Viofo Parking Mode new beta feature

[shackle]

If your cigarette port is hot 24 seven you will kill the car battery

Yeah I don't think mine is hot 24/7. Just tried charging my phone before and after shutting off the car. The phone stop receiving charge less than 5 secs after the car shuts down. So I should be good?

 

[adisan]

Any recommendation on live power source solutions? Thanks

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/first-day-testing-parking-mode.29324/#post-345355

 

[adisan]

Yeah I don't think mine is hot 24/7. Just tried charging my phone before and after shutting off the car. The phone stop receiving charge less than 5 secs after the car shuts down. So I should be good?

you need hardwiring if need permanent power

 

[OCD Tronic]

Yeah I don't think mine is hot 24/7. Just tried charging my phone before and after shutting off the car. The phone stop receiving charge less than 5 secs after the car shuts down. So I should be good?

Good how? If the camera has no power when Parked you won't record anything.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

By the way Recording 24/7 is a bit punishing on the life of the car battery, camera and memory card. I'd be careful not to let the camera record while parked in the hot sun. It could exceed rated specs and shorten lifespan considerably.

This is why something like a Vico-Power Plus is recommend. You can turn parking mode or timer on/off as needed with a flip of a switch so you only enable extended recording only as needed.

 

[shackle]

Good how? If the camera has no power when Parked you won't record anything.

So once the power from the car stops, the car charger with the integrated battery would take over. So the dash cam would get power from that.

 

[OCD Tronic]

So once the power from the car stops, the car charger with the integrated battery would take over. So the dash cam would get power from that.

I didn't notice that car charger had a built in battery. Could be interesting.

 

[shackle]

I didn't notice that car charger had a built in battery. Could be interesting.

My apologies. I should have explained the product. I'm going to order a similar one to that and see how it goes with the new auto parking mode feature introduced in the beta.

 

[abbaoppo]

Very detailed test about viofo A119 parking mode.

I have a Viofo 119, but I am fairly new to dash cams. Hopefully, what I am saying below makes some sense.

I watched the video. It boils down to the following: When on parking mode recording at 5fps, if the camera doesn't sense motion or shock for 1:30, it goes into standby mode. If it senses motion, it records at 5 fps, but if it senses shock, it records at normal mode.

One issue with this setup is that if the car is parked in a busy parking lot with a fair amount of foot and vehicle movement, then you are going to have either (a) constant 5fps recording, or (b) start-and-stop recording at 5fps--depending on whether there is any motion detected within the 1:30 time frame. This would generate a lot of disjointed video clips. Perhaps more importantly, it could wear out the camera and the sd card quickly with start-and-stop recording. Wouldn't it be better off to just have the camera record at a constant time-lapse of 5fps (or xfps)?

It seems that Viofo could offer at least two options for the parking mode:
(1) For areas with relatively sparse ambient traffic, the beta option as covered in the video, I think, is good for that purpose.
(2) For monitoring areas with a fair amount of ambient foot or vehicle traffic, it records at a constant x fps. Once shock (but not motion) is detected, then the camera records at normal mode.

If a user absolutely has to use motion detection at all times, then he/she can forget about (or exit) the parking mode and turn on motion detection instead.

I hope this makes some sense.

 

[abarth]

I'm a user that has used motion detect on the camera 24/7 since I got the camera a year ago. it's worked well for my uses (recording motion while parked and never a missed moment while I'm driving). I loaded the beta firmware a couple days ago and have yet to check out the footage. if it affords me a few more hours while parked (and maybe some more time before voltage cut-off), i'll consider keeping it on parking mode.

 

[Gibson99]

so if it detects a vibration/shock during parking mode, does it lock that file? seems you'd want that to be saved if it was someone hitting your car.

of course the problem there is that it could register you getting in the car and closing the door as an "impact" and create a lock file every time you get in the car... and fill up the card fast. i'm not sure how to solve this problem though.

 

[abarth]

when it is in "parking mode", the impact sensor is set to a higher sensitivity so that it can go to the usual recording mode (1440P30 in my case) just by shutting your door. it does not lock the file automatically when it detects a shock. if a big enough card is in the device, you should hopefully be able to notice the damage and investigate the contents of the memory card before a half day of driving. and since parking mode is recording at 5FPS, it's already taking up much less space on the card. so unless your car is being hit repeatedly while you are in parking mode, that initial hit should not be overwritten any time soon.

 

[Gibson99]

Last time our car was hit (before dashcams) we were leaving church. Came up from behind the car and everyone got in. Got home, and as we walk inside we pass across the front of the car, and someone noticed that the corner of the front bumper cover was caved in, with nice white paint scrapes on the blue bumper cover. Unfortunately no security cams on that part of the parking lot at church.

After that (the THIRD time that car had been hit while parked) I bought a dashcam with parking mode.

 

[jomor]

Has anyone measured the current draw on parking mode ? I measured my A119 V2 at about 380mA (without gps) on normal recording mode (screen on) and about 460mA with gps. We can use an SLA battery with appropriate capacity for one night duration parking mode (isolated with a diode) so the car battery will not be drained at all while parked

 

[SawMaster]

If you're technically inclined, setting up a SLA or AGM battery with the car keeping it charged automatically is probably the best solution possible. The only advantage powerbanks have is their 'plug-and-play' format and that greatly limits their potential.

Phil

 

[borik]

Has anyone measured the current draw on parking mode ?

while powered from a power bank's 1A port (5.29v without a camera connected) the camera draws from 0.2xA to 0.6xA while the voltage drops to 5.2v. with a parking mode feature the camera draws more. before I never saw even 0.5A, now it's up to 0.7A.

 

[5Cowbells]

so if it detects a vibration/shock during parking mode, does it lock that file? seems you'd want that to be saved if it was someone hitting your car.

Been looking at the A119 V3.1B new Parking Mode for a while - seems complex. But one thing I found out by accident... no pun intended, is that the G-sensor activated Event ! Mode still functions for a "hard bump", though maybe somewhat differently (don't know all the details yet). The Event ! yellow triangle icons are displayed on the LCD as normal, and the A119 records a minimum of 1.5 minutes in either Normal or Time-lapse and moves the file(s) to the RO folder. The A119 Parking Mode "soft bump" G-sensor trigger is very sensitive and triggers the A119 to record at the Resolution/fps setting for a minimum of 1.5 minutes, but does not activate the Event ! mode and {Edit: does not} move files to the RO folder. I guess you could say that in the Parking Mode, there are two trigger levels of G-sensor sensitivity, each performing a different function.

 

[SawMaster]

....now it's up to 0.7A.

I've noticed a higher than usual number of reports with the A119 series cams which are apparently related to inadequate powering. I can't recall ever seeing any cam reported drawing 0.7A before now, which I find notable. I'm curious where that extra power is going, as power consumption is dissipated as heat and these cams don't seem to have any heat-related issues.

Phil

 

[borik]

may be I should mention the recording conditions: daylight, 1080P@60fps on both cameras, ~80F outside, + CPL on each camera.

 

[Whatatay]

Latest beta version firmware but night vision still yellow.