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Dash cam advice required


TomL

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I'm looking at getting a dash cam for the Vitesse but know very little about them.

If anyone could share any advice. observations, what to look for, pitfalls etc. that would be helpful.

There seems to be a considerable range in price.  I would quite like a discrete device and not have too may wires draped over the dash.

Tom

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Can't help on device recommendations, but would generally expect more money means more features (front and rear facing camera/higher quality video/longer video clip storage) but all should do the basic job of recording an accident to give you evidence it wasn't your fault.

For the wires that should be reasonably simple in one of our cars.  Attach to windscreen in front of the rear view mirror, then tuck the cable under the windscreen rubber all the way around to a convienient point to exit to be plugged in.

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most dash cams have a usb power feed, so best to install a 12v socket and use a usb adaptor. Choice is whether you want it to work when the ignition is on or all the time. Some dashcams have a motion sensor and start up with motion so for those it's useful to have on all the time as they will record if someone hits your car when parked or someone tries to break in or tamper with it, for such a cam I'd have a permanent live feed to the 12v socket. Other dashcams are on all the time they have power with no motion sensor, for this type I'd have a 12v feed that is only live when the ignition is on.

In terms of a 12v socket, you can either mount one on your dash or if you don't want to drill the dash have an unobstrusive pod type one under the dash. Here is mine on my GT6, a double pod one under the dash, I use a 3 way usb adaptor in one side when I want to use a dashcam, sat nav and charge my mobile. I have a similar one in my other Triumph a Dolomite.

I use a pretty basic dashcam, a next base one that was about 40 quid and move it between cars. I had a ding in a car park last year in my modern BMW and the footage certainly helped the claim and ensured I kept my NCB and recovered my excess as it wasn't my fault.

 

 

Picture 8.jpg

Picture 9.jpg

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1 hour ago, TomL said:

There seems to be a considerable range in price.  I would quite like a discrete device and not have too may wires draped over the dash.

Tom

Go for the best you can afford; I bought one for £20, allegedly half price, from Tescos and it's rubbish. It records for about 10 seconds and the image is terrible.

I bought one for my daughter's car from Halfords, cost me £100 but what appealed to me at the time was the free fitting where they will hardwire it into the car at an appointed time, so all of the wires are hidden and the power connections are into the fuse box. I could have run it through a 12v socket but like yourself didn't want the wiring to be untidily visible.

https://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/nextbase-322gw-limited-edition-bundle-236166.html

I see the offer of free fitting has expired, now they're charging an extra £35... but out of all the dashcams I looked at this one seemed to fit the bill.

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Not sure if you can access this or not, it's on facebook but set to public so you probably can. This footage was taken using the cheapest Nextbase dashcam as a sort of cheap go pro imitation on the Club Triumph 10CR on the Timmelsjoch pass in the Alps between Italy and Austria. Gives an idea as to quality...   

 

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I have gone the opposite way to others, I brought a cheap one to see how I got on with it. It was one of those from a garage when buying petrol. Quite happy with it until the build quality let it down.

The most important thing I found was position and how wide the camera views, the reason for this was I entered a supermarket petrol station and a car nearly hit me from another side entrance, they did not give way as per the road marking. The camera missed this side issue.

The other thing is picking up the number plate, you need to be able to read this as the other car could drive off in opposite direction to the camera.

Another consideration, not only does the camera provide evidence to support you it can also provide evidence against you, just me being careful.

Also go for the largest  memory card, get the biggest you can.

Graham

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Hi, I bought a Nextbase 422, it was about £100 including a micro card. I’ve installed it using the 12v option deliberately rather than hard wiring it in. It’s easy to use, straight forward to set up and image quality is selectable. Installed it’s not particularly noticeable and positioned behind the rear view mirror is not a distraction. I’m not familiar with the Vitesse so can’t comment on how easy it is to “hide” the cable but it’s not very thick so I guess it can’t to be very difficult. Mine’s on my BMW but I fully intend to be able to swap it between that and my TR.

I bought it because I was hit by an articulated low loader who drove off and denied ever having been in the area. By chance someone nearby with their cam on caught it all. Most straightforward claim I’ve ever had.

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Like Graham I went the cheap and cheerful route, a NextBase 212 from Aldi.  Seems to be lasting, fits up close to the rear view mirror in the GT6 and having played it back on a PC picture quality is excellent, can read number plates fine and the audio was impressive given the noise level in the car. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got a blackview in my modern - had one model or other for years - but they are very expensive compared to the others on the market these days (They were one of the best when they first came out) and I wouldn't have another one. Plenty on Amazon for under £50 which seem ok.

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