" Tesla Sentry Mode " feature install using Blackvue Cameras as security / surveillance recorder

[Theherofails]

You've added new items to my Bronco to-do list...
Questions: In clicking on the links, there are 4 drop downs... Which options did you choose on these?

Thanks!!

Go with the smallest memory size available (32GB) and just order a quality SD card from Amazon. That'll save you 200 dollars.

You can skip the rest of the options. Only thing you really need are the fuse taps (which you can get at any store, micro2 taps).

I used a small third party battery pack to keep the phone/wifi hotspot topped off. The one correction I need to make is a better power point for the rear camera. Come to find out, the 12v outlet shuts off after 30 minutes. I thought it would stay on a bit longer. You could easily add their battery pack to your order and keep using the 12v.

If you use t-mobile or At&t, you can order the LTE option and skip the hotspot.

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[WuNgUn]

@Theherofails cloud connectivity? Does this mean all the parking mode footage is saved to their servers, available for instant viewing by you?
And any alerts/alarms are sent to your cell phone?
You mentioned in-car WiFi hotspot... Is this only for uploading footage on the move? Or is the hotspot on all the time in the car? Built in WiFi I mean....

 

[Theherofails]

@Theherofails cloud connectivity? Does this mean all the parking mode footage is saved to their servers, available for instant viewing by you?
And any alerts/alarms are sent to your cell phone?
You mentioned in-car WiFi hotspot... Is this only for uploading footage on the move? Or is the hotspot on all the time in the car? Built in WiFi I mean....

The hotspot stays on but will cut out if car battery drops below 12v. The exact voltage can be changed if 12v leads to slow starts on cold days. Same with cameras. If you use T-Mobile or AT$T, you can just use their LTE addon and no hotspot needed. I use Verizon so I had no choice.

Yes. Instant alerts on my phone as long as the vehicle has cell service. Can view live footage and recorded footage.

 

[WuNgUn]

The hotspot stays on but will cut out if car battery drops below 12v. The exact voltage can be changed if 12v leads to slow starts on cold days. Same with cameras. If you use T-Mobile or AT$T, you can just use their LTE addon and no hotspot needed. I use Verizon so I had no choice.

Yes. Instant alerts on my phone as long as the vehicle has cell service. Can view live footage and recorded footage.

Oh... The camera itself has a hotspot?
I was refering to the Ford built in WiFi hotspot as an option.
I assume you'd get phone alerts when the cams were connected to WiFi as well, not just cellular?

 

[Theherofails]

Oh... The camera itself has a hotspot?
I was refering to the Ford built in WiFi hotspot as an option.
I assume you'd get phone alerts when the cams were connected to WiFi as well, not just cellular?

The Ford hotspot turns off after 30 minutes. It'll work for quick stops into the store, but not overnight. At home, you can just use your home wifi as long as Bronco is in range.

The cameras have built in LTE if you order it that way, yes.

The only time the Verizon hotspot matters is extended stays away from home.

I just had a drunk guy get really friendly with my Bronco. If the footage is any fun, I'll share it.

This was not even 10 minutes ago. Oh man. People act crazy around the Bronco. So strange.

 

[WuNgUn]

The Ford hotspot turns off after 30 minutes. It'll work for quick stops into the store, but not overnight. At home, you can just use your home wifi as long as Bronco is in range.

The cameras have built in LTE if you order it that way, yes.

The only time the Verizon hotspot matters is extended stays away from home.

I just had a drunk guy get really friendly with my Bronco. If the footage is any fun, I'll share it.

This was not even 10 minutes ago. Oh man. People act crazy around the Bronco. So strange.

Holy shit! Drunk assh*les are the worst man!
I think I'm gonna go this route...
Sleep with my phone next to my bed and a baseball bat by the front door

 

[Theherofails]

Holy shit! Drunk assh*les are the worst man!
I think I'm gonna go this route...
Sleep with my phone next to my bed and a baseball bat by the front door

It's a cheap upgrade for peace of mind in my opinion. In a few years, the demand will die down and people won't be so weird around the Bronco. Until then, better safe than sorry if you live in the city.

 

[4XMORE]

I hate that we still have to install these even though some of these vehicles have a 360 camera setup, and with some software could do the same job that teslas do….

 

[Blood_and_Mud]

Nice work OP. I didn't see your post earlier when I made mine about the mirror tap question. I have the same Backvue 900 coming tomorrow but splurged on the wifi hotspot that comes with it. I will only have two cameras (no 700 series) though so still trying to decide where to mount the rear one (I have a soft top). I may mount it on the windshield facing back toward the seats to record both interior and rear window area. Or mount it on the rollbar and have ability to rotate it front or back, depending on situation. Will figure that out when it arrives. Long story short, the parking/sentry mode is half of why I want this setup. I am using that in a couple of other vehicles; but they are not convertibles so feel it is even more important in a Bronco. This will be my first time using wifi for cloud alerts and monitoring, so looking forward to that aspect of it.

Now to go find that fuse box... Any pics?

Please keep us updated as where you end up putting the rear camera! I also have a soft top and will be looking to learn from your experience.

 

[tjnoffy]

After having a few people get a little TOO comfortable with the Bronco, I made the plan on replicating the Sentry Mode found in Teslas to the best of my ability.

Cameras:
DR900X PLUS 2 Channel with IR
DR750X PLUS 1 Channel
You could also use the DR750X PLUS 3 channel package for the same cost. The reason I used two different cameras was for the ability to record trail runs in 4K without having to also run a GoPro. The DR750X is a 1440p camera. You can see the quality difference in the examples below.


Misc Equipment:
Micro2 Fuse Taps
Wifi Hotspot with 12v charger & optional USB-C battery bank.


What it does:
This system is hardwired to backup power which in turn is charged off the internal vehicle battery. The backup power has the capability to be charged via solar panels I have for the roof when overlanding.

While driving, it's just your average dashcam setup. The magic happens when you park and the system goes into 'parking mode' - AKA, Sentry mode. Until I return to the vehicle, all cameras are recording 1FPS and will automatically activate and record videos of any motion (internally) or if the vehicle is tampered with in any fashion internally or externally (all cameras) via shock sensors. This works with the doors and roof on or off, and all cameras are shielded from direct rain. I have the option of external motion activated alerts if needed.

Any incidents are immediately transmitted over a wifi hotspot to the cloud and I get an emergency ping on my phone with the ability to view live video from anywhere.

For the wifi hotspot, I am using a spare cell phone plugged into a 10,000mAH battery pack via USB C, which in turn is topped off by the vehicle battery. This gives me approx. 1 week of standby power for wifi.

The system is set up to first attempt to use my home wifi. If it's unavailable, it falls back to the built in vehicle WIFI. If that is unavailable as well, it falls back to the wifi hotspot. This saves data when parked at home but assures instant notifications on the move.

The entire setup is designed to switch off if the vehicle battery crosses a voltage threshold to make sure I don't come out to a dead battery.

The Install:

Zero wires visible as I piggybacked off the rearview mirror harness and entered the vehicle trim that way. A little tricky to route it around the window frame but a trim tool helps greatly here.

Free Pro Tip: Despite the onboard vehicle owners manual stating the in vehicle fuse panel is behind the glove box, it is not. Those instructions and photos are actually from the Bronco Sport. You have to remove the entire bottom dash piece below the steering wheel and the the in vehicle fux box is tucked back by the A pillar. Most of the fuses are the new Micro3, which I could not tap. The left side is the older Micro2 and are available to tap for both intermittent and constant 12v.


Front & Internal Camera (inside view)

	As you can see, this setup is totally stealth from the exterior due to ceramic coating on windshield.

Rear Camera

	Rear Camera is mounted directly to the rear window with enough slack to allow the window to open without tension on the power cable.
	Totally stealth from the rear as well.
	This is the only visible cable in the entire install. There is absolutely no way to hide this cable going to the rear window, but Ford didn't try hide theirs either so it all blends.

Front Camera Test Footage:


Rear Camera Test Footage:


Inside Camera Screenshot (Infrared/Night Vision)

Great install! Just a few questions, if you don't mind...

• I guess Blackvue doesn't have a 900 series 3 channel solution?
• How is the whole system wired to backup power? All 3 cams are connected to a battery bank, which is, in turn, wired to constant vehicle power? Or to ignition power, so the backup power is only recharged while the vehicle is running?
  • What is the battery pack brand/model?
• Despite the inconvenient location, does the panel under the steering pop out pretty easily?
• Secondary connectivity is the built in vehicle wifi. So does the built in wifi in the Bronco stay active when the vehicle is shut down? If not, when would it be used in this application? If so, battery drain risk?
• Vehicle battery voltage sensing is built into all of the cameras, yes? You didn't need to add anything to accomplish this, correct?
• Could you have swapped the 900 interior cam to the rear, and the 750 to the interior, just to get higher res video (too see license plates and faces better) out the rear in case of an accident/drive off? Or does the 750 not do IR?
• Could you see mounting the rear camera to the underside of the roll bar in the case of a soft top? I've seen someone else do this. Just wondering if these cameras lend themselves to being wired and mounted that way.

Thanks!

 

[Hossfire]

After having a few people get a little TOO comfortable with the Bronco, I made the plan on replicating the Sentry Mode found in Teslas to the best of my ability.

Cameras:
DR900X PLUS 2 Channel with IR
DR750X PLUS 1 Channel
You could also use the DR750X PLUS 3 channel package for the same cost. The reason I used two different cameras was for the ability to record trail runs in 4K without having to also run a GoPro. The DR750X is a 1440p camera. You can see the quality difference in the examples below.


Misc Equipment:
Micro2 Fuse Taps
Wifi Hotspot with 12v charger & optional USB-C battery bank.


What it does:
This system is hardwired to backup power which in turn is charged off the internal vehicle battery. The backup power has the capability to be charged via solar panels I have for the roof when overlanding.

While driving, it's just your average dashcam setup. The magic happens when you park and the system goes into 'parking mode' - AKA, Sentry mode. Until I return to the vehicle, all cameras are recording 1FPS and will automatically activate and record videos of any motion (internally) or if the vehicle is tampered with in any fashion internally or externally (all cameras) via shock sensors. This works with the doors and roof on or off, and all cameras are shielded from direct rain. I have the option of external motion activated alerts if needed.

Any incidents are immediately transmitted over a wifi hotspot to the cloud and I get an emergency ping on my phone with the ability to view live video from anywhere.

For the wifi hotspot, I am using a spare cell phone plugged into a 10,000mAH battery pack via USB C, which in turn is topped off by the vehicle battery. This gives me approx. 1 week of standby power for wifi.

The system is set up to first attempt to use my home wifi. If it's unavailable, it falls back to the built in vehicle WIFI. If that is unavailable as well, it falls back to the wifi hotspot. This saves data when parked at home but assures instant notifications on the move.

The entire setup is designed to switch off if the vehicle battery crosses a voltage threshold to make sure I don't come out to a dead battery.

The Install:

Zero wires visible as I piggybacked off the rearview mirror harness and entered the vehicle trim that way. A little tricky to route it around the window frame but a trim tool helps greatly here.

Free Pro Tip: Despite the onboard vehicle owners manual stating the in vehicle fuse panel is behind the glove box, it is not. Those instructions and photos are actually from the Bronco Sport. You have to remove the entire bottom dash piece below the steering wheel and the the in vehicle fux box is tucked back by the A pillar. Most of the fuses are the new Micro3, which I could not tap. The left side is the older Micro2 and are available to tap for both intermittent and constant 12v.


Front & Internal Camera (inside view)

	As you can see, this setup is totally stealth from the exterior due to ceramic coating on windshield.

Rear Camera

	Rear Camera is mounted directly to the rear window with enough slack to allow the window to open without tension on the power cable.
	Totally stealth from the rear as well.
	This is the only visible cable in the entire install. There is absolutely no way to hide this cable going to the rear window, but Ford didn't try hide theirs either so it all blends.

Front Camera Test Footage:


Rear Camera Test Footage:


Inside Camera Screenshot (Infrared/Night Vision)

I look forward to the robotic dog that chases the offender away!

 

[Theherofails]

Great install! Just a few questions, if you don't mind...

• I guess Blackvue doesn't have a 900 series 3 channel solution?
• How is the whole system wired to backup power? All 3 cams are connected to a battery bank, which is, in turn, wired to constant vehicle power? Or to ignition power, so the backup power is only recharged while the vehicle is running?
  • What is the battery pack brand/model?
• Despite the inconvenient location, does the panel under the steering pop out pretty easily?
• Secondary connectivity is the built in vehicle wifi. So does the built in wifi in the Bronco stay active when the vehicle is shut down? If not, when would it be used in this application? If so, batter drain risk?
• Vehicle battery voltage sensing is built into all of the cameras, yes? You didn't need to add anything to accomplish this, correct?
• Could you have swapped the 900 interior cam to the rear, and the 750 to the interior, just to get higher res video (too see license plates and faces better) out the rear in case of an accident/drive off? Or does the 750 not do IR?
• Could you see mounting the rear camera to the underside of the roll bar in the case of a soft top? I've seen someone else do this. Just wondering if these cameras lend themselves to being wired and mounted that way.

Thanks!

No problem, Ill answer the best I can.

1.) No The best they have out of the box is the 750x 3 channel with 1080p.
2.)Two different systems. Front camera and inside camera are powered from a battery bank inline with the fuse taps. If you check Amazon, you can find many options for 12v battery banks. Blackvue also sells options for a lot more money. Rear camera is a stand alone camera that currently lives off the Bronco main battery alone for the time being. Auto cuts off if my main battery drops below 12v, which so far I have not even noticed a drop at all. The wifi hotspot is powered off a regular 5v 10,000mah battery bank in line to the 12v charger in the center console.
3.)It does, but it will make you a tad nervous the first time. Its quite resistant and then lets go all at once with a loud noise. It seems durable and goes back easy enough.
4.)The built in wifi stays active until the car does the 'final shutdown' approximately 30 minutes after you exit the vehicle. Believe it or not, your car only turns the engine off as you hit the off button. Working in the vehicle with the power off, I realized there is this entire shut down routine that happens about 30 minutes after you exit. Vents are closing, buzzing under the body as some servos close, outlets shut down.. all kinds of stuff happening.
5.)You could, but rear facing cams are considered less useful. They're typically only 1080p in almost every camera kit. I think Thinkvue makes a 1440p option, which is what I went with here.
6.)Yes. All the x series camera from Blackvue have voltage sensing, and I added a cheap module in to protect the circuit for the wifi hotspot that is cabled into the 12v receptacle. I just went with a cheap off the shelf option from Adafruit.com
7.)So for the soft top owners, I would probably go with the camera from Nextbase. It doesn't have as advanced cloud features, but it has a zoom camera you can install to see out your back window from the front camera. It would only be a 2 channel solution (so you are missing the interior view), but that would BY FAR be the easiest install for a regular dash cam for soft top owners. Otherwise yes, you are limited to that rear roll bar, which isnt the BEST view but it works.

https://www.nextbase.com/en-us/modules/


Let me know if I missed anything, no coffee yet.

 

[tjnoffy]

No problem, Ill answer the best I can.

1.) No The best they have out of the box is the 750x 3 channel with 1080p.
2.)Two different systems. Front camera and inside camera are powered from a battery bank inline with the fuse taps. If you check Amazon, you can find many options for 12v battery banks. Blackvue also sells options for a lot more money. Rear camera is a stand alone camera that currently lives off the Bronco main battery alone for the time being. Auto cuts off if my main battery drops below 12v, which so far I have not even noticed a drop at all. The wifi hotspot is powered off a regular 5v 10,000mah battery bank in line to the 12v charger in the center console.
3.)It does, but it will make you a tad nervous the first time. Its quite resistant and then lets go all at once with a loud noise. It seems durable and goes back easy enough.
4.)The built in wifi stays active until the car does the 'final shutdown' approximately 30 minutes after you exit the vehicle. Believe it or not, your car only turns the engine off as you hit the off button. Working in the vehicle with the power off, I realized there is this entire shut down routine that happens about 30 minutes after you exit. Vents are closing, buzzing under the body as some servos close, outlets shut down.. all kinds of stuff happening.
5.)You could, but rear facing cams are considered less useful. They're typically only 1080p in almost every camera kit. I think Thinkvue makes a 1440p option, which is what I went with here.
6.)Yes. All the x series camera from Blackvue have voltage sensing, and I added a cheap module in to protect the circuit for the wifi hotspot that is cabled into the 12v receptacle. I just went with a cheap off the shelf option from Adafruit.com
7.)So for the soft top owners, I would probably go with the camera from Nextbase. It doesn't have as advanced cloud features, but it has a zoom camera you can install to see out your back window from the front camera. It would only be a 2 channel solution (so you are missing the interior view), but that would BY FAR be the easiest install for a regular dash cam for soft top owners. Otherwise yes, you are limited to that rear roll bar, which isnt the BEST view but it works.

https://www.nextbase.com/en-us/modules/


Let me know if I missed anything, no coffee yet.

Thanks for your answers. Best solution I've seen, to date.

Here is the solution I saw that mounts the rear camera on the roll bar for a soft top. I wonder if your 750 may still see out of the rear window from there well enough, as seen in this solution.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...0-pro-dash-cam-front-and-rear-recorder.26896/

 

[Theherofails]

Thanks for your answers. Best solution I've seen, to date.

Here is the solution I saw that mounts the rear camera on the roll bar for a soft top. I wonder if your 750 may still see out of the rear window from there well enough, as seen in this solution.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...0-pro-dash-cam-front-and-rear-recorder.26896/

I'm positive it would. You'll see a bit of the window frame cloth, but it's going to work just fine. Rear camera is the least important as well. Inside cam will get anyone breaking in, so back cam is just to see people approaching and in case you get rear ended. Most accidents happen from the front..

 

[Panzer948]

Thanks for your answers. Best solution I've seen, to date.

Here is the solution I saw that mounts the rear camera on the roll bar for a soft top. I wonder if your 750 may still see out of the rear window from there well enough, as seen in this solution.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...0-pro-dash-cam-front-and-rear-recorder.26896/

I just received my Blackvue 900 today and plan to mount my rear camera in this same area. I am simply waiting to get my Bronco back from the PPF and Ceramic Paint Protection shop before doing the install, which should be this weekend. Like the OP, I am also adding cloud capability but am using the Blackvue wifi module since I have Tmobile. I may make a thread detailing the install.

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