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Dash Cam & Mifi Install

Sorry to hijack this a bit...... do any of you with the rear blackvue camera fitted also use the standard VW T6 bike rack?

I'm expecting the view to be compromised but was wondering what fina position do you go for?
 
Sorry to hijack this a bit...... do any of you with the rear blackvue camera fitted also use the standard VW T6 bike rack?

I'm expecting the view to be compromised but was wondering what fina position do you go for?

Im having the Thinkware, and mounted the rear camera on the left top corner of the rear closet (OCEAN), and got a good view out despite the bike rack. But I want to move the rear camera to the inside of the window on the tailgate so that I can use the blinds and still record when parked.
 
Hi,

I did see your pic......is that the new VW T6 bike rack?


Im having the Thinkware, and mounted the rear camera on the left top corner of the rear closet (OCEAN), and got a good view out despite the bike rack. But I want to move the rear camera to the inside of the window on the tailgate so that I can use the blinds and still record when parked.
 
Fitted my Blackvue rear camera in lower position on rear tailgate glass to get better view when bike rack fitted.

I have removed rack now but when in place view was fine with or without bikes on it.

IMG_3053.JPG
 
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THANK YOU for such GREAT reading through out this, from your first post and to the others adding or asking questions.
It has enabled Hubby to install a Blackvue 750s 2ch (front & rear cameras).
From front windscreen we took cables along under headlining and then through & behind lights (as you described popping them out) :thanks across the rear cupboard and through a hole into tailgate, popped out the window trim and found another hole to feed cable through enabling cable to be taped to main bodywork before pushing trim back in place.
Cameras are fitted in the same positions as in your pictures, the high position of rear camera is great for when our bike rack is being used.
Again Thank You.
Lorri & Doug.
 
Last edited:
Blackvue dash cam and Mifi now fitted.
https://www.blackvue.com/dr650s-2ch/
Not be me I hasten to add but an auto electrician after some discussion about how I would like it done.

Front and rear cameras which are powered via a Power Magic Pro
https://www.blackvue.com/product/bl...attery-discharge-prevention-for-parking-mode/

In normal driving the cameras come on automatically and when you switch off from the ignition power continues to be provided through the Power Magic Pro (PMP). After 5 minutes the cameras go into "park mode" and recording to the SD card stops unless an event is detected, when a recording is made starting 5 seconds before the event.

Events can be triggered by either movement in the field of vision of either of the cameras or by vehicle movement, front to back, side to side or up and down. Sensitivity of these can be set or switched off as required. As mine is not on my driveway and beneath my flat I have turned off the camera movement sensors to avoid continual false events but not the vehicle movement ones.
Settings on the (PMP) switch off the camera and any devices attached to it after preset times or power levels to protect the battery.

Next up was utilising the dashcams ability to connect to the cloud. The way it works is that you can preset three wireless locations. Usually these would be home, work, mobile, if the cameras are in range of the network. For me this was not possible.
Although I have a VW Carstick which supplies wifi to the Cali it only does this when the ignition is on and I wanted to utilise the cloud function when the ignition was off. I have therefore set it to connect to the below Mifi by default.

I had been looking at MIFI devices to act as a hotspot and settled on the HUAWEI E5786s. Not the cheapest but very fast with the right connection and got a great deal with an offer on EBay. There has been a recent update to this model (E5787) but interestingly although it now has a touchscreen it does not have the ability to act as a wi-fi extender. This is the only mifi device I've found that does. It's primary function is to connect to 3G/4G but first it will connect with any available Wi-Fi network and it also has connection for an external aerial although reviews suggest these are not required. (Time will tell). This means it will also operate as a wifi booster.

Next up was powering the Mifi. Although it has a pretty good battery it still powered down far to quickly when connected to by the dashcam. Both the dashcam and Mifi have numerous led lights and in settings you can turn these off which extends the power and makes the dashcam less noticeable.

The (PMP) supplies power to the dashcam via a 12volt female to male connector. As it is not the prettiest and for the sake of keeping things tidy the electricians have always hidden these units behind the fuse box as there is no requirement to switch it off and this is how it was initially installed. After a bit of thought though I realised that when it went into parking mode false events would be recorded with movement in the Cali and I needed the ability to turn it off. They had not fitted one in a camper before so I asked for it to be moved somewhere accessible. They did better than that leaving it behind the fuse box but putting a switch to it in the unused point in the glove box. A 12 volt splitter was then used to take power from the (PMP) to the Mifi which was located in the phone cubby in the dashboard. Very tidy. I now have the choice of switching off the dashcam and have a permanent 3G/4G hotspot, connected to the battery but with the added protection of the cut out in the (PMP). I can now view any footage from the front and rear cameras and live from an app on my iPhone and iPad and am alerted by notification on my phone if an "event" is detected. Trick in the settings is to avoid false positives and now it all works seamlessly. Spookily you can share this footage live and locate the vehicle, you can also for security turn this off, which I have.

This all might sound a bit techie and fiddly and the initial setting up of it and learning curve was. I figured it all out but got an expert to do the wiring. I now though don't have to touch a thing other than to switch it off when camped up.

Most fiddly part they had was installing the rear camera. I put in a string beforehand so that they could pull the feed from front to back but the fitter got the wire through from there to the back screen using a fibre optic camera.

Front Camera

afb83ea765d1c13800f2c3cf65f99311.jpg


Rear Camera

0a81d4d3d157901c4ae922cd39d13602.jpg


Switch in glove box

d82b650043982be1dd0e2ef01e25c1ca.jpg


Mifi in phone cubby

ef11178e27759211abb4233b65ebc8f4.jpg


Mike
Hi Mike, a quick question on this one. Is there any reason you didn’t wire the dash cam to the leisure battery? I figure that would allow plenty of capacity whilst in parking mode. I ask as I’m considering swapping my thinkware Q800 for the new U1000 unit with remote parking access? Many thanks steve
 
I have done the same install as Mike except I did power my BlackVue from the leisure batteries (under the seat) via the Power Magic Pro. I picked up an ignition feed from the dash board fuse box. Works well with plenty of power to spare.
Alan
 
Hi Mike, a quick question on this one. Is there any reason you didn’t wire the dash cam to the leisure battery? I figure that would allow plenty of capacity whilst in parking mode. I ask as I’m considering swapping my thinkware Q800 for the new U1000 unit with remote parking access? Many thanks steve

Hi Steve. I might have gone that route if I had the ability to charge up my leisure batteries more easily. At the time I lived in flats and it was a hassle to hook up. Works well for me.


Mike
 
Hi Steve. I might have gone that route if I had the ability to charge up my leisure batteries more easily. At the time I lived in flats and it was a hassle to hook up. Works well for me.


Mike
Thanks Mike for the quick response, i have a driveway and was figuring I could hook up occasionally and hopefully catch the house WiFi. I think I’ll go that route. I use WCR as well. They do a great job. I’ll be booking in today
 
Thanks Mike for the quick response, i have a driveway and was figuring I could hook up occasionally and hopefully catch the house WiFi. I think I’ll go that route. I use WCR as well. They do a great job. I’ll be booking in today
On my Cali there were some spare live fuse slots on the board under the front seat. I would guess the fitters will be able to use one of these to pick up a permanently live feed. I used a piggyback fuse holder with only one fuse in it.

I sited the Magic Pro on a convenient metal plate that was under there. Picking up the live sensor feed was more difficult as VWUK doesn't or won't issue a fuse layout for your vehicle, but WCR will have that covered.

The current draw of this system is very low so the likelihood of completely draining 2 x 75/80Ah AGM batteries is pretty remote, plus the Magic Pro has a low voltage cut off as battery protection.

Alan
 
Thanks Mike for the quick response, i have a driveway and was figuring I could hook up occasionally and hopefully catch the house WiFi. I think I’ll go that route. I use WCR as well. They do a great job. I’ll be booking in today

d5c143c6ea235e5f5f5a2da4737af825.jpg


That would work well.

WCR are excellent.
Pic above is the switch in the glove compartment. Very tidy.



Mike
 
Blackvue dash cam and Mifi now fitted.
https://www.blackvue.com/dr650s-2ch/
Not be me I hasten to add but an auto electrician after some discussion about how I would like it done.

Front and rear cameras which are powered via a Power Magic Pro
https://www.blackvue.com/product/bl...attery-discharge-prevention-for-parking-mode/

In normal driving the cameras come on automatically and when you switch off from the ignition power continues to be provided through the Power Magic Pro (PMP). After 5 minutes the cameras go into "park mode" and recording to the SD card stops unless an event is detected, when a recording is made starting 5 seconds before the event.

Events can be triggered by either movement in the field of vision of either of the cameras or by vehicle movement, front to back, side to side or up and down. Sensitivity of these can be set or switched off as required. As mine is not on my driveway and beneath my flat I have turned off the camera movement sensors to avoid continual false events but not the vehicle movement ones.
Settings on the (PMP) switch off the camera and any devices attached to it after preset times or power levels to protect the battery.

Next up was utilising the dashcams ability to connect to the cloud. The way it works is that you can preset three wireless locations. Usually these would be home, work, mobile, if the cameras are in range of the network. For me this was not possible.
Although I have a VW Carstick which supplies wifi to the Cali it only does this when the ignition is on and I wanted to utilise the cloud function when the ignition was off. I have therefore set it to connect to the below Mifi by default.

I had been looking at MIFI devices to act as a hotspot and settled on the HUAWEI E5786s. Not the cheapest but very fast with the right connection and got a great deal with an offer on EBay. There has been a recent update to this model (E5787) but interestingly although it now has a touchscreen it does not have the ability to act as a wi-fi extender. This is the only mifi device I've found that does. It's primary function is to connect to 3G/4G but first it will connect with any available Wi-Fi network and it also has connection for an external aerial although reviews suggest these are not required. (Time will tell). This means it will also operate as a wifi booster.

Next up was powering the Mifi. Although it has a pretty good battery it still powered down far to quickly when connected to by the dashcam. Both the dashcam and Mifi have numerous led lights and in settings you can turn these off which extends the power and makes the dashcam less noticeable.

The (PMP) supplies power to the dashcam via a 12volt female to male connector. As it is not the prettiest and for the sake of keeping things tidy the electricians have always hidden these units behind the fuse box as there is no requirement to switch it off and this is how it was initially installed. After a bit of thought though I realised that when it went into parking mode false events would be recorded with movement in the Cali and I needed the ability to turn it off. They had not fitted one in a camper before so I asked for it to be moved somewhere accessible. They did better than that leaving it behind the fuse box but putting a switch to it in the unused point in the glove box. A 12 volt splitter was then used to take power from the (PMP) to the Mifi which was located in the phone cubby in the dashboard. Very tidy. I now have the choice of switching off the dashcam and have a permanent 3G/4G hotspot, connected to the battery but with the added protection of the cut out in the (PMP). I can now view any footage from the front and rear cameras and live from an app on my iPhone and iPad and am alerted by notification on my phone if an "event" is detected. Trick in the settings is to avoid false positives and now it all works seamlessly. Spookily you can share this footage live and locate the vehicle, you can also for security turn this off, which I have.

This all might sound a bit techie and fiddly and the initial setting up of it and learning curve was. I figured it all out but got an expert to do the wiring. I now though don't have to touch a thing other than to switch it off when camped up.

Most fiddly part they had was installing the rear camera. I put in a string beforehand so that they could pull the feed from front to back but the fitter got the wire through from there to the back screen using a fibre optic camera.

Front Camera

afb83ea765d1c13800f2c3cf65f99311.jpg


Rear Camera

0a81d4d3d157901c4ae922cd39d13602.jpg


Switch in glove box

d82b650043982be1dd0e2ef01e25c1ca.jpg


Mifi in phone cubby

ef11178e27759211abb4233b65ebc8f4.jpg


Mike
Can’t quite figure out the rear camera position. Is it attached to the head lining rather than actually on the tailgate glass?
 

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