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

[ab_slack]

Nice setup. I've been wanting to do something like that for my 02 Explorer which gets an inordinate amount of attention, but time has been my headache. The devices you list are a good starting point. And you are so correct that people gawking, I've had plenty looking and not paying attention to where they are going and almost hit me.

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[Arrowbear Rider]

I like the setup and after all that I've read, I am considering some type of video, even if just a go-pro while driving. In addition, I am going to be buying a cover for it and decided I will use it with a lock in public too. When I can AND when parked for any real period of time I think it would be a good habit to cover her. It really only takes about 45 seconds to put on a nice, high end cover, one that fits a vehicle well; add the time it takes to gather the cover from the cargo and put on the lock and it's a coupe of minutes. But it's a lot of piece of mind... and, it cuts down on the "finger prints" and ALL that goes with it; you know the stuff we're reading.

 

[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.

1. 
2. Is your fuse tap for the battery bank connected to full-time power or ignition power? Rear cam is/was connected to the rear 12v plug that you later stated shuts off after 30 mins? I guess another battery bank fixes that.
3. 
4. So connects to the tertiary wifi hotspot (old phone) after built in wifi shuts off.
5. I was thinking that a lower-res cam would be sufficient for the interior since anyone in view of it would be closer and therefore easier to see at lower res (assuming it's IR capable for night time). On the other hand, someone who rear ends you then takes off would be easier to capture (license plate, face) at a distance with a high-res camera. I could be wrong.
6. I'm thinking that if the wiring can be run through the roll bar, and if the camera mount can sufficiently adhere to it, no need to sacrifice resolution and cloud uploading with a lesser system.

Thanks, again, for sharing all of this!

 

[Grant3168]

It's actually pretty insane some days. I'll come out of Costco to an entire army of boomers all around it. People like looking in the windows, touching it etc. Quite unnerving. I'm a private person and don't enjoy the attention as much as some.

Another issue is I've almost been driven into more than a few times by gawkers. I'm worried about insurance claims.. People drive where they look, and if they are staring at you, they tend to almost drive into you a lot.

Finally, I had some homeless dude randomly try to hit my rear glass window as I drove by.

Enough that it warranted this solution .

Nice job on the install! This seems like something I will want and need to do to my Bronco, when I get it. What you said about the boomers at Costco really has me worried. What if its a nice day and I take the doors off to run some errands? Is some guy going to hop in like its a free invitation? Hopefully when I get mine they are just a bit more common and people won't be touching/surrounding it. That's my worst nightmare.

 

[Panzer948]

Just throwing this out there as an alternative to the OPs setup. His is very foolproof concerning power since he is adding a separate battery bank. That's a good idea if your leaving your Bronco alone for several days in a row. In my case, I am only worried about leaving it somewhere for a few hours at most as I hope (on most nights) it will be back home safe in my garage. Thus, if you primarily fit that model, adding a separate battery bank may not be a huge benefit. This is my first Blackvue (hopefully installing this weekend). However, my current Thinkware model has battery voltage protection built in. This means that it monitors the battery voltage during parking mode and will cut off if the voltage on the battery drops below a preset number. I think most recommend around 11.5 volts. I have been using this system for 4 years in my M4 and have never had an issue not capturing anything while in parking mode. The only caveat to that is when adding cloud services with wifi. I would suspect that would drain a bit more power and may leave less time to operate before the system shuts down. I am going to install mine without the extra battery pack to see how that does. You can always go back and add it later.


Just putting that out there since adding a battery bank is going to be a bit more work. I looked into it too but opted for a dash cam with voltage protection after I thought how it will be used. If this interests you, make sure the model Dashcam has that feature (not all do).

 

[nd2002]

Fantastic post! Thank you for this

 

[Brianew]

What fuse did you use to tap? a used one or a occupied one?

 

[cricex]

See a lot of people tearing Blackvue up for reliability issues in reviews. Missing dangerous altercations while drive, for example, which is a big reason people have dash cams.

So far it seems like the Garmin dashcams have the best reliability reviews. Not sure about feature parity, but I would put reliability over everything for something like a dashcam.

Can anyone speak to that?

 

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

Thanks to this thread, I ordered the Blackvue DR900X-2CH IR PLUS setup for my wife and cameras arrived today.

Any idea as to how much hotspot data one can expect to use if having the front & interior rear facing cameras uploading to the cloud at all times? Trying to determine how much to add to my plan as I haven't installed the cameras yet. Obviously when at home in the garage, it'll be using the house wireless.

 

[jorgem31]

Wondering now that you have had this for a while, would you do it again the same way?

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