Dash Cameras

Author
Discussion

DuckSauce

390 posts

67 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2019
quotequote all
Seventyseven7 said:
Hi All,

After someone driving into my 2 week old car whilst parked and driving off, I'm now on a hunt for a dash cam (Or 2)

I want to cover both the front and rear window and also want it to record whilst parked.

I've looked at a few cameras, but fail to see many that record whilst parked, I understand this is a power issue. Is there one that comes with separate power so you don't have to wire up to the car's battery. If it's wired to the car's battery and you don't drive for 2 weeks I'm assuming that won't be good for it.

Another question is, am I better off getting 2 separate cameras, one for front and one for back rather than the 'dual' setup?
I've just installed this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DHKLH4F/ref=cm_sw_r...

£110 for front and back camera, very easy to install if you are competent at these things. You can buy the hardwire install cable for an extra £6 on amazon, which will give you a switched live feed and a permanent live feed for the parking mode.
Mine is hardwired to the fuse box (not yet set it up for parking mode, as that's not a priority for me)

Overall I'm satisfied with it

Edit - they have put the price back up to £139 for both cameras

Spare tyre

9,568 posts

130 months

Friday 4th October 2019
quotequote all
Seventyseven7 said:
Hi All,

After someone driving into my 2 week old car whilst parked and driving off, I'm now on a hunt for a dash cam (Or 2)

I want to cover both the front and rear window and also want it to record whilst parked.

I've looked at a few cameras, but fail to see many that record whilst parked, I understand this is a power issue. Is there one that comes with separate power so you don't have to wire up to the car's battery. If it's wired to the car's battery and you don't drive for 2 weeks I'm assuming that won't be good for it.

Another question is, am I better off getting 2 separate cameras, one for front and one for back rather than the 'dual' setup?
Waste of time in some respects

Someone reversed cleanly into the side of my car outside my folks house

Dads parked car with dash cam caught it, my dash cam caught it, two independent neighbours saw it. Called the police and they wouldn’t follow it up

Only saving grace was it was a big bmw which another neighbour has same model, so at least we knew it wasn’t them

I didn’t go through insurance as it wasn’t worth the agro, but it was low value (but ultra rare and immaculate)

Shearwater52

46 posts

55 months

Tuesday 8th October 2019
quotequote all
Hi all, I would like to know peoples experience of their dashcam and ask a simple question. . . .

Are they worth it or just ignored by police/insurance companies and would you buy the same make/model or which one would you choose?

Cheers

ninjag

1,827 posts

119 months

Tuesday 8th October 2019
quotequote all
Shearwater52 said:
Hi all, I would like to know peoples experience of their dashcam and ask a simple question. . . .

Are they worth it or just ignored by police/insurance companies and would you buy the same make/model or which one would you choose?

Cheers
We have a combination of SG9665GC and full four system HDD setups in the hgv fleet and I can honestly say we've saved tens of thousands of pounds from a combination of non fault accidents where they have lied and also plain straight fraudulent claims.

I've used mine in my car twice recently where the third parties were intending to fraudulently blame me and the insurance subsequently sided with me.

The biggest annoyance is the insurance companies don't seem to bother going after these fraudulent claimants afterwards. Costs too much I guess.


Edited by ninjag on Wednesday 9th October 10:06

Shearwater52

46 posts

55 months

Wednesday 9th October 2019
quotequote all
ninjag said:
We have a combination of SG9664GC and full four system HDD setups in the hgv fleet and I can honestly say we've saved tens of thousands of pounds from a combination of non fault accidents where they have lied and also plain straight fraudulent claims.

I've used mine in my car twice recently where the third parties were intending to fraudulently blame me and the insurance subsequently sided with me.

The biggest annoyance is the insurance companies don't seem to bother going after these fraudulent claimants afterwards. Costs too much I guess.
Cheers, which one do you have in your car?

ninjag

1,827 posts

119 months

Wednesday 9th October 2019
quotequote all
Shearwater52 said:
ninjag said:
We have a combination of SG9664GC and full four system HDD setups in the hgv fleet and I can honestly say we've saved tens of thousands of pounds from a combination of non fault accidents where they have lied and also plain straight fraudulent claims.

I've used mine in my car twice recently where the third parties were intending to fraudulently blame me and the insurance subsequently sided with me.

The biggest annoyance is the insurance companies don't seem to bother going after these fraudulent claimants afterwards. Costs too much I guess.
Cheers, which one do you have in your car?
Apologies, I mistyped and should have said SG9665GC. I run this in my car also, I've been tempted to upgrade but it's been so reliable over what must be well over 5-6 years now I don't see the point.

Tomo1971

1,129 posts

157 months

Saturday 12th October 2019
quotequote all
Spare tyre said:
Waste of time in some respects

Someone reversed cleanly into the side of my car outside my folks house

Dads parked car with dash cam caught it, my dash cam caught it, two independent neighbours saw it. Called the police and they wouldn’t follow it up

Only saving grace was it was a big bmw which another neighbour has same model, so at least we knew it wasn’t them

I didn’t go through insurance as it wasn’t worth the agro, but it was low value (but ultra rare and immaculate)
Sorry, but if that was my car, the police WOULD be following it up..... I would be speaking to supervision..... it is after all an offence! At the very least, I would be looking for their support to get the registration and insurance details..... if there then is no insurance, the police should then become re-interested!

Spare tyre

9,568 posts

130 months

Saturday 12th October 2019
quotequote all
Tomo1971 said:
Spare tyre said:
Waste of time in some respects

Someone reversed cleanly into the side of my car outside my folks house

Dads parked car with dash cam caught it, my dash cam caught it, two independent neighbours saw it. Called the police and they wouldn’t follow it up

Only saving grace was it was a big bmw which another neighbour has same model, so at least we knew it wasn’t them

I didn’t go through insurance as it wasn’t worth the agro, but it was low value (but ultra rare and immaculate)
Sorry, but if that was my car, the police WOULD be following it up..... I would be speaking to supervision..... it is after all an offence! At the very least, I would be looking for their support to get the registration and insurance details..... if there then is no insurance, the police should then become re-interested!
I did, as no one was hurt and not malicious they didn’t follow it up. They advised to contact insurance

M4cruiser

3,635 posts

150 months

Sunday 13th October 2019
quotequote all
Fitted my hard-wire kit today (I've been running off the 12v socket so far).
More difficult than I'd envisaged - so now I know why it's called a "hard" wire kit. biggrinrolleyes

First fuse I tried was the "front fogs" - but that turned out to be "live" even with the ignition off.
So I tried "Cruise" - but that just didn't work at all.
Then "Heated Rear Window" (which is the one suggested in the instructions with the kit) - but that wasn't "live" until the HRW is switched on! I'm guessing the switch energises a relay which sends power to the fuse. Maybe "Cruise" works the same way.
So finally "Rear Fogs", which I found is correctly is switched by the ignition and doesn't need the bulbs on for the fuse to be live.

Then there was far too much wire. Better than too little I suppose, but I was using the interior fuse box just under the dash, and had an extra 3 metres or so of wire, which I've had to tuck in. I hope that doesn't cause a problem.

Anyway, finally quite happy. I haven't yet tried switching on the rear fogs at the same time!



Davie_GLA

6,521 posts

199 months

Sunday 13th October 2019
quotequote all
My trusty Nextbase 312g is dying slowly. Just after i'd completed the pain in the arse task of running all the cables (7 series and screwed together very well indeed).


Alas, i'll need to do it again but might as well go for a couple of cameras this time. I need / want:

1. Technology, lenses, software that is able to read plates and make out faces
2. GPS
3. On board Wifi
4. Nicely designed and thoughtout to be a small form factor
5. Install and forget, until i need it

I've had dash cams in the last 6 cars i've owned and only ever had to use the footage once. That was enough as without the footage the insurers woud have settle 50 / 50. That alone is worth the outlay.

The thread on here about the driving caught on cam is depressing - if we all uploaded every wee infringement we'd be very busy indeed - so save it for when it matters.




DuckSauce

390 posts

67 months

Monday 14th October 2019
quotequote all
Davie_GLA said:
My trusty Nextbase 312g is dying slowly. Just after i'd completed the pain in the arse task of running all the cables (7 series and screwed together very well indeed).


Alas, i'll need to do it again but might as well go for a couple of cameras this time. I need / want:

1. Technology, lenses, software that is able to read plates and make out faces
2. GPS
3. On board Wifi
4. Nicely designed and thoughtout to be a small form factor
5. Install and forget, until i need it

I've had dash cams in the last 6 cars i've owned and only ever had to use the footage once. That was enough as without the footage the insurers woud have settle 50 / 50. That alone is worth the outlay.

The thread on here about the driving caught on cam is depressing - if we all uploaded every wee infringement we'd be very busy indeed - so save it for when it matters.
You may not need to run new cables, if the connection is the same, just use the existing cables. Worked fine for me in our 2nd car where the previous owner had one, but removed the camera and left the cables.

Spare tyre

9,568 posts

130 months

Monday 14th October 2019
quotequote all
DuckSauce said:
Davie_GLA said:
My trusty Nextbase 312g is dying slowly. Just after i'd completed the pain in the arse task of running all the cables (7 series and screwed together very well indeed).


Alas, i'll need to do it again but might as well go for a couple of cameras this time. I need / want:

1. Technology, lenses, software that is able to read plates and make out faces
2. GPS
3. On board Wifi
4. Nicely designed and thoughtout to be a small form factor
5. Install and forget, until i need it

I've had dash cams in the last 6 cars i've owned and only ever had to use the footage once. That was enough as without the footage the insurers woud have settle 50 / 50. That alone is worth the outlay.

The thread on here about the driving caught on cam is depressing - if we all uploaded every wee infringement we'd be very busy indeed - so save it for when it matters.
You may not need to run new cables, if the connection is the same, just use the existing cables. Worked fine for me in our 2nd car where the previous owner had one, but removed the camera and left the cables.
And if they are not the same you can buy adapters

fastbikes76

2,450 posts

122 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
just a quick bit of advice from the masses please,

Following a recent episode where a gonad side swiped the wifes car while parked and thankfully still had the ignition on so dash cam was powered up, I have bought a Nextbase with parking mode. I bought the proper hardwire kit and wondered which is better, switched 12V or permanent 12V ? I take it with switched 12V and parking mode set to ON the camera will turn off when she parks but turn on capture any impacts ? If I used a permanent 12V the camera just ran continuously.

Quick idiots guide on the best way to make sure I don't miss anything ?

Regards
Fb

Davie_GLA

6,521 posts

199 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
fastbikes76 said:
just a quick bit of advice from the masses please,

Following a recent episode where a gonad side swiped the wifes car while parked and thankfully still had the ignition on so dash cam was powered up, I have bought a Nextbase with parking mode. I bought the proper hardwire kit and wondered which is better, switched 12V or permanent 12V ? I take it with switched 12V and parking mode set to ON the camera will turn off when she parks but turn on capture any impacts ? If I used a permanent 12V the camera just ran continuously.

Quick idiots guide on the best way to make sure I don't miss anything ?

Regards
Fb
I guess this will work but it will only record for as long as the internal battery will allow if not on a permanent 12v.

I'm not sure if the newer ones are different but mine recorded every single bit of motion, but it didn't have an impact or G sensor. Without them the battery doesn't last long.



gmaz

4,398 posts

210 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
fastbikes76 said:
just a quick bit of advice from the masses please,

I take it with switched 12V and parking mode set to ON the camera will turn off when she parks but turn on capture any impacts ? If I used a permanent 12V the camera just ran continuously.


Fb
No I don't think so. The camera will need to be powered to capture any impacts as the G-sensors take power. The way mine (DDPai mini2) works in parking mode is that if the car is stationary for about 5 mins it switches to parking mode and records about 1 frame per second, or more if the g-sensor is triggered.

It does require a permanent feed with voltage sensor to work this way though.



DuckSauce

390 posts

67 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
fastbikes76 said:
just a quick bit of advice from the masses please,

Following a recent episode where a gonad side swiped the wifes car while parked and thankfully still had the ignition on so dash cam was powered up, I have bought a Nextbase with parking mode. I bought the proper hardwire kit and wondered which is better, switched 12V or permanent 12V ? I take it with switched 12V and parking mode set to ON the camera will turn off when she parks but turn on capture any impacts ? If I used a permanent 12V the camera just ran continuously.

Quick idiots guide on the best way to make sure I don't miss anything ?

Regards
Fb
It will need a permanent feed. If its switched, it'll only work with the ignition on.

thebigmacmoomin

2,798 posts

169 months

Sunday 1st December 2019
quotequote all
Considering running my dash camera off a battery pack rather than the cars battery. It is currently wired into the fuse box with permanent power but after just over 4 days of the car not moving, the battery was flat. Ford Assist called and charged up by AA.

Can anybody recommend a battery pack to use? No idea how they work, I assume that I plug it in, when the pack is dead, just charge it up over night and plug back in?

Thanks

ninjag

1,827 posts

119 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
quotequote all
It would be easier (although can be expensive) to use a powerbank with pass through technology and wire it up so that:

When ignition is on the powerbank powers your camera and is also charged by the car.

When ignition is off the powerbank powers your camera but is no longer being charged by the car.

This would save having to remember plugging it in all the time. You'd just have to watch out for voltages with regard to the powerbank output and input, but usually easily overcome.

Heidfirst

179 posts

87 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
quotequote all
thebigmacmoomin said:
Considering running my dash camera off a battery pack rather than the cars battery. It is currently wired into the fuse box with permanent power but after just over 4 days of the car not moving, the battery was flat. Ford Assist called and charged up by AA.

Can anybody recommend a battery pack to use? No idea how they work, I assume that I plug it in, when the pack is dead, just charge it up over night and plug back in?

Thanks
What type of dashcam are you using?
Presumably not a Thinkware (battery protection built in) or something with the likes of a Blackvue Power Magic which also provides battery protection? These obviously have the disadvantage that if they cut out the dashcam due to the 12V being low your dashcam is no longer recording so if you habitually leave the car parked for 3+ days then perhaps a power bank of appropriate capacity may be a better idea.

R Mutt

5,891 posts

72 months

Monday 2nd December 2019
quotequote all
I had a dashcam installed a few months ago to whichever fuse it is that only has power while the ignition is on. Press the Engine Start button and the cam announces 'Start recording'

Last week I switched to a powerbank to give permanent power as I've wanted to monitor my front door. Saturday morning I swapped the memory card for a clean one as I'd got the footage I needed, removed the power bank and reconnected to the hard-wired connector and when I went to drive in the afternoon the car battery was dead.

Coincidence? Or was this a result of cold weather, short drives with heated seats and frequent opening and closing of the car activating the lights while I've been playing with the dashcam? It has its own internal battery for knocks while parked, and it would not be able too draw any 12v with the car off.

Edited by R Mutt on Monday 2nd December 10:47