Old Smoky

Well, it would be nice if it was portable and the battery lasted 1/2 hour or so to record. Plus, you could make setting changes without having to reach up to the mount to make changes or have the power cord tethered to it.

I'd be happy to have mine work like your too. Battery is not deal breaker.

crypto

FYI I have used the Itronics ITB-100HD Dashcam for over a year now. It takes great video day & night and all you do is throw an SD card in it and go. The new version costs a bit more but it starts up and records a lot faster (<10s vs ~25-30s). The power cord is designed to plug into a cigarette lighter plug. In my previous car the cigarette lighter was only active when the car was running. Looks like the auxiliary cigarette lighter slot on my F150 is always on. As a result I am not running the dashcam because it'll eventually kill the battery without a low voltage detector to cut off the connection.

OP's method is exactly what I wanted to do via the mirror on my last car. Would love to get power right out of the mirror area and not have a cable running all over the truck. I need to watch the video to see how exactly you can get power from there. Next up I'd have to figure out how to get power into the dashcam in general.. not sure how I would connect into it. Would you cut the existing power cord open and splice it in? Should I just try and find another one that fits? This would be a great mod.

Skikrazee

Well my 12v to 5v converter plugged into the mirror idea didn't work out so well. there is plenty of room in the headliner for it to fit but I wired it up to the mirror turned on the ignition and was greeted with a ppssssfffftttt sound snatched the converter out of the mirror connector and had a very acrid smell coming from the voltage adapter. in the trash it went.


Bought a usb power adapter and 6' usb extension cable for plan B, also picked up an add a circuit from autozone, ran the usb cable down the A pillar to the fuse box on passenger side opened up fuse panel to find micro fuses not mini fuses. Aaarrrggh


Plan C set into motion, ran usb cable across dash through pass through center console (FX model), popped out usb port in center console, brought wire up and popped usb port back in place, plugged wire into usb port, turned on ignition and success.... finally!

BulletsForFingers

Gah! Glad you got it to work out. You should post up some pictures.

19KFX4

I'm going to get hammered for this question. But why is everyone getting Dash Cam's? Also i like the one's that i saw that show the vehicles speed as well, that can be used to help if needed by PD

ZBoater

It's insurance in case you're in an accident.

And the one that shows speed is not such a hot idea. Such information can be used against you and it's unnecessary for the intended purpose.

Spong

Found this thread while searching.

I've been thinking about a Dash Cam for some time now. I travel out of state for my job and will mostly drive the F-150. I think a Dash cam would be nice for those "in case" moments. It's not abnormal for me to drive 10+ hrs at a time so the video would loop but if something does happen, I can save the clip.

There's just so many different camera choices that it makes my head spin! I like the small size of the unit BulletsForFingers has but I plan to leave mine in the truck and I too worry about the temperature extremes.

What are your opinions on the "best" dash cam to purchase?

Thanks

stevebass4

i bought the gw1h from gear best - at the time they were less then 50 bucks each (do not buy from ebay or amazon and many report fake ones)


i installed one in my truck and one in my mustang

i will say the hd video looks a LOT better on your PC than on you tube because you tube compresses the video

RLXXI

This is the one I finally decided to buy,
It's a little on the high end but for it's features it's worth every cent. The added battery monitor however is unneeded the way the camera works. Have had mine plugged in 24/7 for a week now and not even a hint at any amount of current draw that would drain the battery which is really redundant due to the battery saver circuitry or trucks come with so save the extra cash and get just the camera (Anyone interested in a brand new never used current draw battery protector)? $50 shipped contiguous 48.

It acts just like a home surveillance system in that it only records in the event of motion (adjustable sensitivity) or an event such as a crash or if in parking mode someone trying to break in (built in impact sensor).

2 channel so there is one forward facing cam and one rear facing both HD and simultaneous recording, I got a 32G class 10 sd card for it and so far it will hold 24hrs worth of video from both cams before it recycles.

Plug it in and forget about it as it fully automatic in operation, also has a built in wifi server so you can monitor from a distance either recorded images or live, the range isn't all that great, about 100' or so but it's plenty for me.

Very small footprint so it's virtually invisible from the outside, you would really have to look hard to notice the front cam and you can forget about trying to see the rear cam because of the privacy glass, I thought maybe having that oem tinted glass would be an issue but the cam records just fine thru it, even at night.. Bonus!!

I've been researching different cams since before xmas last year due to the incredible amount on the market and also have a cheapola $50 dash cam and have to say you truly get what you pay for with one of these systems.

Couple of pics of the cams mounted and screen shots of what I see, the images are a lot clearer than depicted in the photos because those screen shots from my cell phone, yes there's an app for the phone as well as a program for pc or mac. But to give a general idea anyway.

Yes the rear cam is on the slider, I ran the cable up into the head liner in such a way that the cable slides with it inside the headliner rather than drooping out in the open and it does not snag or pull at all, The rear cam plugs into the front cam that in turn plugs into the always on power port, I plan to run that cable up into the headliner and down to the fuse panel at a later date, have other projects on the burner right now.

Read the reviews, check out the tech specs and you will see it's more than worth it's weight in gold.







The video files are stored in such a way that you can save/provide proof of an event without the GPS speed being shown in mp4 format for those worried about incriminating them selves.

As for the reason why? Insurance is not the main reason for me, my reason is because of the candid way you capture video automatically, I don't know about any of y'all but there have been a boat load of times I said "I wish could have taped that" only to not have a camera ready.

After seeing the dash cam footage of that meteor strike in Russia as well as all the other captures on (Caught on camera) show I think on Discovery channel, I knew I had to get one. The automation factor this system provides made my choice a no brainer.

EDIT: Actual pics updated to show true view.
.

Old Smoky

I considered the BlackVue but have read where they had heat issues just like the cheap units. Plus, someone may actually break into your truck just to steal the camera.

If they steal a cheap unit, no biggie.