Looking for the right camera for my ex-police vehicle.

NKato

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2019
Messages
62
Reaction score
16
Location
Seattle
Country
United States
Mostly because I'm worried people are gonna start going apeshiat around me when they see my car.
The following criteria is:

- Buffered Parking Mode, and automatic file saving when impacts are detected. Also be nice if I could also wire up a button that when pushed, will tell the camera to automatically save and tag the last few minutes of footage.
- Runs off of a Capacitor, for better heat resistance.
- Low-profile, don't need a screen. I'd rather be able to connect it to my phone or mobile computer either by wi-fi/bluetooth, or by a physical connection (I can set up a female connector in my custom center console).
- High quality video on front and back, sharp night vision (I drive at 3AM every night).
- Able to be wired to a custom power configuration (planning on a one-way battery pack so it can be charged while the car is running, but discharges when car is off. Battery recommendations are also welcome, also needs to be heat-resistant as well.)
- High video capacity.

My vehicle is a retired police vehicle, so having something low-profile and functional will be critical. Please submit your suggestions to me, as I would appreciate it immensely. The drivers in America are getting crazier by the week.
 
Viofo A129 seems to match, except it has an optional wireless bluetooth button rather than a wired one! It also has a screen, but you can ignore that since it also has wifi and the screen can be turned off and it is still reasonably small and easy to hide.
 
Viofo A129 seems to match, except it has an optional wireless bluetooth button rather than a wired one! It also has a screen, but you can ignore that since it also has wifi and the screen can be turned off and it is still reasonably small and easy to hide.

Does the A129 have a continuous record function for parking mode? I'll also look at any other suggestions the forum makes in this thread as well. I'm planning to make the purchase later this summer.
 
I have the A129 and think it will give you what you need.

This video is from my Papago in my Crown Vic
EX Police with push bar
 
Haha guy in white car panic at the sight of push bar :ROFLMAO:
Personally if i had a car like that i would be hanging out the window going Uuuuuu Iiiiiiii Uuuuuuu Iiiiii all the time.
 
Looks like I'll be going for that Viofo A129. What's a good battery pack setup that I can wire directly into my car? I have a special power distribution box with standalone fuses for this purpose.

Also, what do I want with the A129? BlackBoxMyCar lists a Mini USB Hardwire Kit and a 3-wire ACC Hardwire Kit. Not sure what "ACC" means, though?
 
Last edited:
I need something really similar to this too. but i have a few more requirements: OBD connector to battery, connect via phone app and/or a way to view camera, reasonably affordable cloud storage (or a way to ftp to cloud) and/or card recording, decent enough night vision to make out a face, all of the other features are perfect though, especially the low bit rate recording to save space.
I need to be able to view/monitor the camera to see what events are ongoing in front of my car and record all of it. any suggestions?
i bought the owl cam and used it, works great but only has the "park mode" and not continuous recording. also works based on credit purchases which i cant buy and unlimited amount of. viewing the live camera and/or history uses 1 credit/minute=$5/60 credits. expensive and max of 60/month...,kinda useless for effectively monitoring.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
I still need to find a good battery pack for the Viofo, any recommendations? It has to be able to handle running the camera for several days while the car is off. I'm going to hook it up to the ACC wiring.
 
Back
Top