Dashcam set up - recommendations please

[Verone]

So here's how mine is installed

Apologies for how minging my windows are, it's winter here in Iceland, and a ten minute drive to work makes your car look like it's been pelted with shite by a troop of monkeys

There's no need to remove or loosen any trims, everything fits without needing to unclip anything, given the slimness off the constant power cable for the Garmin mini 2 and the fact the OBDII port isn't covered with a plastic trim.

First choose a location for the camera and get it set up, I put mine right in the center of the windshield at the bottom of the camera/rear view mirror array.
You might want to choose different, up to you, The camera is so small that you can get away with this position, and it's nice and close to the glass so there's no reflections.
The camera is also easily accessible to adjust the angle and remove the SD card if you need to.

You can then feed the cable up the side of the camera cover by pushing it in the direction that the arrows run, to hide it behind the trim. There's enough space to push it here.
I've pulled my cable out a bit here to show you how slim the cable is, and that it will fit.

Next take it up around this corner, I've pulled mine out a bit again so you can see it, just ease the cable in behind the trim, it'll go without very much pressure at all.

Continue to feed the cable, pushing in the direction of the arrows all the way along the top of the windshield, pushing it up behind the roof liner, until you get to the a-pillar.

When you reach the a-pillar, a little more pressure is needed to guide the cable around the edge of the plastic trim, between it and the headliner, and push it downwards behind it.
Do this all the way around to the door seal.

At this point, you don't need to remove the door seal, there's a large flat flap on the inside of it that just lays over the beige plastic trim, you can lift it with something like a butter knife, just gently.
You'll be able to see the gap between the plastic trim and the frame of the car, feed the cable in there, all the way down to the bottom of the dashboard.
You can see the gap behind the seal next to my fingers, in the seventh image below, this runs all the way up the a-pillar of the car.

To feed the cable behind the seal, just get it started then push it in behind the black rubber in the direction the arrows show in the picture above. It will slip into the gap freely.

When you get to the bottom of the dashboard, there's a handy little gap between the dashboard and the trim that the hood release latch is in, you can just feed the cable in there.
You can also see the gap I was talking about between the frame of the car and the a-pillar/dashboard trims.
Next, run your finger all the way up the flat part of the seal to make sure it's properly seated against the beige a-pillar trim.

The OBDII port is right by the plastic trim that the hood release latch is in.
You can plug the constant power plug into the port, plug the USB cable into the socket on the plug's cord, and tuck the rest of the cable behind the trim that the hood release latch is in.
Mine is pulled out a bit here so you can see the cable behind the trim.

The constant power cable has three positions on the switch, 10m, 24h and an infinity loop.
You can set how long the cable provides constant power to the camera before it shuts off once you turn the car off.
I have mine set on the infinity loop, as the cable monitors the voltage of the 12v supply, as it has 12v battery protection built in.
This means that it'll always provide power and keep the camera in standby, so if it detects and impact or incident, Parking Guard will start recording for a couple of minutes.
I've been using mine this way since I bought the car in May, and it's been great.

Hope this helps with your install!

[tencherman]

You're a good man Verone - just what I was hoping for (but not expecting) so mucho kudos to you.
Takk aftur

[asjo]

Thanks very much for the detailed - and illustrated - instructions!

Now I just have to justify having a dashcam to myself

[tencherman]

In light of Verone's excellent visuals I couldn't wait so fitted Mini 2 this evening despite the deepening gloom of a London autumn (a head torch helped!)
In short, Verone should be writing user manuals or publishing YouTube tutorials - clear, lucid and a huge help. The only issue was finally pairing the device to my iPhone 13 Pro via the Garmin app - it did not want to play ball ..... at all. To be specific: iPhone recognised the Garmin Mini 2 and the initial pairing took place but secondary pairing via the Garmin app did not - the "device" (to connect to) simply failed to appear in the designated window on the Garmin app so the process could not be completed.
I'm no IT techie but I can follow instructions and despite Googling solutions nothing worked whilst in the car - this is a common issue and clearly a software glitch so many IT boffins offer solutions as far back as 2018. In the end I removed the Mini 2 from the vehicle and powered it from my PC and started the entire process again after clearing my cache of Bluetooth connected devices and turning the iPhone off/on again. Ditto with the Mini 2 - power off/on.
First try didn't work i.e. same result as in car but the 2nd attempt forcing the Bluetooth connection via the iPhone rather than via the Garmin app did the trick - naturally you have to revert to the appp to finish the linking process but for whatever reason this worked. This issue clearly affects a proportion of Mini2s (and under certain operating conditions) and resolution of it seems pretty random but my advice is to pair the first time away from the vehicle as I can't help thinking the Honda e's own wifi and bluetooth signals can create issues. Incidentally the firmware was updated but post the connection process so that wouldn't seem to be the problem.

Ignoring Verone's advice I sited the Mini2 high up on the windscreen to the side of the rear view mirror 'pod' to keep the device discreet internally ..... not a good idea since the edge of the mirror pod intrudes on the image - something not apparent at the time of fixing as I couldn't link via the app and see the Live View! A central position at the foot of the 'pod' 9per Verone) is ideal for a clear field of view.

Hope that helps someone and thank you again Verone.

[asjo]

Can the Garmin Mini 2 be used without using the app?

[Verone]

Hope that helps someone and thank you again Verone.

Glad to hear that you didn't have any problems with the physical install, great that I could help. I also tried an offset position on the driver's side of the windshield, but with the camera housing being so large I had the same issue with it being in frame, so I elected to go with the central location.

Found it strange reading about your troubles connecting the camera, I've not had a single issue on android, but I can't speak for how reliable the iOS app is, as I've never used an apple phone with it. Hopefully you can work out what's been causing the problem.

Glad you managed to get it sorted in the end though!

[Verone]

Can the Garmin Mini 2 be used without using the app?

I can imagine you could use it that way, yes. When you plug it in and insert an SD card it automatically formats it and just starts recording, so I'd imagine you could do that, then just pop it off the mount and plug it into your PC if you wanted to pull the video, or drop the SD card out of it and do the same.

Framing the picture might be a ballache, or changing settings might also be a problem though, but honestly it's a fairly simple device so there's not much to configure.

I didn't have any issues with the app personally.

[tencherman]

Can the Garmin Mini 2 be used without using the app?

As Verone suggests - yes, and as I can testify from the footage recovered when I connected the Mini 2, via USB, to the PC. It was full of skewed shots of the top of the dash (I’d tilted it too much) with a soundtrack of deep sighing and expletives as I tried to connect the app via Bluetooth. Being able to view the footage is just very handy for positioning and checking out any footage.

Subsequent research suggests this problem occurs <10% of the time and a number of conflicts have to exist. As I say, setting it up away from the vehicle worked for me (2nd go at least)
… oh yes, and it enables you to change the settings on the dashcam

[asjo]

Thanks for the input, both.

I really dislike being dependent on an app/phone (and I never tried installing the app for my Honda e, everything I have heard and indicates that it would incur a decrease in quality of living ).