Dashcam In Pip

[Sagitar]

Following a recent "bump-up-the-back" whilst stationary in a roadworks queue, I decided to fit a front and rear Dashcam and bought a Blackvue DR650 together with their "Power Magic Pro" device to protect the 12V Battery.

I listened carefully to the guidance on the location of the cameras and the installation and connection of all the parts went well.

However, when the installation was complete, the views given by the cameras seemed to me to be far from satisfactory.

The advice was to install the forward facing camera behind and to the left of the rear view mirror so that it is out of the line of sight of the driver. With the camera in this position and pointing at vehicles in the near to middle distance, about two fifths of the height of the image is occupied by the dashboard, but to be fair, the remaining part gives an adequate image of road and vehicles. However, when the sun shines, the reflection from the dashboard overlays even more of the image and diminishes the contrast and clarity.

The problem arises because of the long gentle slope of the windscreen and the way in which it pushes the camera back inside the body of the car.

The advice for the rear facing camera is to place it at the top centre of the back window. Placing it there enables a very neat installation but the view to the rear is badly obscured by the horizontal bar that divides the rear windows. It is sometimes possible to see the registration plate of a following car, if it gets close enough to catch a glimpse through the lower part of the rear window, but it is very hit and miss. In fact it is pretty much useless as it is.

I wonder if anyone else has installed a Dashcam on a PiP or other Gen 3 Prius and if so, how they positioned the cameras.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Mine's in the bottom right of the screen on the drivers side, pushed right in the corner above the speaker grill. The image is slightly distorted in the rain ever so slightly as the wiper only covers 3/4 of the camera view but you can still see the registration numbers of cars in front through it.

You've reminded me to rub some Rain X on that spot next time I'm out.

[PeteB]

A tricky one - I have my RoadHawk behind (or in front of - depending on your point of view) the RV mirror, and I get a perfectly good image. I have it angled slightly low too, so that some of the dash and bonnet is visible, but that seems to have a good effect on the brightness and contrast - aiming higher seems to put too much light in the centre of the view, which causes under-exposure.

Strictly speaking, current regulations prohibit anything attached to the windscreen in the area swept by the wipers, and this should be an MOT failure (but isn't always!). However, common sense suggests it's best in an area swept by the wipers, and the view hidden by the mirror is already lost, so you're none the worse off.

GC's position should also be acceptable if common sense prevails, as it sounds as though it's not in a position that's losing any view of the road.

[JHRC]

Hi Sagitar.

I have the previous model DR550 fitted and had the same problem. Then I found this MOOVIKA Polarizer Filter Clip Compatible BlackVue DR500/550 in eBay, which did cut some of the glare down, it is fitted in seconds but costs £22 plus P&P £4.46. It is made in France and is recommended by Dashcam talk forum.

As for the rear cam, even with privicy glass fitted I also get the glare with the rear spoiler, a better place would be below the spoiler, but this get very dirty under normal day to day driving, there is no easy answer for the rear.

Although I have bought the power plus I have never fitted it, can you explain where you connected the 2 positive cables from.

[PeteB]

I bought a similar wiring kit from RoadHawk. Switches the camera off if the voltage drops to just over 10 (still plenty to activate the Hybrid system).

I asked my dealer to fit it, and mentioned on RoadHawk's website they said their fitter would charge about £30, and Dingles of Norwich matched that.

As a bonus they even fitted an override switch on the panel under the flying bridge so I could turn it off manually. Result!

[Sagitar]

Hi Sagitar.

I have the previous model DR550 fitted and had the same problem. Then I found this MOOVIKA Polarizer Filter Clip Compatible BlackVue DR500/550 in ebay, which did cut some of the glare down, it is fitted in seconds but costs £22 plus P&P £4.46. It is made in France and is recommended by dashcam talk forum.

As for the rear cam, even with privicy glass fitted I also get the glare with the rear spoiler, a better place would be below the spoiler, but this get very dirty under normal day to day driving, there is no easy answer for the rear.

Although I have bought the power plus I have never fitted it, can you explain where you connected the 2 positive cables from.

Thanks. I've noted comments elsewhere about using a polarising filter, but the comments have been mixed, with various people indicating that they have now removed them.

I removed the lower glove box and connected the Power device to the fuse block that sits behind the glove box. The instructions for installing the device indicate specifically which connection to use. In essence, the yellow wire is connected to the fuse of a source that stays on when the engine is turned off and the red wire is connected to a source which is only on when the engine is on. The black wire is grounded to a metal part of the vehicle. The main body of the device has a double sided sticky tape which I used to attach it to the underside of the rail below the glove box so that I can use the multi-booting function and configure the minimum voltage threshold to protect the 12v Battery. Mine is set to 11.8v and it seems to work OK at that.

Make sure you read the instructions very carefully, because Blackvue will not take responsibility if you get it wrong. (And incidentally, neither will I . . )

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I've my PiP dash came at the front to the drivers side of the rear view mirror, with the main body behind the shading area and the lens poking out to the side to keep most of it hidden from external view.

Rear is center top of the screen.

Will upload some pics if you want me to?

[Sagitar]

I've my PiP dash came at the front to the drivers side of the rear view mirror, with the main body behind the shading area and the lens poking out to the side to keep most of it hidden from external view.

Rear is center top of the screen.

Will upload some pics if you want me to?

Thanks. It sounds like yours is mounted in a similar place to mine. What kind of camera are you using and what sort of quality of images do you get from it?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321398298524?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Sagitar]

Thanks MEP that was very helpful. Having looked at the way your camera is set up, I've tried depressing mine less (showing less of the dashboard) and that seems to have reduced the reflections and allowed me to reduce the brightness level. It remains to be seen whether it will work as well on a duller day.

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