Advice for precise location of A119 V3 on windscreen (in a RHD vehicle)

[Privateer]

OK, I know that the dashcam should be in the centre of the windscreen and as high as possible, but that's just where the rearview mirror is, so do you place it:

1. Behind the rearview mirror on the left hand (passenger) side?
2. Behind the rearview mirror on the right hand (driver) side?
3. Central and just under the rearview mirror?

Also, if you have it behind the rearview mirror, do you:

1. Hide it all,
2. Hide the screen of the A119 but leave the buttons visible?
3. Have all of it visible i.e. the screen and buttons?

Do you have any problems with the annual MOT and the dashcam mounted within the sweep of the windscreen wiper?

Do you mount it so that the micro SD card is easily accessible and do you also mount the GPS module so that the camera unit can be easily removed?

Sorry for the questions but I'm used to having a dashcam on a windscreen suction mount and therefore can easily move it (many times if necessary) until it's just right. The Viofo is a different shape to my RoadHawk and with the sticker pad, you only get a few chances to get it right.

Thanks,

 

[thool]

I picked option 1 but adapted for LHD cars in USA. I tucked it up and out of sight, but still within easy reach so I can hit the triangle button to preserve footage.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Kremmen]

Mine is to the left of the mirror and I can't see it at all.

No problem because I can slide it on/off the mount one handed, with ease. I also listen for the startup sound to know it's recording and if it isn't you get the series of double beeps.

If I need to check for the red rec button I just glance under the mirror when stationary.

I had to be careful as mine is stuck on the upper black dot area so needed to make sure the lens missed it and still got swept by the wipers. Then invisibly installing the cable takes some time. I can only see about 2" between the GPS mount and the headlining, from there on, to the fusebox, it's fully hidden.

Don't forget, in the UK, if it's swept by the drivers side wiper blade then a jobsworth MOT tester could fail it.

 

[Nigel]

Do you have any problems with the annual MOT and the dashcam mounted within the sweep of the windscreen wiper?

It can encroach into the swept are by up to 4cm, but as long as it's not visible from the driver's seat for someone the same height as the tester then it will not be an issue.

Mine is directly below the mirror, dead centre of the windscreen.

Although high is good, it does not need to be as high as possible, too high and you tend to get reflections off the satnav/radio/etc that spoil the image.

 

[EGS]

I personally prefer it on the driver's side as high as possible, where I can see what is going on, when there are beeps, to see if it still on and recording, to be able to mute or unmute if necessary, to push the save event button since I don't have the bluetooth button add-on, for ease of access of the sd card and to do anything necessary right from my seat. To me it is most convenient location it doesn't obstruct my view day or night, also the red recording light doesn't bother at all.
I understand this doesn't apply to everyone and varieties from vehicle to vehicle as well.

 

[jokiin]

I personally prefer it on the driver's side as high as possible

in the middle is generally what people prefer but if it needs to be either side I also prefer it on the drivers side, putting it on the passenger side just adds to the offset you already have by virtue of having to drive on that side of the road, drivers side evens things up a bit and gives a better perspective

 

[DRK]

In US it differs by state, but in the "wonderful" state of New Jersey one is not allowed to have anything attached to the windshield that "might" get in a way and obstruct the view of the driver. "Might" has a veeeeeeeeery wide interpretation for the police force to make. So, behind the rear view mirror on the driver side is my option.

 

[Privateer]

Hi All,

Many thanks for your replies.

My vehicle is a Land Rover Discovery 2 with plenty of windscreen area. My current dashcam (a RoadHawk HD) is placed on the left-hand (passenger) side of the rearview mirror. The RoadHawk has no screen and a couple of LEDs to show status. The RoadHawk is partially behind the rearview mirror with just the LEDs and the slot for the SD card visible. The RoadHawk also mounted on a window suction mount for ease of moving especially for the annual MOT vehicle test.

Don't forget, in the UK, if it's swept by the drivers side wiper blade then a jobsworth MOT tester could fail it.

Yes, that's a good point. If I were to place it on the driver's side then it would be swept by the wiper blade - even though it's potentially behind the mirror.

It can encroach into the swept are by up to 4cm, but as long as it's not visible from the driver's seat for someone the same height as the tester then it will not be an issue.

I'm reasonably tall, if the tester is short then they might get a different view out of the windscreen.

Mine is directly below the mirror, dead centre of the windscreen.

Yes, that would be an ideal position for capturing footage. Unfortunately, when I tried that location the Viofo A119 V3 creates a blindspot. It also takes up a large area of the wiper blade sweep so I think that it would be an automatic MOT fail.

in the middle is generally what people prefer but if it needs to be either side I also prefer it on the drivers side, putting it on the passenger side just adds to the offset you already have by virtue of having to drive on that side of the road, drivers side evens things up a bit and gives a better perspective.

I totally agree that it's key to have perspective (from the driver's view). However, the windscreen has limited curvature close to the rearview mirror so I think that any footage won't have too much perspective distortion.

I think that I'm going to mount the Viofo A119 V3 on the windscreen, left hand (passenger) side of the rearview mirror and under (hidden) by the mirror as much as possible as I shouldn't need to touch the dashcam:

1. It's out of the way for the MOT inspection
2. The micro SD card slot is on the left-hand side (so easier to change cards without the rearview mirror being in the way, although this will need to be done from the passenger's seat.
3. The mirror is angled to the driver so there will have more space under it on the passenger's side.
4. I want to easily remove the Viofo A119 V3 from the GPS mount and place it in another vehicle.

Many thanks to everybody for your very helpful advice.

Regards,
Robert.

 

[Kremmen]

Robert

Those 2 sample videos I linked you to, over on the other forum, were from my mounting, left of the RVM. They look OK to me.

My car will be in Reading next Mon, Wed, Fri and I know you're not too far away if you want a look.

 

[jokiin]

I totally agree that it's key to have perspective (from the driver's view). However, the windscreen has limited curvature close to the rearview mirror so I think that any footage won't have too much perspective distortion.

while the curve of the window may be very minimal I have cameras on either side of the mirror and the drivers side one always gets a better view of oncoming traffic, license plates etc

 

[Kremmen]

I wouldn't have thought the 6" move from left to right, or right to left on LHD cars, would make that much difference.

My main reason for placing it on the passengers side is because with the rearview mirror needing to be angled towards the driver there is little room between the back of the mirror and the windscreen on my car. I doubt I could slide the unit on the mount one handed without banging the mirror out of position.
On the passenger side I've got lots of room for camera and hand.

 

[Jeremy Wong]

For me, if possible, dead center below my rearview mirror's stand on the windscreen. As I got the top 6" of the windscreen tinted black so A119 is nicely "hidden" with the lens peaking below the black tint. Slightly hidden behind my rearview mirror.

Everything is easily accessible.

RHD here btw.

 

[Nigel]

I wouldn't have thought the 6" move from left to right, or right to left on LHD cars, would make that much difference.

For image quality, the only big difference is that the further towards the centre of the road the camera is, the less motion blur there is on oncoming license plates, if you could put the camera in the middle of the oncoming lane you would get zero motion blur since the plates would be coming directly towards the camera, a long way from that lane and the plates are moving across the image rapidly when the vehicle is about to pass causing a lot of motion blur. There is a smaller loss of quality from the fact that the further away from the oncoming lane you mount the camera, the greater the angle that it looks through the windshield glass, and at high angles that can reduce the image quality because it is looking through a lot of glass at a shallow angle. There is also a small loss of detail simply because the camera is further away from the plate it is reading.

 

[Privateer]

My car will be in Reading next Mon, Wed, Fri and I know you're not too far away if you want a look.

Thanks for the offer. Reading is a tad far for me. However, if you're ever on the M40 and fancy a stop at the Oxford Services at M40 J8 then let me know by email and, if I can make it, I will buy you a coffee and we could chat dashcams and general GPS.

It looks like I have opened a can of worms with my question, however, it's very interesting in seeing how people like to position their dashcams. So thank you to everybody who's joined in with this discussion

I still think that a windscreen suction mount that incorporates a GPS mount from Viofo would be useful. Especially for when you need to borrow or hire a vehicle.

Regards,

 

[Kremmen]

I remember Oxford services. Used to meet the in-laws there, mid way between Northolt and Malvern, time wise.

 

[IAmATeaf]

I’ve installed mine on the passenger side as high up and as close to the rear view mirror as I could.

 

[Rod$]

Mine is positioned right hand side up behind the mirror. 2014 mk4 Honda CR-V. Had its MOT last week and nothing was mentioned about the camera. It is mostly out of sight but a you can give it a quick squint to make sure it’s recording etc also gives a nice central look to the recordingS.

 

[Privateer]

Many thanks to everybody who has responded to my questions.

Today, I installed my Viofo A119 V3, using 3M Dual Lock, as my forward-facing dashcam running at 1440@30. If you need to move your dashcam then I recommend Dual Lock, please see the thread titled 3M Dual Lock for mounting Viofo A119 V3 GPS mount for more details.

I have settled on mounting the dashcam where my old one was, i.e. on the left hand (passenger's) side of the rearview mirror mount, with the top of the screen covered by the rearview mirror but leaving the bottom of the screen and all of the buttons visible. I can then check that the unit has a GPS fix (speed is green with a GPS fix, speed is a red zero without a GPS fix). When I start the car, and before I move off, I can duck down and look under the rearview mirror to see how much record time I have left on the micro SD card.

Even though the Viofo A119 V3 is only a few centimetres to the left of the rearview mirror mount there is a slight but noticeable difference in where the side of the bonnet (hood) is, i.e. you can see slightly more on the left hand (near) side than the driver's side. I will run the setup as-is for a while but as I have used the 3M Dual Lock system I may try mounting the Viofo A119 V3 immediately under the stalk of the rearview mirror and thus dead centre of the windscreen. At this position, the mini USB power connector should just be to the side.

Many thanks,

 

[Kremmen]

Part of my 'pre-flight checks' is to listen for the musical jingle as the camera starts recording. I've got mine on the 5 second delay and it's wired to Ign pos 2 so once I get the jingle there's no power dip or cut to affect it....hopefully.

So far so good

 

[SawMaster]

My primary cam ATM is the B2W which has the front lens offset slightly to one side so you either center the cam or you center the lens- you can't get both together. As the offset is small it doesn't seem to matter. Even with wedge cams not perfectly centered I don't think it matters enough to be concerned with. I've seen some vids where the offset was noticeable but part of that could have been due to windshield curvature. I've also run cams mounted to the side of the windshield for various reasons and again I doubt that it really matters as my lane position was still clearly seen. To the side you do lose some coverage of the far edge but even my narrowest FOV cam showed enough to protect me from false claims I do feel it's important that you be able to ensure cam start-up and functioning where it's mounted, and that buttons you will use are easily accessed either by sight or positive feel.

You also want to consider that when mounting behind a mirror that any other drivers of the car will be able to adjust the mirror as they need to without the cam interfering. If you're tall and there's no space, when your shorter wife drives she will need to swing the mirror over more and then you've got problems. It's not rocket science and a perfect install isn't necessary, but if you can get the lens in the exact center that's the best If that isn't possible then don't be

Phil