Dashcam (Again)

[Doofus]

I recently bought a used car, and it seems the previous owner had a dashcam installed. It's not still there, but there's a mini USB cable coming out of the headlining just by the rear view mirror.

I've never considered a dashcam before, but as the cable's there, I may as well do.

So I need one with a mini USB port for power. Any advice? What else do I need/want in a dash cam? I can't see myself spending more than £100.

[stargazer30]

Have a look at the A119S mini wedge cams on amazon. They use a usb power and are small enough to be left in permanently.

We have two they are good for the price.

[Doofus]

stargazer30 said:

Have a look at the A119S mini wedge cams on amazon. They use a usb power and are small enough to be left in permanently.

We have two they are good for the price.

What sort of size are they? I assumed a dash cam wouldn't have a built-in screen.

[Jakg]

Doofus said:

What sort of size are they? I assumed a dash cam wouldn't have a built-in screen.

This is an A118C and uses a mini-USB power cable.





The market has moved to micro-USB on the newer cameras now.

[Doofus]

Jakg said:

The market has moved to micro-USB on the newer cameras now.

I suppose I could get a mini to micro adapter...

[Doofus]

Is there any reason to buy something that syncs with my phone, particularly? Do I need cloud storage? What size SD card would I want? (I see some devices can only handle 32Gb).

[Spare tyre]

Doofus said:

Is there any reason to buy something that syncs with my phone, particularly? Do I need cloud storage? What size SD card would I want? (I see some devices can only handle 32Gb).

That stuff is always a pain

I prefer just to take the card out and shove it in my pc

[Doofus]

Spare tyre said:

That stuff is always a pain

I prefer just to take the card out and shove it in my pc

That's what I concluded. Plus, I'm only buying one becaue I've got a power connection already plumbed in, so I probably don't want to pay extra for wifi whistles and Alexa bells.

[Fore Left]

Take a look here for recommendations;

https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2020/

I've installed a few Blueskysea B1Ws. The wifi and app is handy as they don't have a screen.

[Jakg]

Fore Left said:

Take a look here for recommendations;

https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2020/

I've installed a few Blueskysea B1Ws. The wifi and app is handy as they don't have a screen.

The B1W uses micro USB.

[Doofus]

Jakg said:

he B1W uses micro USB.

I csn buy an adapter, it seems

[VanDiesel99]

slightly reviving this topic, I have a similar situation

I took the opportunity while I had the Dashboard out recently to install 'Hard Wiring' for a Dash Cam which as yet I've not purchased

(I was replacing the Heater Matrix... oh what a lovely job!)

I'm now wondering how I'm going to get from my 'ready to go' wiring (not yet connected to a power source) to the Dashcam itself

...or whether what I've installed is useless?

Any thoughts?

(NB: the car's old enough not to have an ECU or Multiplexing, so no issues there)

[gmaz]

VanDiesel99 said:

slightly reviving this topic, I have a similar situation

I took the opportunity while I had the Dashboard out recently to install 'Hard Wiring' for a Dash Cam which as yet I've not purchased

(I was replacing the Heater Matrix... oh what a lovely job!)

I'm now wondering how I'm going to get from my 'ready to go' wiring (not yet connected to a power source) to the Dashcam itself

...or whether what I've installed is useless?

Any thoughts?

(NB: the car's old enough not to have an ECU or Multiplexing, so no issues there)

The ideal route for an older car is a 12v -> 5v adaptor, tapped off the fuse board or 12v socket, up the A pillar, along the headlining to the camera by the rear view mirror, so your wiring coming out of the vent (I assume 12v) isn't ideal.

[Mr Miata]

Garmin dashcams also use a micro USB cable.

The Garmin 55 is the same size and shape of a matchbox. Average video quality and the user interface for downloading the video can be a pain.