dash cam phone holder

[AJMike]

I have started to look into using a spare phone I have as a dash camera. I tried it the other day just propping the phone against the window to see how the phone app worked and the quality of the video and was pleased. Now I am looking for some way to hold the phone so that it gets a good view of the road in front of the RV.

I don't want one of those "stick to the window" suction holders as I believe they are illegal in some states and thought that I could find some "lie flat on the top of the dash" stand to hold the phone, but all I have seen on Amazon are angled so that the phone does not stand vertically but leans forward so that it is easy to see. I don't need to see what is being displayed and I want a full view of the road, not of the sky.

I was wondering what others are using to hold a phone used as a dash camera. I have the phone, the dash cam app is free and I even have what I think is a large enough micro memory card (64GB) so I am not too concerned about the cost of the support itself, but I also don't want to spend more than I have to. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

[Morich]

Maybe acheck of "bean bag" holders. Basic bag of beans with a flat plastic disk to suck the mount down. I use my GPS which moves from vehicle to vehicle on one of these and I can find a place to prop in up, even in rentals, ---so far! The bottom is a semi-sticky mesh which clings pretty well but the slope in some cars is really odd so I have to stick a pen under one side. If used in the same place, working out that question would be better.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bracketro...BoCFosQAvD_BwE

[creativepart]

This is what I use and it's fantastic. It comes with a sticky disk you put on the dash and it sticks perfectly. Then you use a super strong suction on the holder to stick to that disk you've stuck to the dash. I've had mine on for 20,000 miles and it's never once need adhering or changing. It's super easy to put the phone in and to take it out. It works portrait or landscape. And, even when in the holder the charging port is fully available.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076B27WP6

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by creativepart

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076B27WP6

That looks really good and is sort of what I had in mind.

Questions:

1) Does the flat plate come with in the packager?

2) If so, how hard is it to remove if you wish to do so? Does it leave a mark? Or is it semi-permanent?

3) If removed can it be replaced and will it stay? If removed does it leave a mark or stain?

4) How well does it stand up to the heat? We live in southern Arizona and it is not unusual for the temperature inside a parked RV to get to 120 F. Hopefully not with us in it ...

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by AJMike

Questions:

1) Does the flat plate come with in the packager?

Yes it does, it's a thick sticker more than a plate and it sticks well to my pebbled dash.

2) If so, how hard is it to remove if you wish to do so? Does it leave a mark? Or is it semi-permanent?

It's semi permanent... I guess. I've never tried to remove it.

3) If removed can it be replaced and will it stay? If removed does it leave a mark or stain?

Don't know, see above

4) How well does it stand up to the heat? We live in southern Arizona and it is not unusual for the temperature inside a parked RV to get to 120 F. Hopefully not with us in it ...

I live in South Texas and park in an uncovered space. Never had any issues with it.
Plus it's very adjustable up, down, in, out, rotate, any mode you wish. Very well built sturdy.

And, there is a link on that Amazon page for a more expensive version with a self-charger built in. So, you plug in the holder and anytime your phone is in the holder it is charging.

[Goodspike]

Some of the cameras are so tiny I wouldn't worry about out of state cops noticing the placement. I have two of these and they work well. They are rather tiny.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To suggest another alternative, would you possibly have some place behind you to mount the camera? That might be a double-edged sword though in that it could show you were attentive or inattentive.

[AzLady]

Originally Posted by AJMike

I have started to look into using a spare phone I have as a dash camera. I tried it the other day just propping the phone against the window to see how the phone app worked and the quality of the video and was pleased. Now I am looking for some way to hold the phone so that it gets a good view of the road in front of the RV.

I don't want one of those "stick to the window" suction holders as I believe they are illegal in some states and thought that I could find some "lie flat on the top of the dash" stand to hold the phone, but all I have seen on Amazon are angled so that the phone does not stand vertically but leans forward so that it is easy to see. I don't need to see what is being displayed and I want a full view of the road, not of the sky.

I was wondering what others are using to hold a phone used as a dash camera. I have the phone, the dash cam app is free and I even have what I think is a large enough micro memory card (64GB) so I am not too concerned about the cost of the support itself, but I also don't want to spend more than I have to. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

Hi Mike,
We have one of these that we used to use to hold our Garmin.. it works like a charm.. and you can angle it anyway you want/need to. We still use it in one of our old vehicles that doesn't have a GPS system.
https://www.amazon.com/ChargerCity-N.../dp/B014VWM1F4

[SimonSKL]

Thanks for idea of using an old phone as a dashcam. I made a holder with my 3D printer and Velcro it to the top of the dash.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by SimonSKL

Thanks for idea of using an old phone as a dashcam. I made a holder with my 3D printer and Velcro it to the top of the dash.

That is a terrific idea and the holder you made is exactly like what I was looking for online.

Where can I find out something about 3D printers? I have looked online for printers to see the price and they do not seem very expensive, but I have no idea how they are actually used to build something. Ae there online tutorials? Or books about how to use them and what material they use?

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by AzLady

Hi Mike,
We have one of these that we used to use to hold our Garmin.. it works like a charm.. and you can angle it anyway you want/need to. We still use it in one of our old vehicles that doesn't have a GPS system.
https://www.amazon.com/ChargerCity-N.../dp/B014VWM1F4

That is exactly what I bought from Amazon and I have been waiting for our next trip to use it in the RV. My main concern is whether or not it will stay put when the RV is turning or stopping or starting and whether or not I need to put something like 2 sided tape under it to hold it in place.

I would rather not put anything on the dash that will leave a mark or stain but I am not sure that the holder will stay put without something to keep it in place. The bottom is not sticky as I expected it would be. What has your experience with it been?

[SimonSKL]

3D printing is one of hobbies and a small side business. I can probably make you one to fit your phone for $15 shipped. Just give me the dimensions of your phone LxWxH. It will also be helpful if you send me a picture of your phone so I can account for the edges and maximize the screen display. The phone is angled 10 degree down because I want to capture what is immediately in front of the MH.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by SimonSKL

3D printing is one of hobbies and a small side business. I can probably make you one to fit your phone for $15 shipped. Just give me the dimensions of your phone LxWxH. It will also be helpful if you send me a picture of your phone so I can account for the edges and maximize the screen display. The phone is angled 10 degree down because I want to capture what is immediately in front of the MH.

I have sent you a PM.

[NormD]

When used as a dash cam what software does your phone you use? Apple or Android phone? Does it record continuously and automatically overwrite when the memory is filled up? I have been considering doing this, too, but have not yet investigated the software question.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by NormD

When used as a dash cam what software does your phone you use? Apple or Android phone? Does it record continuously and automatically overwrite when the memory is filled up? I have been considering doing this, too, but have not yet investigated the software question.

I use a GPS app called Sygic on my iPhone. Sygic is a one time purchase and doesn’t require subscription. It also doesn’t use any of your phone data plan to work. It has many optional features including dashcam, head up display.... The dashcam feature can be set to record 1 min, 5 min, 10 min, and 15 min length. You can also set it to autosave on crash, auto or manual recording, and show date, time, speed, and street while recording. They often have promotional discount up to 70% off.

I purchased the world maps which allows me to use this as my GPS device traveling overseas.

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by NormD

When used as a dash cam what software does your phone you use? Apple or Android phone? Does it record continuously and automatically overwrite when the memory is filled up? I have been considering doing this, too, but have not yet investigated the software question.

The extra phone I had laying around was an Android phone and I also happened to have a couple of 64GB and one 128GB micro sd card. I got the free Autoboy dash cam app from the Android Play store and set it up to use external memory. It records continually and writes small video files to a folder on the external drive. I set it up to take 1920 x 1080 video but you can change that selection to something that consumes more of less space. As far as I know it does not overwrite existing video files unless you run out of space and I don't see how that would happen given the size of the external sd card and the video size I have selected.

I assume I will download the images to my computer after arriving someplace and thus clean the sd card for more videos, but this is still new to me and I am not sure how I will end up handling this. Perhaps I will just overwrite everything when I arrive someplace or perhaps I will save it for later. Don't know yet.

Aside from the cost of the holder for the phone the rest has been free for me since I had the phone and the sd card and it seems like a good idea to have some record of the drive.

[Morich]

This will certainly change a lot of small points. Like will we now be able to actually REMEMBER where we've been?
Apparently my wife and I don't ride together as one of us rarely remembers the trip!

[AJMike]

Originally Posted by SimonSKL

I use a GPS app called Sygic on my iPhone. Sygic is a one time purchase and doesn’t require subscription. It also doesn’t use any of your phone data plan to work. It has many optional features including dashcam, head up display.... The dashcam feature can be set to record 1 min, 5 min, 10 min, and 15 min length. You can also set it to autosave on crash, auto or manual recording, and show date, time, speed, and street while recording. They often have promotional discount up to 70% off.

I purchased the world maps which allows me to use this as my GPS device traveling overseas.

I also have the Sygic GPS app on my iPhone and I like the app, but it seems impossible to actually get any help from the parent company. The maps on my iPhone say that they are Jan 2020, I have an email from Sygic telling me that there is an map update available and that I should follow the specified steps to apply it. The only problem is that the menu items they say to use don't actually exist on my copy of Sygic GPS. Like usual I sent them a support request and have not heard from them in the last 5 or 6 days. Last time I contacted them with a help request it took something like 2 weeks to hear back from them, along with an apology saying that they were "very busy".

As for their dash cam option, I thought about using it but decided against it. It automatically overwrites the video and I don't want it to do that. In addition it makes it impossible to use the iPhone while traveling to make calls or do any browsing so I decided to use the extra Android phone as a dash cam and keep the iPhone for Sygic routing, as a phone and for browsing as needed.

[SimonSKL]

I am going use the old iphone as dashcam and my new iPhone as GPS device when I travel. I just made another holder for my iPhone XS plus.