Dash Cameras

[Matt106]

sunil4 said:

I have that powerbank although dont use it in the car. It is quite bulky. Surely it might be better to have two hardwire kits in each car and just remove the camera to swap between the two cars. Also, with winter coming, I am not sure what the recommended min temps are for the powerbank left overnight

I really need the flexibility to move the kit between vehicles.

The powerbank is bound to suffer in the colder weather so I'd need to factor that in.

[Podie]

Matt106 said:

Is anyone managing to run a dashcam from a powerbank for over 10 hours? I need a solution that can be moved between cars so hard wiring isn't an option.

The vehicle is left overnight and sometimes longer to which I'd require recording. I've trawled the internet but can't find a suitable solution yet.

Can any fellow forum members offer some advice?

I've seen something that you can hardwire to the car which charges a battery... I'll see if I can find it.


ETA - something like this - http://blackvueshop.co.uk/product/anypower-t-power...

Edited by Podie on Thursday 10th November 13:40

[thetapeworm]

You already have a huge powerbank in the car in the form of the standard battery, can't you just run a permanent feed from that with one of those devices that cuts the power if it detects the charge is getting too low?

[Flooble]

It sounds as though Matt may not necessarily own the vehicles he's using?

[Matt106]

Flooble said:

It sounds as though Matt may not necessarily own the vehicles he's using?

Correct, it's not always being used in personal vehicles hence not being able to hardwire.

[MarkRSi]

Podie said:

Depends on the vehicle.

In my Focus I removed some trim and ran the cables in the same clips as the vehicle wiring to keep it tidy.

I've also previously used a small section of black plastic conduit to hold a cable to the camera as it "appears" from the headlining and behind the mirror.

Stick up a photo - might be easier to make suggestions.

It's a Megane 3.



It's just trying to hide it behind the A pillar, I'm OK it being out between the bottom of the pillar and down by the door, otherwise it's all hidden.

Not sure how easy it is to pull off trim, might try the insulation tape idea.

[Podie]

MarkRSi said:

Podie said:

Depends on the vehicle.

In my Focus I removed some trim and ran the cables in the same clips as the vehicle wiring to keep it tidy.

I've also previously used a small section of black plastic conduit to hold a cable to the camera as it "appears" from the headlining and behind the mirror.

Stick up a photo - might be easier to make suggestions.

It's a Megane 3.



It's just trying to hide it behind the A pillar, I'm OK it being out between the bottom of the pillar and down by the door, otherwise it's all hidden.

Not sure how easy it is to pull off trim, might try the insulation tape idea.

Not familiar with Renault trim, but certainly with Fords you just pull.

I then fed the wire into the cable holders behind the A-pillar trim and push fitted the trim back.

Youtube / Google should point you in the right direction for removing the A-pillar trim.

[Crafty_]

does the trim on the a-pillar have a gap at the top to the roof lining ? if so let the cable sit in that gap and just push it in to the door seal ?

I'll try and get a pic of mine.

ETA: The flash picks it up nicely, in normal light you can hardly see it.

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 11th November 16:54

[Alex L]

My new company car arrives this week so will have to get the dash cam hard wired as I don't have the luxury of the hidden cigarette/12v power point under the glove box that's in my 3 series.

Routing the wire is the easy part, mine is much the same as the photo above, although my cable runs between the windscreen and pillar trim. Just pushed it in and it hasn't moved in 3 years.

[MarkRSi]

Crafty_ said:

does the trim on the a-pillar have a gap at the top to the roof lining ? if so let the cable sit in that gap and just push it in to the door seal ?

I'll try and get a pic of mine.

ETA: The flash picks it up nicely, in normal light you can hardly see it.

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 11th November 16:54

Tried doing it that way and worked a treat, all sorted now

[Matt106]

How long do most people leave hard wired cam's running for without driving the car? This could be a good option for my weekend car which is parked on the road most the week but worried it'll drain the battery quick.

With regard to my earlier post I'm going to test a power bank setup and see how it works out.

[Flooble]

Matt106 said:

How long do most people leave hard wired cam's running for without driving the car? This could be a good option for my weekend car which is parked on the road most the week but worried it'll drain the battery quick.

With regard to my earlier post I'm going to test a power bank setup and see how it works out.

Depends on the type of camera and what you mean by "running". A dashcam (very generic, finger in air figure here) when recording will draw around 250mA at 5 volts - between 1 and 1.5 Watts. Since you have maybe 50Ah in your battery (albeit at 12V, so equivalent to over 100Ah at 5 volts) before it won't provide current, that means that if you don't want to also start the car (ahem) you have maybe 400 hours. In reality the discharge curve will likely cause the camera to stop before that point. I would guess, wildly, that:

Running and recording video will flatten your battery fairly fast - a day or two at the outside.

Running and recording stop-motion (e.g. 1 frame every five seconds) will last several days with a fully charged good battery.

Running in "motion detect" mode - lottery depending on how it has been implemented (some implementations will draw as much current as just recording video).

[MarkRSi]

If you're going down that route I wonder if fitting a solar panel to the rear parcel shelf or similar would make any difference? Probably not enough to prevent the battery from draining eventually but might be the difference between being able to start the car each weekend or having to get the jump leads out.

[Flooble]

MarkRSi said:

If you're going down that route I wonder if fitting a solar panel to the rear parcel shelf or similar would make any difference? Probably not enough to prevent the battery from draining eventually but might be the difference between being able to start the car each weekend or having to get the jump leads out.

http://www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/solar/solar-powered-wireless-cctv/

[defblade]

I bought one of these with my latest dashcam (although not fitted it yet...) which is supposed to have low voltage detection... so you may lose footage, but still be able to start the car.

[anonymous-user]

Hi guys. What's the current favourite for a cheap camera, which an emphasis on parking protection/motion detection, as someone has kindly keyed my car :roll:.

I think i had a g1w and found the motion detection not too great from my testing, but i never hardwired it.

The new I am looking looking to hardwire, fit and forget style, so id like something fairly small/descete

Any suggestions?

[cptsideways]

Can you peeps suggest some options for me, I'm looking to install a 12v based covert recording system in and around my garage, which has a 12v solar based supply on hand. I'm thinking a 4channel DVR recorder that records to SD card (hidden away), with remote wired cameras.

Ideally I'm looking for something that just does motion recording perhaps up to 4 cameras, I have existing PIR sensors that currently switch 12v lights on.

Should be quite simple but I want something reliable, I know its not a dashcam but not far off.

[fuzzymonkey]

If you've got some footage of dangerous driving on camera but it didn't cause an accident, what is the best way to contact the police and send it to them for consideration? Obviously you cant ring 999.

[Pesty]

fuzzymonkey said:

If you've got some footage of dangerous driving on camera but it didn't cause an accident, what is the best way to contact the police and send it to them for consideration? Obviously you cant ring 999.

Try 101 I suppose

This website, never looked at it, not sure how it works but clams to work with the police in doing that sort of thing.


http://www.policewitness.com

[Pesty]

MarkRSi said:

Crafty_ said:

does the trim on the a-pillar have a gap at the top to the roof lining ? if so let the cable sit in that gap and just push it in to the door seal ?

I'll try and get a pic of mine.

ETA: The flash picks it up nicely, in normal light you can hardly see it.

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 11th November 16:54

Tried doing it that way and worked a treat, all sorted now

Did that on mine but pushed the cable into the gap, can't see it at all.