Dash cams, what to get and where to get it (Q&A only)

jenny smith

trixiebust wrote: »

Any recommendations for a cheap cam ? Budget's the € 50 and under range. Thanks.

Argos have one around 54 euro but i do not know how good it is

honda boi

trixiebust wrote: »

Any recommendations for a cheap cam ? Budget's the € 50 and under range. Thanks.

Little over budget but have this and think its really good
YI Dash Cam Car Camera Recorder DVR Night Vision HD 1080p Gold https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C89DTFI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_AW6IybQZSEE69

honda boi

Anyone have the Mobius cam?
Cant get it to work with any phone

josip

honda boi wrote: »

Anyone have the Mobius cam?
Cant get it to work with any phone

I've a 2 year old Mobius and tried at some stage to get it to work with an Android (HTC). Gave up after an hour.

AndyBoBandy

trixiebust wrote: »

Any recommendations for a cheap cam ? Budget's the € 50 and under range. Thanks.

G1W is still a rock solid camera.

FlipperThePriest

trixiebust wrote: »

Any recommendations for a cheap cam ? Budget's the € 50 and under range. Thanks.

This.. Posted a few weeks ago.

trixiebust

AndyBoBandy wrote:

G1W is still a rock solid camera.

Thanks, bought!

AutoMan79

josip wrote: »

I've a 2 year old Mobius and tried at some stage to get it to work with an Android (HTC). Gave up after an hour.

Would you recommend Mobius camera as a motion detect that would be connected to power bank? Car sits in a underground car park so I hope Mobius would be perfect due it's small design.

jenny smith

trixiebust wrote: »

Thanks, bought!

Where?

josip

AutoMan79 wrote: »

Would you recommend Mobius camera as a motion detect that would be connected to power bank? Car sits in a underground car park so I hope Mobius would be perfect due it's small design.

Yes, if you're connecting it to a power bank.
In the beginning I was using the motion detect and quite happy with it. However I was using the internal battery which very quickly deteriorated.
Since then I've had it hardwired in the car to a switched live fuse so motion detect is no longer an option.
I also like the small form factor of the mobius and don't miss a built in screen. It's very unobtrusive beside the rearview mirror

AutoMan79

josip wrote: »

Yes, if you're connecting it to a power bank.
In the beginning I was using the motion detect and quite happy with it. However I was using the internal battery which very quickly deteriorated.
Since then I've had it hardwired in the car to a switched live fuse so motion detect is no longer an option.
I also like the small form factor of the mobius and don't miss a built in screen. It's very unobtrusive beside the rearview mirror

Thanks a lot for the info.
By the way you mentioned that you hardwired it to the live fuse so does it mean there is no option to put the Mobius in motion detect or you don't use it anymore?
Cheers!

BorneTobyWilde

How does a dash cam work
Is it powered by the vehicles electrical system or does it use batteries?
What is a good expensive cam with quality that would suit a semi truck ?

Mycroft H

Powered from a 12v/24v feed from the vehicle, as easy as plugging it into a cigarette socket. Some have batteries and some have capacitors, batteries are sometimes less reliable but hold a longer term charge (ie can detect a shunt in the car park when you're away, it'll wake up and hopefully catch who ever hit you). Capacitors just hold a short term charge but are more reliable, however, most dash cams have some form of battery. Video files are automatically recorded when a power feed is detected (ie. when you turn on the ignition) and record several hours and overwrite the oldest file.

I've a nextbase 212 from Halfords and I'm happy enough with the quality. It's not super but for 60 euros it's not too bad.

jenny smith

Mycroft H wrote: »

Powered from a 12v/24v feed from the vehicle, as easy as plugging it into a cigarette socket. Some have batteries and some have capacitors, batteries are sometimes less reliable but hold a longer term charge (ie can detect a shunt in the car park when you're away, it'll wake up and hopefully catch who ever hit you). Capacitors just hold a short term charge but are more reliable, however, most dash cams have some form of battery. Video files are automatically recorded when a power feed is detected (ie. when you turn on the ignition) and record several hours and overwrite the oldest file.

I've a nextbase 212 from Halfords and I'm happy enough with the quality. It's not super but for 60 euros it's not too bad.

Do you have to plug out each time you turn off engine and plug in when turn on?
Can you make out reg plates on the footage?

AndyBoBandy

jenny smith wrote: »

Do you have to plug out each time you turn off engine and plug in when turn on?
Can you make out reg plates on the footage?

It depends on your car,
Most cars cut power to the cigarette lighter socket when the ignition is turned off, but a few are 'always powered on' regardless if the ignition is on or not.
This all means you never have to touch the dashcam once it's installed for the first time.

Most decent cameras can make out ref plates of incoming cars, though it gets a lot more difficult in darker conditions.

jenny smith

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

It depends on your car,
Most cars cut power to the cigarette lighter socket when the ignition is turned off, but a few are 'always powered on' regardless if the ignition is on or not.
This all means you never have to touch the dashcam once it's installed for the first time.

Most decent cameras can make out ref plates of incoming cars, though it gets a lot more difficult in darker conditions.

how can i tell if always powered on? Would it be drawing power from the battery if left in cig lighter and it was always powered on?

AndyBoBandy

jenny smith wrote: »

how can i tell if always powered on? Would it be drawing power from the battery if left in cig lighter and it was always powered on?

It would,

best way to check is plug in something with a little light on it (usb charger, or sat nav adaptor), and when you see the little light on it lighting up, its obviously powered on,

turn off the ignition, and it should be powered off, the little light should go off. maybe even get out of the car and lock it, as on some newer cars the cigarette lighter socket will remain on for a few minutes after the engine is stopped and the doors have been locked, and will power back on as soon as the doors are unlocked.

or plug in a phone charger and toggle the ignition on & off, and see if the phone starts/stops charging when you do it.

jenny smith

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

It would,

best way to check is plug in something with a little light on it (usb charger, or sat nav adaptor), and when you see the little light on it lighting up, its obviously powered on,

turn off the ignition, and it should be powered off, the little light should go off. maybe even get out of the car and lock it, as on some newer cars the cigarette lighter socket will remain on for a few minutes after the engine is stopped and the doors have been locked, and will power back on as soon as the doors are unlocked.

or plug in a phone charger and toggle the ignition on & off, and see if the phone starts/stops charging when you do it.

Plugged in this before putting key in ignition and it lit the little light. So would i have to p[lug it out if going into a shop for a few mins

Would it draw enough to kill the battery overnight if I forgot it

josip

AutoMan79 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for the info.
By the way you mentioned that you hardwired it to the live fuse so does it mean there is no option to put the Mobius in motion detect or you don't use it anymore?
Cheers!

The option is still there, but I leave the car at the airport a few times each year for up to 2 weeks at a time and I was worried that my battery would be flat by the time I got back if it was drawing power for a motion detect. So I chose to wire it into a switched-on fuse rather than an always on.

Also the main priority of a car battery is to provide starting power for the vehicle. (In addition it will provide a stable flow of power for the car electrical systems.) A car battery cannot be allowed to remain far below 'full charge' for any length of time without physically degrading and permanently losing performance.
Rightly or wrongly, I didn't want the dashcam to shorten the lifespan of the battery.

Senecio

Anyone else having trouble with the wifi on their DDPAI? Mine just keeps looping and asking for wifi password every 10secs. iPhone 6 if it makes any difference.

AndyBoBandy

Senecio wrote: »

Anyone else having trouble with the wifi on their DDPAI? Mine just keeps looping and asking for wifi password every 10secs. iPhone 6 if it makes any difference.

No issue at all from my side (iPhone 6 & 7)

I haven't updated the software once though since I bought it a few months ago!

TigerTim

Hi All,

I have a Mini 0806 for about 1 year now. Happy enough with it. I have 2 x Samsung 64GB class 10 SD cards in it. It works away happily for a few weeks & then throws a wobbly. I get 3 loud beeps repeated & a message on screen for FRMT card. Once I format the cards , it works away happily again. I have formatted them in the dashcam & also in an adapter in the laptop but neither makes a difference. Also updated the firmware on the dashcam. Cards are genuine. Anyone else have this issue.

Thanks,

T.

Riva10

Anyone using this type. Was thinking of one for rear window.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-1080P-HD-Camera-WIFI-Car-DVR-Dash-Cam-Camcorder-Night-Vision-APP-Monitor-/322107409111

AndyBoBandy

Riva10 wrote: »

Anyone using this type. Was thinking of one for rear window.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-1080P-HD-Camera-WIFI-Car-DVR-Dash-Cam-Camcorder-Night-Vision-APP-Monitor-/322107409111

No, but it looks quite neat.

FlipperThePriest

Riva10 wrote: »

Anyone using this type. Was thinking of one for rear window.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-1080P-HD-Camera-WIFI-Car-DVR-Dash-Cam-Camcorder-Night-Vision-APP-Monitor-/322107409111

I'd be fairly dubious about buying brandless electronics from ebay, have been stung enough in the past. If it doesn't have a name on it or can't be found anywhere other than ebay, then I can't get a legitimate product review and so I won't be buying, unless I know someone that has it. I've kind of gone off ebay a bit in that respect... all that said it could be fine, but if it's a good product why not stick a name/brand on it?

jenny smith

zippy84 wrote: »

I'd be fairly dubious about buying brandless electronics from ebay, have been stung enough in the past. If it doesn't have a name on it or can't be found anywhere other than ebay, then I can't get a legitimate product review and so I won't be buying, unless I know someone that has it. I've kind of gone off ebay a bit in that respect... all that said it could be fine, but if it's a good product why not stick a name/brand on it?

I saw one in a euro type shop -i.e what used to be a pound shop- for 20 euro. It said Full HD 1080 but said avi file 640 x not sure the second. That is not 1080 is it?

AndyBoBandy

jenny smith wrote: »

I saw one in a euro type shop -i.e what used to be a pound shop- for 20 euro. It said Full HD 1080 but said avi file 640 x not sure the second. That is not 1080 is it?

I saw this one in Heatons for €15

jenny smith

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I saw this one in Heatons for €15

same one as i saw for 20 euro. Any good?

CreepingDeath

TigerTim wrote: »

I have a Mini 0806 for about 1 year now. Happy enough with it. I have 2 x Samsung 64GB class 10 SD cards in it. It works away happily for a few weeks & then throws a wobbly. I get 3 loud beeps repeated & a message on screen for FRMT card.

I haven't seen the format card message, but have got the 3 loud beeps and the camera shuts down. I had only 1 64Gb SD card. But unplugging the camera and plugging it back it made it skip whatever bad sector of the SD card was causing the issue while driving. (cigarette lighter socket)

I'm assuming it's SD card wear,
I threw in a newer 32Gb card a few weeks ago and no issues.

Whenever I've time/bothered, it would be worth running some SD card tester app and seeing if it detects defects... I think I've a 3 year warranty on the card.

If it's not SD wear, then the 3 beeps might be that the dashcam can't write to the card fast enough. Maybe reducing the resolution might work or I think there's a custom firmware available which slightly reduces the framerate or quality but could mitigate against it.

TigerTim

CreepingDeath wrote: »

I haven't seen the format card message, but have got the 3 loud beeps and the camera shuts down. I had only 1 64Gb SD card. But unplugging the camera and plugging it back it made it skip whatever bad sector of the SD card was causing the issue while driving. (cigarette lighter socket)

I'm assuming it's SD card wear,
I threw in a newer 32Gb card a few weeks ago and no issues.

Whenever I've time/bothered, it would be worth running some SD card tester app and seeing if it detects defects... I think I've a 3 year warranty on the card.

If it's not SD wear, then the 3 beeps might be that the dashcam can't write to the card fast enough. Maybe reducing the resolution might work or I think there's a custom firmware available which slightly reduces the framerate or quality but could mitigate against it.

Thanks CD,

I have run the SD card software & all is OK. Could be the write speed OK. Will investigate. Works OK for a few weeks & then throws the 3 beeps.

Thanks,

T.