OBD II. Reality

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chuckh007

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Ok...how many have used the OBD socket to power source the B4K ? Well as it is the connection is simple, easy and works ...sort of ! The camera and the rear unit work very well with great images, however that is where it ends. Somehow the system needs a voltage modification or step down or ? to get the parking mode to function as advertised.If you set it up for motion detection or tilme lapse the thing works OK except it works in both scenarios (always on and ACC ) with no distinction for emergencies. In fact the G force barely works even in "high" level. Now if you want filming for short periods and don't mind searching the clips for what you want then the system is great. The imagery is really good but forget about "buffered" parking mode. Is there a solution to this without resorting to hard wiring the thing.
 
chuckh007 said:
Ok...how many have used the OBD socket to power source the B4K ? Well as it is the connection is simple, easy and works ...sort of ! The camera and the rear unit work very well with great images, however that is where it ends. Somehow the system needs a voltage modification or step down or ? to get the parking mode to function as advertised.If you set it up for motion detection or tilme lapse the thing works OK except it works in both scenarios (always on and ACC ) with no distinction for emergencies. In fact the G force barely works even in "high" level. Now if you want filming for short periods and don't mind searching the clips for what you want then the system is great. The imagery is really good but forget about "buffered" parking mode. Is there a solution to this without resorting to hard wiring the thing.
Click to expand...
Use a fuse tap for constant or ACC power. No modification to the existing wiring.
 
chuckh007 said:
Is there a solution to this without resorting to hard wiring the thing.
Click to expand...
No, it needs the blueskysea 3 wire hardwire kit to pick up the accessory fuse signal so that it knows when it should be in parking mode. There is no accessory signal in the OBD socket so it is not really feasible to connect the hardwire kit to the OBD socket, not impossible but not easy.
 
Ok, I know about the new hardwire kit (with the two switches. ) however I can not use my under dash fuse box and really want to know what EXACTLY does that second switch do ?? We already know that OBD gives us the constant on 12v power and also the ACC that turns on and off the power to the camera and delivers a constant parking mode on when the ignition is turned off......however what else is there that the second switch on the hardwire kit offers....voltage modification, increased amperage ?? what ? Are the rest of you just happy that it works and have no intellectual curiosity ?
 
I believe the switch offers ACC/parking signal in two different forms so that various dashcams can use it, it's not just the B4K. If your OBD socket provides ACC signal, I don't see why you can't connect the B4K's hardwire kit 3-lines to an OBD male plug. You might want to fuse each of the lines individually for safety purpose. The power supplied by the car is 12v, the dashcam takes 5v. So there's some step-down and current buffering going on, on top of the parking mode switching signal. There's also low-voltage cut-off circuit.
 
Too complicated......the OBD socket as described above has only three pins ( not 16 ) and two are for 12 volt power while the third is for signal recognition ( when ACC is switcheed off ) so I do get parking mode when the ACC is switched off but selecting time lapse or motion detection sends a message that works when in parking mode and when regular driving. So the distinction is lost ......however the practical usefulness of the camera is still available since when the ignition is turned OFF the camera goes off, however the OBD has a switch that allows the the camera to stay on for parking. When the parking surveillance is over, you simply flip the OBD switch to ACC (on or off ) and continue driving.
 
Yeah I notice the BlackVue OBD power units have a parking mode on/off switch, on top of a parking mode timer and low voltage cut-off (all important!).
 
"parking mode Timer", ...now that's new to me, since most OBD sockets/cables are available for most dash cameras and are universal with the built in single switch for going to (O) for regular driving or (I) for parking mode. However, as I just described above, when switching to parking mode the selection is activated (ie time lapse, motion detection or event [crash] recording) but is also carried over to regular driving when the switch is moved to the (O) side.
 
chuckh007 said:
really want to know what EXACTLY does that second switch do ??
Click to expand...
For Current Level Low/High switch! Somes dash cams detect Low Current Level signal from the hardwire kit; Some dash cams detect High Current Level from the hardwire kit;
 
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