dash cam with absolute best parking mode and setup advice

dltksielaq

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Hi
I am utterly disgusted by basic ethics of people living around my apartment and after 3 incidences in one year, i decided to pay as much as I can to prevent this happening again. Please give me advice. It is fine as long as it is under 1k ish. I am willing to pay whatever I need to absolutely prevent this

I believe there is something called buffered parking mode which is considered the best option unless I have power source to record 24/7 which doesnt sound possible to me. For this option, please suggest which product I should buy. Also, please let me know which battery pack will be best option for me. It would be better if it last +24hours. Feel free to give me any other option that would work in my situation.

Thank you in advance. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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You could look at the Thinkware F770. I don't own one but it seems to be the top choice if buffered parking mode is a priority. For parking mode the camera's power supply is hardwired to the car's interior fuse box, ideally using appropriate fuse taps and fuses. Power banks won't work.
 
F770 and Cellink-B (+extended battery ) should do the job for you.
 
I believe there is something called buffered parking mode which is considered the best option unless I have power source to record 24/7 which doesnt sound possible to me. For this option, please suggest which product I should buy. Also, please let me know which battery pack will be best option for me. It would be better if it last +24hours. Feel free to give me any other option that would work in my situation.
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buffered parking mode is only about saving memory space, it still requires the camera to be running so no measurable difference in how much power you will use
 
One alternative approach might be to use appropriate capacity power banks.

I use two 20,000 mAh power banks to power four cameras whenever I park my vehicle. These banks would likely run the cameras for an entire day but generally I run them for shorter periods of between 2 and 8 hours. I simply charge them over night and they are good for the next day. One of these units has been in daily service for three years and the other for two years.

For a situation like this and with a potential budget like the one put forth an interesting option might be to use a high quality true 50,000 mAh powerbank like the MAXOAK which provides six ports to include 4-USB, 1-12V and 1-20v. Two of these used in a daily charging rotation should provide plenty of adequate run time. The MaxOak is one of the few on the market with this capacity and it is primarily marketed to power users who need to run laptops and charge tablets/smartphones in the field.

maxoak.jpg

maxoak2.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00YP823NA
 
My main dashcam records in pre-buffered motion detect mode when the car is parked at my girlfriend's house. Powered via Anker Power Bank.

The clips recorded at night are often of limited value, as the windscreen is regularly misted-up, iced-up or covered in raindrops. The lack of street lighting is also a problem.

image.png

If you live in a part of the USA that enjoys warm winters, & there's good street lighting adjacent to your parked car, then you may achieve good results. If not then the night-time footage in particular may disappoint.
 
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I have a F770 and two F50s.
All three do the Buffered Parking Mode.
I am very pleased with both models, and would not own a Dashcam without the Buffered Parking Mode now that I've seen the results.
I use a LEXAR 128GB 633x in my F770, and have several days of video available when parked.

RodeoGeorge
 
One of the things that has been rather interesting about full time recording using power banks when away from my vehicle are the things I often capture that I might never have otherwise. If one is using a buffered parking mode that is triggered by a G-sensor it would not be difficult to imagine a vandalism incident that might not get captured such as someone keying the side of the vehicle or slashing a tire where the physical "impact" is low.

This past summer I was parked at a local plant nursery and discovered that evening after viewing the footage that some inconsiderate selfish jerk had used the hood of my vehicle as a place to put the heavy flowerpots and plant trays he had just purchased while he and his wife were loading their car. Fortunately, I could find no damage or scratches on my hood but if there had been I had footage of the guy engaged in the act as well as the make, model and license number of their vehicle. I don't really know if buffered parking mode would have captured that as my understanding of the feature is that it is primarily intended to capture someone bumping into your vehicle with theirs.

asshole.jpg
 
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This past summer I was parked at a local plant nursery and discovered that evening after viewing the footage that some inconsiderate selfish jerk had used the hood of my vehicle as a place to put the heavy flowerpots and plant trays he had just purchased while he and his wife were loading their car.

makes my blood boil when I see people like this
 
makes my blood boil when I see people like this

Doesn't it though. I was pretty damned miffed! Fortunately, there was no sign of any damage so I kept that screen grab as a memento and moved on.
 
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makes my blood boil when I see people like this

+1!!

Beer cans and dripping savoury snacks on my car's bonnet made me very angry after a long time a month or so back.

I hate the ones that can't stand straight either, always leaning and rubbing against the paint.
 
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I don't really know if buffered parking mode would have captured that as my understanding of the feature is that it is primarily intended to capture someone bumping into your vehicle with theirs.

That is where the motion detection comes in. It is also Buffered.
If they passed in front of your vehicle, that would have been captured in the Parking Mode.

RodeoGeorge
 
That is where the motion detection comes in. It is also Buffered.
If they passed in front of your vehicle, that would have been captured in the Parking Mode.

RodeoGeorge


Motion detection is highly problematic outdoors because of false triggers. Everything from other cars driving by to pedestrians walking across the FOV every few minutes to trees blowing in the wind, to birds flying past or clouds moving through the sky can trigger the cameras. There is also the possibility that the camera may not be triggered by the motion it sees and this puts one at risk of missing the footage. Motion detection works best in a static environment like a warehouse, store or office environment after hours when the only motion being detected is the motion you want to capture. Personally, I wouldn't use motion detection in a motor vehicle even though my cameras have that capability. After long time experience I prefer to just let the cameras roll. I miss nothing this way, including events that are not even near my vehicle.
 
This past summer I was parked at a local plant nursery and discovered that evening after viewing the footage that some inconsiderate selfish jerk had used the hood of my vehicle as a place to put the heavy flowerpots and plant trays he had just purchased while he and his wife were loading their car. Fortunately, I could find no damage or scratches on my hood but if there had been I had footage of the guy engaged in the act as well as the make, model and license number of their vehicle. I don't really know if buffered parking mode would have captured that as my understanding of the feature is that it is primarily intended to capture someone bumping into your vehicle with theirs.
I am always amazed at the moronic behavior that we are confronted with daily. I agree with @jokiin that kind of thing just really cranks you off.
 
I am always amazed at the moronic behavior that we are confronted with daily. I agree with @jokiin that kind of thing just really cranks you off.

Sadly, it feels like this kind of thing is happening more and more these days. This feels especially true living in a small town rural environment where years ago people were very considerate of one another and behavior like that was rare except among the occasional redneck teenager types.

Apparently, I only missed catching that guy with the flower pots by moments. I even said hello when I returned to my vehicle while he and his wife were just getting ready to get in their car and leave. It would not have been a fun time for him if I had caught him in the act, that's for sure.

The thing about that event that gives me pause is that many, many times I don't bother to review everyday mundane footage and so it's left me wondering what else may have happened around my vehicle that I don't even know about. Maybe it's for the best. :D
 
Wow guys thank you so much for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
I think I will probably try F770+its rear camera+Celllink-B. One question top of my head though. I am really not a techie person and this hardwiring thing sounds too much to me after watching some videos.. also a bit scared it might drain out my power. What would be the exact difference between hardwiring+cellink-B vs cellink-B thru cigarette jack? I am guessing with hardwiring, my parking mode will last longer since it is partly using my car's power? How much would it differ though? Is there anything else I would lose by sticking with cigarette jack?
 
Wow guys thank you so much for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
I think I will probably try F770+its rear camera+Celllink-B. One question top of my head though. I am really not a techie person and this hardwiring thing sounds too much to me after watching some videos.. also a bit scared it might drain out my power. What would be the exact difference between hardwiring+cellink-B vs cellink-B thru cigarette jack? I am guessing with hardwiring, my parking mode will last longer since it is partly using my car's power? How much would it differ though? Is there anything else I would lose by sticking with cigarette jack?

Since you seem to have a healthy budget to acquire the dash camera capabilities you need here and are concerned about perhaps not having the proper technical skills, consider having the components professionally installed. Many shops that specialize in car audio and other aftermarket automotive electronics are becoming more and more willing and able to do dash cam installation as the technology becomes more popular.
 
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Apparently, I only missed catching that guy with the flower pots by moments. I even said hello when I returned to my vehicle while he and his wife were just getting ready to get in their car and leave. It would not have been a fun time for him if I had caught him in the act, that's for sure....
Many (as in MANY since I was in my early 20s) years ago I came out and the woman parked next to me had her extra large purse with metal feet sitting on the trunk (boot) of my car :mad: while loading her purchases into her car. She was none to happy when I, not so gently :D, put the purse on the roof of her car but was smart enough not to say anything.
 
For the absolute best parking mode, you must get two single channel dash cams like a Street Guardian SG9665GC V3 rather than a dual channel dashcam.

Furthermore, for the absolute best parking mode, you must use a dedicated Cellink B battery pack plugged into your cigarette lighter socket in your central console bin, so that the battery pack recharges every time your engine is on.
Using your car's lead acid battery for parking mode is second rate.
There's no need to hardwire the Cellink B to make your life miserable.

When your engine is off, the lithium ion battery pack, combined with a 12 V 2-way splitter socket will power your two single channel dash cams to record at FHD 1920 x 1080, at at the full 30 frames per second, full time!
The Cellink B V2 has an override switch so that it does not record while you're parking at home etc.

Time lapse recording at 1 fps will not give best quality & no audio either.
Also, buffered recording is inaccurate, as the dash cam recording trigger is not sensitive enough, and will NOT always be triggered to record when you want it to.

A Thinkware F770 has time lapse recording & buffered parking mode, however this doesn't deliver the absolute best parking mode recording that you're after.
The F770 dual channel also doesn't have the best rear dashcam footage in low light either; for that, presently you need two single channel dash cams.

Best to record parking full time like a surveillance camera at a bank or shopping center.

A Sandisk 200 GB micro SD card in an SG9665GC will give something like 26 hours of recording until it overwrites itself.
A Samsung 256 GB mSD card will give something like 34 hours of recording, however the 256 GB card is almost twice the cost of the Sandisk 200 GB mSD card...
 
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Why is it impossible to find a chinese dashcam with a parking mode like Thinkware or Blackvue ?
I don't want to spend more than USD150 for a dashcam.
Is there no market for this ?
 
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