First dash cam; so far so good but tips and pointers welcome

winn0040

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Received my SG9665GC and Cellpower hardwire adapter a couple of days ago and just got around to installing it today. Relatively straightforward install with the hardest part being getting the cover to the fuse panel off my Silverado! I took my sweet time getting the wires tucked away and zip tied into place along the A pillar and made darn sure I had the camera, wire hider and GPS where I wanted them before sticking them onto the windshield. I purchased my camera from Amazon and was fortunate to receive the GPS that was already equipped for window mount so I didn't have to tear it apart and swap the circuit board. There was seemingly a lot of excess GPS wire so it took some time to tuck it all away under the headliner.

Couple of questions for now with more likely to follow as I become more familiar with how everything operates.

What is the benefit to using the GPS in the first place? Right now I also have my speed enabled but I might be turning that off unless it serves some important purpose.

I haven't installed the CPL filter yet, but after viewing my first couple of drives I think that will go on tomorrow to hopefully help with some of the glare. Is there anything else I should adjust to make sure I'm getting optimal recording quality?

I can honestly say it took exactly one block on my first drive after installing to capture a driver running a red light. Once I figure out how to save drives and upload them perhaps I will have other fine maneuvers to showcase. After all these bozos are the reason I ordered a cam in the first place.

EDIT: I forgot to ask if it is recommended to keep multiple cards on hand and if 32 or 64gb cards will suffice for normal daily driving with the occasional 3 hour drive?
 
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GPS will keep the time synced for you, logs location info, speed can be logged without embedding the data in your video, some like to have it in the video, some don't, CPL will cut dashboard reflections, some cars reflect quite a lot

32GB will give you a bit over 4 hours before recycling, double that for 64gb
 
Thank you for the prompt reply. This is the EXACT reason I went with a Street Guardian over other brands. Looking forward to the dual channel offering, as getting one facing the rear is inevitable for me at this point.
 
Is it recommended to carry more than one card around, and what is the preferred viewing/editing software for Android? I have an Apple laptop and iPad but understand these aren't necessarily ideal for working with micro SD cards?
 
keeping a spare card is always a worthy idea, size isn't that important but 32gb cards are good bang for buck, just make sure to stick with a good quality brand/model, Transcend 400x or High Endurance, Sandisk High Endurance, Samsung U3 cards etc

for viewing on Android this works https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mmr.gpscam for editing though I'm not really sure, that's more of a desktop thing, if you do access the cards from other devices make sure to always format the card when you put it back in the camera as some operating systems will leave hidden system files on the card that the camera can have problems with
 
Pardon my ignorance but what does the UHS signify? Also, is there a way to manually format the cards when putting them back into the camera? The only time I have formatted was when it asked me upon initial startup.

Here are the two cards I was considering. Any preferred option? I know the 64gb option in the Samsung must be okay because that's what my camera shipped with.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B015J44R0U
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B06XWN9Q99
 
UHS is Ultra High Speed, the camera can format whatever card you use, either of those cards is fine, just be sure to purchase from a reputable seller
 
I have an iphone and ipad also and wanted a way to view the footage roadside, if ever needed. Bought this... https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01CZUI2XE/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and along with the free app, works great to view sd files from the GC on both, no matter the ios version.

My experience with the iReader has been that it works well for viewing video but that there is no audio. Kept waiting for a fix-it for that that never arrived. The other issue is that with many cases on the market the product will not insert properly into the lightning port unless the case is first removed.
 
If you save the video to the idevice, there is audio. Had an issue with both cases, iphone and ipad, nothing an xacto knife couldn't solve...on the iReader, not the idevices. Guess I'm just more a "DIY" person than most. Didn't even phase me to modify the iReader to fit my cases, never gave it a second thought or I would have mentioned it.
 
If you save the video to the idevice, there is audio. Had an issue with both cases, iphone and ipad, nothing an xacto knife couldn't solve...on the iReader, not the idevices. Guess I'm just more a "DIY" person than most. Didn't even phase me to modify the iReader to fit my cases, never gave it a second thought or I would have mentioned it.

Glad to hear this works for you. It would be interesting to see a photo of your DIY Xacto knife work on your iReader. There is not much plastic that can be removed without seriously compromising the integrity of the device, so I'm curious. On my iPad mini, if it were trimmed down as you describe it would still not insert far enough into the port to function without still having to remove the unit from the case. Perhaps it's the nature of the mini?

My iPad is an early one and saving video still doesn't seem to work to achieve audio unfortunately. Happily, there are now other devices on the market that avoid the pitfalls and hassles of the iReader.
 
Here is the current recommended product for iOS devices:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01LR4HJHO
hS6W41t.png


We really dug in trying to contact the various app developers so they can add the audio codec support for what ever NT96650/NT96655 encodes audio in. None of them have returned our emails or various other contact methods yet. As mentioned if you copy the video to the main camera roll, the built in iOS video player plays the audio just fine.

The good news is, the coming SG9663DC (powered via NT96663) Audio is fully supported in all these iOS players for direct playback.
 
Here is the current recommended product for iOS devices:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01LR4HJHO
hS6W41t.png


We really dug in trying to contact the various app developers so they can add the audio codec support for what ever NT96650/NT96655 encodes audio in. None of them have returned our emails or various other contact methods yet. As mentioned if you copy the video to the main camera roll, the built in iOS video player plays the audio just fine.

The good news is, the coming SG9663DC (powered via NT96663) Audio is fully supported in all these iOS players for direct playback.

Yes, that's one of the other (better) products I was referring to. Much better plug design and other implementation. I remember your heroic efforts to contact the iReader developer @Street Guardian USA and the fact that they never responded to you spoke volumes about the company. That and the fact that the app continually kept wanting to phone home to China was somewhat of a turn-off when coupled with the other issues.
 
Here is the current recommended product for iOS devices:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01LR4HJHO
hS6W41t.png


We really dug in trying to contact the various app developers so they can add the audio codec support for what ever NT96650/NT96655 encodes audio in. None of them have returned our emails or various other contact methods yet. As mentioned if you copy the video to the main camera roll, the built in iOS video player plays the audio just fine.

The good news is, the coming SG9663DC (powered via NT96663) Audio is fully supported in all these iOS players for direct playback.
This reader works with my IPhone and IPad as well. I agree with @Dashmellow that it has its shortcomings though.
 
I'll try to remember to take a pic at some point. I basically shaved off the plastic that holds the cap on, then sanded a bit more right around the plug. Actually thought about just ripping the guts right out of it and making my own case for it, but that just sounded like too much work.

As for its functionality, I've used it on an ipad air, ipad pro and iphone 6s and 7, all worked without a hitch. For $11, I'm satisfied enough that I probably won't buy another reader unless this one dies.
 
Good news,
Yesterday's iUSB Pro app update added the missing audio codec. (for NT96650/NT96655 dashcams) I just verified audio can now be heard with direct playback via iUSB Pro iOS App
(no need to transfer the file locally first to get audio)
9axQpczl.png

&
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01LR4HJHO
hS6W41tm.png
 

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Is the Lexar Micro SD to Lightning reader any good?
 
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