Installation of a Radar Detector and Dash-cam - I found switched power!!!
I recently hard-wired my radar detector and dash-cam and wanted to share my discoveries.
My toys:
1) Beltronics Pro 300.
2) Thinkware F750 Dash-cam with TWA-X500F750 rear camera
First and foremost, I used the advice and tutorial created by Fezzik as my starting point. His guide is much more extensive than mine. I only want to point out the few discoveries I made.
Install of Radar Detector, Dashcam, and Laser Jammer (LONG)
As Fezzik mentions, there is constant power at the unused plug in the microphone area. I was able to purchase a compatible plug at a local electronics supply house for 89¢. The black wire is negative and the green/brown wire 2 wires away is constant 12V.
My dash-cam really needs a switched 12V supply to know when the car is off and switch itself to 'parking' mode. I also wanted a switched 12V for the radar detector. I was not looking forward to running a set of wires down the front pillar to get to a switched supply. I experimented with the wires on the mirror connector and discovered that the yellow wire in that connector is switched. I followed it up to the mic area and after a bit of digging, was able to access it in that area. I tapped into it with a 3M tap. Since both devices use so little power, I split that wire and feed both the radar and dash-cam with it. You will need to unwrap some of the black net-like bundle to get at the yellow wire.
There is room to run small wires behind the black plastic mirror housing. This is the final result:
(see next post - I think I exceeded my limit as a new user)
The second wire going to the dash-cam is from the rear camera.
Another quick note about the Thinkware F750: The image quality is excellent. I purchased the cheaper version with a 16 GB microSDXC card. The company changes a premium for their 64 GB cards. The first 64 GB card I bought on Amazon was super fast but incompatible. A lot of research online found that others had success with a cheaper, slower card. The one that works well is a San disk 64 GB microSDXC model number SDSDQUAN-064G-G4A. See this link:
Amazon.com: SanDisk Ultra 64GB UHS-I/Class 10 Micro SDXC Memory Card With Adapter- SDSDQUAN-064G-G4A [Old Version]: Computers Accessories
I hope that this helps others looking to do similar projects.
Jeff
I recently hard-wired my radar detector and dash-cam and wanted to share my discoveries.
My toys:
1) Beltronics Pro 300.
2) Thinkware F750 Dash-cam with TWA-X500F750 rear camera
First and foremost, I used the advice and tutorial created by Fezzik as my starting point. His guide is much more extensive than mine. I only want to point out the few discoveries I made.
Install of Radar Detector, Dashcam, and Laser Jammer (LONG)
As Fezzik mentions, there is constant power at the unused plug in the microphone area. I was able to purchase a compatible plug at a local electronics supply house for 89¢. The black wire is negative and the green/brown wire 2 wires away is constant 12V.
My dash-cam really needs a switched 12V supply to know when the car is off and switch itself to 'parking' mode. I also wanted a switched 12V for the radar detector. I was not looking forward to running a set of wires down the front pillar to get to a switched supply. I experimented with the wires on the mirror connector and discovered that the yellow wire in that connector is switched. I followed it up to the mic area and after a bit of digging, was able to access it in that area. I tapped into it with a 3M tap. Since both devices use so little power, I split that wire and feed both the radar and dash-cam with it. You will need to unwrap some of the black net-like bundle to get at the yellow wire.
There is room to run small wires behind the black plastic mirror housing. This is the final result:
(see next post - I think I exceeded my limit as a new user)
The second wire going to the dash-cam is from the rear camera.
Another quick note about the Thinkware F750: The image quality is excellent. I purchased the cheaper version with a 16 GB microSDXC card. The company changes a premium for their 64 GB cards. The first 64 GB card I bought on Amazon was super fast but incompatible. A lot of research online found that others had success with a cheaper, slower card. The one that works well is a San disk 64 GB microSDXC model number SDSDQUAN-064G-G4A. See this link:
Amazon.com: SanDisk Ultra 64GB UHS-I/Class 10 Micro SDXC Memory Card With Adapter- SDSDQUAN-064G-G4A [Old Version]: Computers Accessories
I hope that this helps others looking to do similar projects.
Jeff