Bass Mech

i do have 15% and the pictures will be darker but nothing you can do about it, the defroster lines were more of an issue.
before i stuck mine to the glass i used my iPhone app in LIVE mode to see what the camera is seeing before i made the final choice as to location.

daytime to dusk works fine.
i also suspect blackvue will eventually revise the iPhone app to allow brightness adjustment on the rear cam.

to be honest i have video from a dark parking lot that you can still make out even with 15% tint. the camera will compensate to some degree to the darker glass.

SC300Es

How close you have to be to make out plate numbers on the recordings? Also on front cam do you get a reflection off the dash on a sunny day? On my somehow cheap EBay dashcam the license plates pretty much become blurry after about 1.5 car lenghts and I can't stand the reflection off the dash.

Ed

Bass Mech

you can eliminate a lot of reflection on the dash by not putting glossy crap like armorall on it. just leave it alone and flat looking.

if you play back the recordings at 1080p or using the software there is a zoom feature that allows you to zoom in. just take the micro SD card out, plug it into your computer, there is a file there called application i believe. if you run that it will bring up a viewer to play stuff back on. it will play front and rear cam at the same time on the screen.

then you can zoom in to some degree to make out a plate# but you get what you pay for when it comes to cameras. visit this site
http://dashboardcamerareviews.com there are videos and examples of the most popular. you can see front eh high quality ones such as blackvue it is easy to make out a plate from a good distance. be sure to view the videos at the max resolution and on full screen mode.
nothing is perfect, it would take a lot more memory and processor power to take higher res pictures. but a suggestion. if someone does something to you on the road and you need the plate all you need to do is speed up to them or get close even for a second and you'll have a plate number.

also i have not done this yet but have confirmed with the police department that if i have video of a road raged nut and submit it as evidence and am willing to sign a complaint an officer will go to the other partys house and serve them with a summons and complaint, issue a ticket and they likely will have a court date.
i hate to say it but big brother will be everywhere before long. that may not be a bad thing,,

but I've also said for years that if police want to make a real effort to actually enforce the law they really need to stop driving these pretty white cars with the blink lights on top. if you want to catch people doing wrong you really need to be in a regular car. or in my case a regular car with a camera.

hissori

I followed your instructions and set up my new blackvue. It works fine.. except.. after I return from work and start the car, rear camera wouldn't work.
I have to reset the power on the power pro in order to work again.
I used same fuse as you used, but using 12 v and 6 hours.
any thoughts??
thanks

RaysurX

Were you parked longer than 6 hours without starting your car?
If yes - the Powermagic pro did as it was programmed and shutdown recordging after 6 hours.

If nothing else works...
Could be faulty cable or plug damaged.

With Blackvue powered down - *carefully* un plug and re-plug both rear camera cable and cable plugged into Blackvue. Don't force. If you can just eyeball the cable side plug to see if anything is bent.

Bass Mech

i agree with ^^^
but a few things to look for. if you mounted the front cam where i did, you probably cannot see the front cam from the drivers seat. so you need to verify if the front cam is on and the rear is off. if that is the case you may have a defective camera setup.
if both cams are off (much more likely) then either your time has expired or your battery voltage has fallen below the voltage threshold.

i have a 3 mile commute myself to work each day. and i can tell you that the battery will not hold enough charge to power the camera for a full 12 hours. you probably need to drive for at least an hour to get enough charge to cover the 12 hours or 8 if thats how its programmed.

sc00b

ive got the same radar setup too
good job

psiduck

great job however im just curious, that wire from the rear camera, how are you sure that it wont interfere both rear and front side curtain airbags?

They will deploy from the path where you run the wires arent they? I was actually thinking about running the wires to the bottom because of this.

lkleyman

Additional installer tip:
Using an Add-A-Circuit will keep your added power wiring isolated from other fuses in the fuse box.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002B...&robot_redir=1

It's $4 well spent and prevents overloading a circuit by tapping more 3rd party tech into it.
It has it's own dedicated fuse and the stock fuse is reused as well. So you could have a 10a stock and a 15a fuse for something in need for more power.

I had 3 of these in my other car, 1 saved my *** from a major short circuit which actually melted a ballast.

Hope this helps

HeMan26

Will I be able to put the fuse cap back on if I install the Add-A-Circuit?

lkleyman

You should be able to. Add-a-fuse's fuses install sideways (perpendicular to the stock fuses) and typical fuse box covers leave some space at the top.

Most automotive stores like pepboys and autozone carry them. Can always return if they don't fit.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

you wont be able to close the fuse box under the steering wheel, the cover flushes right on top of hte fuses with no space. Youll have to tap a fuse in the engine bay if you want to be able to close covers

ancpratt

I've ordered my BlackVue DR550GW-2CH with the Power Magic Pro box from Amazon and can't wait to install it.

Bass Mech: Thanks for your excellent write-up and I'll be using it as my guide when I do my installation.

Hermes

What an amazing write-up! Does anyone know what an install like this would cost for just the radar detector?

ancpratt

I finally received my DR550GW-2CH along with the Power Magic Pro box, installed it all last night by using Bass Mech's guide and my set up works perfectly as well. One step I didn't do was not taking the A-pillar cover off and just ran the cables under the weather stripping and under the felt. It was a little tight that way but I managed to get them all under there nicely.

Be careful if you install this yourself like we did as I have a few little slices on my fingers from running the data cable along the sharp edge of the headliner from the back cam to the front! Ouch!