Anyone have a dual channel dashcam installed anywhere near Boston?

Yes!

Got it done at AVI (Audio Video Integration) in Newton, MA.

They were super friendly, and had experience installing dual dashcams in Teslas before. The job they did looked really nice, and no problems over the past couple months.

Sound In Motion in Allston, MA is another option. They have experience with Tesla-specific mods but not dashcams if I recall (worth asking tho).

Both places quoted me around $400-500.

Rheazombi said:

Yes!

Got it done at AVI (Audio Video Integration) in Newton, MA.

They were super friendly, and had experience installing dual dashcams in Teslas before. The job they did looked really nice, and no problems over the past couple months.

Sound In Motion in Allston, MA is another option. They have experience with Tesla-specific mods but not dashcams if I recall (worth asking tho).

Both places quoted me around $400-500.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Do you mind posting which model they installed? Have you been happy with it?

I have the BlackVue 650. It's pretty good. (Here's one of the few authorized dealers in the US: Search results for: 'blackvue' Be careful of buying from anywhere else like amazon or ebay, it may void your warranty)


Upgrading the storage for it is easy and super helpful (I found a compatible 128 GB microSD which now stores more than 24 hours of 30fps 1080p footage at a time. Here is some helpful research: 64GB Micro SD cards for Blackvue DR650GW-2CH,DR600GW and DR750LW-CH (Page 1) / The Best 64GB Micro SD for Blackvue DR650GW-2CH,DR600GW and DR750LW-CH Dashcams / Blackvue UK Forum )

The Blackvue phone app might be the best part of it. You can check your clips while sitting in the car with the phone instead of taking out the card and viewing them on a laptop. I'm still trying to figure out some way to 'hack' the dashcam to get the wifi to work with Xfinity so I can view live footage of my car from my house. (No luck yet, but I have yet to find a dashcam in the world that can do this either). The app also lets you adjust Parking Mode and Event mode sensitivity, (the cam will record footage if anything happens while your car is parked), and also lets you adjust preferred clip length, etc.

The front camera quality is quite good. The rear camera is not great. I use it more for evidence of an accident or terrible parallel parker than for recording a license plate at 60 mph (the front camera can).

It's a very user friendly cam. I haven't used it in the summer though. Some people have had problems with it overheating so that remains to be seen.

If there is ever a 60fps, 4K dual dashcam with TRUE wifi, and can store a weeks worth of footage, I will probably upgrade

Rheazombi said:

I have the BlackVue 650. It's pretty good.

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Lots of very helpful information in your post, Rheazombi. Thanks!

I'm probably going to be picking one up myself. Just trying to work out the details of the installation.

Did you (or your installer) use the power available from the microphone cover for the front camera? If not, what did you (or your installer) use? And what about for the back camera?

Thanks very much!

Andyw2100 said:

Lots of very helpful information in your post, Rheazombi. Thanks!

I'm probably going to be picking one up myself. Just trying to work out the details of the installation.

Did you (or your installer) use the power available from the microphone cover for the front camera? If not, what did you (or your installer) use? And what about for the back camera?

Thanks very much!

Click to expand...

I didnt use a professional installer for mine but installed the BlackVue 650 dual channel myself. It took several hours but wasn't really hard and I'm not very mechanical.

For power, many cars don't have it under the microphone cover. Its very easy to pop it off and check. If not you'll need power from someone else. Either the normal switched power from the 12V power port or hack something up in one of several ways. This is the one I used:

How to add a constant 12V power supply to your Model S | Tesla Living

If you think about doing it yourself, here's my notes from my own install:
Dual Channel Dash Cams for your Tesla | Tesla Living

I've had no problems since the install. Good luck with it either way.

One piece of advice is that you may want to turn off audio recording on it when you get it installed. There are various laws prohibiting audio recording of people without their permission.

tliving said:

One piece of advice is that you may want to turn off audio recording on it when you get it installed. There are various laws prohibiting audio recording of people without their permission.

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Especially in Massachusetts - people have been charged with illegal wiretapping for recording the police without knowledge/permission. Google "massachusetts recording police"

tliving said:

I didnt use a professional installer for mine but installed the BlackVue 650 dual channel myself. It took several hours but wasn't really hard and I'm not very mechanical.

For power, many cars don't have it under the microphone cover. Its very easy to pop it off and check. If not you'll need power from someone else. Either the normal switched power from the 12V power port or hack something up in one of several ways. This is the one I used:

How to add a constant 12V power supply to your Model S | Tesla Living

If you think about doing it yourself, here's my notes from my own install:
Dual Channel Dash Cams for your Tesla | Tesla Living

I've had no problems since the install. Good luck with it either way.

One piece of advice is that you may want to turn off audio recording on it when you get it installed. There are various laws prohibiting audio recording of people without their permission.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the information.

I'm definitely going to be having my dashcam installed professionally. As for the power source, I have a P85D, and my understanding is that there is unused power available under the microphone cover in the headliner, so I'll suggest the installer tap into that. I don't have a need to record sound, so was planning on turning off the microphone, but thanks for the suggestion to make sure!

Andy, what did you end up doing? I went to AVI Newton and they recommend and sell the BlackVue DR650GW-2CH. They say they sell (and recommend we buy it from them as their markup helps cover the 1-year warranty costs on their workmanship) it for approx $450 each, plus around $800 installation cost - so approximately $1300, and they can do two of them for front/back, left/right, for twice that at $2600 total w/ 1-year warranty. I see on Amazon, (64GB version) it's on for sale for $388 w/ the Power Magic Pro thing and inclined to try my hand at tliving's note above about a self-installation - and I wonder if my new 70D has the same 12V always on supply behind the speaker grill.

mchinsomboon said:

Andy, what did you end up doing? I went to AVI Newton and they recommend and sell the BlackVue DR650GW-2CH. They say they sell (and recommend we buy it from them as their markup helps cover the 1-year warranty costs on their workmanship) it for approx $450 each, plus around $800 installation cost - so approximately $1300, and they can do two of them for front/back, left/right, for twice that at $2600 total w/ 1-year warranty. I see on Amazon, (64GB version) it's on for sale for $388 w/ the Power Magic Pro thing and inclined to try my hand at tliving's note above about a self-installation - and I wonder if my new 70D has the same 12V always on supply behind the speaker grill.

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$800 installation cost seems pretty steep, depending on just how they plan to install.

The front camera should be really simple. You should have power available behind the microphone grill. The back camera can be more involved, depending on what cables, etc. you are willing to have showing. There are lots of good threads with lots of details, including photos.

Good luck!