mannyfresh2500
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- Aug 5, 2016
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I have a DR650S-2CH with front and rear cameras. But I plan on working as a rideshare driver soon so I would like to have an IR dash cam recording the interior of the car. I will only be needing to do this maybe 2 days each week and I would rather not have to run more wires down the side of the car for power/signal to add a whole separate camera. I figured I could get a hardwired connection behind my rear view mirror with a button switch that will allow me to select which rear camera to use. The main/front camera won't know any different (just the presence of IR vs no IR). The majority of the time driving would be spent with front/rear cameras but with the option to switch to front/interior camera quickly and easily when it's time to do rideshares.
I believe the Blackvue coax cables are standard RG-174 cables with male MCX connectors on both ends. I honestly have not tested this but I have a strong suspicion that this is the case. So will buy some cheap cable to find out.
The shortest coax cable that Blackvue sells is 4.9ft and I was looking for something shorter so I can connect the IR camera to my DR650S-2CH and attach it about 8 inches away from the main camera. I don't have the cable that usually comes with this camera when you buy it as a bundle so that's why I looked for a standard short cable that may be compatible. I actually have not bought the Blackvue IR camera just yet so I'll move my rear camera to the interior in the meantime as I will add a mount to the front of the car for it to slide into.
BlackBoxMyCar sells a 2ft version of the coax cable which is not Blackvue-branded but they advertise it to use it with that brand. You can tell it's not OEM because it's a different color (and also looks braided?) while all the Blackvue cables are black. But why pay $10 shipping for a $13 cable? It's gotta be a standard cable so I found another vendor that sold one with more reasonable shipping rates and a slightly shorter cable.
After I've tested I will report back on whether a standard/non-OEM cable works. The other question will be whether the RF box will pass all the signal and power through to the selected camera.
The reason for wanting an RF switch box is so that I don't have to disconnect/reconnect cables all the time to switch cameras. The connectors will wear out after doing this repeatedly for too long.
I just need to find a switch small and light enough to stick behind by rear view mirror with a button or knob on it (like below). I had no luck finding an MCX switch box. There are converters to turn the MCX connectors into the larger "F type" used for cable TV but I would have to use gender changers which will add bulk. Changing the female plugs in an F type switch to MCX should do the trick. That way I can just plug all the male MCX connections from the two cameras and the one from the front camera into the RF switch.
Does this sound like a crazy idea? Maybe I just need some sense talked into me. I could be making this too complicated so I'd like some input.
Or instead of doing all this I can just get a standalone camera with IR (but not the one that clamps onto the mirror since I don't need dual cams and that's bulky). I just would rather make it work with my main camera and just push a button to switch secondary cameras. I don't want to spend money on switching do a different main camera.
Thanks in advance!
I believe the Blackvue coax cables are standard RG-174 cables with male MCX connectors on both ends. I honestly have not tested this but I have a strong suspicion that this is the case. So will buy some cheap cable to find out.
The shortest coax cable that Blackvue sells is 4.9ft and I was looking for something shorter so I can connect the IR camera to my DR650S-2CH and attach it about 8 inches away from the main camera. I don't have the cable that usually comes with this camera when you buy it as a bundle so that's why I looked for a standard short cable that may be compatible. I actually have not bought the Blackvue IR camera just yet so I'll move my rear camera to the interior in the meantime as I will add a mount to the front of the car for it to slide into.
BlackBoxMyCar sells a 2ft version of the coax cable which is not Blackvue-branded but they advertise it to use it with that brand. You can tell it's not OEM because it's a different color (and also looks braided?) while all the Blackvue cables are black. But why pay $10 shipping for a $13 cable? It's gotta be a standard cable so I found another vendor that sold one with more reasonable shipping rates and a slightly shorter cable.
After I've tested I will report back on whether a standard/non-OEM cable works. The other question will be whether the RF box will pass all the signal and power through to the selected camera.
The reason for wanting an RF switch box is so that I don't have to disconnect/reconnect cables all the time to switch cameras. The connectors will wear out after doing this repeatedly for too long.
I just need to find a switch small and light enough to stick behind by rear view mirror with a button or knob on it (like below). I had no luck finding an MCX switch box. There are converters to turn the MCX connectors into the larger "F type" used for cable TV but I would have to use gender changers which will add bulk. Changing the female plugs in an F type switch to MCX should do the trick. That way I can just plug all the male MCX connections from the two cameras and the one from the front camera into the RF switch.
Does this sound like a crazy idea? Maybe I just need some sense talked into me. I could be making this too complicated so I'd like some input.
Or instead of doing all this I can just get a standalone camera with IR (but not the one that clamps onto the mirror since I don't need dual cams and that's bulky). I just would rather make it work with my main camera and just push a button to switch secondary cameras. I don't want to spend money on switching do a different main camera.
Thanks in advance!