Reddit mentions: The best gps chargers & cables

****Do any of this at your own risk or hire a professional to do it for you.***

Here are the parts I ordered to put mine together. I'm posting this bc of PMs.

Mobius or [Cheaper Mobius but longer wait from China] (http://www.banggood.com/Mobius-Action-Camera-1080P-HD-Mini-Sports-Camera-Wide-Angle-Edition-p-917817.html) I wanted the Wide Angle Lens for a better shot

Capacitor You don't want the battery sitting in the sun. A capacitor can handle it. So you replace the battery completely with this capacitor

Windshield Mount My mobius came with a mounting bracket that fits on this mount. The mount itself is very small, but the 3M sticker is very strong.

Hardwire Kit When hard wiring this in to the car via fuse box, this knocks the voltage down from 12v to 5v, which is what the camera needs. I used some wire strippers to expose about 5" of the red and black cables. Then stripped about an inch off each cable to expose the actual wire. The red wire goes in to the add-a-circuit mentioned below, then you crimp it closed with pliers (wasn't super easy, I must be weak). You partially unscrew a metal bolt that is attached to the metal car frame as a ground ( I used the one on top of my fuse box).

USB to Mini-USB This connects from the hardwire kit to the camera or 90 degree elbow mentioned next, for a better angle. If you are setting up the auto record when external power is on, which is what you want to do for a dash cam, you need to cut a piece of electrical tape width-wise and cover the two middle pins inside the USB cable. This is because the two middle pins (2 and 3) are data pins. Leaving those exposed makes the camera think its connected to a computer and will only do data transferring. By covering them, it only get power from pins 1 and 4 and doesn't think it's connected to a computer and will actually record.

Right Angle Mini-USB to Mini-USB Adapted This just helped keep the USB cable from sticking out too much (better angle)

Add-a-circuit This is the ATO (bigger fuse), but I ended up using the ATM (Mini) because my car has both and the fuse I wanted to use ended up being a Mini. It'd be best to look through your fuse diagram and find something non-vital (meaning don't tap in to a fuse that controls ABS or airbags, etc) and switchable (meaning it only comes on when the car turns on. You don't want the camera running 24/7), figure out what type of fuse it is, and buy that size. I ended up getting my new add-a-circuit (Littlefuse) from Oreilly auto parts for $6.99 and it came with 3, 4, 7.5, and 10A fuses. Also take note of the amperage (Never use a higher amp fuse than your add-a-circuit supports because the wire gauge may not support it and melt/burn. When adding the circuit, I removed the original fuse from the fuse box, a 10A fuse and put it the first slot(my add-a-circuit supports up to 10A) and for the 2nd slot, I used a 3A fuse because the camera and radar don't draw much. You don't want to use a higher amp fuse than necessary. Also, in my car 2011 JettaSportwagen, the add-a-circuit points down or it doesn't work. Make sure it's plugged in the correct direction or it won't do anything

32GB MicroSD Card Works fine, just make sure to format it through the camera.

Unofficial but awesome Mobius Configuration Tool Use the tooltips(hover over each option) to figure out what each things does. I set mine to autorecord when external power or the button are pushed.


You can find a lot of info here: dashcamtalk.com


To summarize the connections are:

Choose a fuse from your car's fuse diagram (non-essential and switchable), pull it, place it in the correct slot of the add-a-circuit (don't go to higher amps than is supported), plug in a fuse from the add-a-circuit kit in to the other slot to protect your camera (I used a 3A), strip the hardwire kit's cables mentioned above, put the red cable (+) from the hard wire kit in the the red end of the add-a-circuit and crimp it closed, attach the black cable (-) to a screw attached to the metal car frame, tape the two middle pins (2 and 3) in the USB cable with electrical tape, plug the USB in to the female USB on the hardwire kit, run the USB cable from the fuse box around the edges of your cars trim, up by the rearview mirror, attach the right-angle mini-usb adapter, choose where you want to mount the camera (make sure to check using the USB plugged in and camera mounted to the mount, in case it bumps the rearview mirror) (I held it on the windshield about where I thought I wanted it (to behind and to the right of the rearview mirror and took some test footage, watched it on a computer, decided it looked ok, pulled the sticker cover and attached it), clean your windshield with glass cleaner, attach the mount.

Theoretically it's awesome, if manufacturers only made USB 3.1 gen 2 or USB 3.1 with TB3 cables. Or colorcoded their cables/ports like what happened with USB 3, but they don't. Which means shit's not gonna work even if it fits.

You got at least

• USB 2.0
  
• USB 3.0
  
• USB 3.1 gen 1
  
• USB 3.1 gen 2
  
• USB 3.1 with Thunderbolt 3
  
  The Type C spec also have support for "Alternate mode" which can be used to transmit Displayport, MHL, HDMI or some other signals. Actually even Thunderbolt 3 is USB-C Alternate mode so you could technically have a Type-C 2.0 connector, with full Thunderbolt 3 support, this would be retarded but the spec allows it. Since no one actually does it, and for practical purposes TB3 is just USB 3.1 gen 2 on steroids now, it's easier to put it in it's own category.
  
  And your port, device and cable need to support whatever speed and version you're using. Just slapping any old type C cable on something does not mean it will work. The biggest issue is that every single USB-C cable looks practically identical. There's not really a way to tell 3.1 gen 2 cable apart from 3.1 gen 1 cable with Displayport support. At least for your average consumer.
  
  I mean seriously look at this shit.
  
  One, Two, Three, four different cables.
  
  All of them look practically identical, all of them fit in any USB-C slot. All four of them are completely different.
  
  The first one is your standard USB 2.0 only capable of 480 mbps, no video support, slow as shit, can't be used to charge your fancy new Macbook, will charge a phone but probably doesn't have quickcharge support.
  
  The seconds one is a 3.1 gen 2 type C cable. That can actually be used for charging, can reach up to 10 gbps transfer speed and support displayport/hdmi in alternate mode.
  
  The third one is a USB 3.1 gen 2 with Thunderbolt 3, the best of the bunch. Supports everything! Except as you can see on the store page, there are 20 and 40 gbps variants. Some TB accessories might require 40 gbps speeds, so if you buy the 20gbps cable, it might not work. And because it looks exactly the same as the 40gbps cable, there's no easy way to even tell which one you have.
  
  The final one is a USB 3.0 cable supporting 5 gbps, no video streams, probably supports quick charging.
  
  ----------------------------------------
  
  Now if your average consumer saw four identical cables side by side in a store, do you think they would know which one to pick? Or would they just grab the cheapest one?
  
  Or what about accessories? USB-C hubs are all over the place now thanks to the new Macbook Pro, some of those hubs require TB3 compatibility. Most require USB 3.1 gen 2 compatibility. A lot of computer have USB-C 3.0 ports. So a lot of those hubs won't work.
  
  So even though theoretically one cable to do everything would be awesome, that's not actually the case. We have different cables for different things, now they all just look exactly the fucking same making this shit way more confusing than it actually needs to be.

Here's an updated guide that's more user-friendly than what I've written in the past. This is a slightly involved process, and I spend about an hour before leaving for BRC configuring the GPS, and 2 hours after the burn downloading the tracks and stitching everything together in Photoshop. This is my 4th year doing this.


Note: I've only been able to do this via Windows. There may be ways via Mac or Linux, but I've not been able to figure them out yet.


Step 1: get a GPS unit that can autolog your tracks. I use a Garmin eTrex Legend. Find it used online for less than $50. It's very durable due to rubber gaskets on all buttons which prevents dust issues. Long-life with 2xAA removable batteries last 2 days on average. Mine has lasted 4 burns with zero issues.


Step 2: turn on "Track Log: Auto" if using the Garmin eTrex Legend, and start walking/biking/flying around BRC! This is turned on by default on my unit, so do is a factory reset of your GPS if it's the eTrex Legend. When this GPS is on, it's tracking movement.


Step 3: after the burn, download your tracks to your PC. You need 2 cables (Garmin to serial port - Amazon, and Serial port to USB adapter - Amazon), and software from Garmin (MapSource - free from Garmin). The port on the GPS for the cable is on the top-rear under a rubber flap. Plug in the cables to your PC, turn on the GPS, and open MapSource. Click on "Transfer" in the menu, and download all tracks from the GPS. The tracks look like this - imgur in MapSource. To change the color of your tracks, on the left hand side double click on any track, and select the color you want it to be. I pick one color per day, and set it for all tracks on that day.


Step 4: screen shot and stitch the maps together in Photoshop. Start by zooming in on your tracks in MapSource. Take a screenshot, scroll a bit, take another screenshot, and repeat this process until you have 10-15 screenshots of portions of the map, like this example - imgur . Next, open all the screenshots in Photoshop and stitch them together. Next, open up google maps in a web browser and search for "Black Rock City". Zoom in, and take 10-15 screenshots of the entire city like this second example - imgur, stitching them together in Photoshop. Now you have a high-res version of your tracks, and a street map for BRC from Google Maps. Next, select just your tracks without the gray background by going to the menu "Select > Color Range" on your tracks image. Click on the gray area of the map thumbnail, set the fuzziness to 32, and hit "Ok". Then go into the menu "Select > Inverse" to select just your tracks. Copy this (Edit > Copy), go to your stitched together image from Google Maps, and paste your tracks over it (Edit > Paste). Then, using the Edit > Transform > Scale tool, resize the tracks until they fit exactly with the Google Maps image.


(optional recommended step): Before leaving for the playa, load your Garmin with the GPS map for BRC that comes out a week before the event from http://www.wkeller.net/BRC-GPS/ . William Keller does a fantastic job of putting these maps together, and it makes the GPS unit useful on playa, particularly during dust storms. It has waypoints for all potties, health services locations, roads, etc. Load this into the Garmin eTrex Legend using Sendmap. To do this, first plug in your GPS, then open MapSource to determine which Com Port your GPS is connected to when plugged into your PC. Open SendMap and select the Com Port you saw in MapSource and set the speed to 9600, and the rest is easy to follow using Mr Keller's instructions from http://www.wkeller.net/BRC-GPS/

Currently Amazon has the blue/yellow single Grand Trunk hammocks for $25. Pretty awesome price: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007A0IH5I/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• Tent Waterproofing - $9.99
  
  
• Battery Backup 15600 mAh, aka MASSIVE - $29.99
  
  
• Tent stake mallet with pulling peg - $7.00
  
  
• Glow in the dark tent stakes x10 - $9.18
  
  
• Action Poncho (very high quality for a possible rain out) - $12.60
  
  
• Battery powered 10" tent fan - $22.98
  
  
• Mini battery powered fan - $5.88
  
  
• Chill Pad headband - $6.57
  
  
• LED headlamp - $6.99
  
  
• Highly rated sleep mask - $9.89

Had my Venu for about a month now and am pleased with it's functionality it has provided for me. I like the smart watch capabilities of it as well as the calendar where you can schedule your workout plan for the month but I assume that is available on most Garmin watches - not sure since this is my first Garmin.

I did not choose the Forerunner or Fenix series of watches since I am not a runner/hiker I felt that I would not be using those to their fullest.

I mainly use my Venu for gym and cardio sessions and the HR monitoring has been quite good for me. I came from FitBit --> Samsung Gear S2 --> Garmin Venu and found the Venu a little more reliable.

When it comes to GPS, I have used both functions - (1) GPS when paired to phone and (2) Stand-alone watch GPS and haven't had any real issues from my experience. When I reviewed the map it was pretty much on the mark.

I personally invested in a screen protector because I knew that somewhere down the line I would scratch the glass doing something stupid. However be careful NOT to buy the tempered glass as, since the Venu has a curved screen, the glass would only sit on top of the flat area and not down to the edge. This kind of defeats the purpose of screen protection.

Currently in two minds about purchasing a charging dock like this one at Amazon since I find the current cable virtually forces you to place the watch face down when charging. This is not just a Venu thing but found on a number of Garmin watches.

Hope this helps in some way.

If you don't mind it being 2 pieces, here is a pretty low profile car adapter and you can get a separate coiled mini usb cord.

If you're looking for one piece, this is the best I could find with a quick search.

Hope it helps!

I've used little usb direct hardwire dealies like this guy before.

Just power it of switched 12v, and hide it all nicely behind the dash.

Or this one will give you direct micro usb, to cut out a cable.

edit : I'm sure there are waaaay cheaper options that do the same thing. Those were just easily found :)

I have one of these and it is really good.

DURAGADGET Black Bicycle Handlebar Mount Kit for NEW Garmin Fenix 3 (HR, Leather, Nylon, Titanium) and Garmin Tactix Bravo GPS Watches - Secured with Strong Cable Ties https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01AWPOHVA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MF8VAbRT0HNP1

They sell compact 12V to USB power supplies like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Compact-Hardwire-Adapter-Smartphone-SiriusXM/dp/B00I3P6QQG/ref=asc_df_B00I3P6QQG/

One of these is compact and light, you can use double stick tape to attach to back of mirror.

SolderSeal connectors both solder and insulate in one connector:

https://www.amazon.com/Connectors-Sopoby-Waterproof-Automotive-Electrical/dp/B01FI6IKG6

Or just use some T-taps like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Terminals-Insulated-Connectors-Baleauty/dp/B06Y61K18G

In general with a multimeter you can quickly identify which wires are positive ( + 12 volts) and which wires are ground (-) on a car. The vehicle chassis is ground.
https://www.amazon.com/Multimeter-Multimeters-Voltmeter-Ohmmeter-Backlight/dp/B07G4BH5F8/

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter/all#measuring-voltage

As someone with soldering skills, I would just install a supercapacitor on the power lead to power the camera for the few seconds the car is cranking.

However, if you don't have those types of skills, you could hardwire your cam to an ignition hot supply instead of accessory hot supply like it is now. What you'll need is a fuse panel tap like this one to tap into a source of ignition hot at the fuse panel, and a USB hardwire kit like this one to supply the 5V needed by the cam. Then a long enough USB cable to reach from the fuse box to the cam.

Anyone with an hour or two to spare and a crimper can do this easily. If however you aren't comfortable doing this yourself, a local audio shop should be able to install this for you very easily.

This is a pretty good list.
I would add a battery recharger in case you're sitting in a siding for hours on end and your phone dies.

Also some aluminum foil. I premake all my meals and wrap them in foil then toss them in the engine bay or on the sidewall heaters.

I also photocopied my timetable sections so I could pull them out real quick if needed. And I would make a bunch on notes on them for things I didn't see very often. Maybe having to hold off certain crossings or even stuff like "McDonalds here" in case we stopped for a while and could grab something to eat.

If you dont know your speed limits, have that timetable out and follow along with your engineer. That's your job on the line and you need to know that stuff. And your mileposts! don't be that conductor that has to ask the engineer where he is at.


Carry extra safety shit (glasses, vest, ect)

It's pretty easy to add a usb charging port with this and this.

I ordered it off of ECS tuning here https://www.ecstuning.com/ES2960267/?gclid=CPft7qCXoMoCFY0XHwodk04N6g

And I wired it into my fuse box with this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I3P6QQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_uYSKwbJDYPJXS

Easy install and cleans up nicely, would recommend.

The one i have is different, but similar, but i like this one.

What i really like is that its not a pain in the ass to put your phone in it. You just grab it off the dash and put your phone in it. Nothing i hated more than awkwardly hunched over my dashboard trying to get the phone right. Plus you can easily move it to any car that your in.

I got an "into circuit" module for like $30 that works well

https://www.amazon.com/Intocircuit-15000mAh-Portable-SmartID-Technology/dp/B00OSYLXKU

This is what I have.

I actually ran the USB-C power cable behind my dashboard and into a USB jack that is directly wire into the fuse box with a fuse tap. It makes it look really clean.

https://www.amazon.com/Gomadic-designed-HDR-CX405-HDR-CX440-technology/dp/B00WT7OQD4/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1540178970&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=sony+hdr+cx405+charger&dpPl=1&dpID=41PxgPo%2BUEL&ref=plSrch

Hope that works

It works really well. The step-up converter I got was < $9 and can theoretically step up to 30V. I fed it with my USB battery pack and had to turn a small potentiometer while leaving a voltmeter connected on the output.

Obviously, you're going to lose amperage doing this. My input is 5V @2.1A for ~10.5Watts. My output is going to 12V @ 0.875A, minus losses. However, my wall charger for the Baofeng outpus 8.4V @ .5A or 4.2 Watt. The car charger is also going to output 8.4V @whatever amperage gets fed in.

In perfect efficiency, the baofeng should be receiving 8.4V @ 1.25A (that 10.5W). But I'm certain I've lost quite a bit along the way. It doesn't really matter though, but I could lose half my power and still be providing more than ample power to charge that UV-5R. Additionally, the UV-5R will only draw as much power as it needs to top off the battery.

As far as the battery pack itself, it's a 10Ah pack with a small solar panel. I've drained it down (on purpse) and then let the sun charge it up almost the entire way over the course of two days. Basically over the course of the day, it would receive enough power to start charging things like my cell phone. The panel itself is not enough to charge much of anything, the battery needs to build up a charge first, which could take several hours. If you leave something (like your smartphone or uv-5r) connected to the battery pack 24x7, you'll drain the battery down and it will never charge back up from the sun. But if you're doing something extended (and starting from fully charged) you could stagger charging your devices and recharging the battery pack from the sun. I like to leave it clipped to my backpack and point it to the sun as much as possible to keep it topped off.

Yes. https://www.amazon.com/Compact-Hardwire-Adapter-Smartphone-SiriusXM/dp/B00I3P6QQG/ref=asc_df_B00I3P6QQG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312182162834&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14892076698876430292&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021698&hvtargid=aud-801381245258:pla-567154152460&psc=1

Looks like this would do the trick. http://www.amazon.com/Gomadic-Portable-Battery-designed-Raspberry/dp/B00BR22W0Q

I use this one. Works well. http://www.amazon.com/GNS-5870-MFI-Receiver-iPhone/dp/B004289ZW0

I just installed this exact thing in my car (well, sort of, I got the version with a full size female USB port instead of the mini male port so I wouldn't be constrained to that one cable)

Anyway! That is not an inline fuse. That is the 12v to 5v step down, and you definitely need a fuse on top of that.

Here's everything I bought (note that you will need the fuse tap that fits your car)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I3P6QQG

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K17A2E6

And with that and a 6 inch mini USB cable I had lying around, my G1WC is hard wired to my car!


One more note: all these EDO adapters are miswired. They put garbage on the data lines of USB, so your camera thinks it's connected to a PC. A trimmed piece of tape covering the center pins on the USB cable (there are four pins, 1 2 3 4, you need to cover 2 3) fixes that problem elegantly.

https://www.amazon.com/Gomadic-Charger-designed-Generation-technology/dp/B001SPTFAM

I'm going with this one :P https://www.amazon.com/Intocircuit-15000mAh-Portable-SmartID-Technology/dp/B00OSYLXKU/ref=dp_ob_title_wld

Garmin Vivosmart charger (like this one https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Vivo-Smart-Charging-Clip/dp/B00NB6MONG )

Can I use this?

https://www.amazon.com/Compact-Hardwire-Adapter-Smartphone-SiriusXM/dp/B00I3P6QQG/ref=sr_1_2?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1502485089&sr=1-2&keywords=fuse+tap

I never touched a fuse box before. Quite handy with computers though. What tools will I need?

You need either a in line wired USB or wire a cigarette lighter receptacle in and use your existing adapter. You can't just wire the USB cable in directly. USB is 5v.

This

http://www.amazon.com/Inverter-Converter-Adapter-Cellphone-Hard-wired/dp/B017PWWA9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457222128&sr=8-1&keywords=wired+USB+12+volt+adapter

or This

http://www.amazon.com/Hardwire-Smartphone-Navigation-SiriusXM-Satellite/dp/B00I3P6QQG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1457222128&sr=8-3&keywords=wired+USB+12+volt+adapter

or this
http://www.amazon.com/uxcell%C2%AE-Charger-Cigarette-Lighter-Female/dp/B00EZJBELQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1457222216&sr=1-5&keywords=cigarette+lighter+socket+adapter


I have a cig lighter wired in under the dash and one of those 3 output USB adapters for dashcam and some other stuff.

Did he have one of these? http://www.amazon.com/GNS-5870-MFI-Receiver-iPhone/dp/B004289ZW0

The indications from the reviews on this product is the battery life would be very short. Just a point of reference. https://www.amazon.com/Gomadic-Portable-Battery-designed-Raspberry/dp/B00BR22W0Q