Dashcam for the Emira

[marc1adrien]

It looks like Garmin hs a secondary kit that plugs into OBD port and allows you to switch how long you want the power. I am thinking if I get one of their usual cameras and add this kit to use only when i need it (the parked mode with say 5-6 hours) i cn just store the cabling in glove box and keep the mirror plug for the time used when driving. Anyone know if that will work?

 

[GetawayDriving]

It looks like Garmin hs a secondary kit that plugs into OBD port and allows you to switch how long you want the power. I am thinking if I get one of their usual cameras and add this kit to use only when i need it (the parked mode with say 5-6 hours) i cn just store the cabling in glove box and keep the mirror plug for the time used when driving. Anyone know if that will work?

The OBD port has constant power so that’ll be fine for a parking mode. A decent camera should have voltage monitoring to shut itself off before the battery goes flat.

You could also look at something like an OwlCam which will also use OBD and includes a native parking mode with cloud upload and live view as well.

 

[Bimmernate]

Am hoping to get a dash cam recommendation based on two features im looking for.

I need it to auto-power on when the car turns on and off when the car turns off. Don't want to have to manually press a button to turn on.

I need it to not have a battery in it. In my experience, batteries in that area after a few years will get damaged from the heat and swell... I'm aware that without the battery, it cannot be used while the car is parked unless you hardwire to the fuse box. I only want to use the existing port in the mirror as the power source and don't want to take things apart.

Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Wiz33]

Am hoping to get a dash cam recommendation based on two features im looking for.

I need it to auto-power on when the car turns on and off when the car turns off. Don't want to have to manually press a button to turn on.

I need it to not have a battery in it. In my experience, batteries in that area after a few years will get damaged from the heat and swell... I'm aware that without the battery, it cannot be used while the car is parked unless you hardwire to the fuse box. I only want to use the existing port in the mirror as the power source and don't want to take things apart.

Any suggestions? Thank you!

Anything you power from the mirror housing will auto turn on and off. I think most dashcam manufacturer have moved away from internal battery for the exact problem you mentioned so unless it specifically say internal battery backup, you should be safe. Check my earlier post on mounting a Viofo A139 pro. It's literally a 10 minutes job as long as you're a one channel front only. All you need is a 12" USB-A to USB -C cable with a right angle port on the USB-C end.

 

[Bimmernate]

Anything you power from the mirror housing will auto turn on and off. I think most dashcam manufacturer have moved away from internal battery for the exact problem you mentioned so unless it specifically say internal battery backup, you should be safe. Check my earlier post on mounting a Viofo A139 pro. It's literally a 10 minutes job as long as you're a one channel front only. All you need is a 12" USB-A to USB -C cable with a right angle port on the USB-C end.

Just looked at your post. That cam looks clean and you can barely see it from the drivers side. Thank you!

 

[KaZe]

Anything you power from the mirror housing will auto turn on and off. I think most dashcam manufacturer have moved away from internal battery for the exact problem you mentioned so unless it specifically say internal battery backup, you should be safe. Check my earlier post on mounting a Viofo A139 pro. It's literally a 10 minutes job as long as you're a one channel front only. All you need is a 12" USB-A to USB -C cable with a right angle port on the USB-C end.

Do you or anyone know if the A139 Pro can run off a battery pack as an alternative to hard wiring so we can accomplish a dumbed down “parking mode?” I’m imagining myself unplugging the A139 from the mirror and plugging the USB cable into a battery pack when I exit the vehicle. Not the prettiest setup but it’d be convenient and very easy to do. I’m assuming I’d need a pretty hefty battery pack in order to get any decent time out of it even if this does work.

 

[Bimmernate]

Do you or anyone know if the A139 Pro can run off a battery pack as an alternative to hard wiring so we can accomplish a dumbed down “parking mode?” I’m imagining myself unplugging the A139 from the mirror and plugging the USB cable into a battery pack when I exit the vehicle. Not the prettiest setup but it’d be convenient and very easy to do. I’m assuming I’d need a pretty hefty battery pack in order to get any decent time out of it even if this does work.

I don't see why it couldn't. I just purchased the A119 Mini V2 and just plugged it into an portable powerbank for traveling and it records just fine. I haven't installed the camera in the emira yet.

*EDIT* Just did a quick search. there was a thread in dashcam talk where a guy ran a A119 mini v2 off a 20,000 mah power bank for 20 hours. It ran for 3.5 hours off of a 3350 mAh powerbank

 

[KaZe]

I don't see why it couldn't. I just purchased the A119 Mini V2 and just plugged it into an portable powerbank for traveling and it records just fine. I haven't installed the camera in the emira yet.

*EDIT* Just did a quick search. there was a thread in dashcam talk where a guy ran a A119 mini v2 off a 20,000 mah power bank for 20 hours. It ran for 3.5 hours off of a 3350 mAh powerbank

Wow, that's way better than I expected! Thanks for the info pal

 

[Wiz33]

Wow, that's way better than I expected! Thanks for the info pal

But if you're going to route the wire to the battery pack, then why not hard wire it? If you just have the USB cable dangling off the Dashcam to the cabin, it'll probably attract attention and let people know you have a Dashcam which can create other problem.

 

[Bimmernate]

I find that recording while parked isn't particularly useful...hear me out.

I have a tesla model 3. It has "sentry mode" which allows recording out of all 4 exterior cameras. You would think i would use it all the time...but i don't. I found that many people are able to view incidents that happen to their car while parked (typically vandalism or opening car doors into their car) and you really can't do anything with the footage. The police don't care at all. They aren't going to input the footage through some facial recognition software to track down the culprits that did the damage. The only use it has is to watch the video over and over again and spiral in your own thoughts at the realization that people just suck.

The only real advantage recording while parked can give is if a hit and run occurs while the car was parked AND the single camera you have happens to catch the plates... which a single dash cam at the front of the vehicle is unlikely to pick up unless you plan ahead with a strategic parking strategy

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

But if you're going to route the wire to the battery pack, then why not hard wire it? If you just have the USB cable dangling off the Dashcam to the cabin, it'll probably attract attention and let people know you have a Dashcam which can create other problem.

Does hard wiring get you more time (or as much time) as an external battery pack before it has to shut off because you reached the limit on your main battery draw (and risking a no-start)? I thought that was the whole idea of an external battery.

 

[GetawayDriving]

I find that recording while parked isn't particularly useful...hear me out.

I have a tesla model 3. It has "sentry mode" which allows recording out of all 4 exterior cameras. You would think i would use it all the time...but i don't. I found that many people are able to view incidents that happen to their car while parked (typically vandalism or opening car doors into their car) and you really can't do anything with the footage. The police don't care at all. They aren't going to input the footage through some facial recognition software to track down the culprits that did the damage. The only use it has is to watch the video over and over again and spiral in your own thoughts at the realization that people just suck.

The only real advantage recording while parked can give is if a hit and run occurs while the car was parked AND the single camera you have happens to catch the plates... which a single dash cam at the front of the vehicle is unlikely to pick up unless you plan ahead with a strategic parking strategy

Sentry mode was clutch for me in proving a towing company improperly towed my Model 3.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Does hard wiring get you more time (or as much time) as an external battery pack before it has to shut off because you reached the limit on your main battery draw (and risking a no-start)? I thought that was the whole idea of an external battery.

External batteries are also generally hard wired (they charge faster that way). So whatever recording time you get by hard wiring, you get that PLUS whatever the external battery gives you.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

Ah, yup, thanks for that

External batteries are also generally hard wired (they charge faster that way). So whatever recording time you get by hard wiring, you get that PLUS whatever the external battery gives you.

 

[Wiz33]

Does hard wiring get you more time (or as much time) as an external battery pack before it has to shut off because you reached the limit on your main battery draw (and risking a no-start)? I thought that was the whole idea of an external battery.

Most modern Brand Name Dashcam will have a cutoff feature that shuts down the Dashcam when the Battery drops to a certain level, that should leave plenty of power for a start. As for how long it will last, it all depends on how often and how long you drive your car and if that's enough to fully recharge the battery. an Auto battery will have more capacity than most powerbanks and still have leftover for a few starts.

 

[Bimmernate]

Sentry mode was clutch for me in proving a towing company improperly towed my Model 3.

We can put that in the “strategic parking” category?

If you were towed voluntarily or from an accident or breakdown, they usually have the keys in the ignition/car so a dash cam would be recording as normal (not parking recording)

 

[GetawayDriving]

We can put that in the “strategic parking” category?

If you were towed voluntarily or from an accident or breakdown, they usually have the keys in the ignition/car so a dash cam would be recording as normal (not parking recording)

I was towed for street cleaning, so no keys. They put the car on a “hook” (elevating rear wheels, dragging front) when it should have been on a flat bed or at minimum with dollies under front wheels as an AWD EV. Luckily my battery was low, and the slow speed / short distance to the yard didn’t damage the drivetrain. Had the footage though, which gave me peace of mind if something did go wrong.

 

[Bimmernate]

I was towed for street cleaning, so no keys. They put the car on a “hook” (elevating rear wheels, dragging front) when it should have been on a flat bed or at minimum with dollies under front wheels as an AWD EV. Luckily my battery was low, and the slow speed / short distance to the yard didn’t damage the drivetrain. Had the footage though, which gave me peace of mind if something did go wrong.

That’s nuts, I would have been so pissed. They should have just written you a ticket and moved on. Glad to hear it didn’t wreck it

 

[Bimmernate]

So after probably too much research, I did end up getting the VIOFO A119 mini v2. It was consistently recommended on many dashcam forums and reviews i watched from dashcamtalk. https://dashcamtalk.com/

Installed the Mini V2 and seems to be a great discrete dash cam. The other dash cams I was looking at was the redtiger one from amazon and some of the other VIOFO models including the previously mentioned A229 pro on this thread. Ultimately, I chose the mini because it is the smallest of the group, had excellent video quality (especially night due to the starvis 2 sensor), and was significantly less expensive (~$110) than the A229 pro ($280). It does have wifi so you can take clips off of it with an app from your phone.

Used a 6" USB A to USB C cord along with an elbow adapter on the USB-C side to make the power plug into the base discrete. The dash cam has a second USB-C port on the cam itself which I will use for occasional parking recording by plugging in a 10k mah external battery pack. I can keep the battery pack charged in the center console. Although to be honest, I don't think i'll be doing much recording while parked.