Common Q & A Part 2 (Hardware & Accessories)



How Long will a Vehicle Video Surveillance Camera System Last?
The ideal response should be "As long as the vehicle it is installed within lasts".
The major deciding factor is the type of Memory Storage Device the DVR records to as that is the Achilles heel of the system, aka the weakest link.
I do not know of a single conventional hard drive capable of surviving 15 years sitting still at a desk in an air-conditioned or heated environment.
Now put this same fragile hard drive in a bus riding on steel springs, bouncing along on rough roads, in the summer heat, in the winter cold, high moisture, really rotten bus electrical charging systems and it is a wonder they survive their warranty period. In reality, many of them do not survive their warranty. The only digital system I am aware of with any chance of exceeding the life of the average school bus is the 100% Solid State Drive SD memory card-based DVR.



What is the most durable memory storage device for a mobile video recorder?
There are 2 choices of DVR memory storage devices that do not transmit their data to off-vehicle storage, as in cellular.

Hard drive-based DVRs; have the highest failure rates and are poorly suited for mobile school bus applications due to their fragile design.
About 560,000 hard drives crash every month (*Mozy.com).
"Disk drive failures 15 times what vendors say, study says, drive vendors declined to be interviewed" (Computerworld)
The Carnegie Mellon study found hard drive failure "up to 13% observed on some systems" again; this is in office conditions, not in a mobile vehicle application which is much more hostile to the drive.

Those applications that are expected to be nonlife-threatening such as;
Head Start Pre-K Pre-School Nursery School Child Safety Bus Camera Recorder systems
Before & After Care School Child Day Care Pickup In-vehicle Shuttle Safety Cameras
Transportation Ministry Youth Activities Church Bus Camera System

Can still benefit from the same rugged 100% Solid Statee reliability as other applications that can involve life-threatening events such as:
100% Solid State Drive-based DVRs; offer the highest reliability, and longest life, and operate in extreme; heat, cold, vibration, shock, and impact.
The future is unwritten; circumstance and misfortune can combine without warning creating unanticipated problems in the best-laid plans. In my opinion, it is better to have a device that works as reliably as possible when protecting the district, municipality, or company from liability concerns.



Will the Vehicle Video Surveillance Camera System survive an accident?
Car Airbags deploy in accidents at about 3 "G"s of impact, or as slow as hitting an object while your car is moving about 7-12 miles per hour. Often the airbag replacement costs several times the damage to the vehicle.
A conventional hard drive in a school bus video camera system can survive about 3 "G"s, which explains why so many of them crash the hard drive when the bus hits a large bump, big pothole, storm curb, or another object even at slow speeds.
When you are purchasing a video system to protect your district from liability and act as an expert witness in the worst-case scenarios, it seems a wise idea to make sure the one you invest district budget dollars into, will not fail you when you need it most, such as in the case of a bad accident.
This is the type of decision that separates those with vision and career advancement from those who might look back in hindsight after losing the lawsuit due to a failed hard drive system that was damaged in the crash.



Can we get a live VLS (Vehicle Location System) in case the vehicle is hijacked or stolen?
It is a common desire to get one device that can address multiple concerns at the same time. When trying to solve multiple concerns it is important to not get tunnel vision and to step back to see the big picture.

Each concern has operational requirements to address that may not be shared by the other concerns you may have.
For example, We want a High-Value Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera system, and also want VLS for active vehicle location. These are 2 concerns that have diametrically opposing operational requirements.

The Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera system calls for an “overt” application where the cameras are not hidden and are overtly placed in front of the inmates.
There is no secrecy to their presence and everyone in the vehicle can clearly see them.

The VLS system that enables remote tracking of the vehicle location in case of hijack or vehicle theft, calls for a “covert” application meaning no one is supposed to know the vehicle is equipped with this capability until it is needed.

When you combine the vehicle surveillance camera system with the VLS you can easily become a victim of unintended consequences.
For example; A group of assailants hijacks the Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera equipped bus and the first thing they see is the cameras mounted all over the bus recording their every move. They look for and find the DVR that records the camera video sent to it. They dump a magazine of 9mms suppressed into the DVR making Swiss cheese of the PC boards and memory storage devices.
The unintended consequence you are now a victim of is without them knowing you had a VLS, they disabled it when they ventilated your vehicle video camera system DVR with 30 rounds of 9mms.

Even though our system can offer VLS integrated within the DVR, I always suggest customers use a third-party VLS solution so it can be hidden remotely in the dash and not attached in any way to our vehicle video camera surveillance camera system as bad guys target the video cameras recording their evil deeds.




What is a “Propriety connector”?
A “Propriety connector” in this application refers to the business model of adding a non-CCTV Industry-standard camera connector to the camera heads or Camer ExtensionCaables making it difficult if not impossible for a customer to use any other products of camera-related accessories with the system they bought from the company they received the propriety equipped system from.
“Propriety connector” destroy a customer’s ability to make the best value choices for their company and forces them to only purchase products from a single source.



What Equipment is required in the vehicle?
There are generally 2 different groups as far as equipment requirements go.

Standard Transport Applications such as:
Students With Disabilities & Special Needs Transportation Video Camera
Cannabis Transport Vehicle Camera Recorder
Casino Customer Shuttle Bus Video Surveillance Safety Cameras
Paratransit Driver Safety Video Camera Surveillance System
Elderly Day Care Shuttle & Assisted Living Transportation Vehicle Video Camera
School Bus Stop Arm Cameras

Standard Transport Applications have minimal equipment requirements:
SS4 mobile video system with 1-4 cameras
SDXC memory card in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB - 2TB Slide in 7mm SSD for each recorder depending on your number of cameras per vehicle and storage memory desired.


Specialty Transport Applications such as:
Forklift HD Industrial Operator Safety Camera System
5th Wheel King Pin Trailer CS1 Spotter Yard Mule Camera
HVIT Prisoner & Inmate in-Custody Transport Camera 

Specialty Transport Applications may require additional equipment such as:
Touch Screen LCD display in 7” or 10” (Waterproof)
Wireless Magnet Mount Cameras with Rechargeable Battery packs
Remote DVR Indicator LED panel and Driver Marker Button
Steel Camera Security Cage



What Equipment is required in the office?
  • 1 USB Reader if your PCs do not already have an "SDXC" card slot in them
  • 1 SSD card Dock Reader (if using the 1TB/2TB Slide in 7mm SSD)
  • Customer provided PC Desktop or Laptop with Windows OS to view the files
  • 1 unit 7” LCD setup display and user interface to aim cameras and program the DVR menu 
  • Customers must have Basic knowledge of how the company PC works
  • Must have “Administrator" access on the PC to view the video files 



How long does installation take?
These installations are simple to perform, 3 wire connections, mount cameras, mount DVR, and program the DVR menu. Almost all customer purchases except US Army & US Air Force are installed by their vehicle service personnel.
1-camera installs take our installers from 18 to 60 minutes
2-camera installs take our installers from 60 to 90 minutes
3-camera installs take our installers from 90 to 120 minutes
4-camera installs take our installers from 110 to 150 minutes



Does GPS have a subscription or monthly fee?
SD4FHGW & SD4FHC DVRs come with built-in GPS for passive vehicle speed and location info on the screen.
SS4GW & SS4C DVRs come with built-in GPS for passive vehicle speed and location info on the screen.
These are passive GPS, so there are no user fees or charges for the use of the system to get vehicle speed.



Is there a Driver DVR Remote Status Indicator / Marker Button?
A remote Driver LED DVR Status Indicator or Marker Button module option is available for those who mount the DVR in a remote location where the driver cannot see the DVR status LEDs on the face of the DVR.



Is there a charge for the 3-Axis(SD4FH series) or 9-Axis (SS4 series) G-Force Sensor?
No additional charge. The 3-Axis Accelerometer is included with all SD4FH series DVRs, and the 9-Axis Accelerometer is included on all SS4 series DVR-based systems, that measures the inertia forces applied to the vehicle during operation.
This feature provides sequential impartial documentation of potentially dangerous driving behaviors that can adversely affect your fleet equipment investment or drivers’ safety and help provide a driver risk management safety tool that can be used to highlight and document Dangerous Driving Behaviors.



What does the “3-Axis & 9-Axis G-Sensor” Documents?
Hard Braking recorded, distracted drivers potentially violate DOT Safe Driving Mandate,
(Documented on inertia charting & audio alerts driver to enhance driver safety and remind the driver not to follow closely)

Dangerous Hi-Speed Turns increase driver safety risks, increase liability, and risk company assets, by greatly increasing the risk of accidents. (Documented on inertia charting & audio alerts driver to enhance driver safety and remind the driver not to take turns too fast)

Crash & Impacts recorded for review in case of liability lawsuit whether driver reports them or not. (Documented on inertia charting & audio alerts driver to enhance driver safety and remind the driver when the vehicle impacts items)



How durable are SDXC Cards?
SDXC (“U3” speed ) cards can withstand 30-100 Gs of shock while in operation without damage, while a hard drive can only handle a couple of Gs while in operation before it crashes, making the SDXC based system about 10 times tougher than the hard-drive-based system. This means rough roads, bumps, curbs, and accidental impacts are no problem for an SD card even though all of them have killed hard drives in the past.
SDXC cards can be frozen solid, slammed with 30 Gs of shock, and have no moving parts to wear out. It is a fact the SD card is far superior to the hard drive in virtually every area, except price and capacity, and with the release of the 512GB SD card a couple of years ago, and the new 1TB SDXC memory card released in 2020, hard drives in mobile video applications are now joining the dinosaurs.


Should you have any questions, concerns, or require more information about various applications or Fleet Vehicle Transportation Video Camera Recorder configurations, we encourage you to let us know and we will be happy to offer our 35+ years of market experience in sales and service of digital recording devices to respond to your concerns or questions.