dsmith2189 - Is that the Blackvue cam you used? Did you have someone install it locally or did you DIY? Is it connected to the extra power cord above the rear view mirror?
I've been sitting on the fence about getting one, but ever since someone put a door ding on my car, I've been more interested. I realize that the camera wouldn't have let me see who put the door ding on my car, but I still feel better with some kind of documentation if something else happens to it.
I'd like to see a mode that allows one to be placed in motion activation when parked so we can "keep" and eye on the car. Anyone seen that offered in a higher end dash cam? Maybe send an alert to a smart phone signaling the owner to open the dash cam app and "see" what's happening.
Yes. The watermark in the bottom right makes that pretty clear.
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Blackvue already supports a parking mode such that it doesn't waste storage space for "parked with no activity in view".
As for signaling the owner by phone, I don't know if that feature is available. But, AFAIK, the Blackvue only has wifi not 3/4G.
Yes it, is a blackVueDR500. Initially I used the included cigarette plug adapter that came with the camera, but this shut the camera down when I got out of the car.
the cord that comes with the camera is long enough to reach the MS center console by stringing it over the visor to the door and tucking the wire into the weather-strip and down the B Pillar. Under the passenger seat to the cigarette lighter plug. to use the parking mode I accessed the 12V (unused) plug over the rear view mirror. (I have also heard of one behind the center display)
I stopped out at the SC to double check with Barry about removing the panel, but he said just grab it on the rear portion and pull down. easier than I thought.
it is a 4 pin connector but the first "puka" is unused. the second one is your black ground, third is something, and 4th is your constant 12V. I pulled pin 3 from my connector so my poor soldering job would not short anything.
I got the 4 pin circuit board connector ($0.80) from IC Supply on Sand Island Access Rd (new location) and soldered it onto an (Expensive at $25, worth $5) Radar Detector wire I got from best Buy, Radio Shack did have some plugs with cigarette adapters that can be cut off ($17) or just a replacement wire and plug ($12) but these wouldn't have a fuse, and they had a straight connector on them, an angled connector seemed like a better choice. Checker auto has a compact fuse holder if you need one. one benefit to the one from Best Buy is that it already had a fuse holder built in. the downside is that it was a long wire that I had to wrap up and put in my overhead.
I fished the wire out of the overhead on the right side of the mirror mount with just enough wire to reach the camera (about 3- 4 inches). since the connectors are not really made for each other, I used tape to hold it together. This took about 10 minutes in the car after making the cable. the angle of view, as you see from the pictures goes from the center of the car to about through the wheel center point.
It comes with a 16GB micro SD memory card but it is low quality, I purchased a 32GB card, which has it's documented in the manual . Someone mentioned to me that the 64GB card also works, but haven't tried it. Since it is a consumable I think I will stick with 32GB to save money. I also comes with a USB adapter for the MicroSD card. Unfortunately I vacuumed it up at the car wash when I was getting ready for the meet-up:crying:. It cost me another $8 to buy a replacement.
the camera has 3 modes. Standard, Parked and Alert. Pretty much self explanatory. the alert mode jumps back in time about 5 seconds to catch what happened. recording segments are configurable 1, 2, and 3 minutes in length. connecting via WiFi on your phone can display live video or stored video through the BlackVue App. the WiFi has about a 100 foot range.
The other day I touched the camera after getting in and noticed that the camera is hot to the touch, but to be fair my MS had been parked in the sun all day and the camera is in the windshield. It was VERY hot to the touch, about the same as my phone that was left in the car at the same time. I didn't check after I got home, but I assume it cools down a bit after driving with the A/C and/or window down.
Visually, since it is mounted behind the rear view mirror I hardly notice it.
Yeah, stupid door dings:cursing: don't show up on the camera themselves but the accelerometer (if set to very sensitive) could detect it and you could then back the camera up (> 5 seconds before the shock) until you see the car that pulled in next to you.
Probably not much else you can do.... I just got it for peace of mind "Just in case" and of course to document pretty girls:biggrin: doing a double take at my car.
