Viofo Parking Mode new beta feature

[abbaoppo]

Please double check your dashcam setting as im a vico power plus user with a119 as well. I didnt notice the problem you facing. GPS is working fine with enabled parking mode.

Btw did you disable the auto reboot function on your vico power plus? Just to double confirm as i turned it off as per manual recommended by vicovation.

It is working fine now. Thanks for the tips.

 

[kjchen69]

hello
I posted a comment on the other thread but I think I'll ask again here
thanks ahead for any advises. new to the dashcam here.
I have updated mine to v 3.3

when parking mode is turned on, motion detection can not be turned on (it'll ask to turn off parking mode if want motion dect. to be turned on)

so just wondering, which mode is better
i have this cam only for 2 weeks now.
before updated to v3.3, I had motion detection on.
and my car was in car dealer for repair, it recorded full loop of 5 mins when there's tech people walking around or standing in front of my car (and my car was off of course)
but i have tried parking mode yesterday with motion detection off yesterday, but mostly didn't record anything at all
i tried to park my car's hood/head towards drive way in the parking lot in order to hope to trigger the parking mode to record the movement but nothing really at all.

so my questions is parking mode works better than motion detection?

thank you so much

 

[5Cowbells]

Most complaints so far have been that motion detection is too sensitive in Parking Mode causing continuous recording - see https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a119-parking-mode-useful-wiring-kit.30195/#post-357504. You will just have to use them both and decide which suits your needs the best. First try to understand what each does by reading forum discussion - A119 parking mode is a new feature but there are several threads including this one that have discussed the V3.1B and V3.1 firmware on this forum which is basically the same as V3.3. Parking Mode is more complex and uses the G-sensor and motion detection sensing, and you can leave it on continuously, while driving or parked.

 

[5Cowbells]

In addition, you might try this demonstration of Parking Mode at home: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-plugged-in-for-8-days-straight.30364/#post-357169.

 

[kjchen69]

Most complaints so far have been that motion detection is too sensitive in Parking Mode causing continuous recording - see https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a119-parking-mode-useful-wiring-kit.30195/#post-357504. You will just have to use them both and decide which suits your needs the best. First try to understand what each does by reading forum discussion - A119 parking mode is a new feature but there are several threads including this one that have discussed the V3.1B and V3.1 firmware on this forum which is basically the same as V3.3. Parking Mode is more complex and uses the G-sensor and motion detection sensing, and you can leave it on continuously, while driving or parked.

thank you so much for the advise.
i think I often got confused when words parking mode is used.
in this case, you said motion detection is too sensitive in parking mode
from my understanding, you meant motion detection is too sensitive WHEN CAR IS PARKED (and engine is off of course)

I have read through the info, but when motion detection and parking mode are used together in the info provided but in the reality,
when you set up the dashcam, you can only either turn on motion detection or parking mode!
can't both be turned on the same time.
so when both modes are mentioned but parking mode sometimes only mean when car is parked,
I think that's when I got confused the most.

and yes, I do totally agree with you.
I have tried both modes so far, motion detection mode for almost 2 weeks now.
it never does continuous recording to me, it records 5 mins tops ( i set it up) loops and shut down when there's no movement at all.
but just a 2 days trying parking mode, it records nothing, even I have my car/dashcam parked and facing the driving way (while it's rather a very busy parking lot in that plaza),
it didn't pick up anything at all.

I will keep trying and see which one works better but thanks again for the info
really appreciate it !

 

[kjchen69]

In addition, you might try this demonstration of Parking Mode at home: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-plugged-in-for-8-days-straight.30364/#post-357169.

I totally did.
you can see I mentioned this.
i tried this in my office
I tried move around the dashcam, but it didn't turn on in the parking mode
but if i shaked it, the warning sign comes up and start recording ( i think senses the impact)

what I am going to do is i have a 10400mah battery bank sit around and never use
so I might try to just plug into it when I need a over night parking or something like that.

thanks again

 

[5Cowbells]

I totally did.
you can see I mentioned this.
i tried this in my office
I tried move around the dashcam, but it didn't turn on in the parking mode
but if i shaked it, the warning sign comes up and start recording ( i think senses the impact)

what I am going to do is i have a 10400mah battery bank sit around and never use
so I might try to just plug into it when I need a over night parking or something like that.

thanks again

Terminology is a problem. What is meant by going into Parking Mode? To me it means I have the Parking Mode menu setting set to some value other than OFF. To others, when they speak of going into Parking Mode, it means switching to Time-lapse recording or not recording at all.

Once Parking Mode is enabled in the menu, then there are three possible states of recording that can happen in this mode: 1) Normal recording, 2) no recording (Standby Mode), or 3) Time-lapse recording. There are two sensors used to trigger the different states: 1) the G-sensor for car (or camera) movement, and 2) motion detection of activity in the field of view (FOV) of the camera.

The sequence of events is typically this:

• Normal recording (at the Resolution/fps set in the menu) at power up. Normal recording is kept going by continued camera movement (G-sensor) or motion in the camera FOV, i.e., no quite periods over 1.5 minutes.
• The A119 will not switch modes until there is a quite period for 1.5 minutes, then it switches to Standby (not recording).
• When motion is detected in the FOV again (but no camera movement (G-sensor)), the A119 will switch to Time-lapse recording at the fps selected in the Parking Mode menu setting. Motion in the camera FOV (with no camera movement) will keep the A119 recording in Time-lapse until either of two things happen: 1) If a quite period again occurs for 1.5 minutes, the A119 will stop recording (Standby) or 2) If camera movement is detected by the G-sensor, the A119 will switch back to Normal recording.
• G-sensor activity will always switch the A119 back to Normal recording from either Standby or Time-lapse recording.
• To go back to Time-lapse recording, the cycle must repeat, i.e., Normal to Standby to Time lapse.

Hope this helps.

 

[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed]

wow! unexpected, and awesome!

 

[jlomein]

Is there a way to manually force the cam into this new parking mode (5fps time lapse) via button presses rather than relying on 1.5 minutes of no motion detected by the motion sensor?

I commonly parallel park on busy shopping streets. I'm predicting the cam will remain in normal 30fps recording due to the motion sensor contantly detecting pedestrians and cars driving by. Other users report even flowers/bushes blowing in the wind prevents the cam from entering parking mode.

 

[rsilvers]

So I just hard-wired mine to run all the time, even overnight, with an 11.6v cutoff. Is there some reason why people do special park modes instead of what I did?

 

[5Cowbells]

Is there a way to manually force the cam into this new parking mode (5fps time lapse) via button presses rather than relying on 1.5 minutes of no motion detected by the motion sensor?

No, but you could just turn on Time-Lapse Recording instead of Parking Mode and that forces constant time-lapse recording, but you would have to turn it off to get normal recording while driving.

Is there some reason why people do special park modes instead of what I did?

Primarily to conserve microSD card storage space during periods of low activity in the vicinity of the car.

 

[SuperGoop]

So I just hard-wired mine to run all the time, even overnight, with an 11.6v cutoff. Is there some reason why people do special park modes instead of what I did?

My main reason to use Parking Mode is so that my memory card is not constantly being completely overwritten every 8 hours or so (depending on size).

Say someone hit your car in the parking lot, but you don’t notice the dent until the next morning. If your camera was constantly recording in “normal” mode, even overnight, that footage would most likely be gone.

 

[rsilvers]

I think I need to use it to keep from the memory card from wearing out.

 

[Gibson99]

So I just hard-wired mine to run all the time, even overnight, with an 11.6v cutoff. Is there some reason why people do special park modes instead of what I did?

11.6 is WAY WAY WAY too low! most cars won't start when the battery is that low. I don't recommend going below 12.2v unless you live in a tropical area, and even then i wouldn't go below 12.0. for example, my wife's van wouldn't start with the cutoff at 12.2 after sitting in snow overnight. i found that in the winter i had to set the cutoff at 12.4v to keep enough juice in the battery to start on snowy days. no, it doesn't snow much in houston, but we often visit my dad in colorado, where it snows plenty!

 

[rsilvers]

11.6 is WAY WAY WAY too low! most cars won't start when the battery is that low. I don't recommend going below 12.2v unless you live in a tropical area, and even then i wouldn't go below 12.0. for example, my wife's van wouldn't start with the cutoff at 12.2 after sitting in snow overnight. i found that in the winter i had to set the cutoff at 12.4v to keep enough juice in the battery to start on snowy days. no, it doesn't snow much in houston, but we often visit my dad in colorado, where it snows plenty!

This one has 12.2 as the highest setting:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0147DYUN8

 

[Mtz]

i found that in the winter i had to set the cutoff at 12.4v to keep enough juice in the battery to start on snowy days. no, it doesn't snow much in houston, but we often visit my dad in colorado, where it snows plenty!

Until now I don't saw complaints about that famous hardwire kit with 11.6V low voltage cut-off. Maybe all people are lucky and the dashcams never drained their car batteries at such low values

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Gibson99]

Mine's not famous, just some Korean kit I bought to go with her blacksys cam. And I've verified with my Fluke meter that it cuts off at the correct voltage.

 

[rsilvers]

Mine's not famous, just some Korean kit I bought to go with her blacksys cam. And I've verified with my Fluke meter that it cuts off at the correct voltage.

But do we think most cars will start at 11.6 volts?

 

[rsilvers]

I just walked into my garage in the morning. Looked into the window, and saw the camera with green LED in parking mode. I then walked in front of the car, and then looked again. LED was red. So parking mode has been running all night. This is great. Thank you for adding new features to an existing camera.

 

[Nigel]

But do we think most cars will start at 11.6 volts?

If the dashcam switches off at 11.6 then the reduced load on the battery will result in the voltage rising to maybe 11.8 volts, with everything disconnected it would probably reach 12v and that is enough to start the car as long as the battery isn't too cold, however it would also seriously damage the battery, do it several times and a new car battery will be required. With an AGM battery 11.8 will easily start the car, 11.6 probably, but again it is not good for the battery to get it that low.