F800 Pro hardwiring with switch

[wolfie882]

Hi all,

My first post!

I am considering the Thinkware F800 Pro system. I like the Parking Mode facility, but in day-to-day driving I would not need the facility very often as most of the time my car is parked in locations where there is no danger of a hit-and-run or vandalism.

To avoid any unnecessary "wear and tear" on the camera unit, (and the expensive 128GB Thinkware SD card!), I was wondering if it would be possible to extend the constant supply circuit wire which runs between the camera and the fuse box in order to fit an inline switch inside the car. I could then just switch on the Parking Mode facility when it was actually required.

However, I am not sure if the camera would need both the constant supply circuit AND the ignition circuit to be "live" in order for the camera to function when driving the vehicle.

Of course, I could switch off the camera using the on/off switch on the camera itself, but there is always the danger of me forgetting to switch the camera back on before driving.

I am grateful for any advice

 

[MickThorp]

If you switch off the camera using the built in on/off switch by holding it down for around 5 seconds with the ignition off, it will restart the next time you switch on the ignition.

 

[wolfie882]

Thanks for the prompt reply. Why didn't I think of that! The simplest solutions are always the best!

 

[DashOto]

You can also turn parking mode on/off with the mobile app or through the desktop app (with the SD card plugged in)

 

[wolfie882]

You can also turn parking mode on/off with the mobile app or through the desktop app (with the SD card plugged in)

Thanks. I was aware of the facility to turn the camera on / off from the app, but I wanted something that was quick and simple, rather than having to rely on opening the app each time.

 

[wolfie882]

If you switch off the camera using the built in on/off switch by holding it down for around 5 seconds with the ignition off, it will restart the next time you switch on the ignition.

Thanks Mick. Is your advice based on your own practical experience with the F800 Pro camera?

 

[MickThorp]

Yes. I have an electric vehicle which displays up to 3 flashing LEDs on the top of the dash when charging. At night these are enough to continuously activate parking mode motion detection, even on the least sensitive setting. I always turn the camera off if on charge at night as it reduces the usable capacity of the 128Mb card considerably. It also complicates checking the parking mode videos later.

 

[wolfie882]

Thanks again. I am having my F800 Pro 2-channel system professionally installed soon. I still like to do as much homework as possible beforehand!

 

[wolfie882]

Just a further thought....
My camera will probably be mounted on the left hand (passenger) side of the rear view mirror console so the
on / off switch may be slightly awkward or fiddly to find as the unit will be obscured by the mirror housing. In this case, an inline switch mounted under the driver dashboard could be more convenient. So, does anyone know if an inline switch fitted between the fuse box and the camera on the constant ACC wire would actually work?

 

[Gazwould]

Why not ?

 

[wolfie882]

Thanks for the reply. In theory it could work. My only concern is that perhaps the camera may require simultaneous live supply to both ACC wire AND ignition-only wire to operate correctly in normal driving mode. If this was the case I would have to remember to set the switch to 'on' every time I came out of parking mode.

 

[wolfie882]

If you switch off the camera using the built in on/off switch by holding it down for around 5 seconds with the ignition off, it will restart the next time you switch on the ignition.

Hi. Mick, I've had an email from Thinkware and they said that the camera would have to be switched back on by the user after having been switched off using the on/off button. Are they wrong?

 

[MickThorp]

I switched the camera off while in parking mode before putting the car on charge (complete with flashing 'state of charge' LEDs). There were no recordings overnight so I presume I turned it off successfully. When I pressed the ign/acc button in the morning, the camera started normally.

I don't wish to contradict the manufacturer but I will certainly double check tomorrow and get back to you.

 

[MickThorp]

Hi. Mick, I've had an email from Thinkware and they said that the camera would have to be switched back on by the user after having been switched off using the on/off button. Are they wrong?

Hi Wolfie, I can confirm that after the F800Pro is turned off manually on the camera it will resume normal operation when power is applied. I only installed the device a few weeks ago but one of the first things I did was to update the firmware to the latest version. Whether this is a new function of the firmware update I don't know, but it may explain why whoever you spoke to at Thinkware was unaware of it.

 

[wolfie882]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for checking this. My 2- channel system is being installed on Sat - I hope my camera operates the same as yours. As a matter of interest, I note that the firmware update currently available for the F800 Pro is version number 1.03.02 dated April 2018. Is this the version you have on your camera now?

 

[MickThorp]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for checking this. My 2- channel system is being installed on Sat - I hope my camera operates the same as yours. As a matter of interest, I note that the firmware update currently available for the F800 Pro is version number 1.03.02 dated April 2018. Is this the version you have on your camera now?

Yes, that's the version I'm running.

 

[wolfie882]

Yes, that's the version I'm running.

Hi Mick,
I had my F800 Pro installed on Sat and early impressions are very good. No problems connecting to my i-phone, and the playback quality whilst a bit 'blocky' on my i-phone is great on the laptop. Thankfully, the camera auto restarts after being switched off using the on/off switch. The speed camera alerts are useful too. The voice message on start-up is a bit annoying ( why it has to tell you which network to log onto when using a mobile phone EVERY time is a mystery). I haven't loaded the latest firmware yet, as I wanted to test the camera 'out of the box' first before changing anything major. What size SD card are you using? My system also has a rear camera so the 32 GB card that came with the kit only has about 2-3 hours capacity before it re-writes. This won't be a problem day-to-day, but I was contemplating a bigger SD card so overall there's fewer rewriting cycles and hopefully the card will last longer as a result.

 

[MickThorp]

Hi Mick,
I had my F800 Pro installed on Sat and early impressions are very good. No problems connecting to my i-phone, and the playback quality whilst a bit 'blocky' on my i-phone is great on the laptop. Thankfully, the camera auto restarts after being switched off using the on/off switch. The speed camera alerts are useful too. The voice message on start-up is a bit annoying ( why it has to tell you which network to log onto when using a mobile phone EVERY time is a mystery). I haven't loaded the latest firmware yet, as I wanted to test the camera 'out of the box' first before changing anything major. What size SD card are you using? My system also has a rear camera so the 32 GB card that came with the kit only has about 2-3 hours capacity before it re-writes. This won't be a problem day-to-day, but I was contemplating a bigger SD card so overall there's fewer rewriting cycles and hopefully the card will last longer as a result.

Hi Wolfie, as the 128Gb Thinkware card was £90 to £150 I decided to buy these after reading the relevant thread on Dashcamtalk, they both have been working well since April. They may not turn out to be as durable as the Thinkware but I’m willing to take the risk.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B073JYC4XM, https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B06XFX9N84.

I always make sure the product is “Dispatched and sold by Amazon.”

I disabled the speed camera alerts as the car’s built in satnav does a better job and doesn’t labour the warning. The latest firmware gives 5 options for ‘motion detection’ sensitivity in parking mode but I haven’t found much difference between them. I still get a lot of irrelevant motion detection videos saved whenever I park up, this gets worse if it’s windy and there are trees about.