Parking Mode Setting Explanation

Ski-free

New Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Alberta
Country
Canada
Hello,

I have a A119V3 (Firmware V1.03) hardwired using the 3 wire kit and have tested it's operation by cycling the ignition and confirmed it switches between parking mode and driving mode. I am however a little confused by some of the settings and would like see if a better explanation than what is provided in the manual is available (I haven't been able to successfully capture any parking mode events yet). Also would like to gauge your input on what you have found to be your preferred settings.

1) Parking Mode: I assume I need to select any option here other than "off" to enable parking mode, correct?
1a) Auto Event Detection: Is this motion detection?
2) Parking G-Sensor: Is this always enabled with parking mode and you just select the sensitivity? I have left the car in "Auto Event Detection" and hit the windshield/shook the car but it didn't record anything.
3) Parking Motion Detection: Does this adjust the sensitivity in 1a)? Do you guys find a lot of false positives or missed recording based on setting preference?
4) Motion Detection: How is this different than Parking Motion Detection? Or is this a way to enable a parking type mode should the user not have the 3 wire kit?

Bonus Questions:
- Anyone have experience with the 3 wire kit in newer keyless cars? They seem to do confusing things when it comes to power and aren't as "on/off" as the old physical keyed cars were
- Anyone have experience mounting a dashcam in a subaru with eyesight and highbeam assist cameras? I currently have it mounted to the right of the right eyesight camera in a place that won't interfere but I seemed to have mounted it too high since the wiper blade doesn't clear the cameras entire FOV :(. Thinking about mounting below the mirror to the right of the highbeam cam.

Thanks everyone!
 
Last edited:
would the 2 wire kit maybe get rid of any keyless issues? i just ordered the v3 and was wondering which of the 2 wire kits to get......
 
would the 2 wire kit maybe get rid of any keyless issues? i just ordered the v3 and was wondering which of the 2 wire kits to get......

Well the keyless in my 2017 outback seems to work fine with the 3 wire expect it doesn’t seem to record in parking mode as long as I’d like but I’m thinking that’s either voltage cut-off too low, battery getting old, or the car disables “vampire circuits”. So still working on it but if you ran the red wire to the battery it should work 100% right? I’m just being lazy.
 
Bumping this up, to see if you can get any answers, and not being hijacked, sorry guys
 
My a119 V3 ran like a champ today.

Parking mode kicked in, and the motion sensor picked up everything in the vicinity from what I could tell while at work.

It did register 1-2 falsies, but I’m positive that it was from the parking garage vibrations from drivers outside of the camera view.

Every time the camera captured an event, it would record about 45 seconds worth of footage. Basically seconds worth of footage before the event actually happened, and during the event, and afterwards.

Sometimes it was car driving by. Sometimes it was a security guard riding his patrol bicycle by, and sometimes just someone walking by.

I’ll try to post my current settings tomorrow, but I’m still very much in the learning phase of which settings I prefer best in parking mode.
 
VIOFO A119 V3
(My current settings)

I hope this helps with anyone looking for a general idea on which settings to adjust.

Resolution: 2560x1440P, 30FPS
Bitrate: High
Loop Recording: 3 minutes
Video Format: MP4
EV Exposure: +0.0
WDR: Off
Parking Mode: AutoEventDetection
ParkingG-Sensor: High Sensitivity
ParkingMotionDetection: Middle Sensitivity
Time-Lapse Recording: Off
Motion Detection: Off
GPS: Off
Speed Unit: MPH
G-Sensor: Low Sensitivity
Date Stamp: On
GPS Info Stamp: Off
Camera Model Stamp: On
Record Audio: Off
Screen Saver: 1 Minute
Boot Delay: Off
LED: On
Date/Time: (Self Explanatory)
Time Zone: GMT-8
Language: (Self Explanatory)
Beep Sound: Off
Frequency: 60Hz (USA)
Image Rotation: Off
Format: (Self Explanatory)
Format Warning: Off
Default Settings: (Self Explanatory)
Car Number: (No number)
Custom Text Stamp: (No custom text)
Firmware Version: Current V1.03
Build: 20190911
 
Hi Tyestick,
Can you please double check the build date of your v1.03 firmware? You wrote above that it is 20190911. I have the same (presumably) v1.03 firmware, but the build says 20190924.
Can't imagine they would do the silent update without upreving the number.

Thanks.
 
Hi Tyestick,
Can you please double check the build date of your v1.03 firmware? You wrote above that it is 20190911. I have the same (presumably) v1.03 firmware, but the build says 20190924.
Can't imagine they would do the silent update without upreving the number.

Thanks.

Here you go...

C0195FE2-0696-4294-A178-714D8A80027B.jpeg
 
Last edited:
3. Hi Ske-free, try to connect the Power Supply cable directly to the camera, rather to the GPS.
For 3-wire kit supply, it does not matter, as the relevant pins of the two USB sockets on the cam and on the GPS module are connected together. There are just 3 conductors in miniUSB output cable of HK3, and they are connected to pins 1,4,5 of miniUSB plug. They are POWER, GND and ID (this signal is used as parking mode control).
Those 3 signals are re-layed via the 4-pin connection between GPS and cam (the 4th signal is GPS serial data).
Long story short - when A119v3 is mounted on its GPS module, and powered using HK3, it has no way of telling if the power comes from its own MiniUSB socket or from the GPS module.
 
I did more tests. But note the following first:
As we established, the v1.03 firmware available now for download from the official VIOFO sources is actually v1.03 build 20190924.
We also know that there was an earlier build of v1.03, which is build 20190911.

I have two A113V3 dash cams here, with those two different v1.03 builds, and the 20190911 behaves at it should - gets out of parking mode as described in VIOFO's reply to me:
Without the HK3 hardwire kit, the camera will leave parking mode once it detects the GPS info that the speed is above 8km/h

Contrary to that, build 20190924 doesn't follow that behavior, even though both cameras have 100% identical settings, and I use them in the same GPS mount (not at the same time, of course :). Funnily enough, the camera loaded with 20190911, has a higher Serial Number. I wonder if the h/w build standards may also be different.

I'd like to continue investigation, but I need both BIN files for that, and I only have 20190924.
Can anyone help with the 20190911 file? Thanks.
 
Further to that "mysterious" v1.03 build 20190911 - I have some strong reasons to suspect that it is just a version 1.02 with manually edited version info string in the binary file. To prove me write or wrong, it would be good to confirm the version by some functionality checks, and not rely on what the menu info says.

Is there distinctly different features/functions/behavior that would allow us to reliably tell between firmware versions v1.02 and v1.03 ?

Some extra menu items maybe? or behavioral pattern difference? or something else ?

Thanks.
 
Update: I was wrong: Build 20190911 is a fully legit build of v1.03. Read on...

Good news for all people with the problem of non-coming out of parking mode when powered by power bank:

VIOFO has released to public the binary file of the earlier build firmware v1.03 build 20190911, which seems to be free of that issue.
I have just uploaded it to the free file sharing resource.
Download the file here: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=03329174191288213910
Don't forget to UNZIP it after downloading.

Now you can load that firmware into your camera and enjoy v1.03 with correctly working parking mode exit.
(follow the instructions on the VIOFO's firmware update page)

Disclaimer: this version is of EARLIER BUILD DATE than the official v1.03 available for download from VIOFO's web site.
Use this version at your own risk. I don't know what other differences are between the two.

If you do not use your camera with Powerbank, and especially if you are using HK3 kit with your cam, then this build is probably of no use to you - it is recommended then to use the latest official firmware, which is at the moment v1.03 build 20190924 (the one downloadable from VIOFO's website)

Happy and safe driving!
 
Back
Top