Dashboard Camera

[cviclark]

I presume you refer to the Mini 0803 rather than the Cobra? If it had Capacitors rather than a Battery, no screen, and you could turn off all lights I would have bought two of those. Thanks for the info on the 12vto 5v dropper that will come in handy The techmoan reviews have covered this subject very well.

[Mike169]

I presume you refer to the Mini 0803 rather than the Cobra? If it had Capacitors rather than a battery, no screen, and you could turn off all lights I would have bought two of those. Thanks for the info on the 12vto 5v dropper that will come in handy The techmoan reviews have covered this subject very well.

Hi Ian

If you go onto Amazon and just search 12v/5v dropper there are loads, basically all the same unit but with different connrctions/plugs. I am unsure on the Mini 0803 (Much better than the 0801 model) what the input plug is that why i suggested to get the Eprance first to check, i am told the socket is the same as many smart phone charging plug models.

Mike.

[Conrod]

Hi,

The Eprance 830 is a good camera

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=eprance+830&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=ZFTRVOzYGMSy7QapsoD4Dg

and you can power if from the internal light in the headlining with something like this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supply-Converter-Module-Output-Adapter/dp/B00E5VH1OI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423004826&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+5v

as i don't know if you know they are actually 5v and if you use the ciggie lighter plug the volt dropper is in the ciggie plug and this way it saves having to run wires all over the place and you just need to make a slight nick in the interior mirror plastic casing sren to hide the wires inside it and the reast of the wires and the volt dropper can be tucked just behind the head lining.

I think i would be tempted to buy the camera first or find out what power source plug socket, mini or micro to make sure you get the correct power source.

Mike.

I'm looking at maybe getting a camera for my Aygo, Mike reading what you say about wiring into the interior lighting circuit, would that not make the camera live all the time ? Reading the reviews on these camera's they turn off with the ignition, seems to be a safer option and not have to worry about forgetting and draining the Battery ?

Also the hardwire cables you list are they recommended for the E-Prance device and would they affect the warrent if there was a problem.

Geoff

[redadair]

I have a blackvue 4000 installed (I think that is the model)

I find the video quality in both day and night absolutely superb. And the GPS functionality excellent.

I hide mine "behind" the rear view mirror. and it pretty much disappears.

I got a mobile auto spark to plumb mine in for £30, no dangling wires etc

Would it help to see some example movies? Cheers! Red!

[Mike169]

Hi,

The Eprance 830 is a good camera

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=eprance+830&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=ZFTRVOzYGMSy7QapsoD4Dg

and you can power if from the internal light in the headlining with something like this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supply-Converter-Module-Output-Adapter/dp/B00E5VH1OI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423004826&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+5v

as i don't know if you know they are actually 5v and if you use the ciggie lighter plug the volt dropper is in the ciggie plug and this way it saves having to run wires all over the place and you just need to make a slight nick in the interior mirror plastic casing sren to hide the wires inside it and the reast of the wires and the volt dropper can be tucked just behind the head lining.

I think i would be tempted to buy the camera first or find out what power source plug socket, mini or micro to make sure you get the correct power source.

Mike.

I'm looking at maybe getting a camera for my Aygo, Mike reading what you say about wiring into the interior lighting circuit, would that not make the camera live all the time ? Reading the reviews on these camera's they turn off with the ignition, seems to be a safer option and not have to worry about forgetting and draining the Battery ?

Also the hardwire cables you list are they recommended for the E-Prance device and would they affect the warrent if there was a problem.

Geoff

Geoff.

As i understand the camera has an on/off switch so yes it is a bit of a pain but it means as you leave your car you would have to turn it off via the camera, is this correct John?

The flip side to this is if say you went shopping and someone damages your car whilst you are away there's a good chance you'll be able to see who did it, the current drain is minimal so say an hour in a car park the Battery won't even notice.

The camera as mentioned fits neatly behind the interior mirror and just the shortest wire run is the interior light but of course you have the option of taking it off an aux. or ign. fed live.

The Eprance 5v dropper is in the plug but just about everyone i know who has fitted one except one have hard wired them in as the plug of course can easily fall out. Of course i do not know Eprance's warranty but as long as it gets the correct feed i don't see any problems but of course don't hold me responsible but i haven't heard of any going wrong anyway.

Give these guys a call, 01702 554433 and make out you want them to fit one, they do it for a living, auto electricians, fit all sorts of car stuff, a shop called Pulse to get 1st hand info if you want, seems like a good idea to me.

If you go for it let us know how you get on please.

Mike.

[wastedagen]

I have installed the DOD LS360W..... http://www.dod-tec.com/index.php/product/detail/72

But I did mask it all up and spray it with Matt black paint. Too much white text on the front, and too much shine.... Other than that it produces great video both night and day... It uses a Sony Exmor Sensor.....

I also wired it into the cigarette lighter.. So I can still use the socket for my USB cable to mobile phone etc.....

[Speed_Chaser]

Would really like to see some pics of your install. And also pics of the end result after masking the texts :)

[zippyioa]

After looking at samples videos from numerous cameras I decided to go with Mobius Dashcams front and rear. Their video quality is great, and being the size of a tic tac box, they're small enough to be inconspicuous so I can leave them in the car permanently.

They worked out around £140 all in for front & rear, mounts, power cables and 2 32gb micro SD cards.

I mounted the front using a bike helmet mount, sticking it on the black dots behind the rear view mirror (that gave the camera the best view and kept it almost invisible to people outside the car - so I can leave it in when I park the car)

I ran a 5m power cable from the camera, tucking it under the roof liner to the passenger A pillar, tucked it behind that pillar, round the dash and down the left of the dash (where you can turn the airbag off). That way the cables barely visible and it was a simple job, needing no trim removal :) I finished off by popping the rest under the passenger floor mat and up to a cigarette lighter USB charger.

I mounted the rear camera on the plastic trim under the high rise brake light. For power I ran a mini USB car charger from the boot power socket, under the rear driver's side pillar trim and up to the roof lining where I left a few cm sticking out in the top centre to power the camera.

By using car chargers to power the cameras, whenever I start the car it always starts recording when I start driving - simple :)

Here's what I bought for anyone who's interested......

I got the cameras from Banggood. They have a UK warehouse site which gets the goods shipped from the UK, not China (so it's quicker & more importantly avoids issues with customs)

The latest version of the camera is here:

http://eu.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-Mobius-New-Version-Wide-Angle-Lens-C-1080P-HD-Mini-Action-Camera-wp-Uk-966178.html

Each camera has a slip holder with a screw mount option plus some Velcro. I used this for the rear camera, but I went for an optional bike mount which I used in my windscreen. You can get it here:

http://eu.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-Mount-holder-For-Mobius-ActionCam-Sports-Camera-1080P-30FPS-wp-Uk-91748.html

You also need a micro SD card for each camera. I went with two of these 32gb Kingston cards off Amazon for less than £10 each:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00D9OQ1JS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1430497412&sr=8-3π=AC_SX200_QL40&keywords=kingston+32gb+micro+sd&dpPl=1&dpID=413hwQPAWqL&ref=plSrch

Finally I bought this 5m cable for £1.99 to power the windscreen camera:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DY2MGGW/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1430497302&sr=1&keywords=5m+mini+usb+cable

I have been using the cameras for a few weeks now and I'm very happy with the video and sound quality they offer, especially at such a low cost!

[Speed_Chaser]

Nice write up, could we see some pics of the install please?

Are the memory cards working well? I've read that such HD cameras require at least class 10 cards to record properly.

[zippyioa]

I'll take some pics tomorrow after work, it's a bit dark right now :)

The cards seem fine. They are class 10 and Kingston are usually rock solid for reliability, that's why I chose them.

I decided to go for a Dashcam after a few days of owning my first hybrid. I quickly realised that I needed it to protect myself from Darwinism (lemming like pedestrians who step out without looking)

At least this way if I do hit someone I can give the police/court video proof that it was the pedestrians fault, not mine.

As a plus it will also protect me and my no claims bonus from the numerous numpty driver's who fail to give way, switch lanes without looking, run red lights and any other number of examples of poor driving I witness on a daily basis :)

[Speed_Chaser]

Ah ok, I thought they were Class 4 as that's what was on the pics.

The reasons for buying a cam are so true. I noticed these same things, and in many situations there might be only your word against someone else's and those situations may be tricky to solve. Even though you're doing everything like you should doesn't mean you are on the safe side :)

[wastedagen]

I use SanDisk class 10 UHS-1 disks with no problems..... And I too installed it because of the other bad drivers out there.... Both foreign and domestic.....

I'm now thinking about putting my spare one on my rear window. As it has blacked out windows it'll be invisible as well....

[Speed_Chaser]

I ended up getting ADATA card as it is officially supported by DOD and was cheapest one aswell :)

[zippyioa]

I've just checked the cards, they are indeed class 4, not sure where I got 10 from. As I say, I've been using them for a few weeks and every recording I've checked has been fine. No skipping or stuttering.

I've just taken pics, trying to work out how to upload them now.......

[zippyioa]

As promised here's some pics.

As you can see, very little cable is visible and it took very little effort to tuck the power cable behind the roof A pillar trim.

From the outside of the car the cameras are almost impossible to see. I tried to get a good photo of the outside view but got mostly reflection so gave up :)

[zippyioa]

As promised here's some pics.

As you can see, very little cable is visible and it took very little effort to tuck the power cable behind the roof and A pillar trim.

I lifted up the floor mat to show what I'd done with the cable in the dowel. I thought about tucking it under the glovebox, but found the pollen filter there and didn't want to cause problems with it so went for the easy option :)

From the outside of the car the cameras are almost impossible to see. I tried to get a good photo of the outside view but got mostly reflection so gave up :)

[Speed_Chaser]

This is awesome install! Few points/questions, not to judge you and maybe there's a reason you didn't do so because you noticed it was impossible or not practical during the process. Just some of my thoughts to maybe learn something :)

Why didn't you route the wire to another side of the A-pillar? You could tuck the cable under the pillars top side and then all the way down close to the door. Now you routed it on the "wrong" side and then to the door side of A-pillar, this is what makes the cable visible there (3rd pic).

Why didn't you route the wire inside the panelling all the way to B-pillar but put it on the floor instead? You could've routed it to the cig lighter directly under the front seat.

Why did you attach the rear cam to the door, not just to the rear part of the roof? You would not need to leave the excess wire in that case.

Could we get some sample videos to see? :D

[zippyioa]

I routed it down the windscreen side of the A pillar because the top section wasn't pulling away enough for me to get the cable through to the door side (that would have been a preferable route as you rightly stated because no cable would have been visible).

I was worried about pulling too hard on the pillar cover as mine contains an airbag.

I figured a little bit of black cable going across a black dash was better than a face full of airbag, or damaging it....

As for the floor mat conceal, I'm not great at getting panels off without damage. Rather than going for the B pillar which meant using a panel that didn't pull easily, I ran it under the mat to the centre console. I then tucked it under the centre console towards the back of the front seat and routed it up to the charger about half way along, so it comes out just in front if the passenger seatbelt - that gave me the same result but with less dismantling.

I mounted the rear camera on the plastic under the high rise brake light because it gave the camera a better viewpoint and the supplied Velcro was unlikely to stick to the ceiling cloth as securely. Additionally, it would also have been harder to get the cable under the rear ceiling cloth as it was stuck tight.

The route I took was quick and easy in comparison :)

Here's a link to a video I recorded last week. It's 90MB so I couldn't upload directly hence the Dropbox link.

It's a good example of the standard of driving I often encounter in my daily commute and a prime driver for me fitting a camera.

In some ways I was relieved this near accident happened as it distracted my 5 year old boy long enough for me to get out of explaining regenerative braking to him - that would have been a long, and difficult conversation :)

It was quite late, starting to get dark, very overcast and rainy when I recorded it - I was very happy with the result when I looked at it!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5kgrhi96r7t710/REC_0204.MOV?dl=0

[zippyioa]

I just watched the video using the link, it's ok but it's but as clear as the original. I don't know if Dropbox compress it slightly but there's definitely more grainy blocking and the number played & road signs are clearer on the original.... Odd, but it gives you an idea of the quality

[Speed_Chaser]

Yeah I watched the video aswell directly and then tried downloading it. After downloading the quality was much better and very good indeed! The angle seems also very big, on my Auris the image borders didn't even reach to A-pillars so I couldn't see them on the video at all. That was when I was testing my DOD RX8W mirror camera.

BTW have you experienced any bugs while using that camera?

Ok I get your install idea now, you wanted it to be clean but with less effort. Removing all those panels may be difficult indeed if you haven't undone them before and not sure how things work. My A-pillar's top part (1st gen model) actually can be bent enough to tuck the wire under it. Might be different on newer models then or you just were too cautious. But like I said nice install, everything is nice and clean which is the most important thing :)

Don't know how that driver managed to miss the red Yaris. Talking on the phone maybe or had some other "important" things to do...

[zippyioa]

The wide angle was another plus to the Mobius, it's 132° where most cameras maxed out around 100° give it take a few.

The image quality and compact size, plus the low price point meant very little else came close in my mind.

I've only been running them a few weeks, but so far I've had no glitches at all. They are truly superb, hence my recommendation here.

Apparently their internal Battery well record for up to 2 hours so you could always utilise them to record while your cars parked too (protecting against cars that hit & run). I'm not so bothered by that, but it's an option.

[wastedagen]

Would really like to see some pics of your install. And also pics of the end result after masking the texts :)

Sorry for the delay, I missed your question... Here are some pics:

I didn't paint the inside.. Didn't feel the need to...

And I run the cable to left along the roof lining down to the inside of passengers airbag panel.

Comes down and I zipped tied it to another loom... You can just make out the cigarette lighter plug at bottom of pic.

I unscrewed the metal spring loaded end of the socket that houses the fuse. Split the plastic plug and soldered in another wire... This you can see going to cigarette lighter wires. Where I spliced into them. . Sorry I don't have any pics of the soldering part.

The matt paint really kills the shine....

It's there if you go look for it.. But it does hide away fairly well...

Like I said earlier, I may put my second one up on my rear window.... Just not sure how well it will handle the car headlights behind so close....

This camera has a good 140° view.... Works well..

Here is a very short 1080p clip at 14.8mb/s...

I did edit out all the other parts of the 3min clip on my phone. Just an FYI in case this has effected the quality at all.. No audio....

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dwuqhktqspe73vc/Truck%20Pulls%20Out.MOV?dl=0

And a nighttime one...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ua0769bj45n3e2w/Let%20The%20Sparks%20Fly_00.MOV?dl=0

[Speed_Chaser]

Thanks, this was very interesting to see. Both pictures and videos aswell. Nice work on painting the camera, maybe it is more visible because of matte colour? Maybe the black similiar to original one would've been better?

Is it just me or does Mobius really have better video quality compared to DOD?

[wastedagen]

Probably does, mines an old model now.

Maybe I should spray the rear view mirror now..lol

Or spray it satin black. You're right....

[Parts-King]

Great quality video, you can clearly see the registration number of the van. One of my pet hates with CCTV is when viewing on a screen the quality is great, but once recorded the images are very grainy

Nice job