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

BigEejit · 17-11-2015 07:35PM

CreepingDeath wrote: »

I've started driving 80mins + on my commute with the Eprance mini 0806.
After about an hour I get low battery warnings and shutdowns.

Not sure if the Honda Civic's power socket adapter is underpowered to both run and charge the Mini 0806 at the same time for long periods.

Or if the 3m+ cable that comes with the 0806 has too much resistance and a shorter cable would deliver more power.
Will have to experiment with different usb cables and cigarette socket adapters.

The booklet says it needs to be 600mA (does not specify if that is the input or output of the power supply). I got my 0806 today and the included power supply looks cheap... I would not be surprised it it could not put out the required power.
I haver ordered :http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U2DGJD2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=AE8VKX1R2E9W6 which can do 12 watts continuous.

/edit
I think I will test it on my desk first to ensure it works as advertised. One review states psu gets very hot and another that it only provided 5v at 1.5a

Damiencm · 17-11-2015 07:42PM

BigEejit wrote:

Yikes ...close call then. Whats your budget? The Aldi one coming out in their stores Thursday is â‚¬40. To be honest going too cheap can mean getting a really poor quality camera and you wont see anything in them.

Yes saw that in the aldi mag. Seems fine for what i need just curious if it would pick up number plate of car in front ( prob my car lights would illuminate the plate enough but I have never used a cam so dnt really know)

Max maybe â‚¬70 but perhaps thats not realistic..

Hal1 · 17-11-2015 08:38PM

BigEejit wrote: »

The booklet says it needs to be 600mA (does not specify if that is the input or output of the power supply). I got my 0806 today and the included power supply looks cheap... I would not be surprised it it could not put out the required power.
I haver ordered :http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U2DGJD2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=AE8VKX1R2E9W6 which can do 12 watts continuous.

/edit
I think I will test it on my desk first to ensure it works as advertised. One review states psu gets very hot and another that it only provided 5v at 1.5a

Will you tap (piggyback) into the ignition wires?

BigEejit · 18-11-2015 10:13PM

Hal1 wrote: »

Will you tap (piggyback) into the ignition wires?

Nope, going to use one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1550063146?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Just need to find something that gets turned off when the key gets taken out

jimbis · 19-11-2015 01:32AM

Damiencm wrote: »

Yes saw that in the aldi mag. Seems fine for what i need just curious if it would pick up number plate of car in front ( prob my car lights would illuminate the plate enough but I have never used a cam so dnt really know)

Max maybe â‚¬70 but perhaps thats not realistic..

E-prance g1w is the best budget dash cam out there in my opinion. I have one myself the last year and can't fault it. €60 from Amazon delivered including 32gb card.

b318isp · 19-11-2015 11:03AM

jimbis wrote: »

E-prance g1w is the best budget dash cam out there in my opinion. I have one myself the last year and can't fault it. €60 from Amazon delivered including 32gb card.

Thanks for tip, can you answer a few questions about it, it doesn't seem to be clear on the web:

- Is there a "touch to retain" feature, where the current recording is preserved and will not be overwritten?
- Can it be inverted, i.e. mounted upside down?
- It looks like there is a quick release on the mount - is that definite, and how robust is it?

Tnx

jimbis · 19-11-2015 12:22PM

b318isp wrote: »

Thanks for tip, can you answer a few questions about it, it doesn't seem to be clear on the web:

- Is there a "touch to retain" feature, where the current recording is preserved and will not be overwritten?
- Can it be inverted, i.e. mounted upside down?
- It looks like there is a quick release on the mount - is that definite, and how robust is it?

Tnx

Yes you can protect certain clips from being over written untill you get time to download it.
I 'think' it can be inverted, I'm not 100% sure though.
Yes it is quick release but I'll be honest I couldn't see it lasting if its being clipped on and off daily. I take mine off if I'm parked in a dodgy place but mostly just leave it there.

One feature I like on it is I can set it to run off its own battery for 5 minutes after I power down my car. Might come on in handy some day for car park knocks.

Review of it here
http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2013/12/16/g1w-the-cheapest-dash-cam-thats-worth-buying.html

CreepingDeath · 19-11-2015 01:24PM

BigEejit wrote: »

The booklet says it needs to be 600mA (does not specify if that is the input or output of the power supply). I got my 0806 today and the included power supply looks cheap... I would not be surprised it it could not put out the required power.
I haver ordered :http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U2DGJD2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=AE8VKX1R2E9W6 which can do 12 watts continuous.

/edit
I think I will test it on my desk first to ensure it works as advertised. One review states psu gets very hot and another that it only provided 5v at 1.5a

Thanks.

I had a shorter (approx 1.5m USB cable with 24 AWG (measure of thickness), which looked decent enough. Noticeably thicker usb cable, so should've had less resistance = more power delivered to dashcam.

I tried it today, plugged into a simple usb adapter for the cigarette socket.
It lasted 90 mins exactly, the Eprance mini 0806 gave a low battery warning, but then recovered and continued on.
Whereas previously, with the factory cable, once that low battery warning occured, it would not recover.

So it's an improvement.
Hopefully it's not a alternator issue, as I'd be driving with low revs in slow traffic. Might try a better usb cigarette socket adapter as an incremental test.

Am reluctant to mess with the car electrics for a permanent wired solution just yet.

Update: This may be specific to Honda cars... It seems that some Hondas have an electrical load detector that drops the voltage for fuel economy ?
I would have the headlights on, aircon intermittantly and low revs during usual M50 crawl to work.

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-problems-technical-chat/84875-electronic-load-detector-eld-questions-regarding-low-voltage-battery.html

micks_address · 20-11-2015 09:54AM

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Thanks.

I had a shorter (approx 1.5m USB cable with 24 AWG (measure of thickness), which looked decent enough. Noticeably thicker usb cable, so should've had less resistance = more power delivered to dashcam.

I tried it today, plugged into a simple usb adapter for the cigarette socket.
It lasted 90 mins exactly, the Eprance mini 0806 gave a low battery warning, but then recovered and continued on.
Whereas previously, with the factory cable, once that low battery warning occured, it would not recover.

So it's an improvement.
Hopefully it's not a alternator issue, as I'd be driving with low revs in slow traffic. Might try a better usb cigarette socket adapter as an incremental test.

Am reluctant to mess with the car electrics for a permanent wired solution just yet.

Update: This may be specific to Honda cars... It seems that some Hondas have an electrical load detector that drops the voltage for fuel economy ?
I would have the headlights on, aircon intermittantly and low revs during usual M50 crawl to work.

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-problems-technical-chat/84875-electronic-load-detector-eld-questions-regarding-low-voltage-battery.html

Do you have an 'econ' button.... if you switch off should remove any energy saving features..

ItsLikeThis · 22-11-2015 12:02AM

Anyone using rear facing cameras? Do the heater strips in the glass affect the camera focusing?

RandomAccess · 22-11-2015 12:33AM

ItsLikeThis wrote: »

Anyone using rear facing cameras? Do the heater strips in the glass affect the camera focusing?

I believe they are all fixed focus cameras, so it should have no effect. (as far as I know)
It would be best to avoid the lines of course.

AndyBoBandy · 22-11-2015 08:35AM

ItsLikeThis wrote: »

Anyone using rear facing cameras? Do the heater strips in the glass affect the camera focusing?

I have an 0801 in the rear and it works fine,

PeteK* · 22-11-2015 11:28PM

Great Deals here on good quality ones.. Black Friday, I think. (but sale on now)

http://www.blackboxmycar.com/collections/start-your-black-friday-shopping

CreepingDeath · 23-11-2015 10:19AM

micks_address wrote: »

Do you have an 'econ' button.... if you switch off should remove any energy saving features..

No, I don't think so.

It's definitely the power supply/car cigarette socket.
I have a 30000 milliamp powerbank/battery and it not only powered the dashcam for 90 mins straight without a problem, the dashcam battery was also half charged.

I tried a few other cigarette socket adapters and pulled the socket out a little so I've broken the cigarette lighter socket now

But the mini 0806 is fine.

aido76 · 25-11-2015 04:52PM

Does anyone know if this one is any good or better still have one?

http://www.ibood.com/ie/en/product-specs/5579/12767/transcend-drivepro-dashcam.html?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=date_ie

OU812 · 30-11-2015 10:58PM

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but there's 84 pages to go through.

I'm interested in getting a dashcam that will overlay a gps map and other information like speed onto the video, either overlayed or alongside the video it records. Any recommendations? I'm not really sure what to be looking for, if there's a specific name for it etc.

TheBody · 30-11-2015 11:03PM

This is the one I have. It's on offer at the minute for Black Friday Weekend.

http://www.halfords.ie/technology/dashboard-cameras-parking-sensors/dashboard-cameras/nextbase-dash-cam-402g-professional

It does all that you requested (gps map, speed etc). Fantastic picture quality with it. The micro sd card is extra though.

danger_mouse_tm · 30-11-2015 11:07PM

I just ordered an 0806 from gearbest . am I OK to put a 32gb card straight into it or should I look for a firmware update first?

OU812 · 01-12-2015 02:10AM

Any opinions on this one on eBay?

AndyBoBandy · 01-12-2015 10:38AM

danger_mouse_tm wrote: »

I just ordered an 0806 from gearbest . am I OK to put a 32gb card straight into it or should I look for a firmware update first?

You can put a card in any time you want, and if you ever update the firmware, just re-format the card. (try it first without any firmware updates, it might be fine for what you need, but if you have issues, update the firmware as you see fit).

there is a good custom firmware on the dashcamtalk forum (I quoted it a few pages back), and that helped my camera become better (not overheat and shut down).

a 32GB card at full resolution will only get you about 2 1/2 hours of footage before looping back on itself, if thats not enough for you, you might want to consider a larger card. the 0806 takes up to 2 128GB cards, however I've read people have issues with it switching over from 1 card to another!. (also, 128GB cards are not cheap!)

I just use a 64GB card, and it does me fine, gives me 5 hours or so at top quality using the custom firmware.

h3000 · 01-12-2015 11:10AM

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

You can put a card in any time you want, and if you ever update the firmware, just re-format the card. (try it first without any firmware updates, it might be fine for what you need, but if you have issues, update the firmware as you see fit).

there is a good custom firmware on the dashcamtalk forum (I quoted it a few pages back), and that helped my camera become better (not overheat and shut down).

a 32GB card at full resolution will only get you about 2 1/2 hours of footage before looping back on itself, if thats not enough for you, you might want to consider a larger card. the 0806 takes up to 2 128GB cards, however I've read people have issues with it switching over from 1 card to another!. (also, 128GB cards are not cheap!)

I just use a 64GB card, and it does me fine, gives me 5 hours or so at top quality using the custom firmware.

Just to add to what Andy said, make sure you use a class 10 card. It will run much smoother in the cam. I'm using a Samsung 64GB Class 10 card myself.

I've updated the firmware to the custom bitrate version on my 0806 too. While not a huge difference in the video quality, I do think there is an improvement in nighttime videos.

Firmware can be got here.

whiterebel · 01-12-2015 03:28PM

I bought the Mio Mivue 518 from Amazon.Mio MiVue 518

Quality seems very good, reason I picked this is it was on the Halfords website at €59, but was then out of stock and removed. Liked the spec, so I bought it for €100 delivered. Quality looks very good, seems to have all the features, but I am wondering about something. It says in the booklet to position it near the rear view mirror, but on the thread for dash cam clips, they seem to be mounted centre and low down, is this the case for most people?

h3000 · 01-12-2015 04:18PM

whiterebel wrote: »

It says in the booklet to position it near the rear view mirror, but on the thread for dash cam clips, they seem to be mounted centre and low down, is this the case for most people?

I've my 0806 mounted behind the rear view mirror as much as I can. I had to mount it slightly to the left as the mirror bracket has sensors in it and in turn is fairly large (it was getting in the frame of the video).

You should try to mount it behind the mirror if you can, it's easier to route the cables and it's better not to have it in your field of vision as a driver.

TigerTim · 02-12-2015 03:00PM

h3000 wrote: »

I've my 0806 mounted behind the rear view mirror as much as I can. I had to mount it slightly to the left as the mirror bracket has sensors in it and in turn is fairly large (it was getting in the frame of the video).

You should try to mount it behind the mirror if you can, it's easier to route the cables and it's better not to have it in your field of vision as a driver.

Just about to buy an 0806 from Gearbest. Have my cheap DashCam running for the pas 4 years but now starting to have intermittent "not starting" issues. Old cam is on a suction cup. The 0806 mounting bracket is glued to the windscreen. Anyone know if its possible to remove it when/if selling the car.

Thanks,

T,

joujoujou · 02-12-2015 03:03PM

It probably is possible. Although it's also possible to modify any glue-on dashcam to use suction cup instead - that's what i did myself with my own cam.

AndyBoBandy · 02-12-2015 03:26PM

TigerTim wrote: »

The 0806 mounting bracket is glued to the windscreen. Anyone know if its possible to remove it when/if selling the car.

Yes,
It's not actually glued, just held on with a small foam pad which is quite sticky on both sides, with the 0806 they actually give you a few of these pads spare, for just your reason. and when you are removing it, you'll only be pulling off the base mount, as you'll have already taken your camera off the mount, so no fear of damaging it.
any sticky residue left behind would be taken care of with water & a tissue.

I much prefer this type to suction cups, as over time (and sun), the rubber can stiffen up and get brittle, and not be so good anymore. (I do however have a cheap £11 camera with a suction cup that I use when in rental cars)

joujoujou · 02-12-2015 03:30PM

Sun in Ireland??? :eek:

mcko · 02-12-2015 06:40PM

looking to buy a dash cam, looking for advice on brands where to buy etc.

Thanks in advance.

CreepingDeath · 03-12-2015 11:59PM

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

It's not actually glued, just held on with a small foam pad which is quite sticky on both sides, with the 0806 they actually give you a few of these pads spare, for just your reason. and when you are removing it, you'll only be pulling off the base mount, as you'll have already taken your camera off the mount, so no fear of damaging it.

True, but I had the GPS mount and cracked the base trying to remove it to reposition it. Now have awful trouble with camera shutting down, loose usb power socket on mount etc.

But Easons sell decent sheets of sticker pads which will hold the mount and camera up nicely too if you run out of the 3 or 4 pads Eprance include in the box.

Anyone know where I could get a replacement GPS mount for the EPrance mini 0806 ?

Vic_08 · 04-12-2015 01:15AM

CreepingDeath wrote: »

True, but I had the GPS mount and cracked the base trying to remove it to reposition it. Now have awful trouble with camera shutting down, loose usb power socket on mount etc.

Best way of removing those is by putting a piece of strong thread between the glass and mount and cutting through the foam pad.

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

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