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Dashcam and vehicle trackers

I had a Blackvue 900-X 1ch installed (hardwired) alongside an Autowatch Ghost II (immobiliser).

Immobiliser is great but the dashcam leaves a lot to be desired given the price (not the fault of the installers). Wifi connection is very temperamental and there is a terrible glare off the front windscreen. The boys who installed seemed to be a bit nonplussed by this but eventually pinned it down to the Cali insulated windscreen. They added a filter (extra £50) which helps a little but picture still has a lot of the dash and wing mirror visible bouncing off the glass. Autowatch do a tracker as well but figured it was of little value unless the van is lifted/towed in which case that's what insurance is for as I doubt I'd ever see it again.
 
I have installed a garmin which is neat and small reason behind garmin they do a polarising filter to help with the reflection problem, it does help but not cure completely tried 3 different cameras they all seem to pick up refections to some extent.
i bought a cheap tracker about £50 from amazon and asda sim, tracker needs recharging every 3/4 months then is hidden somewhere in the van it sends me a text when it needs recharging only problem I've usually forgotten where ive hid it But it does the job

TKSTAR Mini Waterproof Tracking https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KX9HFWI/?tag=eliteelect-21


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I have fitted (hidden) a cheap tracker which is vehicle powered and a Mio Mivue 658 Wifi dash cam. The dash cam is fed from a hidden (inside the dash) ignition fed power dedicated USB power unit. It doesn't reflect off the screen but does off the dash which I have reduced with a piece of black felt on the dash surface. The dash cam is adequate and does have a speed display on its screen when driving that I find very useful.
The tracker is something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293578344001 which will report the vehicle location as a SMS if it is called. There are various settings and options if you can understand the Chinglish instructions.
 
I had a Blackvue 900-X 1ch installed (hardwired) alongside an Autowatch Ghost II (immobiliser).

Immobiliser is great but the dashcam leaves a lot to be desired given the price (not the fault of the installers). Wifi connection is very temperamental and there is a terrible glare off the front windscreen. The boys who installed seemed to be a bit nonplussed by this but eventually pinned it down to the Cali insulated windscreen. They added a filter (extra £50) which helps a little but picture still has a lot of the dash and wing mirror visible bouncing off the glass. Autowatch do a tracker as well but figured it was of little value unless the van is lifted/towed in which case that's what insurance is for as I doubt I'd ever see it again.
Insulated windscreen?? Is laminated glass only....like any windscreen.
 
Hi everyone,
Anyone got suggestions for and against the above.

Many thanks
Hi @Nibbles
We’ve got the Blackvue DR750-2CH front and rear cameras hard wired along with a Power Magic Pro. Very pleased with the setup. Parking Mode is a worthwhile feature.
For a very inexpensive Tracker I’d recommend the Vodafone Curve. It’s very small so can be easily hidden and can be hardwired via a USB connector. Ours has been totally reliable and accurate since fitting in November 2020.
 
Hi @Nibbles
We’ve got the Blackvue DR750-2CH front and rear cameras hard wired along with a Power Magic Pro. Very pleased with the setup. Parking Mode is a worthwhile feature.
For a very inexpensive Tracker I’d recommend the Vodafone Curve. It’s very small so can be easily hidden and can be hardwired via a USB connector. Ours has been totally reliable and accurate since fitting in November 2020.
Hi GrumpyGrandad. Do you find that the parking mode is quite twitchy in terms of recording events? Seems every time I get into the van the camera tells me there was an 'impact during parking mode' which just seems to be opening and closing the doors (especially the sliding door)?
 
Hi GrumpyGrandad. Do you find that the parking mode is quite twitchy in terms of recording events? Seems every time I get into the van the camera tells me there was an 'impact during parking mode' which just seems to be opening and closing the doors (especially the sliding door)?
Hi @brooodie , at first I was getting a lot of ‘impact events’ in both normal driving mode and in parking mode. Also a lot of ‘movement detection’ in parking mode. It took a while playing with the sensitivity settings etc, but i’m happy that I don’t now get too many ‘false’ alerts. My settings attached for your reference.

6976B584-921C-4A8A-BDC6-C3F3E88D93D1.png

6FA808B3-7E29-45D0-847C-1F9A5FF7F5BC.png

57440F76-23BC-4E19-9C5D-31E8CADBC1D7.png

2B50F769-3DC8-4B2B-8DF4-878AF180CDFA.png
 
Hi @brooodie , at first I was getting a lot of ‘impact events’ in both normal driving mode and in parking mode. Also a lot of ‘movement detection’ in parking mode. It took a while playing with the sensitivity settings etc, but i’m happy that I don’t now get too many ‘false’ alerts. My settings attached for your reference.

View attachment 87567

View attachment 87568

View attachment 87569

View attachment 87570
That's wonderfully helpful. Thanks so much! I'll give these a bash and let you know how I get on.
 
Just a thought, not an opinion.
A subscription Tracker Service is expensive so many use cheaper non-subscription trackers.
So the vehicle is stolen. Will the Police track it down, will you?
What will you do if the Police aren't interested or willing?
Very few, if any Californias are taken by joy riders or opportunistic car thieves without the keys.
A tracker won't stop a thief with a brick stealing valuables from inside, nor will front and rear cameras, even if they film an individual approaching with a brick unless he goes for the windscreen or rear window.

In the end, only good insurance is what matters.
 
There are Tracker Jammers readily available on the market.

Parking cameras seem to be of most use when a carpark hit & run has left you with damage to try to recoup.
 
Friends car was stolen last week. Presume lifted somehow or towed from the street. Police amazingly tracked it down to a street in Stevenage (not where he lives). Apparently police using ANPR tech to track it down. Result for him, not damaged and keys were not taken. So a tracker might be useful if thieves take it and park it waiting to see if you come and get it. Agreed. If they’re savvy they’ll block a tracker. But they might not find it/disable it?


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Friends car was stolen last week. Presume lifted somehow or towed from the street. Police amazingly tracked it down to a street in Stevenage (not where he lives). Apparently police using ANPR tech to track it down. Result for him, not damaged and keys were not taken. So a tracker might be useful if thieves take it and park it waiting to see if you come and get it. Agreed. If they’re savvy they’ll block a tracker. But they might not find it/disable it?


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Common practice now seems to be to steal number plates off a similar vehicle and do a swap over. A set of cloned plates can be carried by the professional car thieves who have a particular car target.
 
A good immobiliser is also a good option you can get a steering to pedal lock and or a gear lever lock.
 
Friends car was stolen last week. Presume lifted somehow or towed from the street. Police amazingly tracked it down to a street in Stevenage (not where he lives). Apparently police using ANPR tech to track it down. Result for him, not damaged and keys were not taken. So a tracker might be useful if thieves take it and park it waiting to see if you come and get it. Agreed. If they’re savvy they’ll block a tracker. But they might not find it/disable it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
For me a Vodafone Curve at £30 is a worthwhile investment. It’s tiny and can be hardwired and hidden in a Cali’ very easily. Sure, the scallywags could jam the signal but for how long would they persevere with that since they’d also be jamming their own mobile phones. You can also set zones and be alerted if the vehicle leaves a zone. Also provides journey history stats.
 

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