A119 V4 Soon?

[Nigel]

I've seen conflicting reports that connecting the Viofo red and yellow wires together can achieve this.

It will do that.

The problems come when you try to use the low voltage cutoff at the same time, because that becomes disabled, but I don't think you will be needing that feature anyway since your camera will be off when the battery is not being charged!

 

[kamkar]

I like USB C a lot, not least if say it is parried with a 90 degree angle plug, cuz then as it is USB C you can always put the plug in so the bend go upwards.
With a older USB type you would have to flip the camera to be able to have the plug bend up and out of sight, but most of only just realize this after we have installed the camera in a way so the angled plug point downwards,,,,, and to have to take camera off glass and flip it, wasting a sticky pad.
There are many "new" things i would like to see in a V4 camera.

It could also just be me, i tend to get a little schoolboy exited when i get a new system to test, and then for sure my pace are not too slow,,,,,,,,, as people have always told me " you need to work slower" when i am working my regular pace
So some times my hands outpace my brain and unfortunate little things happen.

 

[geokilla]

Yes, there is "V4" coming soon, still call A119, but not called A119 V4. New design, and new hardware, and use the USB-C port.

Are you able to provide an ETA on soon? Next month? Summer? Fall?

 

[Dashmellow]

Someone is using one successfully with parking mode on an A139, or was it a T130.
However I wouldn't recommend an adaptor for the 3 channel cameras, likely to be unreliable with the higher power consumption.

I'm wondering why an adapter would be unreliable? I have a USB-A female to USB-C male adapter here on my desk that came with a new hard drive I purchased and there is nothing about it that makes it seem like it wouldn't handle whatever current and voltage you throw at it. It seems quite rugged actually. Please explain your logic.

 

[Nigel]

I'm wondering why an adapter would be unreliable? I have a USB-A female to USB-C male adapter here on my desk that came with a new hard drive I purchased and there is nothing about it that makes it seem like it wouldn't handle whatever current and voltage you throw at it. It seems quite rugged actually. Please explain your logic.

They add a significant voltage drop under higher currents, and at the end of a long cable that can be critical.

 

[DrekiTech]

I'm wondering why an adapter would be unreliable? I have a USB-A female to USB-C male adapter here on my desk that came with a new hard drive I purchased and there is nothing about it that makes it seem like it wouldn't handle whatever current and voltage you throw at it. It seems quite rugged actually. Please explain your logic.

I tested the T130 for work over the weekend and found it notoriously unreliable with any power cable except for the one included in the box. normally I would just use an adapter with my existing cabling (I have a 1 cable with 3 USB-C end that has worked for most cameras; plus I use adapters for older usb ports) but the T130 would announce "2 channel recording" beep a few times then annouce "3 channel recording" beep again, "2 channel recording" etc so it was far too power hungry for this set up. Even A139 worked off of this cable. T130 needed its dedicated cable, and even some anker one I used with a 3rd party power supply was iffy and would bump out the rear channel if I went over some bumpy road.

I think it's just because the USB adapter and cable can't provide steady enough voltage or high enough within the camera spec, it detects a problem and drops the rear channel. Mostly adding any adapters or using low quality cables will increase the chance of power being out of spec.

I would not recommend the noodle cable for anyone who wants their cam(s) to operate reliably but it's been fine for casual testing cams so far.

 

[Dashmellow]

They add a significant voltage drop under higher currents, and at the end of a long cable that can be critical.

OK, thanks for the explanation.

I have a USB voltage and current tester so maybe I will try to confirm this theory when I get a little time. I may need a different adapter since I don't currently have a USB-C dash cam but I can test voltage and current with and without an adapter using different cable lengths.

 

[Dashmellow]

I tested the T130 for work over the weekend and found it notoriously unreliable with any power cable except for the one included in the box. normally I would just use an adapter with my existing cabling (I have a 1 cable with 3 USB-C end that has worked for most cameras; plus I use adapters for older usb ports) but the T130 would announce "2 channel recording" beep a few times then annouce "3 channel recording" beep again, "2 channel recording" etc so it was far too power hungry for this set up. Even A139 worked off of this cable. T130 needed its dedicated cable, and even some anker one I used with a 3rd party power supply was iffy and would bump out the rear channel if I went over some bumpy road.

I'm curious to know what AWG each cable has. Over the years Viofo has been supplying 22AWG cables with their cameras because they require them but many dash cams are shipped with 28 AWG cables and many aftermarket cables are 28 AWG or 24AWG. Many people have reported issues with their Viofo cameras when they try to use their existing cables, not realizing that the wire gauge is too thin. I had this experience myself back when I had a A119 V2 that I tried to use with an existing three meter cable. The screen would flicker and other woes occurred.

Could this be the explanation for what you are describing?

 

[DrekiTech]

I'm curious to know what AWG each cable has. Over the years Viofo has been supplying 22AWG cables with their cameras because they require them but many dash cams are shipped with 28 AWG cables and many aftermarket cables are 28 AWG or 24AWG. Many people have reported issues with their Viofo cameras when they try to use their existing cables, not realizing that the wire gauge is too thin. I had this experience myself back when I had a A119 V2 that I tried to use with an existing three meter cable. The screen would flicker and other woes occurred.

Could this be the explanation for what you are describing?

I think you're onto something here for sure

 

[Dashmellow]

I think you're onto something here for sure

I can't remember where exactly but there were a number of discussions about this topic in various threads over the years.

One interesting thing I discovered was that the V3 works fine with a 15 foot 24AWG aftermarket power cable as my rear camera but the V2 had problems with a 10 foot version of the same brand 24 AWG cable (Monoprice). 22AWG cables are definitely the way to go for Viofo cams but that gauge is hard to find in aftermarket USB cables, especially longer ones like we rely on for dash cameras. All in all Viofo cameras seem more voltage and current hungry than many other cameras I've had experience with. Perhaps hungry isn't the right word. Perhaps more "sensitive" to voltage and current drops than others and it sounds like your T130 fits that pattern in that it needs the 22 AWG cable.

 

[Nigel]

Even A139 worked off of this cable. T130 needed its dedicated cable,

The A139 has a big advantage with its coax cables, much better voltage handling than those USB cables to the rear camera like on the T130 and A129 series, so yes, that result is expected.

 

[Kremmen]

So it sounds like my faultless Nextbase HWK that I've used for both my old V2 and now V3 is more by luck. However, it is 5v 2A so it should be OK.

I suppose if the "V4" also comes with a fag lighter plug then it has to work via a single power source as they don't allow separate permanent and trigger wires.

Nextbase are also developing a new Dashcam so maybe a 2 wire usb-c may be available.


Just like the post above, I'm a sucker for a new toy but given the V3 is doing all I need I do need to wait after release.

 

[Nigel]

So it sounds like my faultless Nextbase HWK that I've used for both my old V2 and now V3 is more by luck. However, it is 5v 2A so it should be OK.

It will almost certainly work with the new single channel cameras via a connector adaptor, the voltage problem is mainly due to high power use by the 3 channel cameras and the requirement to get the voltage all the way to the rear camera on dual and triple cameras.

 

[DrekiTech]

The A139 has a big advantage with its coax cables, much better voltage handling than those USB cables to the rear camera like on the T130 and A129 series, so yes, that result is expected.

Why did Viofo move away from those cables in the T130?

I hope that if the A119 V4 has a rear cam add-on it'll be the thin cabling again. So much easier to install

 

[Nigel]

Why did Viofo move away from those cables in the T130?

The T130 is designed as a cheaper camera, Viofo A139 is a premium quality camera.

I suspect the electronics for driving power and data down the coax are significantly more expensive than for the multi-conductor USB cables.

I hope that if the A119 V4 has a rear cam add-on it'll be the thin cabling again. So much easier to install

All A119 cameras are single channel, and will remain so.

There is another camera on the way soon, but that is for another thread!

 

[Dashmellow]

All A119 cameras are single channel, and will remain so.

A119 = 1 CHANNEL
A129 = 2 CHANNEL (capable)
A139 = 3 CHANNEL (optional)

 

[Cristianson]

Im still hoping for a small wifi dashcam, no screen and at least 2k video, from viofo!
Basically a garmin mini 2 killer
Fingers crossed!

 

[Nigel]

Im still hoping for a small wifi dashcam, no screen and at least 2k video, from viofo!
Basically a garmin mini 2 killer
Fingers crossed!

The Garmin only has FHD resolution!
No problem beating that!
It is heavier than the Garmin, but you didn't ask for lightness...

 

[Mtz]

Im still hoping for a small wifi dashcam, no screen and at least 2k video, from viofo!
Basically a garmin mini 2 killer
Fingers crossed!

It will have screen. Based on the experience of Android 12 release which affected so many Apps, having a screen can offer the possibility to acces camera settings if something wrong with the Wi-Fi.

Just place a black tape over the A119V3 and look at it. Wedge dashcams without screen are not looking good.

If you don't like screen just turn it off.

 

[kamkar]

I would always prefer a dashcam with a screen, even if they are so small i can not read them without my glasses.

I never understood some peoples problems with screens, but it have been going on for many many years.