Dashcam for the Emira

kitkat said:

On a tender it would be fine indefinitely.

As for the battery:
- The smallest external batteries are about 4.5 amps.
- Something like a Blackvue DR900X 2 channel uses ~ 400mA which would mean 11.25h of battery life.
- Many other cameras that cut fps down to 1-10 fps use sub 100mA which would mean ~ 2 days of recording.
- This would likely fit somewhere behind the plastic paneling in the rear compartment area behind the driver.
- Larger batteries also exist, some of the Blackvlue ones are 7.5 amps.


I've even seen some ridiculous claims from new dashcams like the Vueroid D21 which is claiming 2mA of draw in parking mode. At that point you really don't need a battery pack.
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Wiz33 said:

I have a Viofo A139 Pro sitting around that I was going to put in the 718S so I'll see how it'll look and fit. If I like it I'll just order a 2CH kit for the Emira

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GrahamClark_60-68 said:

I'm liking the look of that location in the second pic from the inside. What model is this?

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VL3X said:

I'm really happy with my BlackVue 970X Plus dashcam. I still gotta wire up the rear cam. I tested it through the louvered hatch and was able to actually capture some decent footage if anyone rear ends me. Plus I get to see the engine and supercharger actuator flexing.

If anyone is interested in any BlackVue units, feel free to use my sponsor code for 10% off and free shipping: verdeithaca I've got a pinned story on my Instagram with the install and some videos. They're super easy to install.

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Wiz33 said:

I finally got around to mounting the dashcam yesterday. I first tried mounting it directly under the mirror mount. Although it's totally hidden from my view by the mirror, it is quite noticeable from the outside. View attachment 44145

So I removed it and started over as they do give you extra adhesive pads. In the process of doing that, I finally took notice of the 2 static stickers in the box. Gave them a try and they seems to work great. Move it to the passenger sidenext to the mirror mount. looks pretty good, will run it a few days and see. View attachment 44147
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GrahamClark_60-68 said:

Thanks for that info! From your pic you've obviously hardwired. Do you use parking mode and if so what's your experience? I'm concerned of course about running the battery below starting level and how long parking mode can be on before this becomes an issue, without some sort of aux battery.

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VL3X said:

Yes, hardwired with a fuse tap! I run the Blackvue B-130X battery backup for parking mode, so no worries there. The cam is powered 100% from the battery backup, which is tapped into a switched 12v fuse so it charges while the car is running.
Once I shut off the car, then the cam runs off the battery and a full charge (takes ~20 minutes to charge up from 0%) will run parking mode for ~30 hours or so. Once the battery back up is depleted, the camera will shut off.

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And here's where I tapped.. Might be the same for the Emira, but double check:

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Eagle7 said:

I installed my Viofo A229 Pro in almost the exact same location as your second one, but I moved mine forward (down the windshield) a bit so I couldn't see any of it from the driver's seat. The area above the mirror on the right isn't blocked on mine.

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GrahamClark_60-68 said:

Thanks for the details and pics, looks like a nice clean install. So sounds like it's good for overnight but maybe not 2 overnights. And while its in parking mode, does it notify you of "activity?" If so, by what means? I'm considering that when I'm parked in a building parking garage, and upstairs, that there will be no signal that can possibly reach me. Also, is that the footwell on the passenger side? And can I assume trim needs to come off on the A-pillar and maybe top of the windshield? (Sorry so many questions, dashcam newbie here).

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GetawayDriving said:

I've started to dive into this.

My last vehicle was stolen, so I want to get this right.

I've been spoiled in the past. I really, really miss Tesla Sentry Mode. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the industry and after having it, I want it on every car ever.

5 years ago I bought an Owl Cam. It was excellent. A little chunky, but it had a great app, seamless live view mode, a 48 hour parking mode with no external battery, and they even awarded $1000 a week for the best voice-activated clip upload. That company was acquired and it went to shit. Old cameras didn't work, new cameras had higher cloud subscription fees, and now it seems they're still selling the same camera from 5 years ago.

To my astonishment, nothing else has really stepped up. I had a Blackvue DX900-2CH in my last car that was stolen, a lot of good that did me. It never even fired off any clips of the culprits. The app was incredibly janky too, which turns me off from paying their super premiums to get another.

Thinkware u3000 seems to be a nice all-rounder, but I don't like that it's not cloud connected for live view at all times. It needs to be on wifi at home to grab clips. But the image quality looks good, it has a very power-efficient parking mode that might be somewhat usable without an external battery, and it does have some tracking via the app (just not real time via LTE).

The Viofos look decent, but I haven't found much on the app experience and it seems they need the external battery for parking mode.

Nexar seem to have glowing reviews online, but watching some YouTube reviews they severely underperform.

The Garmin has some interesting cloud features but is only 1 channel and down on specs.

There really isn't a satisfying answer here. I think here's a huge opportunity in this space for someone to come in and just make the iPhone of dash cameras, which I think Owl Cam was trying to be in its original incarnation. I had high hopes for the Ring Car camera, but that seems like it was also a bust.

Frustrating. I just want Sentry Mode in my Emira.

Anyway, following. /rant

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GetawayDriving said:

I've started to dive into this.

My last vehicle was stolen, so I want to get this right.

I've been spoiled in the past. I really, really miss Tesla Sentry Mode. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the industry and after having it, I want it on every car ever.

5 years ago I bought an Owl Cam. It was excellent. A little chunky, but it had a great app, seamless live view mode, a 48 hour parking mode with no external battery, and they even awarded $1000 a week for the best voice-activated clip upload. That company was acquired and it went to shit. Old cameras didn't work, new cameras had higher cloud subscription fees, and now it seems they're still selling the same camera from 5 years ago.

To my astonishment, nothing else has really stepped up. I had a Blackvue DX900-2CH in my last car that was stolen, a lot of good that did me. It never even fired off any clips of the culprits. The app was incredibly janky too, which turns me off from paying their super premiums to get another.

Thinkware u3000 seems to be a nice all-rounder, but I don't like that it's not cloud connected for live view at all times. It needs to be on wifi at home to grab clips. But the image quality looks good, it has a very power-efficient parking mode that might be somewhat usable without an external battery, and it does have some tracking via the app (just not real time via LTE).

The Viofos look decent, but I haven't found much on the app experience and it seems they need the external battery for parking mode.

Nexar seem to have glowing reviews online, but watching some YouTube reviews they severely underperform.

The Garmin has some interesting cloud features but is only 1 channel and down on specs.

There really isn't a satisfying answer here. I think here's a huge opportunity in this space for someone to come in and just make the iPhone of dash cameras, which I think Owl Cam was trying to be in its original incarnation. I had high hopes for the Ring Car camera, but that seems like it was also a bust.

Frustrating. I just want Sentry Mode in my Emira.

Anyway, following. /rant

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marc1adrien said:

I'm in a bit of an odd situation on this. Ideal would be a quick USB wire to mirror, and a unit that could record say 4-5 hours without external battery when parked. It appears I'm out of luck right?

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