Dashcams!

Relentless81 said:
Hi,

I'm in the market for a discreet dash cam that records when driving but also movement when parked up.

I would like it to mount neatly behind the rear view mirror but there is a large price of plastic housing sensors there so not sure anything will fit

I will like to hard wire it but not sure if trim needs to be removed or you can just clip wire to the trim? The car is a Honda and whether it's interior of exterior trim once it's off it never goes back right without rattles etc!

Can anyone point me in the direction for a decent 1080p camera that fits the requirements please and let me know the details of wiring it in as the biggest concern for me

Thanks
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Blackvue :)
 
ShiWarrior said:
Blackvue :)
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Great thanks, do you know whats involved in the hard wiring?

Can any cameras be left recording motion overnight that arent hardwired? I just realised if I dont hard wire it, I can just leave it charging in the car during the day if one of the USBs is a permanent live which I'll have to check but if it is I might just do that
 
You can't leave it charging during the day if car is not running
If you want to charge it and put it in parking mode when your not there, you will need a battery source like a cellink otherwise you will discharge your main battery

I'll do a more detailed response tonight
 
ShiWarrior said:
You can't leave it charging during the day if car is not running
If you want to charge it and put it in parking mode when your not there, you will need a battery source like a cellink otherwise you will discharge your main battery

I'll do a more detailed response tonight
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Ah of course, too early on a Monday for me I just thought some USB ports were permanently live and the thought ran away with me.

Ok thanks I appreciate that its a bit unclear at the moment how I'm going to accomplish what I want
 
Relentless81 said:
Ah of course, too early on a Monday for me I just thought some USB ports were permanently live and the thought ran away with me.

Ok thanks I appreciate that its a bit unclear at the moment how I'm going to accomplish what I want
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hi

ok, checked Halfords :

either :
https://www.halfords.com/technology...590w-2ch-with-rear-dash-cam-16gb-microsd-card
or

https://www.halfords.com/technology...r750s-2ch-rear-dash-cam-and-16gb-microsd-card

OR
Thnkware F770 PRO / Thinkware F800 PRO (i have the F770 non-pro)



AND :

Cellink Neo 6 (i have the Neo 9)

http://www.car-dvr.co.uk/cellink_b/powerbank/cellink_neo6.html



You will also need a hardwired Kit


Basically you install battery under passenger seat, one end goes to the camera, the other end goes to the fuse box, in the fuse box, you wire to the "switched" fuse, and of course, black to ground etc


When your car is running, it will charge your battery pack, without installing a battery pack means your dashcam will work in parking mode, but it will drain the battery and shorten the life of it (trust me, ive been through this) and the parking mode over time will get shorter and shorter


my neo 9 with front and back cameras (both 1080p) will last about 2 days in parking mode, takes about 30-40 mins to charge from zero to 100%

let me know if you need any more info
 
ShiWarrior said:
hi

ok, checked Halfords :

either :
https://www.halfords.com/technology...590w-2ch-with-rear-dash-cam-16gb-microsd-card
or

https://www.halfords.com/technology...r750s-2ch-rear-dash-cam-and-16gb-microsd-card

OR
Thnkware F770 PRO / Thinkware F800 PRO (i have the F770 non-pro)



AND :

Cellink Neo 6 (i have the Neo 9)

http://www.car-dvr.co.uk/cellink_b/powerbank/cellink_neo6.html



You will also need a hardwired Kit


Basically you install battery under passenger seat, one end goes to the camera, the other end goes to the fuse box, in the fuse box, you wire to the "switched" fuse, and of course, black to ground etc


When your car is running, it will charge your battery pack, without installing a battery pack means your dashcam will work in parking mode, but it will drain the battery and shorten the life of it (trust me, ive been through this) and the parking mode over time will get shorter and shorter


my neo 9 with front and back cameras (both 1080p) will last about 2 days in parking mode, takes about 30-40 mins to charge from zero to 100%

let me know if you need any more info
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Thanks for taking the time to post this info much appreciated, sounds like quite a big job with the battery pack I had no idea they existed but do it right once is a good idea. I take it a lot trim will have to come out to run the cables, I wonder if there are any "specialists" in my area worth looking into.

I'll have a good read of the links you've posted, thanks again.
 
Relentless81 said:
Thanks for taking the time to post this info much appreciated, sounds like quite a big job with the battery pack I had no idea they existed but do it right once is a good idea. I take it a lot trim will have to come out to run the cables, I wonder if there are any "specialists" in my area worth looking into.

I'll have a good read of the links you've posted, thanks again.
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not a lot of trim to come out to be honest (Focus 2009 here)

my local one charges £60 for 30 mins
its an hours job , so £120
 
ShiWarrior said:
not a lot of trim to come out to be honest (Focus 2009 here)

my local one charges £60 for 30 mins
its an hours job , so £120
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Yeah I'm struggling to find anyone I would trust to do it and I'm going round in circles trying to decide what I want. I looked at my car today and the fuse box is on the driver's side next to centre console so not as easy as routing to passenger side so I'm trying to decide if I should forget about parking mode and just tuck the cable in the trim myself down the passenger side, behind the glove box and along the the centre console into the arm rest where there are two usb or 12V connection

My car is a Honda Civic and I've only had it a couple of weeks, it's immaculate and rattle free and I would be gutted if I paid someone to do a job and they broke the trim or caused rattles that weren't there before

I have decided to get a cheap separate unit for the rear because there is a 12V in the boot and it's really easy to route a cable to it just the front I'm stuck on
 
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Relentless81 said:
Yeah I'm struggling to find anyone I would trust to do it and I'm going round in circles trying to decide what I want. I looked at my car today and the fuse box is on the driver's side next to centre console so not as easy as routing to passenger side so I'm trying to decide if I should forget about parking mode and just tuck the cable in the trim myself down the passenger side, behind the glove box and along the the centre console into the arm rest where there are two usb or 12V connection

My car is a Honda Civic and I've only had it a couple of weeks, it's immaculate and rattle free and I would be gutted if I paid someone to do a job and they broke the trim or caused rattles that weren't there before

I have decided to get a cheap separate unit for the rear because there is a 12V in the boot and it's really easy to route a cable to it just the front I'm stuck on
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here you go :

this might help :)

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en&hl=en&mid=1JDLCTmRhkJYIDSTKJN977O9Itg3mV3Al&ll=53.50395686519242,-1.3730242015810745&z=7
 
ShiWarrior said:
well, that link i got from the UK distributors for Cellink

i would look on that link, find one near you and give them a call and ask them
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Thanks I'll call them today.

How does a dash cam know to go into parking mode if it connected to one of these?

Edit, so thinking about it and reading specs on the batteries my commute is only 10 mins each way so the battery will never get enough charge for parking mode, I think it might be worth forgetting about parking mode which is a shame as it's the main reason I wanted a camera but it'll only get charged on the weekend when the car gets used for longer journeys
 
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Yes, but next day the percentage of charge will be a little lower of course , so one day you will need to charge it more

If you want parking mode mostly get a thinkware, as the power consumption is lower than black vue and better images at night
 
ShiWarrior said:
Yes, but next day the percentage of charge will be a little lower of course , so one day you will need to charge it more

If you want parking mode mostly get a thinkware, as the power consumption is lower than black vue and better images at night
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Low enough to just use the thinkware built in or still worth buying an external battery?

Sorry for all the questions!
 
ShiWarrior said:
You need a cellink battery, as I said before if you don't, your main battery will die
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I rang the local cellink reseller and they had no idea what I was talking about

I dont understand how a dash cam will drain the car battery if the dash cam is only live when the ignition is on, without the cellink you're just using the cameras battery and if that fails you could just buy another camera or claim under warranty and it would still be cheaper than a cellink. Although the technology is a good idea and interesting to me as well as I'm happy you told me it existed I'm just not sure that I need it especially considering there is no one locally to install it

jpaul said:
some earlier discussion here
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/how-to-add-a-second-wire-to-car-battery.18825682/page-2
... I haven't invested yet, but would still be thinking of a fast charge powerbank, or,
doing the calcualtions and upsizing the car battery appropriately, to have additional capacity, with once a week home top-up, plus a cut-off device so it is not over-discharged.
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There are the power magic cut off devices, I think this might be more appropriate for me so that I would have the camera charge when driving and then use its own battery in parking mode. If this kills the battery then I would maybe attempt a warranty claim or just replace it
 
dashcam batteries are tiny
why do you think the cellink batteries look big

you cant put it in parking mode without a proper battery like a cellink

when i had my cameras installed, at first the parking mode was lasting over night, but this got shorter and shorter becuase of ther main battery being discharged, and when i try and start it in the morning, its barely reading any volts,
i then bought a cellink, now i get 2 days parking mode, and my car starts perfectly every time, like a new battery
 
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