Dashcam for the Emira

[GrahamClark_60-68]

On a tender it would be fine indefinitely.

As for the battery:
- The smallest external batteries are about 4.5 amps.
- Something like a Blackvue DR900X 2 channel uses ~ 400mA which would mean 11.25h of battery life.
- Many other cameras that cut fps down to 1-10 fps use sub 100mA which would mean ~ 2 days of recording.
- This would likely fit somewhere behind the plastic paneling in the rear compartment area behind the driver.
- Larger batteries also exist, some of the Blackvlue ones are 7.5 amps.


I've even seen some ridiculous claims from new dashcams like the Vueroid D21 which is claiming 2mA of draw in parking mode. At that point you really don't need a battery pack.
View attachment 41226

Thanks, now I know a lot more on this, thanks for this education. And considering the size of the aux batteries, and hence the need to pull trim (maybe a LOT of trim?) to install, I'd like to believe the ridiculous claims of the Vueroid D21. Seems like a great idea and sure would make things more simple from an installation perspective.

 

[Wiz33]

I have a Viofo A139 Pro sitting around that I was going to put in the 718S so I'll see how it'll look and fit. If I like it I'll just order a 2CH kit for the Emira

 

[Wiz33]

I have a Viofo A139 Pro sitting around that I was going to put in the 718S so I'll see how it'll look and fit. If I like it I'll just order a 2CH kit for the Emira

Ok the A139 Pro fits well on the passenger side and with the USB power port there, I can just stick it there and run a 6" USB-A to C cable. Should be a few minutes, Skipping the rear cam for now as the view are very restrictive out the rear...

 

[Wiz33]

I finally got around to mounting the dashcam yesterday. I first tried mounting it directly under the mirror mount. Although it's totally hidden from my view by the mirror, it is quite noticeable from the outside.

So I removed it and started over as they do give you extra adhesive pads. In the process of doing that, I finally took notice of the 2 static stickers in the box. Gave them a try and they seems to work great. Move it to the passenger sidenext to the mirror mount. looks pretty good, will run it a few days and see.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

I'm liking the look of that location in the second pic from the inside. What model is this?

 

[FlyNavy01]

Looks like a Viofo A139Pro. I have the A229 Pro I'll be installing in the same location this weekend now that my tint is done.

 

[Wiz33]

I'm liking the look of that location in the second pic from the inside. What model is this?

It a Viofo A139 Pro. I didn't bother with the rear camera option as the view is so restrictive.

 

[VL3X]

I'm really happy with my BlackVue 970X Plus dashcam. I still gotta wire up the rear cam. I tested it through the louvered hatch and was able to actually capture some decent footage if anyone rear ends me. Plus I get to see the engine and supercharger actuator flexing. 😉

If anyone is interested in any BlackVue units, feel free to use my sponsor code for 10% off and free shipping: verdeithaca 😎 I've got a pinned story on my Instagram with the install and some videos. They're super easy to install.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

I'm really happy with my BlackVue 970X Plus dashcam. I still gotta wire up the rear cam. I tested it through the louvered hatch and was able to actually capture some decent footage if anyone rear ends me. Plus I get to see the engine and supercharger actuator flexing. 😉

If anyone is interested in any BlackVue units, feel free to use my sponsor code for 10% off and free shipping: verdeithaca 😎 I've got a pinned story on my Instagram with the install and some videos. They're super easy to install.

View attachment 44168

Thanks for that info! From your pic you've obviously hardwired. Do you use parking mode and if so what's your experience? I'm concerned of course about running the battery below starting level and how long parking mode can be on before this becomes an issue, without some sort of aux battery.

 

[Eagle7]

I finally got around to mounting the dashcam yesterday. I first tried mounting it directly under the mirror mount. Although it's totally hidden from my view by the mirror, it is quite noticeable from the outside. View attachment 44145

So I removed it and started over as they do give you extra adhesive pads. In the process of doing that, I finally took notice of the 2 static stickers in the box. Gave them a try and they seems to work great. Move it to the passenger sidenext to the mirror mount. looks pretty good, will run it a few days and see. View attachment 44147
View attachment 44150View attachment 44151

I installed my Viofo A229 Pro in almost the exact same location as your second one, but I moved mine forward (down the windshield) a bit so I couldn't see any of it from the driver's seat. The area above the mirror on the right isn't blocked on mine.

 

[VL3X]

Thanks for that info! From your pic you've obviously hardwired. Do you use parking mode and if so what's your experience? I'm concerned of course about running the battery below starting level and how long parking mode can be on before this becomes an issue, without some sort of aux battery.

Yes, hardwired with a fuse tap! I run the Blackvue B-130X battery backup for parking mode, so no worries there. The cam is powered 100% from the battery backup, which is tapped into a switched 12v fuse so it charges while the car is running.
Once I shut off the car, then the cam runs off the battery and a full charge (takes ~20 minutes to charge up from 0%) will run parking mode for ~30 hours or so. Once the battery back up is depleted, the camera will shut off.

And here's where I tapped.. Might be the same for the Emira, but double check:

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

Yes, hardwired with a fuse tap! I run the Blackvue B-130X battery backup for parking mode, so no worries there. The cam is powered 100% from the battery backup, which is tapped into a switched 12v fuse so it charges while the car is running.
Once I shut off the car, then the cam runs off the battery and a full charge (takes ~20 minutes to charge up from 0%) will run parking mode for ~30 hours or so. Once the battery back up is depleted, the camera will shut off.

View attachment 44176

View attachment 44177

And here's where I tapped.. Might be the same for the Emira, but double check:

View attachment 44178

Thanks for the details and pics, looks like a nice clean install. So sounds like it's good for overnight but maybe not 2 overnights. And while its in parking mode, does it notify you of "activity?" If so, by what means? I'm considering that when I'm parked in a building parking garage, and upstairs, that there will be no signal that can possibly reach me. Also, is that the footwell on the passenger side? And can I assume trim needs to come off on the A-pillar and maybe top of the windshield? (Sorry so many questions, dashcam newbie here).

 

[Wiz33]

I installed my Viofo A229 Pro in almost the exact same location as your second one, but I moved mine forward (down the windshield) a bit so I couldn't see any of it from the driver's seat. The area above the mirror on the right isn't blocked on mine.

I actually like how mine turns out as I can see the status light since I had the notification volume down low.

 

[VL3X]

Thanks for the details and pics, looks like a nice clean install. So sounds like it's good for overnight but maybe not 2 overnights. And while its in parking mode, does it notify you of "activity?" If so, by what means? I'm considering that when I'm parked in a building parking garage, and upstairs, that there will be no signal that can possibly reach me. Also, is that the footwell on the passenger side? And can I assume trim needs to come off on the A-pillar and maybe top of the windshield? (Sorry so many questions, dashcam newbie here).

You can access the live feed via wifi (useful when parked at home) or purchase a LTE model and pay for live cloud feed subscription. I assume the battery would work for 2 nights but I've never left my car overnight for longer than a single night without driving it and recharging the battery. The BlackVue app has a battery monitor too.

And yes, that's the passenger footwell. Same location as the Emira. It's under a metal kick plate that's easily removed. No trim came off. The headliner pulls down just enough to tuck the wire and so does the A pillar. Then you can just feed it behind the glove box down to the footwell.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

No trim removal is encouraging me! Hope that’s possible with the Emira.

 

[GetawayDriving]

I've started to dive into this.

My last vehicle was stolen, so I want to get this right.

I've been spoiled in the past. I really, really miss Tesla Sentry Mode. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the industry and after having it, I want it on every car ever.

5 years ago I bought an Owl Cam. It was excellent. A little chunky, but it had a great app, seamless live view mode, a 48 hour parking mode with no external battery, and they even awarded $1000 a week for the best voice-activated clip upload. That company was acquired and it went to shit. Old cameras didn't work, new cameras had higher cloud subscription fees, and now it seems they're still selling the same camera from 5 years ago.

To my astonishment, nothing else has really stepped up. I had a Blackvue DX900-2CH in my last car that was stolen, a lot of good that did me. It never even fired off any clips of the culprits. The app was incredibly janky too, which turns me off from paying their super premiums to get another.

Thinkware u3000 seems to be a nice all-rounder, but I don't like that it's not cloud connected for live view at all times. It needs to be on wifi at home to grab clips. But the image quality looks good, it has a very power-efficient parking mode that might be somewhat usable without an external battery, and it does have some tracking via the app (just not real time via LTE).

The Viofos look decent, but I haven't found much on the app experience and it seems they need the external battery for parking mode.

Nexar seem to have glowing reviews online, but watching some YouTube reviews they severely underperform.

The Garmin has some interesting cloud features but is only 1 channel and down on specs.

There really isn't a satisfying answer here. I think here's a huge opportunity in this space for someone to come in and just make the iPhone of dash cameras, which I think Owl Cam was trying to be in its original incarnation. I had high hopes for the Ring Car camera, but that seems like it was also a bust.

Frustrating. I just want Sentry Mode in my Emira.

Anyway, following. /rant

 

[Eagle7]

I've started to dive into this.

My last vehicle was stolen, so I want to get this right.

I've been spoiled in the past. I really, really miss Tesla Sentry Mode. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the industry and after having it, I want it on every car ever.

5 years ago I bought an Owl Cam. It was excellent. A little chunky, but it had a great app, seamless live view mode, a 48 hour parking mode with no external battery, and they even awarded $1000 a week for the best voice-activated clip upload. That company was acquired and it went to shit. Old cameras didn't work, new cameras had higher cloud subscription fees, and now it seems they're still selling the same camera from 5 years ago.

To my astonishment, nothing else has really stepped up. I had a Blackvue DX900-2CH in my last car that was stolen, a lot of good that did me. It never even fired off any clips of the culprits. The app was incredibly janky too, which turns me off from paying their super premiums to get another.

Thinkware u3000 seems to be a nice all-rounder, but I don't like that it's not cloud connected for live view at all times. It needs to be on wifi at home to grab clips. But the image quality looks good, it has a very power-efficient parking mode that might be somewhat usable without an external battery, and it does have some tracking via the app (just not real time via LTE).

The Viofos look decent, but I haven't found much on the app experience and it seems they need the external battery for parking mode.

Nexar seem to have glowing reviews online, but watching some YouTube reviews they severely underperform.

The Garmin has some interesting cloud features but is only 1 channel and down on specs.

There really isn't a satisfying answer here. I think here's a huge opportunity in this space for someone to come in and just make the iPhone of dash cameras, which I think Owl Cam was trying to be in its original incarnation. I had high hopes for the Ring Car camera, but that seems like it was also a bust.

Frustrating. I just want Sentry Mode in my Emira.

Anyway, following. /rant

This guy, Vortex Radar, is pretty good at dash cam reviews and he's just released one for 2024.

 

[FlyNavy01]

I've started to dive into this.

My last vehicle was stolen, so I want to get this right.

I've been spoiled in the past. I really, really miss Tesla Sentry Mode. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the industry and after having it, I want it on every car ever.

5 years ago I bought an Owl Cam. It was excellent. A little chunky, but it had a great app, seamless live view mode, a 48 hour parking mode with no external battery, and they even awarded $1000 a week for the best voice-activated clip upload. That company was acquired and it went to shit. Old cameras didn't work, new cameras had higher cloud subscription fees, and now it seems they're still selling the same camera from 5 years ago.

To my astonishment, nothing else has really stepped up. I had a Blackvue DX900-2CH in my last car that was stolen, a lot of good that did me. It never even fired off any clips of the culprits. The app was incredibly janky too, which turns me off from paying their super premiums to get another.

Thinkware u3000 seems to be a nice all-rounder, but I don't like that it's not cloud connected for live view at all times. It needs to be on wifi at home to grab clips. But the image quality looks good, it has a very power-efficient parking mode that might be somewhat usable without an external battery, and it does have some tracking via the app (just not real time via LTE).

The Viofos look decent, but I haven't found much on the app experience and it seems they need the external battery for parking mode.

Nexar seem to have glowing reviews online, but watching some YouTube reviews they severely underperform.

The Garmin has some interesting cloud features but is only 1 channel and down on specs.

There really isn't a satisfying answer here. I think here's a huge opportunity in this space for someone to come in and just make the iPhone of dash cameras, which I think Owl Cam was trying to be in its original incarnation. I had high hopes for the Ring Car camera, but that seems like it was also a bust.

Frustrating. I just want Sentry Mode in my Emira.

Anyway, following. /rant

I had many of the same complaints and solved a lot of them with a quality dash cam, an Antigravity LiFePO4 car battery, and their battery tracker module. The module offers battery telemetry, one of which being GPS monitoring, so you can always see where the car is and a trail of where it's been driven. This happens without alerting the driver (or whomever stole your car) like an AirTag might. The battery is rated at 528Wh and my Viofo A229 Pro draws 4-6W in parking mode, meaning it could theoretically record for 80-120 hours continuously before the battery drains, so no need for an external one. If it does somehow get left on for days and drains, the battery still has a backup "re-start" function where it keeps enough reserve capacity to crank an engine a handful of times even when dead, so you'll never be stranded. It also weighs 30lbs less than the stock battery. Only drawback to all of this is the cost, at around $900, or $1200 if you include the 4K 3CH dashcam. Food for thought, but I'm happy with it so far in my Emira.

Agreed that nothing comes close to Sentry mode though. 360 degree live-streaming of my car from anywhere in the world and the ability to talk to people through the phone and scare them off is hilarious and fantastic. That was 007 gadget level stuff just a decade or two ago.

 

[marc1adrien]

I'm in a bit of an odd situation on this. Ideal would be a quick USB wire to mirror, and a unit that could record say 4-5 hours without external battery when parked. It appears I'm out of luck right?

 

[Wiz33]

I'm in a bit of an odd situation on this. Ideal would be a quick USB wire to mirror, and a unit that could record say 4-5 hours without external battery when parked. It appears I'm out of luck right?

You have to hardwire to the fusebox in the footwell to get any kind of parking recording as the USB port in the mirror housing shuts off along with the car.