products and support. This appeared to be a very uncommon problem I was experiencing and I know and understand that electronics can be a challenging thing to get right sometimes.

From the time I first contacted at 14:24 on December 10th they were in touch with me within 24 hours later and usually closer to 12 hours. As of 06:51 on December 14th the issue was fixed and confirmed fixed today the 15th of December. More to follow as the days go on and I get the truck into the garage to install the gadgets.

Thanks for following along and this is what the screen on the ATOTO A6 Pro currently looks like. The apps from left to right are as follows.

Bluetooth Phone - Radio (AM/FM/Traffic/Weather) - Brave Web Browser - App Library - Pandora - FORScan - Live Google Maps

 

An FTE'r just made a very generous offer to me and after a bit of research, I accepted.

He has an OBDLink SX that he no longer has a use for. He offered to send it to me if I thought I could use it for my Android head unit project. At first I declined because I thought the SX was designed for use with a Windows PC. Turns out that the SX also works on Android and he has seen it work on Android devices around the internet.

Snip from the OBDLink website regarding the specifications of the SX:


Snip source: https://www.obdlink.com/products/obdlink-sx/

Not only is it good news that I can give the SX a second shot at life, but now I can stop hunting eBay and Amazon for a good deal on an OBDLink device.

Thank you FTE'r! I hope to repay the favor to you one day, or pay it forward to another person in need.

 

Sous, what do you think of the external mic - is it needed? I see there is a built in mic. I'm not sure which one will work better.

 

You are referring to using the external mic vs the integrated mic on the head unit, and to answer that directly. Yes, in my opinion the external mic is needed. I have an external microphone with a wind guard foam thingy on it already mounted at the top of the driver side pillar that I will use, but the ATOTO A6 Pro came with another external mic with a foam thingy.

Perhaps @SkySkiJason has had some real world experience with the integrated mic on the A6 Pro that he can share with us.

I drive with the windows down a lot and think the foam around the external mic is a valuable accessory. I am basing this opinion from absolutely zero testing and first hand knowledge with the ATOTO A6 Pro. Only from what I know about wind noise influencing unprotected microphones and the use of a microphone on my current Jensen VX7020 head unit.

Have you tried the integrated mic in your Yukon? I know the ambient noise level is not the same, but that might give us a good indication of the feasibility.

 

External mic. Definitely the external mic,

 

That reminds me of the SENA bluetooth headset that I and other motorcycle riders would use years ago. Kate and I would use them to communicate with each other as well. Really a cool system that I became very comfortable and accustomed to using.