What do you do with your dashcam? Why did you get one?

[Phillip L]

Uhhh, really close call. Have you seen that Mythbusters where they test that myth??? Truck tires in all forms are deadly. Deadly if one rolls over you, deadly if they over inflate, deadly if they disintegrate, deadly if they blow out. Hell, they may even kill you without even being on a truck by tipping over and crushing you.

This is actually the second time that has happened to me. A few years ago driving a little Hyundai Accent I had one roll right at me. For a split second I contemplated trying to avoid it but figured I would roll off the highway and get killed. Luckily the thing collapsed just about ten feet in front of the car and I passed right over it.

 

[lloyds]

My BMW was rear ended recently and my Blackvue was recording. It just so happened a police car drove by so he stopped to see if everything was all right. The guy behind me claimed that I made an abrupt stop in front of him. I immediately showed the officer my recording and he became very irritated when it showed the guy was on the phone at the time.

 

[martinicus]

Working on setting up my new blackvue's settings. Do you guys record audio? And do you include speed in the video frame?

I'm thinking of not recording audio, as it seems like it has limited value and is a bit of invasion of privacy. Not of my own so much, but friends and guests of ours in the car that assume they are having a private conversation, recording them (even if it's never listened to) is kind of creepy. Combined with the Blackvue Cloud feature (which I will probably disable) it seems like the feature could be a prime target for hacking or surveillance (especially given the world we live in today). Although the audio would be helpful to have during a police encounter (if it didn't get you in trouble). Maybe can just hit the button for that.

And then having the speed in the video frame, I guess if you don't speed much there's no harm, might help your case? But if you are speeding then it might prevent you from using the footage. It looks like Blackvue records the speed and GPS separately from the video as well, so you would always have the data later if necessary.

 

[Barry]

I record audio. If ever stopped by a crooked cop, it could be helpful.

I record speed. It only works if you get a GPS lock. Again, it could be helpful in my defense.

 

[tga]

I'm thinking of not recording audio, as it seems like it has limited value and is a bit of invasion of privacy. Not of my own so much, but friends and guests of ours in the car that assume they are having a private conversation, recording them (even if it's never listened to) is kind of creepy.

And illegal in some jurisdictions, too. Massachusetts has one of the most restrictive wiretapping laws in the country, which makes secret audio recording of others a felony. "Wait, this isn't wiretapping", you say. Doesn't matter, the Mass law applies to any secret audio recording under any circumstances, wireline communication or not.

Part 1 of 2 - Massachusetts wiretap law explained: Understanding one of the most restrictive wiretapping laws in the U.S.
Part 2 of 2 - The secrecy rule: Recording police and Massachusetts wiretap law

I record audio. If ever stopped by a crooked cop, it could be helpful.

Unfortunately, people have gone to jail in MA for doing just this. See Michael Hyde case, above. He was stopped and started a hidden tape recorder. The traffic stop got pretty ugly, he took the recording to the station to complain, and was promptly arrested for wiretapping.

 

[Barry]

Unfortunately, people have gone to jail in MA for doing just this. See Michael Hyde case, above. He was stopped and started a hidden tape recorder. The traffic stop got pretty ugly, he took the recording to the station to complain, and was promptly arrested for wiretapping.

Fortunately, I don't live in the People's Republic of Massachusetts.

Is a dashcam mounted on the windshield a "secret recording" as in the Hyde case?

 

[tga]

Fortunately, I don't live in the People's Republic of Massachusetts.

Is a dashcam mounted on the windshield a "secret recording" as in the Hyde case?

I would guess so (arrest first, sort it out later). I think the camera would be hard to see approaching from the driver's rear quarter panel.

 

[SMAlset]

Martinicus we just got our Blackvue yesterday and did some playing around with it today. We turned off audio, also felt it would be creepy and questionable recording if you forgot it was on. Could see using it if you were narrating a trip for example so can see some use for it. I thought you might be able to wave your hand over the end of it to turn the feature off and on but not sure as we just set it to off.

Cloud--some nice features it would give you but we won't use for the privacy concerns. I can view the clusters and while anonomous you can tell when someone's vehicle is in front of their house and thus when they are most likely home or not.

Speed--turned this off too. Not heavy on the pedal but don't see a need to have it on the video. I can see if you are a parent and your kid borrows the car, it might be nice to see though.

 

[SMAlset]

To answer the title question, we liked the idea of seeing who approaches our car, while driving or sitting parked. Only 2 channel and know it doesn't give side coverage but if someone wants to break in they will do so anyway. I will say I've enjoyed watching other members' shared trip videos on the forum. And of course the Launch videos. Don't know that we would make any ourselves but it's nice you can.

BTW thought the wifi transfer we did on a 3-minute clip to our phone seem to take a long time. Haven't tried the mini-SD card transfer on the computer using the software but hope it's faster. Did like that the files had filters for activities.

 

[seclinton]

I run my blackvue with audio off. It recorded me getting rear ended that caused $21k worth of damage and almost 4 months to fix.

That alone saved me from 50% responsibility.

As for getting pulled over: swipe your hand on the left side of the front camera to enable audio.

- " officer, I am recording our interaction both video and audio. This is my declaration, no I will not turn it off. Now that you have been informed that you are being recorded, how can I help you?"

- no secret illegal wire tap law gonna get past that; yeah I'm willing to be the test case

 

[f-stop]

[...] As for getting pulled over: swipe your hand on the left side of the front camera to enable audio. [...]

note: behaviour of that proximity sensor switch varies depending on which version of the Blackvue 650 you have

the older Blackvue 650GW-2CH with current firmware (v2.xxx) no longer have this feature to manually toggle audio recording on/off. Instead it triggers a 1min manual recording when you wave your hand near the proximity sensor. I bought my 650GW about a year ago and it had the audio toggle originally, but when firmware was updated to add Blackvue Cloud, it lost that feature.

650GW-2CH dashcams with v1.xxx firmware as well as the 650S models have the audio on/off toggle.

 

[f-stop]

[...] BTW thought the wifi transfer we did on a 3-minute clip to our phone seem to take a long time. Haven't tried the mini-SD card transfer on the computer using the software but hope it's faster. Did like that the files had filters for activities.

I find transfers via direct wi-fi connection between the 650GW and smartphone to be really slow. Instead if there's a clip I want to save I just pull out the microSD card and transfer to my desktop computer, then use the desktop Blackvue Viewer app. Much, much faster to search through clips

 

[SMAlset]

Been reading the manual today a bit. Hubby was thinking of covering up the LEDs on the Blackvue but I see from the Blackvue app that there are settings you can toggle to affect these status indicator LEDs so no need.

 

[f-stop]

Been reading the manual today a bit. Hubby was thinking of covering up the LEDs on the Blackvue but I see from the Blackvue app that there are settings you can toggle to affect these status indicator LEDs so no need.

yes, it's nice that the newer 650S has a software setting to turn off the rear LED, something missing from the 650GW (although both S and GW can disable the front LED). I have a piece of black gaffer tape covering my rear LED... I also put a piece over the big white Blackvue Full HD text on the front cam - makes it much more stealth.

 

[seclinton]

Warranty. I expect this has been asked before but I can't find a reference to it: does fitting a dash-cam, such as the Blackvue 650, have any effect on the Tesla warranty or on whether Tesla would accept the car under the Resale Value Guarantee?

No it doesn't. My car was smashed front and back. Tesla approved all repairs and stands by the warranty on the car. For any fix made, they will fix any issue or have the repair vendor fix it or get billed for the work. Example, my repair center broke the GPS antenna. Tesla fixed that and replaced the rear glass, brake light, and will pay to have it re-tinted as original.

They specifically told me they didn't re-hook up my camera system due to the fact they didn't install it, but they noted I did "NOT CUT INTO ANY EXISTING WIRING" therefore my warranty is intact. Note, tapping the power above the mic grill doesn't coiunt as cutting or splicing if if you make a connector or install the power wires in a reversible way (like opening the existing connector and feeding in the camera power wires and reclosing the connector. That's what I did)

Full warranty on the car still in effect!!