Anyone know anything about the Bulls-I ETK B2000?

 

I have it in a box. Still need to install it. Will likely get to that project this weekend.

 

Ok thanks are you going to hardwire it?

 

I intend to... I have the optional wire with in-line fuse from them. Will post some pics if you're interested.

 

That would be great thanks

 

What are your intentions as far as usage? Parking surveillance, road accident documentation, track/road footage?

 

Parking surveillance and road accident documentation mainly but also helpful in fighting a traffic violation if I'm in the right. I drive an "arrest me red" car.

 

Cool, I've been considering something like this recently after a few different cars in the garage at the office were struck/damaged (not mine, fortunately) without any accountability. Was looking for a good solution and hadn't run across this device. Let us know how it works out!

 

Here's an old post re how my old blackbox unit works just to give you some ideas. https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...-at-70mph.html

 

USMC - Why the change from the Smarty Box to the Bulls I?

I would welcome any review that you guys have of these things. Been thinking of one for a while, and after a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign (honestly, I did since I put it in 1st gear) I'm really considering one

 

That is effectively the same device as the Black Vue:
http://www.blackvueusa.com/

Probably all assembled on the same line in Korea with just variations on the external cosmetics and label screening.

I've been running the Black Vue in my VW New Beetle for about a year succesffully. I didn't want to stick it on the window as the device is designed to due - as it becomes visible externally and a theft target. I mounted mine on a spare garage door opener clip and clip it to the back end of my sun visor and from there its not visible outside, still gets good view of out front (though more hood and roof liner) and can be moved easily from car to car.

The unit runs warm.. it generates heat, so you need to be sure its not enclosed in a space or sits in direct hot sun when running. The video feed is pretty good as is the audio. It writes to a flash memory card which you need to reformat every few weeks or months as it overwrites files over time and that flash drive file system gets all mucked up. The flash card is considered a disposable item, so you may have to replace it every year or so.

The system as an accelerometer in it to mark events, but you cannot adjust the sensitivity down low enough (for the rough roads around there) to not mark events at every railroad crossing, pavement change, etc.

It is on all the time if plugged into the cig lighter and can drain the car battery if you have it running in parking surveillance mode where it looks for impact and motion in the video to record. So I've got mine not doing any parking mode surveillance (motion detection turned off, sensitivity turned as low as possible).

I still plan on running the power wire to a switched power line in the dome light so I don't have the wire dangle down from the mirror to the cig lighter. Ideally I'd prefer if that system came in 2 parts, the camera and the flash recorder/power system. That way the recorder/power system could be a bigger box with better heat venting/sync and the camera could be tiny and be mounted IN the a-pilar trim. I told the BlackVue guys as much, that they should come out with a pro installed version.

I recommend the solution as it works great, just be careful about the parking mode and its powered state when you leave the car parked. There are solutions that help with that by providing some battery support. The software config is a bit difficult: if you leave it unplugged for a long time the system looses track of date/time and needs to be reset, which seems to default some of the stuff specifically the language back to Korean, but since I don't use the voice features of it talking to me its not as big a deal.

 

The Smarty Box worked well but I have their early model 1000 which is non-HD. So I plan to pass it down to my older son... he's been in two accidents over the past two years so I need to determine what he's doing. My switch to the Bulls-I is purely opportunistic. .. plus Id like try out the parking feature.

Good write-up/review by Minok.

 

I have been reading a lot about the parking feature.....leaving it on hardwired all the time.
Seems there will be a battery drain issue with no on/off switch either.

 

Well... that's the part we'll have to experiment with and here are some of the conditions I've discovered and will continue to monitor.
- if the car is locked(like in a parking garage) it will shut down most/all electrical functions (like electrical outlets and accessories) except essential functions such as the alarm system within 2 hrs.
- if left unlocked the alarm system will self armed(most cars are setup this way) and after 6 hrs it will shut down most/all non-essential electrical functions

I have an Escort Redline RADAR detector hardwired to my dome light console and my blackbox connected to the passenger foot well. I have left the detector and blackbox on in both of the above scenario's in my home garage without consequence over several days up to a week. When I'm not experimenting, of course, and just to be safe and to keep the battery well conditioned I normally hook the car up to the trickle charger every night . Conclusion, I don't believe that these devices drain enough to cause issues provided your battery is well conditioned and not at the end of it's life... in which case you should considering replacing the battery for obvious reasons. Now if you somehow route a line directly to the battery to bypass the car's inherent battery drainage precautionary system then that may impact you. Someone else may be able to comment re this type of configuration.

This all begs the question of what if you want to record beyond 2 hrs in park mode such as in a parking structure at work or an overnight hotel stay. Like I have mentioned previously that would require a hard link to the battery and it would be interesting to see what others find re this type of configuration. For my purposes... I work from my home office when I'm not traveling so 2 hours of parking lot surveillance is perfect for my needs - grocery store runs, business mtgs, lunch/dinner mtgs, date night, etc. It certainly doesn't cover every scenario but it's far better then having nothing plus the surveillance capability while driving alone is well worth it.

 

Andrew,

I hard wired my radar detector a year ago.
I tapped(solder it) into constant power by the interior overhead lights. The radar detector or cameras draw very little current so there is no need to add another fuse.

Let me know if you (or anyone else) want the pics and instructions.

Btw, thank you again for the shifter and the brake!!

Vlad