DIY Blackvue DR400G-HD/Power Magic Pro Dashcam

[F1point4]

Originally Posted by brzranger

For the Session 2, I have a 3A fuse, can I use them in place of the 7.5A? If so, would I just follow exactly the install you posted?

Yes, actually I think you should use that fuse (something smaller than 7.5A). Everything else will be the same.

[BRZranger]

Originally Posted by F1point4

Yes, actually I think you should use that fuse (something smaller than 7.5A). Everything else will be the same.

To be sure, like this?

[F1point4]

Originally Posted by brzranger

To be sure, like this?

Spot on.

[BRZranger]

Installed, thank you! Checked it after a couple hours, the heat seems minimal, definitely lower than what you were showing.

Also, word of caution, be careful on placing the sd card into the slot... i put my sd card in and it didn't seat properly, and broke off inside the camera. Didn't affect anything other than having a broken sd card inside. i used a spare 16gb class 6 in there, which seems to work fine, but it's not a class 10 like the one provided, so I think I am having a lower quality video.

[BRZranger]

Seems like this session 2 version does not run very hot, but it is warm to the touch. I got a 3 year squaretrade warranty, seems like there are some reliability issues reported. No problems so far.

[F1point4]

Good to hear that the version II of the camera is working well.

I do have one issue with mine. My camera records all the time, even in parking mode. I watched the video and i can't find anything that would set it off. I'll report back if I can figure out a solution.

[post_break]

Originally Posted by F1point4

Good to hear that the version II of the camera is working well.

I do have one issue with mine. My camera records all the time, even in parking mode. I watched the video and i can't find anything that would set it off. I'll report back if I can figure out a solution.

That's an odd bug and would certainly drain your battery quicker than parking mode.

I ordered my camera and have all the fuses so we should be good to go in a week or two. Just let me know when you're free. If you want there is a garage in Alvin we can meet, it's fully air conditioned.

[BRZranger]

Looks like my spare SD card pooped out and stopped recording. Ordered a 16gb class 10 through Amazon.

Also, yes, my camera records everything when parked, like my pitch black garage. I am not sure how to change the settings for that part.

My power LED and GPS don't seem to work. GPS would be nice for the maps.

[F1point4]

My suspicions might be concerned. The configuration program might not always save the settings. I'll figure out the manual way to do it and report back.

[BRZranger]

Yes, my settings have not been getting saved either, thought it was my SD card.

[F1point4]

Blackvue DR400G-HD Configuration

Useful Files

20120831-LolaBlackVue400DIY-25 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Formatting Memory Card
+ If you are formatting an existing memory card backup all the folders except the Record folder. See folder structure below
+ Unzip the SDFormatter and Install it
+ Run the tool, select the drive, leave the options alone and hit Format
+ If you made a backup, copy it back. Make sure an empty Record folder is created.

Setting up a New Memory Card
+ Run the DR400G-HD_v1.037E(2011_1130)_Setup.exe and follow the prompts
+ It installs in two phases, memory card setup and the Blackvue Viewer.
+ For the memory card setup, select the card and follow the prompts
+ When the prompt for the viewer comes up, if you already have the viewer installed or don't want it, you can just cancel out.

Memory Card Folder Structure

+ Memory Card
L Blackvue

L Application

L Data

L Config

L Doc

L Software

L System

L upgrade

Visual setup
If you need a visual interface for configuring the camera, install and use the Blackvue Viewer.

Tab 1

20120831-LolaBlackVue400DIY-26 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Tab 2 - If you have recordings, you can click on the advanced settings and fine tune your sensitivity settings.

9-14-2012 10-30-00 AM by VictorN07, on Flickr


9-14-2012 10-36-58 AM by VictorN07, on Flickr

Tab 3

20120831-LolaBlackVue400DIY-27 by VictorN07, on Flickr


Manual Setup
I personally don't like the Blackvue viewer much. The Registrator 3rd party viewer is much better. The Blackvue Viewer configuration portion doesn't save my changes sometimes. Thus I want to highlight how to set up the camera manually. This will be useful for my Mac friends because the Blackvue Viewer doesn't work on mac.

The file you want is config.ini found in Blackvue -> Config. Fire it up in Notepad.

The file will look something like this. These are not the default settings.

[Tab1]
TimeZone=143
ImageSetting=4
Brightness=0
NormalRecord=0
VoiceRecord=0
DateDisplay=0
SpeedUnit=2
NormalRecordTime=1
EventRecordTime=1
StorageSetting=1
StorageRate=17
AutoParking=1
FileFormat=0
[Tab2]
NORMALSENSOR1=20
NORMALSENSOR2=85
NORMALSENSOR3=30
PARKINGSENSOR1=80
PARKINGSENSOR2=80
PARKINGSENSOR3=80
MOTIONSENSOR=0
[Tab3]
LED1=0
LED2=0
NORMALCOLOR=0
PARKINGCOLOR=2
STARTVOICE=1
NORMALSTARTVOICE=1
EVENTSTARTVOICE=0
CHANGERECORDMODEVOICE=1
PARKINGMODEVOICE=1
ENDVOICE=1
VOLUME=100
AVOUT=0

Here are my observations on what the settings mean, how they correlate to the visual interface. These are the default settings.

[Tab1]
TimeZone=306
--There are more regions that result in same time zone
--For example "America/Denver Mountain Time" is 91
--PST "America/Los_Angeles Pacific Time" 126
--MST "America/Phoenix Mountain Standard Time" 152
--CST "America/Chicago Central Time" 83
--EST "America/New_York Eastern Time" 143

ImageSetting=0
--Video Definition Setting
--"Full HD (1920x1080) @30fps" 0
--"Full HD (1920x1080) @15fps" 1
--"HD (1280x720) @30fps" 2
--"HD (1280x720) @15fps" 3
--"D1 (720x480) @30fps" 4

Brightness=0
--The slider from left to right
--0,1,2,3,4

NormalRecord=0
--Turning this off probably means it only writes files
--during a event triggered by the G sensor
--"Normal Record On" 0
--"Normal Record Off" 1

VoiceRecord=0
--I am not sure, probably toggles the recording of audio
--"Voice Record On" 0
--"Voice Record Off" 1

DateDisplay=0
--Embeds the Date Timestamp on the lower left of the recording
--"Display On" 0
--"Display Off" 1

SpeedUnit=0
--Embeds the speed sensed by the GPS into the lower left
--toggles which units of measure to use or not display the speed
--"kph" 0
--"mph" 1
--"Display Off" 2

NormalRecordTime=1
--For normal recording each file is this many minutes each
--1, 2, 3

EventRecordTime=1
--For event recording each file is this many minutes each
--1, 2, 3

StorageSetting=0
--I'm not sure what type does. Setting time names the file by the time
--"time" 0
--"Type" 1

StorageRate=0
--This specifies the amount of space on the memory card allocated to each type of file
--N for Normal recording (during active driving)
--E for event recording (for activing driving and parking)
--P For parking recording
--It is a huge dropdown with various ratios. I will not detail all of it
--I believe you can pick a number between 0 to 17

AutoParking=0
--The unit will switch to parking mode after 10 minutes of not sensing the ignition power
--"Auto On" 0
--"Auto Off" 1

FileFormat=0
I do not know what this is. Don't mess with it.


[Tab2]
NORMALSENSOR1=20
NORMALSENSOR2=30
NORMALSENSOR3=30
--NORMALSENSORx are sensitivity adjustment for normal recording
--Once the G-Sensor exceeds the specified threshhold (like a speed bump or accident)
--It will go into event mode
--NORMALSENSOR1 is Up/Down motion
--NORMALSENSOR2 is Side to side motion
--NORMALSENSOR3 is forward/backward motion
--In the screen it is different than in this file.
--The screen will show a number 100 minus <the number in this file>
--Low numbers are insensitive. High numbers are sensitive.
--valid numbers are 0-100


PARKINGSENSOR1=80
PARKINGSENSOR2=80
PARKINGSENSOR3=80
--PARKINGSENSORx are sensitivity adjustment for parking recording
--Once the G-Sensor exceeds the specified threshhold (like a speed bump or accident)
--It will go into event recording
--PARKINGSENSOR1 is Up/Down motion
--PARKINGSENSOR2 is Side to side motion
--PARKINGSENSOR3 is forward/backward motion
--In the screen it is different than in this file.
--The screen will show a number 100 minus <the number in this file>
--Low numbers are insensitive. High numbers are sensitive.
--valid numbers are 0-100


MOTIONSENSOR=40
--I believe this is only used in parking mode. When the camera senses movement over this treshold
--It will go into event recording
--Low numbers are insensitive. High numbers are sensitive.
--valid numbers are 0-100


[Tab3]
LED1=1
--This checkbox controls the LED ring around the lone button
--"Button LED" checked 1
--"Button LED" unchecked 0

LED2=1
--This checkbox controls the flashing recording light on the back of the camera
--"Recording Status LED" checked 1
--"Recording Status LED" unchecked 0

NORMALCOLOR=4
--THis radio box control lets you select the LED ring color during normal mode
--Red 0
--Orange 1
--Yellow 2
--Green 3
--Sky Blue 4
--Navy Blue 5
--Purple 6


PARKINGCOLOR=6
--THis radio box control lets you select the LED ring color during parking mode
--Red 0
--Orange 1
--Yellow 2
--Green 3
--Sky Blue 4
--Navy Blue 5
--Purple 6

STARTVOICE=1
--Check box to control if the girl tells you the unit is powering up
--"Power On" checked 1
--"power On" unchecked 0


NORMALSTARTVOICE=1
--Check box to control if the girl tells you the unit is switching to normal recording
--"Start Normal Recording" checked 1
--"Start Normal Recording" unchecked 0

EVENTSTARTVOICE=0
--Check box to control camera beeps when it is in event recording
--"Starting event recording (beep sound)" checked 1
--"Starting event recording (beep sound)" unchecked 0

CHANGERECORDMODEVOICE=1
--Check box to control if the girl tells you the unit is changing recording modes
--"Changing recording mode" checked 1
--"Changign Recording mode" unchecked 0

PARKINGMODEVOICE=1
--Check box to control if the girl tells you the unit is goign into parking mode??
--"Repeat parking mode state alarm" checked 1
--"Repeat parking mode state alarm" unchecked 0

ENDVOICE=1
--Check box to control if the girl tells you she is turned off by too much RACECAR
--"Power off" checked 1
--"Power off" unchecked 0


VOLUME=100
--EDIT* This changes the volume of the girl's voice.
--Higher numbers mean the audio will be loud, lower numbers means quiet
--I find 71 to be barely audible in the FR-S
--0-100

AVOUT=0
--Video Recording Standard, NTSC for North America, PAL for everywhere else.
--NTSC 0
--PAL 1

Troubleshooting
For parking mode, my camera seems to record all the time on the default settings. I tweaked the settings at random and through tests I find that

PARKINGSENSOR1=66
PARKINGSENSOR2=70
PARKINGSENSOR3=70

seemed to work much better. I effectively made it less sensitive. It basically only recorded motion. However when I sit in the car and rock the car good, the event mode wont' kick in. I have to work on this some more.
Once i turn on the camera, I pressed the button to put it in Parking mode. Waited for the record light to stop blinking. Then rocked the car, closed the door, etc to see what makes the camera record.


Hope this helps.

[BRZranger]

Does your gps work?

[F1point4]

Originally Posted by brzranger

Does your gps work?

Yes it does. I don't view the recordings everyday but when I do, the GPS is spot on. I park in various high-rise garages and it accurately indicates where i am and what direction i'm facing. It does feature altitude. Maybe I'll look at that next time.

[BRZranger]

Got my new SD card, manually changed the settings, I'll follow up shortly if GPS and settings issue is resolved.

*Looks like my camera is having issues w/ gps @ led light, so I am attempting an exchange. I think my situation is rare.