Dash Cams

[motacyclist]

Just done a search on here and found no threads dealing with this subject, so I hope I'm not covering old ground.

I've just bought a Nextbase 402G In-Car Cam and am wondering what the optimum way of mounting it is to keep the wiring neat etc. At the moment I've stuck the cam just to the left of the mirror with the cable going behind the sun visor and through the passenger grab handle down to the socket in the cup holder. It looks a little untidy though.

I didn't want to drop it straight down to the socket in the top of the dash because the wire would be on show and might attract unwelcome attention from potential low life.

A neater alternative was to mount it at the bottom of the windscreen but this meant the dashboard would obscure the numberplate of the car in front when close up.

Also, there are a lot of options to set and again it is difficult to know the optimum settings. (One option I have disabled already is the speed reading stamp!)

I know GrannyJen has this model and has some spectacular results

Anyone out there familiar with this, or any other dash cams, have any tips or tricks?

 

[briwy]

Mounted ours next to the mirror. The cable runs behind the passenger visor and then tucked under the door seal to the dash end panel. Power taken from behind the radio to a ciggy socket. The dashcam lead then plugs into this behind the glovebox and comes out the dash end panel. All neat and out of the way.
BTW dont plug direct into 12v. Must be 5v as standard USB. Found this out the hard way. One dead dashcam

 

[GrannyJen]

Don't worry about low life,

They will have to be on cam to steal your cam and that's too much brain overload.

My cable goes over rear vew, behind passenger visor, down windscreen pillar trim and tucked into dash/screen gap.

My Ipod is more on view than my cam.

Upside is watch my video of going under, around and over Millau viaduct and it is priceless video.

 

[owen_h]

I bought and fitted a dashcam a few weeks ago. Went for a Blackvue HD one in the end plus a hardwire kit that was on offer at the time. The camera is mounted (on a permanent mount) behind the rear view mirror. It’s almost completely hidden from the drivers seat and pretty hard to spot from the outside as well.

The power cable I have zip tied to the rear view mirror arm for a couple of cm and it is then lead behind the roof headlining to the A pillar trim on the drivers side. I removed the A pillar trim to route the cable behind and it comes out inside the dashboard behind light switch. Apart from the couple of cm behind the mirror the cable is completely hidden. Reason I went to the drivers side and behind the light switch is that I needed to get at both a permanent and ignition live +ve supply for the hardwire kit to work. On the T5s there are very few ignition switched options, it was either a case of removing half the dash to get at the back of the fuse box or use one that goes to the light switch (there is also a permanent live to the switch). The area behind the light switch can be accessed easily by removing the triangular cover at the end.

With the hardwire kit the camera comes on automatically when driving and will stay on for a period of time after parking up. Parking time can be set in various intervals from 6 hrs to infinity. Also if the voltage drops below a set level it will switch off. All seems to be working fine but not had a chance to play with the various settings yet.


Prompted by a comment about the legality of dashcams across Europe in Granny Jens adventure thread I have tried to do a bit of research on that topic as well. I'm interested as will be soon taking Clara across various European countries. With the caveat that I could find no official websites and it was all on other forum posts the situation seems to be:

France: OK as long as the camera does not obstruct your view and is not a distraction (viewing screen not visible if the camera has this feature?)
Luxembourg: Illegal
Austria: probably Illegal (€10,000 fine). There did seem to be some confusion for Austria if you could show it was used to record for non evidential purposes, i.e holiday filming using hand held non looping camera.

In a couple of countries (Holland and possibly Belgium) it appeared to be fine to use the camera but not to post up the footage on any social media sites without obscuring faces & numberplates.

 

[Martin]

On the subject of Dashcams, we have a new VIP partner coming on board next week who supply the new Philips range http://www.carbulbs.com/store/search/dashcam There will be a 10% discount for all VIP members.

 

[GrannyJen]

France: OK as long as the camera does not obstruct your view and is not a distraction (viewing screen not visible if the camera has this feature?)
Luxembourg: Illegal
Austria: probably Illegal (€10,000 fine). There did seem to be some confusion for Austria if you could show it was used to record for non evidential purposes, i.e holiday filming using hand held non looping camera.

In a couple of countries (Holland and possibly Belgium) it appeared to be fine to use the camera but not to post up the footage on any social media sites without obscuring faces & numberplates.

I have no definitive statement regarding France.

My dashcam has the screen visible but in no way does it obscure my vision owing to the size of the windscreen and its position, as high as possible, on the windscreen. I can well imagine that if I had it positioned somewhere on my Sister's 120 then it could be construed as an obstruction if someone wanted to be really difficult. The gendarmerie never even mentioned anything about it possibly being iffy, but then they had the bad guys given to them on a plate so were unlikely to be difficult.

However when "Douane" turned my van over last November they got terribly excited about the black box on the dashboard until they realised it was a MiFi and not a radar detector, but totally ignored the dashcam.

They turned their attention instead to the box cleverly concealed as an extra seat with a padded cover over it which was in the habitation area and obviously used for concealing contraband. Oh their faces when they theatrically whipped off the cover only to find there were not 4 million concealed fags hidden under it but my loo

 

[owen_h]

I have no definitive statement regarding France.

My dashcam has the screen visible but in no way does it obscure my vision owing to the size of the windscreen and its position, as high as possible, on the windscreen. I can well imagine that if I had it positioned somewhere on my Sister's 120 then it could be construed as an obstruction if someone wanted to be really difficult. The gendarmerie never even mentioned anything about it possibly being iffy, but then they had the bad guys given to them on a plate so were unlikely to be difficult.

However when "Douane" turned my van over last November they got terribly excited about the black box on the dashboard until they realised it was a MiFi and not a radar detector, but totally ignored the dashcam.

They turned their attention instead to the box cleverly concealed as an extra seat with a padded cover over it which was in the habitation area and obviously used for concealing contraband. Oh their faces when they theatrically whipped off the cover only to find there were not 4 million concealed fags hidden under it but my loo

I would wager that their car had far more 'obstructions' on the windscreen than Albert as well. Probably one of the many rules that is interpreted by the Douane based on how awkward the 'customer' is being with them.
They didn't want to test your secret stash of contraband then .
My brother once got pulled in France because he had a bike on the roof. They asked him if he did any cycle racing and he said yes (just low level club stuff). Big mistake as it was just after the Festina affair when drugs had been found in one of the Tour de France team cars. He ended up missing the return ferry after a complete search of the car and contents.

 

[motacyclist]

My cable goes over rear vew, behind passenger visor, down windscreen pillar trim and tucked into dash/screen gap.

Right, tried that today and when I looked at the picture I was puzzled as to why there was a pipe running along our driveway. Turned out to be the reflection of the cable on the dashboard!

Wasn't too happy with the cable there. The cup holder one was no better, so the next nearest 12v supply was the one on the side of the kitchen unit.

I managed to slip the wire exiting the sun visor behind the rubber trim, took it all the way round to the bottom of the door nearest the kitchen unit, around the corner and up to the 12v socket. There is just enough cable to do this!

I did take some picture but for some reason there seems to be a problem uploading them, so I've put them on dropbax here

 

[motacyclist]

On the subject of Dashcams, we have a new VIP partner coming on board next week who supply the new Philips range http://www.carbulbs.com/store/search/dashcam There will be a 10% discount for all VIP members.

Can't find any reviews, any guinea pigs going to give it a try? - I've got 29 days left to return my Nextbase (Which? Best Buy) to Halfords (I think)

 

[Neilgbj]

Been reading this with interest but (other than capturing on camera French criminals running away from the scene of a crime....) what is the reason for having a dash cam whilst driving (excuse my ignorance btw) ?

 

[GrannyJen]

Been reading this with interest but (other than capturing on camera French criminals running away from the scene of a crime....) what is the reason for having a dash cam whilst driving (excuse my ignorance btw) ?

Capture of that special scenery - I have some excellent video's of touring Scotland, touring wales and touring French historic centres with streets narrower than Albert is wide ..

Evidence in the event of an insurance claim

car park monitor against a possible nudge-and-go

you-tube uploads of those irritating "watch this twat nearly cause an accident" type holier than thou video's

 

[GrannyJen]

Right, tried that today and when I looked at the picture I was puzzled as to why there was a pipe running along our driveway. Turned out to be the reflection of the cable on the dashboard!

I took the "gunfight at Le Coral ok" off my cam onto my sisters computer. As I was scanning it my Sister ran off to get some cleaning wipes to get rid of the smeary black lines on her screen. After she had nearly rubbed the screen away I explained the black lines were cable reflections on the windscreen ....

 

[Skylark2.0]

If one had a go-pro presumably this could just be used instead?

 

[GrannyJen]

If one had a go-pro presumably this could just be used instead?

Yes as far as I know. You can download captures.

 

[motacyclist]

If one had a go-pro presumably this could just be used instead?

Yes, but it does lack dedicated vehicle recording features; here are a couple of pages from "Which?"

 

[Skylark2.0]

Yes, but it does lack dedicated vehicle recording features; here are a couple of pages from "Which?"

View attachment 9287 View attachment 9288

Extremely useful information thanks!,

 

[Skylark2.0]

Just out of curiosity if the dash cam is in the 12v socket on the top of the dash, how does the auto on/off work as this socket is live even when the engine is off (discussed in another recent thread)?

 

[GrannyJen]

It doesn't.

I resort to good old fashioned switching it on and off manually.

In fact, I rarely switch it off. It has stayed on for days without any noticeable battery drain although 4 hours of video featuring my garage door can be rather boring.

 

[motacyclist]

4 hours of video featuring my garage door can be rather boring.

Sounds better than what's on TV. Wouldn't mind a copy of that for next time we are away and there's nothing on TV. Are there advert breaks so we can nip to the loo without missing anything?

 

[Andyclockwise]

Nice little dash cam on offer in Lidl today, only £39.99 http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=25365

 

[Skylark2.0]

Ok so what are the downsides of a dashcam? Always worried about having a heavy foot...

 

[GrannyJen]

I've not found any yet,

but when I meet that hunky dashing charming knight in shining armour who comes to my rescue when my bottle-opener breaks I'll make sure it's switched off

I would be mortified if people saw me with the shame of a broken corkscrew

 

[motacyclist]

Nice little dash cam on offer in Lidl today, only £39.99 http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=25365

That looks pretty good on the face of it, only lacking a GPS from the one I have I think; and I'm not sure how useful that is anyway. If your thinking of getting one it might be worth a try seeing as they refund with no quibble if you're not happy.

 

[motacyclist]

Duplicated post, can edit, but any way to delete?

 

[motacyclist]

Ditto