GPS interference

[kamkar]

I do think it is another American invention.
At least it go hand in hand with the American love for abbreviations.

 

[lacibaci]

You can eliminate the power adapter if you temporarily substitute it with a battery power bank.

 

[SawMaster]

You can eliminate the power adapter if you temporarily substitute it with a battery power bank.

Indeed sometimes it is the power adapter which is the main cause of interference. SG does these better than most, but the possibility always remains so it makes for a good diagnostic step

With the many different car and GPS manufacturers all doing it differently, and there being no real industry standards for making and electronically shielding them, it is impossible for a dashcam or any additional electronic device to be made which can guarantee that you won't have issues like this sometimes. With a little effort they can usually be overcome, just not always.

Phil

 

[lacibaci]

It is definitely possible to make It work. I'm just not sure whether SG is the kind of company that can afford expensive RF and EMI testing. This often requires complicated chambers and measuring equipment.
There are dashcams on the market that do not interfere with other equipment, maybe you could try one of them.

 

[SawMaster]

There are dashcams on the market that do not interfere with other equipment, maybe you could try one of them.

Could you list them for us? I've seen interference complaints from darn near every dashcam I've seen mention of, including expensive ones. Maybe not GPS interference but it's the same thing essentially. And with part of the problem being poor shielding in the other device I seriously doubt that any dashcam can guarantee no interference in any car or with any device.

Phil

 

[kamkar]

I feel this issue with interference with car electronics ( radio or as here GPS ) are much car and camera specific, i seem to recall other Subaru owners not having issues of this kind.
I even think the error might even be with the car in some cases, car makers make blunders now and then too.

 

[SotY]

he was referring to the other GPS we have with the longer cable, that won't be the issue though, it's not the cameras GPS that causes the problem, it's the CMOS sensor in the camera that has an impact on your vehicle GPS which is not far below it under the top of your dashboard, in some cases it is possible to move the factory GPS antenna but that involves a bit of DIY and only if it has a long enough cable, that's not a suitable fix for for everyone, moving the camera is easier

If this car would not be new and still under warranty I would probably try that. But with so many electronic systems inside and reports of headunits failing for many people I would not risk Subaru denying warranty repair if something happens claiming it's because of my mod.

 

[jokiin]

If this car would not be new and still under warranty I would probably try that. But with so many electronic systems inside and reports of headunits failing for many people I would not risk Subaru denying warranty repair if something happens claiming it's because of my mod.

yes completely understand, know what car companies are like when it comes to warranty

 

[SotY]

OK so I was able to take some measurements with TriField EMF Meter Model TF2 meter. The readings for AC electric field were really high comparing to any other device inside my car (like 10x more than anything else including speakers amplifier). Unfortunately I don't have any other dashcam to compare. I only have SG9665GC in other car and its readings were similar to SGGCX2PRO+. The highest reading was coming from back of the dashcam where LCD screen is (and CMOS sensor probably). Photo attached and link to video showing reading starting with hardwire adapter in fuse box going to dashcam and then dashcam GPS unit. Sorry for bad quality but I didn't have time to measure during the day and I had to return the meter next day.

 

[kamkar]

Interesting.
Not least the GPS antenna going up and down like that, i assume it have to do with its polling rate.

Dont know what to say, other than it will probably be the same with other cameras.
Will have to leave this in the hands of the official SG crew.

 

[jokiin]

OK so I was able to take some measurements with TriField EMF Meter Model TF2 meter. The readings for AC electric field were really high comparing to any other device inside my car (like 10x more than anything else including speakers amplifier). Unfortunately I don't have any other dashcam to compare. I only have SG9665GC in other car and its readings were similar to SGGCX2PRO+. The highest reading was coming from back of the dashcam where LCD screen is (and CMOS sensor probably). Photo attached and link to video showing reading starting with hardwire adapter in fuse box going to dashcam and then dashcam GPS unit. Sorry for bad quality but I didn't have time to measure during the day and I had to return the meter next day.

need to measure below the camera, how far is it from the top of the dashboard to the bottom of the camera?

 

[SawMaster]

I'd venture that you'd get similar results from any dashcam. There's one heck of a lot of electrical signals going on in a digital cam of any type, and given that the lens cannot be shielded there will always be a place for those signals to escape

Electronic shielding isn't as simple as building a fence in your yard. RF can and does reflect back from shielding into the device, and that can cause anomalous operation of circuits which were working properly without that shielding in place which can actually increase RFI problems instead of reducing them Just the distance from the shielding to a component or how it's angled can make all the difference in the world in what happens. The higher the frequency involved, the worse that those reflections become to deal with, and with a digital cam processor those frequencies are extremely high. As much as half of the time involved in creating high-frequency radio circuits goes into circuit shielding and making it work as they want it to. The goal is not to completely contain the EMF/RF but to do just enough shielding to ensure everything works as intended in the environment it's expected to be in. This is why your car and your dashcam aren't as well shielded as we might want them to be It's not economically feasible to reach for a higher standard than what is minimally necessary, as doing that could increase development costs exponentially or even cause something to not be marketed simply because it cannot be made to work perfectly with everything else which might be around it.

If you want a jaw-dropping experience, take a spectrum analyzer and move the probe around near your computer Then remember that your car has many computers in it ranging from simple SOC's like dashcams use to some very complex interacting computers which are all spewing out EMI/RF at strong signal levels all over the spectrum. It's almost a miracle that they can work as well as they do now so don't expect more as miracles are still as hard to come by as they've always been

Phil

 

[lacibaci]

Last time I had my SG taken apart I didn't see any EMI shielding whatsoever. SG was so noisy that it actually interfered with it's own GPS module. Not sure about the newer line though.

 

[Quidagis]

@SotY

I want to install a Thinkware F770 in my Outback 2019 with EyeSight and Moonroof. Any ideas on how to remove the overhead console? Any bolts or screws there to remove or just clips?

 

[SotY]

@SotY

I want to install a Thinkware F770 in my Outback 2019 with EyeSight and Moonroof. Any ideas on how to remove the overhead console? Any bolts or screws there to remove or just clips?

I'm not sure why you would have to remove this console. The only thing that needs to be removed to run the wire to fuse box is A-pillar (be carefull, airbag is there). You can easily run it behind headliner without removing it.