Clipper, DVR, Road Camera

[masseyfarm]

Some more ARC shots of Day #54 from Grand Forks to Hope.

Day #54 we get away from Cranbrook (home of a must see train museum) http://www.trainsdeluxe.com/ by10AM and head west through Moyie Lake PP, Yahk, and on through Creston and the Kootenay River Valley. The big bump of the Kootenay Skyway looms ahead. The Clipper handles the adverse with ease and we stop at the Summit at Bridal Lake for a stretch before descending the long chute down to Salmo.

The road conditions and weather are still excellent, but there has been a good fall of snow on top that has been plowed out in the last few days.

Below is a list of the five Pass details on this #3 route across the southern part of the Province of BC. You will engage them in order from east to west.. Crowsnest Pass, Kootenay Pass, Bonanza Pass, Anarchist Summit, Sunday Summit, and Allison Pass.

Crowsnest Pass1358mEast of Sparwood
(Alberta Border)
South Eastern, BC
2 lane rural highway


Allison Pass1342mManning Prov. Park
South Western, BC
2 lane rural highway


Sunday Summit1282 mEast of Manning Park
South Western, B.C.
2 lane rural highway


Kootenay Pass1774mSalmo to Creston
South Eastern, BC
2 lane rural highway

Blueberry-Paulson Summit
(Bonanza Pass)1535mChristina Lake to Castlegar
South Central, BC
2 lane rural highway


Anarchist Summit1236 mEast of Osoyoos
South Central, B.C.

Its a long way down, and with the car in tow, the Pacbrake on the Cummins 300 requires assist from the chassis brakes to keep the pull of gravity from gaining the upper hand.

We hold up in Castlegar for a coffee, stretch, a routine equipment check, and head on up, what seems like a never ending pull, to the Blueberry-Paulson Summit, stop for a taste of the fresh air and a picture, and continue on down to the beautiful Chistina Lake. We have stayed on the Lake on previous excursions through here but we are attempting to get home for Tuesday so we don't make the stop this trip.

We make a short stop in Grand Forks for some fruit and veggies to snack on, and carry on to the climb up to the Anarchist Summit and down the switchbacks into Osoyoos. From here to Princeton the grades are not excessive as we follow the Similkameen River Valley for most of this segment.

It is now late in the day and heavy cloud to the west tells us we are in for some sever weather before we get to our preferred stop near Hope. We still have two more rock climbs to make and this will be in the dark and heavy wind and rain. Going is slow over the Sunday Summit, and even slower over the Allison Pass. The road is dark and the lane lines have not been refreshed this year. (what are you doing with all the gas tax money BC????)

We crawl into Hope late into the night and continue on to the Husky Truck Center at Flood for a well deserved meal and some rest. The large lot is spotted with deep puddles sporting white caps, (you could surf here!) and is crowded with big rigs waiting on the wind to subside, the weather to clear, and the Tuesday sun to rise.

We hit the sack after a grueling day of close to 450 miles of challenging mountain driving, the last 100 in very marginal weather and road conditions. The CLIPPER's quiet and comfortable cabin, excellent stability, visibility, and overall road handling made this long extended leg of the journey, in trying conditions, possible.

Dave

ps:

Don't let me discourage anyone from travelling this picturesque route through southern BC. We have travelled it many times over the years. It is one of the most beautiful and historic travel routes on this continent, but one should be prepared for the road conditions you might encounter, and take plenty of time to stop and enjoy all the special sights along the way. Normal travel with POI stops would probably take a minimum of 3 days and that would just give you a taste of what the area has to offer. This is RV paradise without the crowd that you find in high population centers. The following site is very informative with history and pictures of the #3 route west to east. Many community details are included and the information is well presented for those who might be interested in this neck of the woods..

http://www.crowsnest-highway.ca/

[masseyfarm]

Day #55 we wake to the continued rain and wind that is all too often part of the west coast weather. We paddle over for an excellent breakfast at the Husky while we wait on the weather to break, and leave with our travel mugs topped off with fresh hot coffee.


The traffic down to Abbottsford is moderate, but running in bunches, as the wind and rain continue to pound out of the NW. We reach Langley and make the turn for Tswassassen. The sun finally breaks through but we still experience a very strong wind.


On arrival at Twassassen, I pull the Clipper over and let loose the Sidekick for TGW to drive the final miles home. (there is approx. a $43.00 saving for us to take 2 vehicles on the ferry rather than pulling the Sidekick on with the Clipper. It takes 3 min. to disconnect even in the 40+MPH NW wind we experienced here)


We don't get on the 10:15 as it is overloaded and we have to wait for the next sailing at 12:45. No problem, as I have lots of detail to keep me busy closing up the book for end of trip.


The 12:45 in now late with the strong winds, and when we finally board and get underway we suffer a bit from the heavy seas on our 2 hour+ cruise to Duke Point.


Home before 4 PM to be welcomed by our two cats and a yard cluttered with broken tree debris.

The Clipper has once again succeeded in giving us a first class holiday that only a quality 'Class A' can. 6983 miles and 55 days with only one campground stay. Thats being independent!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Back to that grind of never ending maintenance.


Dave

[masseyfarm]

The CLIPPER goes to the hospital for repairs after the unfortunate incident in Eastern Ontario on our 2013 Tour.

(12 to 20 second clip of video.)

DVR CLIPPER DAMAGE. Flying mudflap and hanger. SEPT 23 2013 - YouTube

Hope to back on the road Tuesday.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Got my CLIPPER back today. The repair took a little longer than estimated, as the gelcoat was hard to match.

But James and the boys did a "beautiful job" and there is no evidence left to show there was any damage to the area.

Highly recommend this shop in Nanaimo. Extreme Fiberglass Solutions - fiberglass boat repair, Nanaimo BC, Canada

Now we can get on with our other priorities in life.

Dave

[DaveFL]

Beautiful job of matching color and smoothness, watched the clip 5 times before I could spot the flap. Does pay to be high off the road, we hit a tire carcass and it did a lot of damage to our low to the road Honda Fit. That flap would have taken out the windshield.
Love the other pictures.
When you hit the brakes how long does it record? can time be adjusted?
This would be a fine addition for our MH, could it be transferred to another vehicle without to much trouble?

[masseyfarm]

I was concerned about getting a match on the gelcoat Dave, so I am very happy with the result.

The DVR starts with the turn of the key and shuts off about 20 seconds after turning the key off. It is very low maintenance and has about an endless 7hr loop on HD if you don't want to download it.

The HP still camera, (ARC) works off the brake light circuit and there is a slight delay as it has an automatic focus. I would not have got the mudflap shot on the still camera as it happened to quick.

The DVR is portable and has an internal battery for use away from a power source. Not sure how long it would last? The DVR is powered with a USB cable from any power plug, so yes it is portable. I have it set to record in 2 min. intervals.

I purchased a 2 terabyte hard drive before leaving the left coast, and I have the complete 7000 miles on hard drive to watch when we are in the old folks home and have nothing else to do???? Some nice video of the small towns we were through, the mountains and the lakes, but most of it is just driving.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

This is a 2 min. segment of the TCH about 15 miles east of Ignace, Ontario, eastbound for New York. Wed. Aug 21 2013. Approx. 11 AM local.

Nothing exciting other than meeting a nice AIRSTREAM trailer unit heading west.( Last 1/3 of video)

Was this anybody here????

I thought it best for all to edit our conversation as it would have been of little interest to others.

We are about 1800 miles into the 2013 Tour at this point and still running about a day behind planned schedule because of ferry holdups and highway closure due to major accident on Rogers Pass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUYIZ...detailpage#t=1

Dave

[crazeevw]

Now you're gonna make me invest in DVR and camera for my Airstream.

[masseyfarm]

So much for the AIRSTREAM CLIPPER 2013 TOUR movie.

Another disaster in my little world has happened today. Actually yesterday, but I finally today have pinpointed the culprit.

I have lost approx. 1/3 of the DVR video of our 2013 Tour with the crash of a SEAGATE 250GB EXTERNAL Hard Drive. This was purchased a couple years ago but was only ever used for this trip to download the DVR.

Because it had never been used, (I broke the seal on the box to open it on the road in Aug.) and the capacity required, I never thought I should have to back it up on another disc.

I only have the 3 videos that I uploaded to uTube to show for my efforts. Now I will have to do this trip all over again?

Any tips on reviving the SEAGATE EXPANSION PORTABLE would be appreciated. SEAGATE says it is out of warranty so no help there.
None of my computers will load it and it shows only a solid green light. It had been working until yesterday PM when it started acting up and then nothing.

Thanks for any tips.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

This shows some results of what held us up on day 3 of the 2013 Tour, for over 4 hours. We were not alone. Traffic was backed up into Alberta, over 100 miles from the accident scene just east of the Rogers Pass Summit.

This 2 minute segment is going thru Golden, BC, 50 some miles from the accident. The folks stopped downtown were lucky they had some services to access.
We were in the first 15 or 20 minutes of traffic released eastbound.
Nothing exciting, but I am sure it spoiled many travel plans that day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epdL...detailpage#t=0

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Airstream sighting on our Clipper 2013 Tour. One of only 3 sightings in 7000 miles.


http://goo.gl/maps/YiSd9


Leaving Field, BC and we spot another nice Airstream trailer unit heading west. This is Aug. 17, Sat. late afternoon. This unit must have been stopped or camped west of Lake Louise, as the through traffic was being held at the Alberta #93 Junction until the Rogers Pass was reopened. Was this you?


Look in the previous post #27 for the sighting in Northern Ontario, and our final sighting was just west of Crookston, MN, at SugerBeet Harvest time in October, but being a divided highway, the video does not show it well.

I am driving with the drivers side window open so that creates a bit extra traffic noise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...zFUYP1upjI#t=3

Dave

[idroba]

In looking through this thread I did not see the road DVR brand mentioned. I may have missed it.

But, for the past month I have been using a Genius DVR-FHD 590 full HD video recorder in my car. It may be the same one used for the videos in this thread, I don't know but it sounds like it has similar statistics.

I am very very impressed by mine. Excellent quality, it just turns on each time I start the car and records in 3 minute segments so you can find things. With a 32 gb micro HD card it works for about 8 hours before recording over the old data. In case of a severe bump it assumes an accident and puts the data in a special hard to erase location automatically. The picture is very stable even over bumps. Color and definition are great.

Best of all it is only $105 at Wal Mart.com. You do need to buy the micro HD card in addition, a 32 gb one is about $20. The URL of the Walmart site is:

genius dvr fhd590 vehicle recorder - Walmart.com

[masseyfarm]

I got my DVR off eBay direct from where they are all made. Cost was about $70 last year. It does not have the crash stop feature on it, but with a 32GB card, I would think that is not really necessary?

This is 1280HD, but I really would like to upgrade now to something of higher quality now that I have some experience with it. Higher quality would cut down the 7hr loop time, but carrying extra SD cards and changing them during rest stops mid day is quick and easy. Downloading to the portable HDD, while on the road, takes 1/2 hr or so and is usually done end of day while we shop or are having supper.

I did not do much editing while on the 2013 Tour but, with things being slower over the winter, I had edited and cataloged most of the 7000 miles and now have what is left on two HDD,s after the loss of all the Saskatchewan to NY portion of the trip with the HDD crash mentioned in above post.

Some of the DVR makers brag about the LCD screen size, but I think that is the last concern for this type of purchase. One should try to get the best quality camera one can afford.

I am pleased with the way it works without attention, other than the SD card change if you want to keep the sequence.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Now after my first season with the DVR I can maybe suggest some changes that I am making for the new travel season that might save others some time and grief.

I had my DVR mounted to the upper windshield drivers side, and this put the camera almost against the glass.

A few things wrong with this mount location.

1: On extreme rough road the camera would actually contact the glass and transmit quit an annoying tapping sound on the audio.

2: When it rained, the audio would again pick up the noise of the rain hitting the windshield and drowned out conversation audio.

3: When it rained, the camera was so close to the rain drops that the image was quit often distorted beyond usefulness if the video needed to be saved for any reason.

4: Again as above, if you had a bug strike, the camera and audio was so close you could see and hear the terror. Also, the image was then compromised.

5: Because of the close proximity of the glass, while driving into the sun, the image was often washed out with the reflection of the glass.

6: When cleaning the window, it was best to remove the camera mount or the sun would show how you cleaned around the mount and it showed on the video when driving into the sun.
---------------------
My solution to this problem for season two is to mount the camera back away from the windshield approx. 5 inches. I have cut up and trimmed and folded a chunk of plexi to slide into the fold of the vinyl that wraps the back of the TV cabinet on the CLIPPER. The original windshield mount now is used on the plexi. The camera lens is now shielded from the sun by the dark tint in the upper windshield and that should improve the image while driving into the sun. The camera is still out of sight to all but the operator and is easily accessed for SD Card removal while mounted, or the complete assembly can slide out by simply reversing the drivers side fan to gain assess.

This mount location should now actually give a smother ride for the camera, hopefully a better picture, (less glare) and certainly will give better audio. ( except the few times that the drivers fan is running as it is mounted just to the backside and left of the camera)

All this is untested at the moment but I have confidence year two DVR will be a considerable improvement over year one.

Dave

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

I will update as I get some miles and experience with the system.
Dave

[masseyfarm]

This blurred screenshot from my DVR shows something hard to idenify. We are close to FLY's home base in Abbotsford, BC, heading east. There is a large ex. RCAF airbase close by where they held the big Abbotsford Air Show Aug. 9-11. This is 1 week later on the 17th.

What is it?

Is it a plane such as is pictured? Is it a new test vehicle from the airport? It happened fast!

Dave

[Jim Flower]

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

This is a 2 min. segment of the TCH about 15 miles east of Ignace, Ontario, eastbound for New York. Wed. Aug 21 2013. Approx. 11 AM local.

Nothing exciting other than meeting a nice AIRSTREAM trailer unit heading west.( Last 1/3 of video)

Was this anybody here????

I thought it best for all to edit our conversation as it would have been of little interest to others.

We are about 1800 miles into the 2013 Tour at this point and still running about a day behind planned schedule because of ferry holdups and highway closure due to major accident on Rogers Pass.

Dave

Hi Dave, that is my wife and I going to Winnipeg after a conference in Thunder Bay. We spent Thursday in Winnipeg and then returned to Burlington by Sunday Afternoon. I would rather spend 6 days in the Airstream than 2.5 hours with AC. Jim

[masseyfarm]

You win the prize again Jim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I always enjoy the journey just as much as the destination!
I actually like driving this type of country better than those long straight freeways. We took #11 down to North Bay. Have you done that route? If is a nice relaxing drive and is actually the same mileage as the 'Soo' Route. #11 has been improved a lot from the old days. I made my second trip west this route in 1964 and have made a number of trips since. Cochrane was a busy place in the past when the passenger trains were the way for tourists to travel and connect to the Polar Bear Express.
http://www.ontarionorthland.ca/index...-express-train

You get to travel past the 'Ghost' of Constance Lake.
http://goo.gl/maps/MA3xu

Dave

[Jim Flower]

I have not done #11 since the North Shore route is one of the most beautiful in the country. I am looking forward to #11 though based on what others have said about it. Particularly, Kapuskasing where, legend has it, it was once -98 degrees F . I will do it in the winter just for the adventure? No airstream. Jim

[masseyfarm]

You will have to buy a GM product Jim if you are going to Kap.
The GM COLD WEATHER TEST facility is located there.
http://goo.gl/maps/wd9LR

Dave

Originally Posted by Jim Flower

I have not done #11 since the North Shore route is one of the most beautiful in the country. I am looking forward to #11 though based on what others have said about it. Particularly, Kapuskasing where, legend has it, it was once -98 degrees F . I will do it in the winter just for the adventure? No airstream. Jim

[masseyfarm]

Every place you travel there is something to see if you just have time to stop. Once you are retired, there is no excuse. You will always have the time to appreciate some of the things that others have accomplished.

Dave

Avro Arrow - YouTube