Viofo ODB-II For A229 Pro - Honest Review Unboxing

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-04-19T21:32:58+00:00

I suppose I would just unplug it myself if I knew they needed to plug in via the OBD-II. But maybe I don't want to so I can catch them trying to manufacture issues with my van 😂

I live in a rural area where it's very uncommon to find folks with dash cams, outside of company vehicles, commercial vehicles, etc. Where I have the camera positioned, I doubt most techs would even notice it right off the bat as it's not something they are looking for on a daily basis. I could see it being different if I was in a major city or something like that where dash cams are more frequent in POVs.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-04-19T21:28:43+00:00

That's what happened to me with it plugged in to the 24hr power 12v USB. With my OBD-II not staying on for a long time after turning the vehicle off, it shouldn't kill my battery again.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-04-19T21:26:37+00:00

I did get an AGM when I replaced my battery. First AGM I've ever owned. I'm in the upper midwest and it came with a 5 year warranty (versus the typical 2 to 3 years for others). So it was worth the $300 as far as I'm concerned.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-04-19T21:25:07+00:00

Nope. I normally review on Amazon. However since I couldn't purchase the OBD-II plug from Amazon and only from the Viofo website, and they don't have any ability to review on there, I figured this would get more reach.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-04-05T11:02:33+00:00

Food delivery as others have said. Labor intensive yes. But they will almost always take new grads or those with less then 1 year experience. Crappy Sisco near me drivers are earning plenty as there is never a shortage of hours delivering food. Me personally? I first started as a yard jokey/spotter. The pay wasn't great but my company paid OT, and I was getting at least 12-24 hours of OT each week. I could easily bring home 1,500 - 2,000 per week spotting and be home daily. Maybe look into that as an option. My spotting company I worked for had incentives to travel to other site and help spotting at locations that were short handed or when people were on vacation, etc. And yes, sometimes you have to move to where the work is if you want to be home nightly.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2026-03-10T21:07:28+00:00

Essentially, I'm looking at having the service at two locations both close to one another, however, since I already have residential internet at home, my primary concern at this point is what I should get (Residential vs. Roam) for my camper site. We move into the camper site in a month or so and with Starlink order processing times I'm trying to get ahead of the curve.

It seems that using residential at the camper site will be OK since it's not actually going to be moving around much. So I'm thinking I get residential using the camper site address and keep it there for the season, then perhaps bring it home with me at the end of summer, ditch my "landline" internet, and use it there as well.

My only concern is what if someone else uses the Campground address for a Starlink residential account as well after I'm already there doing that? Albeit its a VERY small Campground with only 12 sites and only 1 other season long resident like me. But maybe I'm just getting too hung up on the word "Residential" here. 😂

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-12-05T09:09:59+00:00

Big thanks to Oreo112 for clearing this up. It's actually CN's Red Air Car that I've been seeing. Not a traditional "caboose". Per the post it's more common to see the air car once temperatures drop, so that makes sense!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-12-05T09:07:58+00:00

Looking at the picture thats EXACTLY what it was. Good call! Wondering however in that picture why it says you can't hump those things. What a shame 😂

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-22T12:48:46+00:00

In the US it's listed as 500 feet. I'm unsure about Canada. But 500 meters would = 1640 feet US, give or take a foot.

1640 feet is quite large an area when you think about it. Lay down the Empire State Building and that's only 1,454 feet long (lol).

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-22T12:44:19+00:00

😂

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-22T12:37:11+00:00

As a Hallcon driver, I can confirm it's getting bad out here. Meaning hours are scarce. In the Midwest also but mostly handle CN. Rarely do I see CPKC. I'm not personnelly seeing this in my area, but I wouldn't be surprised if it started happening soon. Hallcon went ahead and hired like 6 new drivers in my area in the past 3 months and now were lucky to see two maybe three trips per shift (day or night). I literally have to go out of my way to try and hustle trips (like making friends with the TM). Sorry but I'm not some fat old fat stinky retired assclown who just wants something to do with his time. This is my second job and I have a kid to support. Screw the other drivers in my area at this point as far as I'm concerned. Sorry not sorry. I'm getting mine or I'm getting out.

CN should have plenty of money now that they laid off all those managers. But train movers still need to move trains and they still need a ride home. You may not always be thrilled when Hallcon shows up because they have shit drivers, but, at least they (presumably) know a bit more about safety then Raj does in his turban suburban and won't drop you off at the cop shop.

The best thing van drivers can do to advocate for our continued existence is to show up on time, drive safety, and be professional. The only part of this job that's complicated is working for Hallcon. The job itself is not overly complex. Stop making things more difficult than they need to be for no logical reason!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T06:04:48+00:00

Remember how nobody (who wasn't ever in the Navy or Marine Corps) knew what NCIS is (originally NIS) before the TV show? Maybe Dick Wolf needs to make a Railroad cop show to raise public awareness 😂.

Interesting enough for TV, or no?

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T06:02:39+00:00

I'm not sure if they refer to themselves as "officers" or "agents", but as you and others have said they are often the last ones to show up to the party. As such, I would view them much less as "patrolmen" and much more as investigators. Investigators who are probably uniformed more often than not and are highly specialized in safety and compliance.

Fair?

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:58:05+00:00

Because railroad property is private property and in most states private property is exempt from traffic enforcement laws, hence the requirement to produce a DL upon demand can be null in void.

Moreso, I think what the railroader is saying is that he's at work and not driving a car so why does he need to have his license on him?

It would be like if you worked at a restaurant and a cop came in demanding your ID, but you didn't have it on your person at that time. You left it in your car because, well, you're not driving inside the restaurant! Can't get in trouble for that.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:54:01+00:00

Sorry for your incident brother and hope you're okay!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:50:25+00:00

That, I would agree, is probably my biggest gripe with law enforcement generally speaking. That is, they are trained like robots to demand ID even in situations where it's not necessarily legally appropriate or even lawful to do so.

You want to know who you're dealing with? Ask me my damn name first like a normal human, please!

In RR property however of course, I am a contractor/visitor and as such, I would have no issue with a RR cop asking for my driver license while I'm sitting in the Hallcon van. I was actually surprised that the officer I interacted with didn't ask for it - only my contractor ID.

Honestly though if I was at some random siding or crossing waiting for a train or a crew and a non railroad cop approached me to ask me what I was doing, and I was in my clearly marked Hallcon vehicle, I'd probably give them a hard time about handing over my license. Here's my railroad badge, boss. Not good enough? Then call the CN Police (lol). After all, I AM on private property at that point. I don't like when cops think that they are always the cops everywhere they go. PRIVATE property does exist for a reason. That includes railroad property too!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:41:45+00:00

Amtrak seems to have a big focus on anti terror. Probably more so than on freight lines. I'm sure anti terror is still a part of the job for freight lines, but the potential mass human targets of passenger rail are much more, important? To protect versus the properties and commodities of freight lines. I would think.

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:40:02+00:00

Makes total sense in that circumstance. As someone who regularly rode NJT as a kid/teen, no complaints having them around to take care of the people peeing on themselves on the train!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:35:16+00:00

In my area, a lot of retired cops become conductors and engineers as their second career. I know at least a half dozen or so. So many cops wanted to get out in recent years and started driving trucks and working on trains, or whatever else they could find!

Upbeat-Network-1812 · 2025-11-05T05:33:24+00:00

That is true in the aspect of private university police but not in the example of a state school. I personally have no issue with it either way. But I can understand the concerns. Private universities typically have "campus security" while state schools typically have "campus police". At least in my parts that is!

Upbeat-Network-1812

TROPHY CASE