Any advice on dashcam installation?

[Akash]

Hi all,
Now that I'm getting settled in the new A6, I can finally fit the dashcam that has been sitting here gathering dust!

Has anyone fitted one in the C7 and if so, any advice on cable routing?
There are two cables in my case - 1 to the ciggy lighter and another to the rear camera.
The cig lighter might be replaced by a hardwire kit mainly because of the location of the connector under the armrest. If this is the case, then again, any advice on which fuse to tap into?

Thanks in advance

Cam is a Thinkware F750

[JohFol]

Hi Akash, I was about to buy the Blackvue but the supplier has broken ties with them due to the level of support. Having looked at their web site (BlackVue - Sd Card Tips) there is a worrying statement "Please try to format the SD card weekly".
So I am about to place the order for a Thinkware for my A6 and will be in the same position as you next week.

I did find this advice for which fuse to use:
"I use the rear wiper motor fuse as its ignition switched, it will be ununsed on a saloon obviously but still should be connected"

I've also bought a few of these in anticipation
2x 12/24V Add A Circuit Standard Blade Fuse Boxes Holder ATO ATC Piggy Back Tap | eBay

Can't help with the routing, but will post back my progress when it's all arrived...

[JohFol]

FYI, some good info here : Fitting a dash cam

[Akash]

Please stay away from BV
I swore by them and supported them for many years from the 300 all the way to the last lot I had (550 dual cam)
Almost every model had issues from overheating to damaging SD cards to not recording the key moment you really needed it for.

And as you've found -the support is atrocious. At the point of buying the 550 from UK Amazon, it turned out Pittasoft changed their policy and only dealt with authorised re-sellers...Amazon not being one of them.
And so when the rear cam stopped working, BV did not want to know. Thankfully the seller replaced it but when things got more serious like the memory card needing daily formats (tried with many brands), I had enough.

Went over to Thinkware F750. Only thing I'm missing is the ability to record when parked as Thinkware requires their own hardwire kit whereas BV could run of a powered ciggy plug. Thing with the C7 unlike the C6 is that the ciggy plug is not powered when the car is off so even the BV would not have worked without the hardwire kit.

What I've gained is much better quality, the rear cam is full HD too from memory unlike BV and most importantly, it's reliable with good UK support.

The annoying part is that it is a little larger than the BV range and on the C7, unless you have it pretty much next to the bottom of the mirror mount, you can't really have it centre and on the drivers side.
Why centre? The F750 has lane assist and collision alert.

Going back on topic...

I have now installed the camera.
It's on the left of the mirror (not right due to above and also any higher, the mirror won't go right enough for good rear visibility)
I've got the rear cam cable running across tucked in the panels, down the seats and up the pillers to the cam.
The power runs again tucked into the pillers and round the back of the pass seat, under and into the rear cigg lighter

I might look at hardwiring it just to free up the cig lighter but also for neatness - for now, it's fine.

I'll get some pics in to show location over the weekend

[Scott K]

Seem to remember a couple of guys had issues with the rear camera affecting the DAB reception. Think they fitted noise suppressor to help.

[JohFol]

Part of the installation for me is adding in Fistune DAB, however all advice seems to be to use the stick-on antenna to the front window. I have the saloon so unsure if the glass one is pre-fitted, and the adapter is £99 vs £30 for the generic one.

Happy to be persuaded otherwise and appreciate any guidance on how to check it's pre-fitted.

Any pictures appreciated as, looking at the Thinkware site the H50 is significantly smaller and more discrete (but lacking features)

[JohFol]

Just one other comment.
I've had some really good support when choosing a DAB by "advanced incar" so they will get the trade for the DAB unit (even though slightly higher price than elsewhere). However for the F750 there are significantly cheaper places so less of a compelling argument.

Where are people buying from?

[Akash]

Ah yes good point about DAB. I got zilch reception on DAB unless in extremely strong DAB areas and I mean strong. This was part related to the rear cam but even with just front connected, there was interference.
The new improved cable Pitta released helped only by a slight amount.
In the end, I had to get an external magnetic dab aerial for the C6 to use radio making my car look like a minicab!

I am pleased to say, no issues like this in the C7 with the F750 thankfully!

Do read/compare though - The F750 is a fair bit larger than a BV 550

I also find wifi to phone has no jitters whereas it was almost impossible with the 550gw. Annoyingly, when wifi stream is on, recording stops on the F750 whereas the BV carried on.

I got the 750 from Expansys in the end

[Bar Shaker]

Does anyone use DAB? I had it as an expensive option on my C6. It was like the Normal Collier of radio frequencies.

It' std on the BiTDi but I haven't been anywhere near it. The spectrum width of FM gives a much better sound.

[JohFol]

Akash, still all going well?

Mine is due to arrive in next few days.