U3000 rear camera RADAR does not work

[Vortex Radar]

Is there audio in this configuration?
I cranked up my volume but, I can't tell.

Yep, I left the included audio from the front cam. The waveform looked a little louder than the rear one.

 

[Thinkware Dash Cam]

U3000 rear camera RADAR does not work

same confirmed on a review here - starting from 15:23
U3000 rear camera RADAR does not work

My rear glass is tinted and RADAR does not work whatever setting I tried to apply
Please check yours?

Hello, if you are having issues with your U3000 rear view camera, please send an email to support@thinkware.com with the subject line " Issues with U3000 rear view camera radar"

 

[Thinkware Dash Cam]

Here is a video

same confirmed on a review here - starting from 15:23
U3000 rear camera RADAR does not work

Hello, if you are having issues with your U3000 rear view camera, please send an email to support@thinkware.com with the subject line " Issues with U3000 rear view camera radar"

 

[dashcam_11]

@Thinkware Dash Cam Plenty of folks have posted about this issue on multiple forums. why don’t you tell us more about the problem and provide an ETA?

 

[Thinkware Dash Cam]

Hi! We did several tests and made sure that the U3000 rear camera radar was working. We've gathered all possible factors that might affect its functionality (installation process, settings, etc.). Attached is a link to the article we made that details how the U3000 Radar Parking mode works. Please check on this and make sure it is followed and understood.

https://mondosystemhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/21305282643859-RADAR-Parking-Mode-U3000-

Should you still need further assistance, please reach out to our support hotline or email at 1 (844) 865-9273/support@thinkware.com for faster assistance. Thank you!

 

[dashcam_11]

@Thinkware Dash Cam thanks for the update.

I received 3 replacement rear view dashcams and none of them worked. Now I’m getting rid of the entire setup.
Thinkware team should put demo videos to earn back customer trust.

 

[Savyy]

Hey, OP here

I am happy to confirm that my REPLACEMENT REAR CAMERA has arrived and I just installed it and tested.
IT FINALLY STARTED WORKING AS IT SHOULD!!!!
I installed on my X5 behind the defrosting grids and with a tinted window and it works as expected.
I think in my case the issue was related to defective batch and everyone with NOT WORKING REAR cameras should contact support and request a replacement for their REAR cameras.
Still not happy how Thinkware managed that well known issue and does not provide any updates on their website.

 

[an1uk]

Just fitted a U3000. MFR date on main unit states September 2023. Rear camera radar seems to work ok even through demister grid as there's no spot on my rear screen without them.

 

[0341motormen]

My parked car was hit and the driver ran . Good thing the camera caught it I was worried with all this on the form . It was on radar mode set on low the other driver hit the back rear passenger door and lower wheel well area the other driver was backing up a wrong way at a angle the video captured the impact 1 second before the other driver hit the car you could see my car shake after being hit and half the hood of the car that hit me at the moment of impact . Front and rear footage recorded but only the front captured it . am confused because radar mode should capture 10 seconds before and 10 after not 1 second before ,it’s almost like it acted like motion or a parking mode that starts recording after impact but it did Record 1 second before impact it might of been the angle of the other car almost like the radar waves had nothing to bounce off until it was just before impact because of the angle but something just seems off to me . Anyway glad I got a second Thinkware there great

 

[rcg530]

am confused because radar mode should capture 10 seconds before and 10 after not 1 second before ,it’s almost like it acted like motion or a parking mode that starts recording after impact but it did Record 1 second before impact it might of been the angle of the other car almost like the radar waves had nothing to bounce off until it was just before impact because of the angle but something just seems off to me . Anyway glad I got a second Thinkware there great

The original U3000 user manual and the Thinkware website originally stated that radar parking mode would capture 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after the triggering event. I tested that claim and found it to be misleading. If the U3000 is in its deep sleep mode and the radar detects movement, it will wake up the U3000 within 1 to 2 seconds and it will begin recording a 20 second video. The U3000 remains "awake" for an additional 40 seconds if no additional motion is detected by the radar feature, the U3000 will return to a low power consumption mode. If motion is detected during the 40 seconds after the initial 20 second recording, those recordings will contain 10 seconds before the triggering motion and 10 seconds after. I discussed this in my review thread on this site back in June 2023. I also reported my findings to Thinkware.

Thinkware recently updated the U3000 user manual and created a support document to better explain the radar parking mode functionality in a few different situations.

 

[Savyy]

thinkware staff is so unprofessional. They did not inform us about the issue, made mistakes in manual and they did confusing mistakes when they are trying to explain later how camera works in parking mode. What is wrong with you THINKWARE?

(3) A vehicle is slowly approaching your parked car at the mall and an impact occurs 17 seconds after entering the selected range.

In this case, the dash cam saves a 20-second video; 10 seconds before the impact and 10 seconds after the impact in the Parking Incident folder (name given in the Dash Cam Link App), or folder named parking_rec if retrieving the video directly from the memory card. The initial recording that had started when the car entered the radar's range (first 17 seconds (WRONG! it should be written here as 7 seconds since we clearly see 7 sec is discarded not 17) in this example) is discarded to prioritize the impact recording instead.

 

[rcg530]

thinkware staff is so unprofessional. They did not inform us about the issue, made mistakes in manual and they did confusing mistakes when they are trying to explain later how camera works in parking mode. What is wrong with you THINKWARE?

(3) A vehicle is slowly approaching your parked car at the mall and an impact occurs 17 seconds after entering the selected range.

In this case, the dash cam saves a 20-second video; 10 seconds before the impact and 10 seconds after the impact in the Parking Incident folder (name given in the Dash Cam Link App), or folder named parking_rec if retrieving the video directly from the memory card. The initial recording that had started when the car entered the radar's range (first 17 seconds (WRONG! it should be written here as 7 seconds since we clearly see 7 sec is discarded not 17) in this example) is discarded to prioritize the impact recording instead.

In example (3), there are two types of video recordings that are triggered by radar (first) and then impact (second).

The radar triggered recording is stored as a motion time-lapse recording file (Prefix = "MOT_", Directory = "motion_timelapse_rec"). That file is created and is recording for a total of 17 seconds until the impact event occurs.

When the impact event occurs, a parking event recording is created. Because the U3000 was already recording video more than 10 seconds before the impact event, it includes the 10 seconds before the impact event and the 10 seconds after the impact event and creates a parking event file (Prefix = "PAK_", Directory = "parking_rec").

The impact event recording is has a higher priority in this scenario, so the 17-second radar triggered recording is abandoned and the 20 second impact event recording is retained. Overall, there will only be 7-seconds discarded due to the buffered 10-seconds in the impact event recording. Thinkware stated "The initial recording that had started when the car entered the radar's range (first 17 seconds in this example) is discarded ...". That statement is true since the "MOT" file in the "motion_timelapse_rec" directory will be discarded.

 

[Thinkware Dash Cam]

Hello, if you are having issues with your U3000 rear view camera, please send an email to support@thinkware.com with the subject line " Issues with U3000 rear view camera radar"

@Thinkware Dash Cam Plenty of folks have posted about this issue on multiple forums. why don’t you tell us more about the problem and provide an ETA?

 

[Vortex Radar]

Just finished and published my video of Thinkware's new dashcams at SEMA. I also asked Billy about this rear radar issue we've all been experiencing and he shared some tips regarding rear cam installation to help ensure it works properly.

 

[Nigel]

Just finished and published my video of Thinkware's new dashcams at SEMA. I also asked Billy about this rear radar issue we've all been experiencing and he shared some tips regarding rear cam installation to help ensure it works properly.

70 degrees FoV for the radar seems a bit narrow, if you are parked in a parking bay with cars and people coming behind left and right then you want 180° so that it can start buffering ASAP. With only 70° the car thief can sneak down the side of the car without being spotted, even though he would easily be within the FoV of the image sensor.

I just looked up a home radar sensor and that has a 170° FoV, maybe he forgot the 100!

How about another test for FoV?

Guess you need to mount it on a wedge if you have a vertical rear window, if that is feasible?

 

[psuh89]

Radar sensors used in dashcams should be generally similar.

Here's the radar beam pattern used on Momento M7.

One could just disassemble the U3000's rear camera to verify what Thinkware used for the actual radar sensor as the specifications will be available on the manufacturer's website.

 

[Nigel]

Radar sensors used in dashcams should be generally similar.

Here's the radar beam pattern used on Momento M7.

One could just disassemble the U3000's rear camera to verify what Thinkware used for the actual radar sensor as the specifications will be available on the manufacturer's website.

It appears to me that Horizontal and Vertical are the wrong way around on that diagram?


Edit: Here is a diagram that is the correct way around, although it contains far less detail:

Test Drive Review: Momento M7 2K 3-Channel Dash Camera

The Momento M7 2K QHD three-channel dash camera from Firstech visits the BestCarAudio.com Test Drive Review bench.

www.bestcaraudio.com

 

[psuh89]

Right, that beam pattern is actually from the sensor provider but the horizontal & vertical should be switched so 100HFOV is correct

 

[sustmi]

One could just disassemble the U3000's rear camera to verify what Thinkware used for the actual radar sensor as the specifications will be available on the manufacturer's website.

Luckily, the FCC engineers already disassembled the camera for us: https://fccid.io/2ADTG-U3000 .
According to the internal photos of U3000 the front camera uses SC1232A 24 GHz radar sensor.
The specifications say it has "selectable FOV" of 120 or 95 degrees: https://www.socionext.com/en/products/assp/radar-sensor/SC1232/ .

The rear camera module for U3000 is called "BCQH500": https://device.report/thinkware/bcqh500 .
The type of radar sensor is not visible on internal photos: https://device.report/m/71ea01f077f1221574bb3b99a31f3f282c8e131c909934aeaff68ba9b132b5f1.pdf
but in the "Antenna Specification" I can read "SC1232AR3" too and it also shows the antenna radiation patterns in horizontal and vertical planes: https://device.report/m/3ae8171c20dc94083105059098e8814489eb80f8f54a1e1716849cdacf00744d.pdf
If I read it correctly, it is about 120 degrees horizontally and I would say 90 degrees vertically (I am not sure how exactly is the single number angle decided - it is probably counted until the power drops below certain dB value).

 

[RickZ]

I'm UK based and installed my 2ch U3000 a couple of days ago and the rear camera radar isn't detecting movement in any setting configuration. I contacted CEN who I purchased the U3000 from and Thinkware who suggested this is a known issue on US versions but not in the UK. Thinkware sent me a few settings to try which I'd already tried. I've informed them that nothing I do gets the rear camera radar to sense movement and activate the camera. I'm interested in whether there's any truth in this issue being on mainly US version rear cameras.