SG9663DR Installations

[TonyM]

So there is no option to turn off the camera with this remote button?

Not that I am aware of. The full manual has not yet been released. I don't know if SG can assign any other functions to this button. A long-press of the OK button on the recording unit turns it off.

If perhaps you want to shut down the camera every time you arrive home and park in your garage, then you should put the recording unit somewhere accessible so you can turn it off from there.

 

[TonyM]

I'm struck with how big the remote camera module turned out to be. Your photo illustrates the profile quite well. It is as big as some full sized dash cams on the market, yet it is just a lens module.

Your comments piqued my curiosity, so I took some measurements of the DR and researched some other tube-style cameras.

In short, the DR is around the same size as the tube-shaped rear camera modules of other dual-channel cameras. All the full-size tube cameras are about an inch longer and typically larger in diameter.

SG9663DR: 67mm x 28mm dia

BlackVue (DR900S and 750S): Main camera 118.5mm x 36mm dia; Rear camera 67mm x 25mm dia

Thinkware (F770 and Q800): Rear camera 56mm x 23mm x 28mm

DDPAI MINI 3: 94mm x 32mm dia
DDPAI MINI: 87mm x 32mm dia

Blueskysea B1W: 90mm x 29mm x 38mm

The wedge-style rear camera modules used recently by SG and Viofo are lower-profile, as are both remote cameras on the K2S. Hopefully SG had good reasons to switch from wedge to tube style - I recall jokiin mentioned some earlier.

 

[Dashmellow]

Your comments piqued my curiosity, so I took some measurements of the DR and researched some other tube-style cameras.

In short, the DR is around the same size as the tube-shaped rear camera modules of other dual-channel cameras. All the full-size tube cameras are about an inch longer and typically larger in diameter.

SG9663DR: 67mm x 28mm dia

BlackVue (DR900S and 750S): Main camera 118.5mm x 36mm dia; Rear camera 67mm x 25mm dia

Thinkware (F770 and Q800): Rear camera 56mm x 23mm x 28mm

DDPAI MINI 3: 94mm x 32mm dia
DDPAI MINI: 87mm x 32mm dia

Blueskysea B1W: 90mm x 29mm x 38mm

The wedge-style rear camera modules used recently by SG and Viofo are lower-profile, as are both remote cameras on the K2S. Hopefully SG had good reasons to switch from wedge to tube style - I recall jokiin mentioned some earlier.

Whatever the measurements may be, one way or another the design doesn't look anywhere near as stealthy and discreet as other approaches based on your photos. The separate mounting plate also adds to the footprint on the glass and limits the mounting options to some degree. I notice you didn't include the additional mounting plate footprint in your measurements. In addition, the CPL filter adds quite a large, noticeable protuberance and makes the camera larger in volume than your measurements seem to suggest.

 

[TonyM]

When we first heard about the dual channel remote camera, myself and probably many others expected SG to stick with the DCPRO rear camera for both channels. I'm sure that would have been the quicker and easier option in the short term.

Judging by aesthetics alone, the current DCPRO rear camera would be more discreet in my windscreen than the DR. However I understand and appreciate some of the practical benefits of moving to a tube design.

Could it be stealthier? Perhaps, but at what cost?

 

[jokiin]

When we first heard about the dual channel remote camera, myself and probably many others expected SG to stick with the DCPRO rear camera for both channels. I'm sure that would have been the quicker and easier option in the short term.

the old rear cams are still available and will work with the DR so it's not like it's not an option, there are some downsides to the other design though

Could it be stealthier? Perhaps, but at what cost?

everything we do is done for a reason

 

[Dashmellow]

the old rear cams are still available and will work with the DR so it's not like it's not an option, there are some downsides to the other design though

What are those downsides?

 

[jokiin]

What are those downsides?

there's a few issues that needed addressing but one of the main ones is that the new camera is a single board design which offers better EMI performance, the old camera uses 2 PCB's with a ribbon cable between them, it's very hard to shield those cables effectively, this is generally more of an issue with the rear camera than the front with in glass antenna systems in particular

the new design is also made to support some other hardware versions that are coming that were not possible in the old design so a new housing was required regardless, as to the size, it's as small as we could make it while still being able to do what we need, tooling is expensive and we're not in a position to be able to afford multiple versions so we can have a different design for each version if that could have saved some size on one version over another, designs start with the hardware requirement, PCB's, sensors and lenses dictate how much space you have to allocate in the housing as a starting point

 

[SawMaster]

a single board design which offers better EMI performance

Now THAT is innovation Seeing so many more RFI threads from folks these days- this should help!

Phil

 

[jokiin]

Now THAT is innovation Seeing so many more RFI threads from folks these days- this should help!

Phil

I know everyone would like things as small as possible but there are times when function has to take priority over form

 

[badbob001]

During the summer, I normally put a reflective windshield sun blocker under my windscreen. Should I worry about cooking my front camera? I could put black paper over the sun blocker area just under the camera so it absorbs the light instead of reflecting it. It might even help hide the camera when parked.

 

[jokiin]

reflective heat shields radiate heat back into the camera, shouldn't use them behind any camera

 

[kamkar]

Yes that sandwich the camera between the sun in the sky and the sun reflected from the reflective thing, this have literally melted some cameras, or at least the buttons on them.

 

[peterharvey]

Thanks for posting these images @TonyM. They confirm my initial impression and concern that the design is far less stealthy and problematic to mount than it otherwise could have been. After waiting fully two and a half years since this camera was first announced by jokiin the lens module design was, at least for me, (and a couple of other members) rather underwhelming. Then again, Street Guardian has never been known for design innovation. They tend to copy other cameras or use "public" housings in all their products. In this case they simply copied and slightly miniaturized the basic tube style design Blackvue first intoduced many years ago.

My concern was not the tubular design though, which I like, but the mounting plate seems to be a big part of the problem as I see it. It seems to virtually double the overall footprint of the camera, reduces the possible mounting options, prevents the cam from being mounted right up close to the very top of a windscreen and makes the installation less stealthy. In fact, the mounting plate literally makes its own very noticeable footprint on the glass, separate from the camera which I believe was entirely unnecessary.

I would have liked to have seen perhaps a slightly longer tube with swivels at both ends with the mounting plate behind the camera module, thus eliminating the big extraneous mounting plate. This would have been more stealthy and probably more secure. Cameras with a mount on only one side (like the mini 00X series, for example) have a tendency to vibrate on rough roads. Living on a rural dirt road on a mountain and having tested such cameras extensively, I've become keenly aware of this issue.

Something more along the lines of this older rear camera design from Lucas would have been more of what I was hoping to see.

View attachment 52407

If you think about, that Lukas design above is actually very similar in principle to StreetGuardian's very own SG9663DC rear camera lens design!
Except that the SG9663DC design has a larger single base, rather than two small bases to either side of the lens.

The SG9663DC rear camera design with the biggest single large self-adhesive base is probably the most stable, with the Lukas twin-base rear camera design coming second, while the Blackvue/SG9663DR one-sided mounting pad design coming third.

The SG9663DC design also allows for the fitment of a simple C-shaped removable 3D-printed CPL filter; unlike the Lukas design presently as it stands does not allow for a removable CPL filter.

I wonder if the SG9663DC's rear camera design would have gotten the SG9663DR onto the market faster, cheaper, more stylish, more individual, a more stable mount, and more stealthy?

I wonder if the SG9663DC's rear camera can still be wired to the SG9663DR???



Although it is significantly larger, maybe the new SG9663DR's Blackvue style cylindrical camera design is more heat resistant???

Or maybe the new SG9663DR's cylindrical design can take a much larger glass lens?
Because when I think about it, with a much larger glass lens, the SG9663DC's rear camera design, that triangular wedge would end up being huge in size relative to the size of the circular glass lens???
We'd end up with a huge square 3M self-adhesive pad at the back?

 

[kamkar]

I think jokiin said that the rear camera from DCPRO ( IMX 291 ) are compatible with the DR, the regular DC are no as it is a IMX 323
It could be SG are now using new leses with a larger back focal length or at least room for that, so the lens / sensor assembly are now or could be longer, maybe in preparation for future products with larger pixel count

 

[jokiin]

I think jokiin said that the rear camera from DCPRO ( IMX 291 ) are compatible with the DR

starting to lose count of the amount of times I've said that already

 

[peterharvey]

I think jokiin said that the rear camera from DCPRO ( IMX 291 ) are compatible with the DR, the regular DC are no as it is a IMX 323
It could be SG are now using new leses with a larger back focal length or at least room for that, so the lens / sensor assembly are now or could be longer, maybe in preparation for future products with larger pixel count

Ah, I see what you mean now.
I remember now.
Only the SG9663DC's front sensor is new, while the SG9663DC's rear lens sensor is the old type - hence it won't be compatible with the new SG9663DR.

However, just off the top of my head, I can see that the new SG9663DR's glass lenses seem to be much bigger than the SG9663DC's rear camera lens to fit inside that triangular wedge design; thus we must accept this new tubular design, because if the tubular design had twin pads like the Lukas rear camera, then the SG9663DR's tubular design would have two huge intrusive pads.

Hence, the SG9663DR's design is what it is.

I will buy one soon, and try to attach it to my rear side windows...

 

[myahway]

So there is no option to turn off the camera with this remote button?

I installed a remote on/off switch inline on the constant 12v. Just run a two lead wire from the constant 12v to a location that is convenient for you and install a simple two wire on/off switch of your liking. When I get home I turn the car off and the unit goes into parking, I then flick the 12v constant cutoff switch and the DR does a proper shut down using its internal capacitor. If you like, right after it shuts down (you will know because the DR's remote button light will go out) you can flick the switch back to on and the DR will not power back up until the next time you start the car back up.

I used this one but did not ground the 3rd terminal so the switches internal LED will not light up when in the on position. The LED's dot, even when not lit up, is good enough for me to know on from off. They make them with printed positions also or different color LEDs. I picked this one because it matches my interior and uses a round hole for install and that is much easier than making a square or rectangle hole.

 

[jokiin]

Only the SG9663DC's front sensor is new, while the SG9663DC's rear lens sensor is the old type - hence it won't be compatible with the new SG9663DR.

the DC had a different lens at the rear compared to DCPRO (14mm dia v 17mm dia), the smaller one was on the IMX323 rear camera, those are not compatible with the DR, the DCPRO IMX291 rear cameras are compatible

if the tubular design had twin mounts (one at each end) it would be 50% longer, the mount needs to be the distance away from the lens that it is so as not to end up in the field of view

 

[kamkar]

starting to lose count

It is only cuz you have said it that many times i remember it.

 

[jokiin]

I installed a remote on/off switch inline on the constant 12v. Just run a two lead wire from the constant 12v to a location that is convenient for you and install a simple two wire on/off switch of your liking. When I get home I turn the car off and the unit goes into parking, I then flick the 12v constant cutoff switch and the DR does a proper shut down using its internal capacitor. If you like, right after it shuts down (you will know because the DR's remote button light will go out) you can flick the switch back to on and the DR will not power back up until the next time you start the car back up.

if you forget to turn the switch back on the camera won't start, a better method is to use a single pole double through switch and wire one side to ACC and one to B+, when you park and flip the switch the B+ goes to ACC and the camera would turn off, if you forget to turn it back on it would still startup when both ACC wires are powered when you next start the car