[harsh79]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

[*]Do you see the reflection of the dash on the windscreen in the videos? I saw that in some of the online video samples posted by various folks.[/list]

Originally Posted by D'Ro@dSt@r

Yes that is a problem that i am also facing with a lot of reflection coming on from the car dash. I tried reaching out to the 70Mai CC to see any settings can reduce it, but no success. In viofo dashcams, u can order a CPL filter which reduces these reflections to a great extent, but unfortunately there is no cpl filter available for 70 mai dashcams yet.
Hope it helps.

Try experimenting with a 37mm CPL. Holding it in place will require a bit of DIY.

[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

I have just got the 70mai Dash Cam Pro. I was able to play the video back in VLC player (3.0.4 version) on my laptop.

1. Does the GPS unit start working only if you enable ADAS? I have not done that yet and do not see the speed and location coordinates in the video when I play it back on the dash cam itself.
2. Are you able to see the speed and location coordinates while playing the videos back in Windows Media Player?
3. Do you see the reflection of the dash on the windscreen in the videos? I saw that in some of the online video samples posted by various folks.

@pjbiju, Thank you for the suggestion to upgrade my VLC player. I will do that and check if my videos are seamless on it.

1. I do not have the GPS module since I opted for the basic one hence cannot answer your queries.
2. Ditto answer 1.
3. Yes there is a reflection of the dashboard on the windscreen but now I have gotten used to it.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

I am planning to install a dash camera in my Ecosport. Now apparently there is an issue with Ecopsort as the 12V socket has power supply even after switching off the ignition and as a result the battery drains out if you leave the camera connected.

What can be a walk around for this?

I'm using a 70 Mai Pro. There's an option in the settings that makes the cam to go into parking surveillance mode even if it's powered after the ignition is off. It can be set as early as 20 minutes. I'm assuming this option must be there in other brand dashcams too.

[pjbiju]

I mounted the 70mai Dash Cam Pro today in my Swift. I did not want to stick the camera directly to the windscreen and wanted to be able to remove it if parking too long in the sun (because of the built-in battery). Also wanted to see if mounting the camera away from the windscreen will reduce the shadow cast by the dashboard. So here is what I did.

1. Picked up an old vacuum bracket that I had for my earlier SJCAM 4000.
2. Made an acrylic adapter to attach to the vacuum bracket
3. Attached the dash cam to the acrylic adapter instead of the windscreen

Some photos of the whole thing. The acrylic adapter is made with 4mm thick clear acrylic sheet.


Front View (face on which the static film would be attached to)


Face that would be attached to the vacuum bracket. Drilled a hole to attach it to the bracket.


Adapter attached to the vacuum bracket


How the whole thing looks attached to a surface


Attached to car and viewed from the co-driver side


How it looks from the driver side


A close up of the static film attached to the adapter


How it looks from the outside

Still need to do the USB wire routing. In the past there have been some occasions when the bracket got detached from the windscreen once in a while. So now I have tethered it to the rear view mirror bracket with a cable tie so that even if the bracket looses its vacuum, the whole thing will not fall down.

We took it for a spin and calibrated the ADAS and after that the GPS coordinates and speed is visible in the video when you view it from the dash cam app. If you download the video to a computer and play it back in VLC player, the GPS data is not visible. However I have found a software called gps_extract.exe that extracts the GPS information as a subtitle to the video and when I play it back in VLC player, the GPS data is shown as subtitles. I do not recall the exact site that I downloaded it from, but I think there are several such programs.

I noticed a slight vibration especially over concrete roads. Will try to see how I can reduce or eliminate that. Also we did not notice much of a shadow from the dashboard with this setup.


A screen grab


Screen grab with GPS data extracted.

I had bought the dash cam from https://70mai.in/product/70mai-pro-dashcam/

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

I mounted the 70mai Dash Cam Pro today in my Swift. I did not want to stick the camera directly to the windscreen and wanted to be able to remove it if parking too long in the sun (because of the built-in battery). Also wanted to see if mounting the camera away from the windscreen will reduce the shadow cast by the dashboard. So here is what I did. ...

It's beautiful work, and I feel guilty about quibbling, but...

It appears from the pictures to be right in you line of view, where your eyes need to see. I find even my RVM (VW Polo) is lower than I would like: I would never put anything underneath it.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It's beautiful work, and I feel guilty about quibbling, but...

It appears from the pictures to be right in you line of view, where your eyes need to see. I find even my RVM (VW Polo) is lower than I would like: I would never put anything underneath it.

That was one of my initial apprehension too Thad. We did a 6 km drive and found that it did not obstruct the driver's vision. Will continue to monitor that when there is more traffic with vehicles all around and see if it really obstructs the driver's (either me, my son or my wife) ability to see and respond/react as necessary. Did not want it to end up as another blind spot creator like the A pillar.

The "How it looks from the driver side" photo is close to how the driver would see the area in front of the vehicle.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Also wanted to see if mounting the camera away from the windscreen will reduce the shadow cast by the dashboard. So here is what I did.

Good job. Appreciate your efforts to iron out the common issues one face with a windshield mounted dashcam.

I too use the same product and dashboard reflection on the footage is annoying. But I just wonder, won't this set up still produce the reflections depending on the direction of sunlight as the car keep changing directions on the move.

Originally Posted by pjbiju

If you download the video to a computer and play it back in VLC player, the GPS data is not visible. However I have found a software called gps_extract.exe that extracts the GPS information as a subtitle to the video and when I play it back in VLC player, the GPS data is shown as subtitles. I do not recall the exact site that I downloaded it from, but I think there are several such programs.

Do you know of any mobile app that can do the trick of retaining the speed and GPS coordinates stamp when we download the footage to mobile from the cam. I don't download them to laptop at all. Hence looking for a solution that can do the job from mobile itself.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

In the past there have been some occasions when the bracket got detached from the windscreen once in a while. So now I have tethered it to the rear view mirror bracket with a cable tie so that even if the bracket looses its vacuum, the whole thing will not fall down.

Neat work. Yes, this is a common problem with suction mounts hence I don't use suction mounts anymore. Also I think older the mount, more acute is the problem.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

...
I too use the same product and dashboard reflection on the footage is annoying. But I just wonder, won't this set up still produce the reflections depending on the direction of sunlight as the car keep changing directions on the move.

Do you know of any mobile app that can do the trick of retaining the speed and GPS coordinates stamp when we download the footage to mobile from the cam. I don't download them to laptop at all. Hence looking for a solution that can do the job from mobile itself.

Thanks. The reflection was very minimal in the initial run. I will clean the windscreen and do some more runs and see how it fares. Unfortunately I do not know if there is any mobile app that will extract and display the GPS data. If you play the video in the mobile app from the album, the speed and GPS coordinates are displayed, but not once you have downloaded the video locally.

Originally Posted by airbus

Neat work. Yes, this is a common problem with suction mounts hence I don't use suction mounts anymore. Also I think older the mount, more acute is the problem.

Thanks. I have had the issue of the suction mount giving away mostly when parked in the sun for a long time. Adding a splash of water to the mount, reduces it a bit. The new gel type mounts seem to be stronger. Will see if I can get one of those.

Originally Posted by pjbiju

... Also wanted to see if mounting the camera away from the windscreen will reduce the shadow cast by the dashboard.

I had wanted to say the reflection of the dashboard on the windscreen and not shadow. Probably was too distracted while writing.

[harsh79]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

I noticed a slight vibration especially over concrete roads. Will try to see how I can reduce or eliminate that. Also we did not notice much of a shadow from the dashboard with this setup.

Vibrations will be directly proportional to how long you make the arm. It's advised to stick such dash cams to the windscreen if you want to avoid the jello effect.

Also, reflections tend to get worse the further you take the camera from the windscreen.

[Sebring]

The vacuum hold gives up in no time (As happened with my Transcend). Best is the 3M double tape. I did not want it in my line of vision, and since the Nexon has this dark patch in ample, took an hour to line the ROAV nicely and out of sight from the outside. (Thieves break glass and make away with DashCams, so why the risk)

Originally Posted by pjbiju

I did not want to stick the camera directly to the windscreen and wanted to be able to remove it if parking too long in the sun (because of the built-in battery)

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by Danny121

Friends, Ive almost reached the end of my search for an Indian company atleast an company who calls them Indian and assembles it locally, guarantees 100% service and addresses any queries you throw across to them. This company Safe Cams is a young company based out of Pune shells out impressive line up starting from base models as well as one which has every features in the book. Im seriously in talks with them to purchase either SC01 or SC02 and only as a BUYER and nothing else
Here is their website https://www.safecams.in/

Thanks Danny. I'm also looking at a reliable dashcam, and would love to know your first hand experience. On looking through the website, it seems a little amateurish and probably still under development, especially the FAQ section. I also couldn't find the footage of SC01 or SC02, and guess, will have to email them for that.

Anyways, Do let us know your feedback if you end up buying their product.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It's beautiful work, and I feel guilty about quibbling, but...

It appears from the pictures to be right in you line of view, where your eyes need to see. I find even my RVM (VW Polo) is lower than I would like: I would never put anything underneath it.

So I ended up making some changes to the setup today. I slightly modified the profile of the adapter plate so that it would give me more freedom in positioning it. The new way I have mounted it is shown below in pictures. The screen and buttons are easily accessible to make changes to the cam settings as needed. Instead of placing the adapter along a vertical line, it is now placed horizontally.


Modified adapter attached to the suction mount


Driver's view now


A close up of how it is now mounted behind the rear view mirror. It is positioned much higher than how I had placed it yesterday the details of which can be found at https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...ml#post4870333 (The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Driver's view now

That looks much better and safer

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Sebring

The vacuum hold gives up in no time (As happened with my Transcend)

Since you referred Transcend, I have been using the same vacuum holder that came with my DP200 in 2013 and that's 7 years now. Back then, If i recollect, the vacuum holder was sold as a seperate attachment and I had bought it.

I don't remove my camera from its position regularly but I take out the memory card quite often. So those pivot linkages remain unperturbed. However, as a regular practice, I take out the mount and wipe the glass and then spread just one drop of water over the vacuum mount and attach it to the windscreen. In summers or when parked under the hot sun, I have noticed that the camera develops little shake and this is fixed soon after you remove the mount and attach it again.