[dass]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I am assuming that you are referring to the Dashcam alone (recollecting your queries on other threads). If so, the installation only labor is not worth more than 300 bucks.

Thanks Parag Bhai, and yes you are correct. I am only looking at the installation part and preferably at a place where someone has had some experience of getting it done.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by dass

Thanks Parag Bhai, and yes you are correct. I am only looking at the installation part and preferably at a place where someone has had some experience of getting it done.

To be honest, you shouldn't be thinking too much about this installation - Its fairly simple by installer standards as well as long as you tell them where you want to route the wires to.

And if you are going to use the Hardwiring Kit instead of the charger supplied with the camera, you can show the pictures from many of the detailed threads available - They will easily get an idea.

[dass]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

And if you are going to use the Hardwiring Kit instead of the charger supplied with the camera, you can show the pictures from many of the detailed threads available - They will easily get an idea.

I have the required materials (except for the fuse) with me. I plan to rip open the existing wire that has the charger at one end and use that instead of buying a separate wiring harness. This was suggested by @audioholic as well and hence my apprehensions with getting this done just about anywhere.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by dass

sir, where do you plan on getting this done and what are the charges for the installation?

Actually if you have all essential tools and jump cable, its very easy DIY. The only trick is to figure out how to open the panels to route the cables without breaking any of them

But like Parag said, you can get it done by any competent electrician. I got mine done by the electrician who works at MASS. He knew each and every panel, fuse to decide on how to tap, route and connect. Mine was done by Sireeesh (Silk board junction) technician..

Referring to your earlier post of rip opening the charger to hard-wire, make sure that there is no critical component portion of the cable is left out. What I mean by this is - you would cut one side of the charger - that bulky thing may have some conversion thing in it and by using the left over portion of just cable might short it.

[abirnale]

An early morning weekend being spent cleaning and washing the car. It's good time to spend with car and best if you get that coupled with junior help.



The end result after a long time cleaning session -



And wait continues for the long pending ICE work :(

[abirnale]

Thinkware f770 Dashcam

Cheetah had this dash camera for a long time -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post3782214
With a delicate hardwiring and setup, this camera server me well. All was well until I realised that this camera isn’t the best one I could afford. After all this was bought when the deal was offered. Not really when I had done a compare and decided. After recently car got rear ended mildly, I had started thinking about setting a camera that can record rear as well. So option was to get some camera again and setup as separate unit. But around same time, my buddies from TORC Facebook group had come up with few alternatives that would help. And thats how I landed up with ThinkWare F7770 camera kit!

When I started my research, I bumped upon this great review of the dash camera -
Blackboxmycar Review -https://www.blackboxmycar.com/produc...-f770-dash-cam
Video Review -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GQcCDTqo6s

While browsing through the ThinkWare site, I was highly impressed with these specs - Product Spec Page -http://www.thinkware.com/Products/Dashcam/F770

When started for search-shopping online, India Amazon site had double to price as compared to same bundle on the USA site. And then a friend in USA came for rescue! I bought it in USA via good friend and brought to India via another friend who was travelling around same time. So many helping hands

Bought from here - https://www.amazon.com/THINKWARE-2-C.../dp/B01IUNP8S2

I am not a pro in DIY so did not risk of opening panels all by myself. Hence for temporary until i get time, I simply plugged in the new cam with 12v default car socket connection. Looked ugly but gave me that needed time to get used to cam, settings and operation.

Camera Specs -



Packaging and Setup pics -








Since the setup for hardwiring was already done, the resetting new cables was very easy. The old cables would not be usable, so I removed the entire old setup except the fuse tap. After hardwiring, routed the cable through right side floor onto the rear hatch door. Cable was pulled through the rear hatch door beading near hinges and finally setup the camera.

Here are some more pictures for setup -





My observations so far -
What I liked:

• The camera is best I have seen so far with crisper images for day as well as night.
• Offers various modes - parking, motion sensor, continuous recording, manual recording, incident recording/ impact sensors
• The GS and Wifi are pretty fast.
• The camera does not have any display - you can only view things via phone application and its seamless
• Voice prompts and navigation cues are superb, never missed a single prompt
• GPS fix is surprisingly fast. As soon as I come out of basement parking lot, in less than 5 seconds it obtains the fix.
• Its very convenient to remove the MicroSD card and using the adapter provided, I can access it on the computer or even car’s USB video playback interface. Very handy and thoughtful.
• The unit is of decent size and easy to operate.
• The camera angle adjusting is breeze - snug-fits in on the windshield (I have done a shoddy job of aligning the camera though) and hence least reflections from dashboard. The vibrations are least.
• Mobile App has various options to compensate for SUV vs Sedan kind of setup and it adjusts its vibration compensation accordingly.
• There are host of other features which I am not using as of now such as - forward Collision detection, Traffic Red Light warning, Lane Departure etc. Wont work in Indian condition anyway! The Speed camera alerts will work only in USA that too after I load the speed camera database onto the MicroSD card.

What could be better -

• If it would have had recording enabled while on WiFi mobile connection mode ON too.
• Recording begins after 10-15 seconds of starting the camera.
• Does not have any OBD hook/ connection as some other advanced cameras do.
• Copying videos from camera onto phone takes on an average 60 seconds per video. Could have been faster may be.
• To fit on front windshield, I had to remove the factory RFID sticker - that was painstaking.

I have not setup the camera for parking mode/ continuous recording fearing the battery drain but I think for now this is just perfect. In the posts on earlier page there is a video captured while the camera was temporarily setup. I will grab few more footages and upload in near future for reference.

Ciao until next update!

PS: Picture credits above - My Own vehicle pics, Thinkware Site, Youtube and BlackboxMyCar.

[abirnale]

While everything else can wait and has no implication directly as such, I felt the dire need to change stock Apollo Aptera tyres. They had left no proper grip and had become super noisy after getting harder part of rubber exposed with regular wear. They lasted for 48,000 kms and keeping in mind upcoming long trips, here we are with new tyres!

This time I got them Michelin Latitude Tour @ Madhu's. As usual professional and friendly service and in less than an hour, I am out of there with new tyres, balancing and alignment. Fastest service I know of on the fastest ageing cheetah! Yes, this is first ever I have bought tyres for any of my cars. I always sold cars around same time when the tyres were due for replacement. But this time in around 21 months, cheetah completes 48,000 kms and gets the new set of tyres. The spare remains unused and hence not changed.




On these tyres I am hopeful to complete the trips this year - up north somewhere to Himalayas if I can! *praying* for everything to fall in place

Ciao until next update!

[abirnale]

And another small but important thing - got Fastag'ed today! Hopefully the drives on highways would be much easier and stress free going forward.



No way to test unless I venture out specifically - none of my daily driving routes need this. Only while on highway and long drives this will be helpful, if at all. May be a good weekend run to check new tyres as well as tag would be a great idea 😬

[vinitbhavi]

Originally Posted by abirnale

Everything happens at first time. First service is all about first's!


First Service Summary -
Odometer - 4678 Kms
What's done - Engine Oil changed, AC cleaned, Engine Bay coated with their spray product (forgot the name.)
Expenses - Rs 3503.00

issue.

hii avinash good to get the above information as ill be heading for my first service in a few week's. What does AC cleaned exactly mean also how much was the engine bay coating and is it necessary .
This is my plan in addition to normal first service
1)Bumper repair - needs to be replaced
2)Remove rear guard - bulky and of no use
3)Front sensor parking - to install
4)Maps/ software update
5)Android auto update

Anything else also done in the first service that you can advise.
Thanks!

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by vinitbhavi

What does AC cleaned exactly mean also how much was the engine bay coating and is it necessary .
This is my plan in addition to normal first service
1)Bumper repair - needs to be replaced
2)Remove rear guard - bulky and of no use
3)Front sensor parking - to install
4)Maps/ software update
5)Android auto update

Hey Vinit, thanks.

The AC filters are changed I believe in first service. I had driven through some village roads and there was lot of dust on the vents. That was cleaned too. As part of AC servicing, they used some KLIMA Fresh treatment. Don't remember exactly but bill says so.

Engine Coating was some 550Rs I think. Ideally both of these things are not really required - coating and cleaning. But no harm if you have no issues spending extra 1000Rs. The engine coating is nice - helps clean the engine bay easily. The dust and muck does not stay for long. Just a quick blow of air and all dust falls down due to this coating. It lasted good for 6-8 months i think.

On other points you mentioned -

1)Bumper repair - needs to be replaced - Necessary from aesthetics and that feel, go ahead.

2)Remove rear guard - bulky and of no use - I never had this and paid for that during first day of this calendar year. Details elsewhere on this thread. So, depends on your thoughts. Things that sometimes we think are not needed/ not good to look, may have good utility and vice-a-versa.

3)Front sensor parking - to install - Really? Its a dirtiest thing i have ever seen - hangs on your dashboard like an ugly mole and has no utility than red LED indicator or annoying beeps! You anyway can see with your own eyes whats ahead unless its too low next to front bumper! I would rather get a reverse camera fitted in front bumper with a separate display somewhere on dash or nearby. That would be fun like your own eyes on the grill

4)Maps/ software update - MUST.

5)Android auto update - You wont get it yet, you know why

[PMK-MoJo]

Originally Posted by abirnale

I got mine done by the electrician who works at MASS. He knew each and every panel, fuse to decide on how to tap, route and connect. Mine was done by Sireeesh (Silk board junction) technician...

Hi Avinash,

Do you have a direct contact of the electrician who can do this? please share.

Thanks in Advance..

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by PMK-MoJo

Do you have a direct contact of the electrician who can do this? please share.

No, unfortunately I don't. If you just go there at Silk Board junction garage, you can find him. Won't take more than 30 mins for him. Waiting times on a busy day won't be beyond an hour or two max!

Almost there - 50,000 Kms!

With a back to back trip on NH48 for family visits and ferrying kids for vacation, Cheetah is now ready for 50K kms service (200Kms short of this mark). Tomorrow I turn into the Sireesh Auto, Singasandra facility for the same. Nothing to report except the fun moments and pictures from the recent trip to hometown. So here you go -










More updates to follow after 50K kms service over weekend. Until then ciao!

[abirnale]

50,000 Kms Service Update:

It was not at all great experience like earlier this time. Many bad bits of handling during service but more on that later. The work done on car is summarised below -




Apart from the routine R and I schedules, I had engine oil and filers replaced. Noticed that the current engine oil used is synthetic. So may be I don't need to replace oil every 10K anymore -


I had also reported issue with rear wash spray not working. Found that there was a cut in the pipe in addition to pipe getting compressed at the bottom of the tank.



Both issues needed to be fixed anyway. It was super complicated work to unclog that pressed pipe! It required the rear seat to removed, panels to be loosened and then straighten the pipe! Took good 2 hours! In addition to that, the overall servicing took whopping 6 hours! I had reached late and all things were delayed. So much so that I had to leave at 5:15pm without getting car washed. And height of things - it's added in bill! I shouted at SA, he promised to get the car picked up and do a round of polish too. I know it's not going to happen. I don't have free slot for the next three weeks and I would not allow anyone to drive my car just like that. I had booked the appointment through WYH app and that was supposed to add some discount to the final bill - did not happen. Recently when the tyres were changed, WA/WB was done. They did it again and still were able to load more sticker weights! So funny. So the service rating this time is 7/10.

Thankfully, everything else on car is attended properly and no issues so far.

Ciao until next update!

[abirnale]

Here we are for the much awaited updates -

I have been running this for 3+ weeks - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4185701

Cheetah just completed 50,000 on the odometer!

And the ICE updates - stage 1 is complete:
- Upgraded front speakers to Focal components
- Middle Row Hertz average quality coaxial speakers
- Blaupunkt 4 channel amplifier under front passenger seat with a hi-lo converter
- Ample damping on all doors except Hatch
- Sub setup arrangement (no sub yet)
- Wiring without cutting or splicing any existing cables

Pictures being processed, ETA this weekend.

[abirnale]

Sorry for not been able to write a detailed report on this ICE work - just uploading the pictures in random order here.























I wanted to add some notes -
- The ICE update is not for an audiophile grade. What I needed is silent cabin and crisper sound when I want to hear anything.
- So damping was done with maximum impact. End result - car is heavier by 18 Kgs! Door feels super heavy and good thud. But that weight I will need to watch if over period of time any issues with its operation.
- I and my wife are people who spend most of the time in car. So front speakers needed to be better quality.
- I am not a great fan of subwoofer but wouldn't mind having one. Hence the arrangement must be done. To power front components in addition to a subwoofer, I chose the 4 channel amp. The middle row (mostly occupied by Kids) have simple speakers as plug and play. No amplification needed.
- The total budget for this setup all-inclusive must be below 50K.
- The pictures above illustrate the power inputs to Amp, Tweeter locations. It also has poor stock damping and stock speakers!

Considering these things and what I have pretty satisfied with setup. Minor tweaks needed for even better quality of sound, but for now this is more than what I needed.