I admit to having a bit of a scare the other day where someone stopped short on the Turnpike and then tried to back into me.

Fortunately, I was able to maneuver around this "person" but it left me with a bad taste that I could have been a victim.

This leads me to the topic of this post....anyone using dash cams in their 7th gen? If so, how did you wire it? Is there an "invisicord"/"Mike's Mount" for these or do I need to tear into the dash to dress in some switched power?

Thanks in advance for sharing your solutions.

 

I had a dash cam in my 5.5gen when I had a drunk driver rear end me, then try to run over me and threw me on their hood when they tried to flea the scene. She was arrested and the video was great evidence for the police and district attorney that is prosecuting her.

I since sold the car and installed it in my infiniti. Its great to have for that very reason. You never know whats gonna happen, and whenever something does, you will always forget small details. With it on video you have nothing to worry about when somebody causes damage to you.

As you can see in the picture, it is under my rear view mirror, right next to my radar detector. Both are hard wired, and turn on and off with the ignition on the vehicle.




As for the way it is set up, The camera has a very strong suction cup mounted to the windsheild, and normally plugs into the cigarette lighter. I ran the line along the headliner, down the drivers A-pillar and used an Add a circuit device with another 12V outlet to the cigarette lighter fuse. All connections and wires are neatly hidden behind the plastic and nothing is visible. As for the radar (in case you want to know) I have a Mikes mount and invisicord tapped into the power on the mirror.

 

I'm actually in the process of installing one myself. I used an ACN Mini Add-a-circuit ATM low profile blade style fuse holder and attached it with the 20Amp fuse for the front power socket located in the fuse box near the obd2 connection.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390552713731

I then hooked up this 12v to 5v converter. There were two black bolts near the fuse box and i used one of those for the ground.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390819355149

Everything works fine. The only thing i have to do is get a thinner usb cable so i can run it along the top and down the sides of the A-pillar. I also don't like the mount as i can see the camera in my field of vision so i will be modifying it so that its right in front of the rear view mirror. The dashcam i'm using is the G1W which is cheap and highly rated.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310891426086...84.m1497.l2649

 

Thanks folks,

I appreciate the feedback.

I decided to go with the mini-801 w GPS. It had a lot of good reviews (and some not so good, but hey, it is the internet!)

I did find some of the "power only" usb cables around that look to be pretty thin...I will wait until I get the unit delivered before I order in length so I don't end up with a 10' "drip loop" under the dash.

Sure would have been nice to have a 5v usb micro socket on the homelink mirror, but I am sure I can manage with the "add-a-fuse" and some judicious cussing!

 

The add-a fuse is no big deal. I have the same exact one in my Infiniti. Made the job alot easier and cleaner of an install.

 

I am just spoiled by my Mike's Mount and Invisicord for my radar detector. My lil rants are just that...I tell my folks it is a case of "why didn't anyone do the thinking for me disease!!"

 

I've been wanting to get a dashcam installed in my car for awhile now but its one of those things that I never seem to get around to. Anyone know of a place in Queens that does good work? I went to a place on Queens Blvd to get my radar detector hard wired into my setup on my 5th Gen and they ended up blowing out the wiring harness where they connected it.

 

I got a mini 0801(40 Gigs or space and records wide + 1080p) a few weeks ago. This is a pretty simple install..... You dont have to remove any of the panels. This is something you DIY...

I'm going to wire it to the fuse box with this:
http://thedashcamstore.com/dashcam-i...ile-mini-fuse/

and I'm going to stick the camera to the back of the mirror with "3M Dual Lock Velcro" its on amazon and ebay. I'm sticking it to the back of the mirror vs on the windshield because I know the 100 degree Florida heat will destroy the camera. So I wont have to remove it form the mount every time.

Right know its rigged up to the windshield and its impossible to even notice it(the main reason i spent extra on this small model). I might create a thread for my install once the last orders come in.

Heres a good site that has all the dash cam info laid out nicely:
http://dashcamtalk.com/

 

[QUOTE="zoemayne;8943680"]....I know the 100 degree Florida heat will destroy the camera. /QUOTE]

My mini 0801 came in today with 20140410 firmware and gps mount. Cant wait to try it out...but hope I never need it.

Have you installed it (permanently) yet? Just curious if you are pulling the camera every time you park or just leave it and how well it works?

Thanks for the installation links. I thought I would plan ahead and take a more modular approach.

I have ordered a Nextrox power supply (3amp) and some micro USB male connectors. I can use some thinner zip 22awg wiring and add additional "tools" as they become available and still have some power left over.

Looks like this coming weekend will be fun!

 

I still have it rigged up got all the parts yesterday I'll post some pics this week. Right now i have been removing the camera and placing it in the shifter area so I can remember to replace it before i drive off. I only remove it from the base when I know the sun is going to be out.

 

Has anyone had any experience with mounting the camera up high so it's out-of-sight behind the dark shade strip?
I was wondering about the recorded picture quality with it set-up in such a manner?
My thinking is that by being shaded it could help with the heat from direct sunlight.
I have my Escort radar detector hard-wire mounted in this manner and it's all but invisible from the outside (even through the drivers window) and it still functions great.

 

That is a very good question and one I will try to answer this weekend. I too have my X50 on a Mikes Mount under the mirror with the invisicord and planed on situating the camera on the upper side just below the "dots" on the windshield. I will try a few different positions and let you know what I "see" (pardon the pun.)

 

I just tested that out for you. There was a reflection of the entire dashboard over the image while I had the car parked in the shade. So this might be an issue for any daytime recording. Placing the camera behind the dots and the image was too obscured. Currently I have the camera mounted on the dots with the lens angled to only record footage from the non tinted windshield. I have a 5% strip going across my windshield but you should get the same results.

 

This is a good hidden set up I just have to change it in my situation of having to deal with the Florida heat.


^This is the actual camera.
You can see that I have the bicycle reflector bracket mentioned here: http://forums.maxima.org/7th-generat...t-7th-gen.html I'm going to try to use that to mount the cam away from the windshield with the 3M stuff. I have the cable routed to the fuse box just as that escort is (thx alexdi)




^Outside view camera is well hidden





^This is the view from the passenger side... The camera is completely out of view.



^This is the view from the DS the camera is hidden nicely only part of the usb cable is seen.



^3M

 

I thank you kindly sir for the detailed reply.
With the camera mounted at the angle you mentioned, about how far out from the front end of the car is the field of view (lets say in car lengths)?

 

Maybe this answers your question? This videos quality is greatly reduce cause of youtube and the program that I used to trim the video.

 

OK then. I had it in my feeble mind that the camera was pointing more downward like directly in front of the car. I just learned the cameras FOV is quite expansive. That must be the shade strip I can barely see in both upper corners of the video?

P.S.
Don't tell me you were being ticketed here?

 

I dont think thats the shade strip. The field of view is important on these cameras this model is at 135 degrees. Yes I did get a ticket not sure if i should fight it or not:

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ksonville.html