Dash Cameras

[LarJammer]

Cliftonite said:

But do bear in mind the cameras themselves are 5 volt.

definitely dont cut the cig lighter plug off and wire it straight into the car or all the smoke will escape from the camera.
im now on my 2nd camera...

[gaz1234]

Going blackvue

[liner33]

I ticked the box on my renewal that I had a dashcam and got £30 (Around 10%) off , thing is its still a modification so better to declare it than not in my opinion

[oldnbold]

LarJammer said:

Cliftonite said:

But do bear in mind the cameras themselves are 5 volt.

definitely dont cut the cig lighter plug off and wire it straight into the car or all the smoke will escape from the camera.
im now on my 2nd camera...

A pal of mine who is a computer techie geek type chap, did exactly this with both of his camera's. The first one must of blown straight away as in his words it just stopped working while he was wiring it in.

He was on his drive as I walked by, he had just taken the first out and just fitted the second to the wiring to check if it was the wiring causing the problem. He came over to chat, and as we were chatting I asked him if smoke was supposed to be coming out of his car.

I had to tell him he needed a 5v converter, I'm still sworn to silence from telling his wife.

[liner33]

Blackvue cameras are 12v so you can wire those in properly or via a power magic pro

[justin220]

Probably a stupid question, but thought I'd ask. I've just bought a 0801 dashcam and a hardwire kit, do I also need an 'add a fuse' loop?

Or can I wire up without one?

[jke11y]

justin220 said:

Probably a stupid question, but thought I'd ask. I've just bought a 0801 dashcam and a hardwire kit, do I also need an 'add a fuse' loop?

Or can I wire up without one?

I'd like to know this too; just bought yesterday an 0801 and the hardwire kit but thoight it was just a case of splicing in the two wires on the hardwire kit into a switched live up by the rear view mirror.

[anonymous-user]

Depends how you want to do it. The fuse link thingies just make it easier because you don't have to mess around with the car's wiring, you just plug it in.

[kinabalu]

Read a lot of this thread with interest & am sold on fitting a couple to my work shed.

However, a concern is, however small, especially on the rear screen, it would be visible & could therefore encourage a break in?

[Cliftonite]

kinabalu said:

Read a lot of this thread with interest & am sold on fitting a couple to my work shed.

However, a concern is, however small, especially on the rear screen, it would be visible & could therefore encourage a break in?

Remove it when leaving the car. They don't like being baked in the hot sun, either, so this is another reason to remove it.

[pboyall]

You can replace the Li-Ion battery with an ultracapacitor which is more tolerant of being baked, if that helps.

I have two Mobius cameras and they aren't really visible - most cars these days have sensors everywhere. As long as you conceal the wiring behind the trim it isn't going to look any different to the light/rain/lane sensing stuff that comes OEM.

[Condi]

liner33 said:

thing is its still a modification so better to declare it than not in my opinion

Its not, its an accessory. In the same way a satnav is not a modification.

[kdri155]

After about 18 months of use of my old dashcam;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-270-NIGHT-VISION-CAR-...

I recently upgraded to a mini 805 with gps from an established UK seller;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2015-Mini-0805-GPS-Car-D...

The difference in video quality especially at night is pretty obvious when reviewing footage, the gps is handy when used on the laptop as well.

If anyone is interested my budget camera is available for free just pay postage, its ideal for anyone who wants to try one just pm me.

[D4D]

After being cut up all week by inconsiderate drivers on roads and the M6 I have gone all out and gone with the Transcend DrivePro 200. Seems to fit all my needs.

[gmasterfunk]

D4D said:

After being cut up all week by inconsiderate drivers on roads and the M6 I have gone all out and gone with the Transcend DrivePro 200. Seems to fit all my needs.

I had one of those, really good. until some twit broke in to steal it....

trying to decide whether to get another the same or something cheaper with a rear cam - the wifi was ok for transferring files but a bit of a gimmick tbh.

[Evil Monkey]

Has anyone had any experience of hard-wiring a dash cam into a Mk5 Astra? I've just bought the car and have got an 0801 camera. Thought I'd just be able to buy a hard wire kit and then use one of those "add-a-circuit" fuse taps but it turns out the fuse box is in the boot and the cables obviously won't reach. Looks like I'm going to have to leave it to a professional now. Bugger.

[liner33]

Condi said:

Its not, its an accessory. In the same way a satnav is not a modification.

Permanently fitted it's a modification , you have to declare factory fitted sat nav if it's an option

[jke11y]

Evil Monkey said:

Has anyone had any experience of hard-wiring a dash cam into a Mk5 Astra? I've just bought the car and have got an 0801 camera. Thought I'd just be able to buy a hard wire kit and then use one of those "add-a-circuit" fuse taps but it turns out the fuse box is in the boot and the cables obviously won't reach. Looks like I'm going to have to leave it to a professional now. Bugger.

I have been reading guides for my car, but on a lot of cars there is some switched live wire up by the rear view mirror for the interior lights - try that?

[rich888]

Evil Monkey said:

Has anyone had any experience of hard-wiring a dash cam into a Mk5 Astra? I've just bought the car and have got an 0801 camera. Thought I'd just be able to buy a hard wire kit and then use one of those "add-a-circuit" fuse taps but it turns out the fuse box is in the boot and the cables obviously won't reach. Looks like I'm going to have to leave it to a professional now. Bugger.

When I had mine fitted by an auto electrician he decided to wire the hardwire kit direct to the battery and fitted an inline fuse for protection, he was then able to run the cable from the battery to the passenger side, then run the cable up and across the top of the windscreen to the dash cam.

I've since purchased a 2nd car and another dash cam and have temporarily run the cable down to the cigarette lighter socket, which does of course mean that the dash cam shuts down when the ignition is switched off, must admit I would much prefer it to be hardwired so that it is constantly on in case something happens whilst it is parked up. Just remember to change the menu option to 'Motion Detect' or you may find your battery flattened in no time - actually that's not entirely true because I think the hardwire kits detect when the battery voltage drops too low and shuts off. Not too sure if all hardwire kits work in the same manner.

[Evil Monkey]

rich888 said:

Evil Monkey said:

Has anyone had any experience of hard-wiring a dash cam into a Mk5 Astra? I've just bought the car and have got an 0801 camera. Thought I'd just be able to buy a hard wire kit and then use one of those "add-a-circuit" fuse taps but it turns out the fuse box is in the boot and the cables obviously won't reach. Looks like I'm going to have to leave it to a professional now. Bugger.

When I had mine fitted by an auto electrician he decided to wire the hardwire kit direct to the battery and fitted an inline fuse for protection, he was then able to run the cable from the battery to the passenger side, then run the cable up and across the top of the windscreen to the dash cam.

I've since purchased a 2nd car and another dash cam and have temporarily run the cable down to the cigarette lighter socket, which does of course mean that the dash cam shuts down when the ignition is switched off, must admit I would much prefer it to be hardwired so that it is constantly on in case something happens whilst it is parked up. Just remember to change the menu option to 'Motion Detect' or you may find your battery flattened in no time - actually that's not entirely true because I think the hardwire kits detect when the battery voltage drops too low and shuts off. Not too sure if all hardwire kits work in the same manner.

Cheers for the reply. I'm going to get an io play2 bluetooth thing fitted shortly so I'll see if the fitter can do something about the cam at the same time.