Fitcamx dashcam installation

[Techwizard100]

Fitted my FitcamX yesterday, disassembly was much easier than I anticipated but I was hampered by the fact the middle bit of housing had a very tight bit of rope holding it on to the roof.

the large console piece & the bit replaced by the camera came off surprisingly easily.

The only way to get around the rope issue was to snip it, as otherwise I couldn’t get to connectors. Before doing so I checked with WhatsApp support & they replied instantly, so no complaints there.

I actually found reassembly harder as getting everything to sit tight to the roof again wasn’t easy. I would say it is 90% and nit noticeable to most people!

Very neat solution and peace of mind for a reasonable price.

Same here. Took 2 hrs to wiggle and push to get everything in its place. My string was so tight could not get it unhooked. Had to cut it.

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[Draman]

It took me about 30 minutes to install mine and I did not have to cut the string.

 

[Glassdome]

Wish I came across this forum chat sooner as I have put a request in to order the porsche camera, but now I think I will cancel it and go for the FixCamX. It looks like a super neat install. I assume you can’t get one that records when parked, only for driving?

 

[Speuk]

Wish I came across this forum chat sooner as I have put a request in to order the porsche camera, but now I think I will cancel it and go for the FixCamX. It looks like a super neat install. I assume you can’t get one that records when parked, only for driving?

I think you can get one with a hardwire kit if I remember correctly

 

[Glassdome]

Same here. Took 2 hrs to wiggle and push to get everything in its place. My string was so tight could not get it unhooked. Had to cut it.

How are you finding the FixcamX and have you installed it so that it works in parking mode, or just when driving? I had hoped there is a way to install it with the mirror wire and have this as a permanent feed, but it looks like all of the wiring near the mirror Is only powered on when the car is on

 

[Techwizard100]

How are you finding the FixcamX and have you installed it so that it works in parking mode, or just when driving? I had hoped there is a way to install it with the mirror wire and have this as a permanent feed, but it looks like all of the wiring near the mirror Is only powered on when the car is on

Cam stops recording when car is locked and goes to sleep mode. But there is a blue light that is still lit on the camera.

I’m not sure if there’s a mode that allows it to go 24/7. But I think if you do that their just might eventually pull just enough voltage out of the 12 V battery to cause a problem.

 

[Hirschaj]

I installed my FitcamX a couple of days ago. I did a basic install (plugged into rain sensor) of the front cam even though I also have a rear cam to install at a later time. Today I pulled the SD card and looked at it on a computer to see if the cam was turning on and off as it should when I am either driving or parked. To my surprise, the camera was recording almost constantly. In the app there is a setting for Parking Mode which was set to "low" sensitivity by default. I decided to change that option to "close" (strange wording for that option) and see what happens. It looks like after changing that option the camera has gone to sleep properly (no more lights and wifi connection is not available via my phone) when I'm parked now. I will keep checking the SD card over the next couple of days to see if it's working right now.

Has anyone else actually checked to see if there are the expected gaps in recording? @Techwizard100 your description makes me think your camera is not really going to sleep and might still be recording when you don't want it to.

 

[Techwizard100]

I installed my FitcamX a couple of days ago. I did a basic install (plugged into rain sensor) of the front cam even though I also have a rear cam to install at a later time. Today I pulled the SD card and looked at it on a computer to see if the cam was turning on and off as it should when I am either driving or parked. To my surprise, the camera was recording almost constantly. In the app there is a setting for Parking Mode which was set to "low" sensitivity by default. I decided to change that option to "close" (strange wording for that option) and see what happens. It looks like after changing that option the camera has gone to sleep properly (no more lights and wifi connection is not available via my phone) when I'm parked now. I will keep checking the SD card over the next couple of days to see if it's working right now.

Has anyone else actually checked to see if there are the expected gaps in recording? @Techwizard100 your description makes me think your camera is not really going to sleep and might still be recording when you don't want it to.

Once the car is parked and locked, the my camera goes to sleep. There is a gap in the recordings until I unlock the car. The car must be locked. Otherwise the camera keeps recording.
Also, you can press manually turn off with the power button if you need to.

 

[Hirschaj]

Once the car is parked and locked, the my camera goes to sleep. There is a gap in the recordings until I unlock the car. The car must be locked. Otherwise the camera keeps recording.
Also, you can press manually turn off with the power button if you need to.

I was expecting it to work that way, but it definitely did not. I locked the car and it kept on recording. Sometimes it would take a break for a little while, sometimes it would not. After changing the parking mode setting I didn’t even need to lock the car to see all lights turn off on the camera after a few minutes. I suggest people double check to make sure they are getting expected behavior.

 

[Techwizard100]

I was expecting it to work that way, but it definitely did not. I locked the car and it kept on recording. Sometimes it would take a break for a little while, sometimes it would not. After changing the parking mode setting I didn’t even need to lock the car to see all lights turn off on the camera after a few minutes. I suggest people double check to make sure they are getting expected behavior.

The car must go to “sleep” in order for the camera to stop. No App usage in Connect…

 

[Hirschaj]

The car must go to “sleep” in order for the camera to stop. No App usage in Connect…

I appreciate your input. I understand how it should work and it was not working properly. I’m going to keep an eye on it and will provide an update after a day or two.

 

[ciaranob]

I appreciate your input. I understand how it should work and it was not working properly. I’m going to keep an eye on it and will provide an update after a day or two.

Just to note that the FitCamX app 'text' states that 'not all FitCamX units support Park Mode' and on their site they further state that you need to be hard wired to the fuse box to have true Parking Mode detection on. Also the 'parking mode' text in the app states that it only activates if a collision occurs and to the sensitivity you set (low, middle high or to turn it off completely closing 'close').

Now all that said I am fairly certain but unfortunately not 100% positive that whilst my car was in the custom shop for 5+ weeks that I also had recordings at night when no one was near the car nor was I linking to the car via the app - I made note of this in other threads i.e. that despite the site stating you need to be hard wired it would seem that I was still getting recordings whilst parked.

However there was enough random activity in that shop to make it difficult to be certain (e.g. did they actually lock the car every time at night etc etc). I totally forgot to put my SD card back in the unit when I left on my most recent trip which would have been an excellent test as it would have been isolated in my own garage but I will test this further tonight. As others have said the car does need to be locked and fully asleep for the unit to fully power off and stop recording etc but I still need to be convinced that I'm not getting phantom recordings !

 

[Hirschaj]

Just to note that the FitCamX app 'text' states that 'not all FitCamX units support Park Mode' and on their site they further state that you need to be hard wired to the fuse box to have true Parking Mode detection on. Also the 'parking mode' text in the app states that it only activates if a collision occurs and to the sensitivity you set (low, middle high or to turn it off completely closing 'close').

Now all that said I am fairly certain but unfortunately not 100% positive that whilst my car was in the custom shop for 5+ weeks that I also had recordings at night when no one was near the car nor was I linking to the car via the app - I made note of this in other threads i.e. that despite the site stating you need to be hard wired it would seem that I was still getting recordings whilst parked.

However there was enough random activity in that shop to make it difficult to be certain (e.g. did they actually lock the car every time at night etc etc). I totally forgot to put my SD card back in the unit when I left on my most recent trip which would have been an excellent test as it would have been isolated in my own garage but I will test this further tonight. As others have said the car does need to be locked and fully asleep for the unit to fully power off and stop recording etc but I still need to be convinced that I'm not getting phantom recordings !

Yes, mine was recording in the middle of the night (all night really) after the vehicle had been locked. I found this in the paper manual that came with the FitcamX…

So it seems like the safest route is to choose “close” in the app if you want to really make sure that the camera turns off when you expect it to.

 

[ciaranob]

Yes, mine was recording in the middle of the night (all night really) after the vehicle had been locked. I found this in the paper manual that came with the FitcamX…

So it seems like the safest route is to choose “close” in the app if you want to really make sure that the camera turns off when you expect it to.

Well if it helps, after 5+weeks of constant PCM activation due to car being accessed almost daly at the custom shop I lost <10% of charge - given previous periods when the camera was active I can guarantee that the camera draw over that period was truly a tiny fraction of this battery usage (if even that!). So frankly I would not worry about either HV or LV drain with the FitCamX - just not an issue regardless.

 

[Hirschaj]

I installed my FitcamX a couple of days ago. I did a basic install (plugged into rain sensor) of the front cam even though I also have a rear cam to install at a later time. Today I pulled the SD card and looked at it on a computer to see if the cam was turning on and off as it should when I am either driving or parked. To my surprise, the camera was recording almost constantly. In the app there is a setting for Parking Mode which was set to "low" sensitivity by default. I decided to change that option to "close" (strange wording for that option) and see what happens. It looks like after changing that option the camera has gone to sleep properly (no more lights and wifi connection is not available via my phone) when I'm parked now. I will keep checking the SD card over the next couple of days to see if it's working right now.

Has anyone else actually checked to see if there are the expected gaps in recording? @Techwizard100 your description makes me think your camera is not really going to sleep and might still be recording when you don't want it to.

Update: after changing the parking mode option to “close” the FitcamX is going to sleep as expected. I don’t need to lock the car. The car and the dashcam both go to sleep after a few minutes even when unlocked. If I use the My Porsche app, the car and cam both wake up until I stop using the app. Then after a few minutes they both go back to sleep. No more recordings of my garage wall all night! I’m happy with this result.

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