Dashcam recommendations?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by jorgie393, Jul 6, 2018.

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  1. alyssai

    alyssai Member

    I'm hoping to use a 26800mAh power bank to keep it always on for those people in the city that likes to tap my bumper. Depending on how much the camera captures from inside the trunk, I might just have to do that! I don't want to hardwire mymy camer into the fuse box
     
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  3. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    Here is what I used in our 4Runner:

    https://www.amazon.com/VicoVation-Vico-Power-Battery-Discharge-Prevention/dp/B00ZPLSITE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531110082&sr=8-1&keywords=vico+power+plus

    You wire this into your fuse panel, then wire your dashcam to it. It will power your dashcam when parked until some parameters you set are triggered. You can tell it when to shut the camera down based on the car's battery voltage, the value of a timer, and it can shutdown if the temperature is too high.
     
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  4. I am using this device, which has similar functions. It will supply power when the car is off and parked, or you can flip the switch to off when in the garage to disconnect that power. It has worked well for me, I just need to remember to turn it off before I park in the garage, to prevent videos of my garage. It can be wired directly into the fuse box - one connection to power that is on when the car is on, and another connection to power that is always on.
    https://www.blackboxmycar.com/blogs/news/98777223-power-magic-pro-setup-and-tips
    powermagicpro.JPG
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2018
  5. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Jdonalds, that is a great bit of kit. I hadn’t heard of it. I picked my dash cam based on other features I wanted and had to give up parked protection. I was also concerned about running down the battery. This is perfect for me. Thanks; I just ordered one. Now I get to have my cake and eat it too.
     
  6. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    Glad this will help Ken.
     
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  8. Kranberry

    Kranberry Member

    Has anyone thought of using this?

    https://www.blackvue.com/power-magic-battery-pack

    It appears that the battery gets charged via cigarette lighter (1 hour to charge) and then when you turn off the car it provides power to your dashcam for 12 hours. That way you don't have to worry about running down the Clarity's battery.
     
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  9. I have the Garmin 55 but I am seriously looking at the Waylens 360 4G
    https://www.waylens.com/360/
    see what you think, monitors when parked if anyone scratches or hits your vehicle
     
  10. nymphaeles

    nymphaeles Member

    I use a BlackVue DR750S-2Ch hardwired to a Power Magic Pro in my 4Runner. The cameras resolution are 1920x1080P at 60FPS, operating temp -20C-70C. So far, they are very reliable even in the hot summers of Arizona. Image quality during daylight is good, night time is on the better side of most dashcams on the market today. Aesthetically, they blend in to the car interior and don't cause much attention.
    For a Honda Clarity, there might be an issue positioning the front BlackVue camera as the ACC may take its spot. If one wants to move a BlackVue off the center to the left, it might block the sensor on the backview mirror. For that, I decided to look into using 2x Viofo A119 Pro for my Clarity. The Viofo A119 Pro has a resolution of 2560x1440P at 30FPS, operating temp -20-60C. I have installed and powered them using a powerbank for testing for 2 weeks now. So far, the daytime video footage has been excellent, much better than that of the BlackVue DR750S. The night time footage; however, has been worse compare to the BlackVue DR750S. I plan soon to hire a pro to hardwire them to the fusebox using a Power Magic Pro. These cams have been running off a USB powerbank both in driving & parking modes under AZ hot summer weather where outdoor temperature some times exceeded 115F without any problems. I think the BlackVue is overpriced and bloated with features I don't want to use such as a 'cloud access' which has a subscription service fee of $10/mo.
     
  11. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    FWIW, I installed a rather large Rexing V2 camera on the left of center on windshield directly behind the rear view mirror. It has not affected the light sensor on the left side of the rear view mirror at all that I can tell. Mirror auto dimming still working. It’s a good position since it’s near the centerline and 80% behind the mirror (pokes down just a tad under mirror son the rearview camera picks up passengers and out the rear window) so it hardly obstructs any view forward. Working fine for me.
    Only complaint: I can’t pick my nose or curse at idiot drivers anymore because I’m always on camera.
     
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  13. ManKo

    ManKo Member

    Just picked up a Viofo A129 Front & Rear set for $97. It was on sale and I used a $25 ebay coupon that was available yesterday. Can’t wait to get it hooked up. I’m trying to find the best spot to mount the rear camera on the Clarity. I’m debating between mounting it in the trunk looking out the small tinted window, or the usual top of the rear window.
     
  14. JJim

    JJim Active Member

    Ordered this dashcam too and I am thinking about mounting the small rear camera on the windshield and the main camera in the trunk since 2 camera have the same wide-angle and video quality and the small size of the rear camera is not noticeable on the windshield.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2018
  15. nymphaeles

    nymphaeles Member

    I use a Viofo A119 for the rear to take advantage of its 2K resolution. I first got it installed in the trunk window, but I realized then there were some corrupted recordings. I moved that cam from the trunk to the rear window, and I've started to have good recordings since then. I think when the trunk was opened and closed, the cam rattles in its GPS base and loses contact with its base and that causes bad recordings. With the A129, there is no GPS base for the rear cam, so I think you should be able to mount it in the trunk without any issues.
     
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  16. su_A_ve

    su_A_ve Active Member

    I wish there was a way we could tap onto the honda sensing and rear camera feeds...
     
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  17. ManKo

    ManKo Member

    Did you find the viewing angle sufficient with it being in the trunk? Did the tint affect it at night especially?
     
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  18. nymphaeles

    nymphaeles Member

    @ManKo
    Viewing angle is fine in the trunk. The night clips are bad most of the times, due to lack of light or glare from the head lights of the cars behind.
     
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  19. alyssai

    alyssai Member

    For those who hardwired their dash cams: can you share or take a picture of which fuses you tapped into for both accessory and continuous power, and where did you put the ground? If you used an empty slot, which one did you use? Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2018
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  20. Kevin T

    Kevin T New Member

    Sorry to resurrect a dormant thread, but did anyone ever respond to you, maybe via DM on what fuses to tap into?
     
  21. jorgie393

    jorgie393 Well-Known Member

    Various people have chimed in. Sorry to boost my own thread but it's the one I can find the most easily :).

    Short answer: C02, probably.

    Long answer is on this thread.

    https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/fuse-map-and-which-positions-are-switched-vs-always-on.3794/

    Depends on if you want an "always-on" position or one that is only powered on when the car itself is on. Or both (like my dashcam, which switches to "parking mode" when it senses car is off; still uses the battery off one of the "always-on" circuits but won't let voltage drop below a certain level).
     
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  22. Kevin T

    Kevin T New Member

    Sweet! That's exactly what I'm looking for - planning on a camera that uses a 3 wire hardwire kit for parking mode. Guessing C02 for the "ACC" wire and maybe C18 for the battery/always-on wire. FYI, here's the kit I'm looking at: https://www.viofo.com/accessories/108-80-a129-car-camera-3-wire-acc-hk3-hardwire-kit-for-parking-mode.html#/38-fuse_type-not_included

    Not having to tap into an existing fuse would be amazing, so thank you for sharing this -- makes me feel a lot better about things! :)
     
  23. Phil C

    Phil C New Member

    When I get my Clarity, I will buy this one - Blacksys CH200
    https://www.blackboxmycar.ca/products/blacksys-ch200?variant=38470297488
    • Dual Channel Full HD Recording (Sony IMX322 Sensors Front & Rear)
    • WiFi Connectivity (IOS and Android)
    • Parking Mode Recording (G Sensor or Timelapse) & Auto Shutdown when the 12V battery reaches certain level
    • Configurable Partitioning (I can adjust the size of memory folder by category)
    • High heat and cold resistance (Living in Canada... winter is harsh)
    • ADAS (I really don't care about this feature since Clarity has them all)
    • GPS built-in
     
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