Using a GoPro as a hidden camera(need ideas)

We like to go kayaking and I am worried about vandalism and theft. Last year I had the tailgate stolen off my utility trailer and I'm still pissed off. We have to park in a few shady ass spots to begin with and my brother is an asshole, drug addict, thief, lying piece of shit and I suspect him because he has stolen property from me his whole life. Plus there are plenty of other thieves out there.

We park for long periods of time. Usually between 3 and 6 hours.
My initial plan was to use the GoPro on loop and wire it to the overhead map lights for constant power using the device from the link below. I added the mount on the windshield to the right of the rearview mirror, but never used that idea. It became obvious someone would just steal the camera too.

I added a GrillCraft Mesh grill over the winter and now I'm thinking about mounting the GoPro inside the engine bay behind the grill. The mesh should hide the camera pretty good.
I was thinking of using the same device below for power and wire it directly to the battery for power. I would then buy largest mirco sd card I could find and set the GoPro to loop.

I'm not sure how good the view will be from the camera behind the grill. I'll mock it up tomorrow and check it out.

Anyway, I am looking for idea's. Can you smooth out the wrinkles in my idea or does anyone have another idea?
Thanks in advanced.

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And if they spend the whole time stealing your tailgate or out of the back of the truck you won't get pics of them if the camera is behind the grill.

Maybe a battery operated game camera would be better to hide with a view of your truck.

 

I have thought about a game camera, but everyone in the parking lot would see me setting it up.
I wish the Game Wardens would setup a 20 ft pole with a game camera and a sign that reads something like, Smile your on camera.
I will have to park in the direction of the flow of traffic for this idea to work.
I could buy a dash cam, but I already own the GoPro and it will record at 4k.

 

Maybe what I'm thinking of as "loop" and what you mean are different, but if you have, say 6 hours of memory and then it's set to loop...and you're gone for 6 hours, wouldn't that just write over the first hour of original video, basically leaving that hour of time unprotected? Of course the thief wouldn't know that, but they don't know anything at all...and it don't change the fact that you're not closer to catching your perp.

Just a thought...again, based on what I assume you're talking about by "loop".

 

@jproffer, you are correct. The last hour would overwrite the first hour after the memory cards capacity was filled.
I can buy a bigger card and set the GoPro to a lower quality to help prevent the overwrite from happening.
A camera behind the grill is a no go. The grill blocks too much of the view.
I tried the lower valance on the bumper and the viewpoint was much better, but the camera can be seen.

 

I have had an "Owl Cam" dash camera for about a year and half now. Check their website. If someone opens the tailgate, it is that sensitive and sends a message to my phone. If someone breaks into the car, same thing only the camera will film them and even if they steal the camera, you still have video on your phone and Owl Cam will replace the camera. I am sure there are hundreds of different cameras out there but I liked the ease of set up and that you can even get live feed from the camera to your phone.

 

I hadn't heard of it, so I looked it up...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/352...ught-its-expensive-dash-cam-are-in-limbo.html

 

I'm sure you can rig this up with a GoPro, but also there's cameras on the market that were designed just for this kind of thing and may therefore have better out of the box functionality for this purpose. Some even come with two, front and rear facing. You're looking for dash cams with park mode.

 

WOW, oh well glad I have not had any trouble. Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the info.

 

Yeah... I guess as long as their cloud service remains active you'll be ok. I've often wondered what happens to devices that depend on "the cloud" when the company behind that particular cloud formation goes belly up.

 

I'd gladly pay 300 bucks for an owl cam to catch someone red handed. I'd put the gopro back on the shelf. I will continue to keeps tabs on them. I have the 12volt remotestart kit will cell phone module. I wish I could piggy back live feed from that cell connection.

 

I bought the Owl on Black Friday 2018 and think I paid $250. The reason I didn't know until DES2009 said something is that it was still sending pictures to me when I put groceries in the bed and had a clip of me getting into the driver seat. I was at the dealer and was playing while getting the oil changed and with the hood up, was watching the tech in live time and actually saw him check the air filter! I sent an email to Xirgo and got a quick response saying they were working on something for support. OP good luck with your issue!

 

@grizquad was there a monthly fee? Does it upload to cloud via cell service?

 

I would avoid all that high tech crap, that stuff always fails sooner or later. Think out of the box!
Just make it appear someone is sitting in the vehicle while your kayaking. Prop the head up and position a newspaper like he’s reading.

 

Lol, my buddies would give me hell. I can hear the blow-up doll jokes now.

 

dash cams have a parking monitor function where they will turn on and start recording when it 'feels' a bump. (as in someone running into your parked rig). Mine is sensitive enough to start recording when I open the drivers door.

 

The first year was free, and I never received a bill for service after the first year. It was going to be $99./year for the cloud service, but it was optional. I called in January and asked about a bill, and was told that since I was one of the first customers, my service was being extended, am I ever happy I didn't send in any money after seeing they went dark in Feb. I hope Xirgo comes up with a solution as I haven't seen any others with a cloud service, and for $8./mo it would be worth it. It used its own wi fi signal or blue tooth but it was automatic

 

I have been wanting to do something similar. I stumbled upon a Garmin dash camera and they seem to make a few variants. Still have to figure out the power solution though

 

They sell 360* cameras. Just put one of those in there.

 

Just take a baseball bat to your brothers legs “hypothetically speaking” of course. Then you’ll be good for a few months of no theft

if you want to go the camera route. Here is a link
https://www.google.com/amp/s/3dinsider.com/car-security-cameras/