A129 Duo - Can you mount the rear camera on the windshield??

ffooccuuss

New Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2019
Messages
5
Reaction score
1
Location
Houston, TX
Country
United States
Greetings, all!

First post here and shopping for my first dash cam. I like the feature set and price/value of the Viofo cameras, specifically looking at the A129 Duo. I think if you are going to have a dash cam you really should get a rear-facing one as well.

But our primary vehicle is a 2013 Dodge Journey SUV and running a cable to the back window looks like it will be a challenge. Many alternate dash cams have a rear camera unit combined with the main unit near the rearview mirror, which made me think - why not mount the A129 rear camera on the windshield and avoid the long cable run issue?? The biggest problem is how to connect it to the main camera unit since it comes with such a long cable.

Has anyone tried this? Is there a workaround? Is it possible to cut and splice the cable to shorten it?

TIA for your thoughts and comments.

Jerry in Houston
 
Or get the A129 Duo IR version. It comes with both the long cable and a short cable if you want to mount it on windshield looking back into the passenger compartment. Also has the IR option to record the inside at night in the dark.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
The connectors appear to be standard USB. Does anyone know if there is anything proprietary about them? Or can I use any common USB cable with matching connectors?
 
Thank you, jokiin. If the Dou IR version comes with a shorter cable is it possible to obtain it separately? In other words, if I get the A129 Duo can I get a shorter cable from Viofo or somewhere else? (I don't see a short cable at OCD Tronic). I am ready to buy a A129 Duo but only if I don't have to run a cable to the back of the vehicle.
 
Many alternate dash cams have a rear camera unit combined with the main unit near the rearview mirror, which made me think - why not mount the A129 rear camera on the windshield and avoid the long cable run issue??
The view you get from a front-mounted rear-facing camera will be very different to a rear-mounted rear-facing camera. The front-mounted camera will give you a decent view to the sides of your car, but may struggle with detail of what is happening behind you. Number plates will probably be out of view, below the window line. Metering will also be severely affected since a front-mounted camera will see a lot of the car interior, so the external view may often be over-exposed. Compare some A129 Duo and Duo IR videos to be sure you're getting what you want.
 
@TonyM, all good points and I appreciate your insights. I have done a lot of reading and research but I haven't actually used a dashcam yet so personal experiences are valuable. If someone has kids they may want to record what's going on in the cabin, or maybe a driver-for-hire (Uber, etc). But that's not the case for us so I am open. I just see running a long cable to the rear window as a challenge I would rather not deal with.

But being in a large city (Houston) I have seen some crazy stuff over the years and wished I could have recorded it. So now I am taking action.
 
...I just see running a long cable to the rear window as a challenge I would rather not deal with...

No need to run a long cable from front to back. I have 3 cameras in my wife's Toyota Highlander, front / front-cabin / rear. The rear camera is actually a Garmin mounted on the hatchback window and powered by the socket in the trunk. This is a single-channel and normally is installed on the front, but there's really no difference. The fronts are a Viofo A129 duo IR, which has a 2nd cabin-facing IR camera.

I run a Viofo A129 duo in our Honda Odyssey and I run a long cable to the rear. It wasn't particularly difficult to run the long cable to the rear camera, but it seems a bit silly. I prefer to just run two independent cameras, as I do on our Toyota. I suppose it's nice that I can use the Viofo app on my android phone and see both the front and rear video feeds, but that's such an insignificant factor as I only do then when playing around. You also can't use the Viofo app unless you turn on wifi in the camera, but you then must turn wifi off as the camera gets much hotter with wifi on (check out BCHobbyist posts for super technical info about this as well as his custom firmware mods).

2 additional reasons to run independent cameras front and rear:

1) You can buy two 256 GB cards, which is cheaper than one 512 GB card. Many cams won't accept 512GB so this is a way to have more storage too

2) If you have kids or new drivers to the car, you want a cabin cam when they get into an accident (which they will!). This is not to give to the insurance, but to go over later as a "Lesson's Learned" moment to study together to become a better driver. I guess it could also be fun to show decades from now when your kids kids (grandkids) start driving. By then these future kids will be in self-driving cars and car accidents will be something they learn about in their history class, but think of the grandkids smiles and laughs during the Christmas holidays watching their mom and dad as a young teen getting into a (hopefully minor) car accident!

 
Last edited:
I run a 'solo' cam as my primary rear cam too, though there's a 2-channel cam covering back there as well. I like the redundancy ;) 4-5 years ago dual channel cams were costly or had issues (sometimes both :( ) so many folks chose to use 2 cams instead. It has several advantages:

If you're upgrading your front cam, then the rear cam (your old cam) is free.
If one cam or PS fails, your lane position and such can still be seen on the other still-functioning cam (redundancy).
It's usually easier to run a 12VDC wire to the back than a cam cable, and with many cars there's access to 12VDC back there already saving you even more time and effort.
A 'lesser' cam is usually adequate in back, so even with buying both cams new you might come out spending less this way.
The best vid quality to be had is with solo cams; even the best 2-channel cams can't approach that standard.
No finding out the rear cam cable is too short, and no issues with form-factors as both cams can be optimized individually.

The main disadvantages: Accessing the card for checking/downloading from the rear cam may not be easy to do (unless you've got a hatchback etc) and you now need to monitor the operation of both front and rear cams while you drive (not a problem as the rear cam can usually be seen in your mirror).

Either way works fine with good equipment choices, and today many 2-channel cams have matured into being both reliable and a good value as well as some having options for the remote module being IR-equipped or a waterproof outside mounting. These are indeed good times for dashcam users :)

Phil
 
Great points by genesplitter and SawMaster - really appreciate your help! I have ordered an A129 Duo which should be here in a couple of days. I decided to go ahead and try running the wire to the back. In watching many YouTubes I really see a need to have a full-view rear dashcam if you are going to have a dashcam at all. Of course, depending on your personal situation, like kids or Uber/taxi drivers who want to record the cabin.

But I love the points about having a separate camera mounted and powered in the rear window. My 2013 Dodge Journey has some rear power outlets so I could do that. But depending on my experience with using this I will probably want to add a system to my wife's Kia Soul, and having 2 independent cameras allows me flexibility to get some less expensive models and more mounting options.

These are a couple of ideas I didn't get from all the websites and YouTubes I have watched. Once again, thanks for your comments.
 
Or get 2 duo cams and install one in the rear and put the smaller 2nd channel cam on one of the stationary side windows. Do the same with the front duo cam, run the 2nd channel to the side. Then you'll have coverage all around and running the 2nd channel cables won't be as hard

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Also, my vehicle is large and it was easier to run the cable down the A pillar to the kick panel and under the door sill trim to the rear then back up. Easier to pop those pieces off than dealing with sun roof, air ducts, rear entertainment flip down screens that are all in the headliner.

The stock cable was a couple feet short going that route though, so I bought the longer one that's available.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Only downside to having several single cameras, is you have to go to each to get footage of it, and most of dashcam enthusiasts have tried to launch one of the small spring loaded memory cards, some times not finding it again.
So after doing that for some years i jumped on the dual channel systems once they became a viable option.

The dual remote cameras we will see soon will in my opinion be ideal for side or cabin coverage, due to their very small remote cameras stealth are even higher too, and with the main unit you cam actually hide for anyone not having time to trace where wires lead to.
And i assume the dual remote cameras will also support IR aid ( for cabin at night ) at least on one camera like current dual systems, but i hope it will be possible to do that on both channels, that would make many a Uber ASO driver very happy.
BUT ! i do think if you want IR light, and a active IR cut filter in a remote camera, they cant be much smaller than current remote cameras, which are still small.
 
Back
Top