9 thoughts on “May 30, 2023: Long Weekend”

  1. My long weekend project was to install front & rear dash cams in the new rig. Rather than run them to 12v or USB ports, I picked up a constant power cable that plugs into the OBD-II port. Running the 4m cable through the trim & headliner to the rear camera was quite a project. I had to avoid the rear passenger airbags, and then run it from the headliner through a rubber hose in the hatch hinge that insulates the electrical for the rear wiper & backup camera. There was barely enough cable; 5m would have been much better. Getting a 90° Micro-USB connector through that hatch hose (which was heat-shrunk on the car side with just enough of a hole to work the cable head inside) was a total PITA — it required four hands, a hemostat, and fishing line. Oh, and lots of cursing and hand cramps.

    Running the cable through the A-pillar to the front camera wasn’t as bad, but removing the trim was not pleasant. (Removing any trim on a brand new vehicle is fraught.) Now everything is connected to a permanent power supply for parking monitoring.

    The only thing that annoys me about the job now that it’s completely done is that the cables are USB-A on the OBD-II end to Micro-USB on the camera end, ensuring I will need to repeat this task whenever the time comes to upgrade the cameras. Anything other than USB-C is completely unsat in 2023.

      1. I don’t think that’s an excuse for selling products with connections with hardware specs older than most college students. It’s not an amplifier for a home audio system, after all.

        Plus, I’d rather not have the cameras’ operation be relying on third-party adapters of unknown quality. It would really stink to need the footage, only to discover an adapter had silently failed.

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