Ideas needed for back up camera

Luckyj

Completely wireless and easly removable, would be a go pro type camera, via bluetooth to your phone.  Some of thos cam are now cheap and most of us have smarth phone already.

could go that way, but my TV is the same with as the TD, so I just back up with both side of body panel in the middle of the trailer and end up in an area on less than 1/2" of dead on most of the time.

foxden

Thanks @Luckyj The camera that I bought is wireless between the monitor and camera but I wanted it hardwired for power.  I will use it primarily to see behind me while driving.  I have the mirrors but would feel more comfortable being able to see what is back there.  Now that I have a plan for the wiring I should be good to go.

TabberJohn

foxden said: Did you connect the wires with the heat shrink connectors?  If so, do I just put one of the camera wires and one of the ends of the green wire together in one end and the other green wire in the other end.  Do the same for the white?

Those are factory installed crimped butt connectors on the red/red running light wires. You won't be able to re-use those.
One option is to use quick splice connectors onto the red/red or green/white wires. I'm not fond of this type connector due to mismatch on gauges. Your camera power wires may be small (22-24 ga).
I used Posi-taps on the green and white wires. I forget which color was positive (+). See this post for more info: http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/65369#Comment_65369
You'll make two connections. One for positive (likely a red wire) and another for negative (likely a black wire). 
Of course you could just cut each wire to the running light, strip the ends, then twist them together with a camera power lead and apply a wire nut connector.   Your camera kit may include wire nut connectors.

foxden

I now have a working backup camera on my T@B and it gives me a great 120 degree view.  Thanks @TabberJohn for the pictures of the wiring.  I attached the camera wire to the side running lights but getting into that storage space under the sofa is a real trick if you choose not to remove the sofa back!  But it works and looks great.

FishDoctor

I also followed suggestions from @TabberJohn about wiring into the running light wires when I installed a rearview camera last weekend. Good suggestion on using Posi-taps for making the connections!

I DID remove the back storage compartment from my T@B S Max to get access to the right wires and to get the wires from the camera to the transmitter passed through a hole I made next to the license plate light. The signal from the transmitter seems to be plenty strong enough to reach the monitor that attaches to the rear-view mirror in the tow vehicle and I get a nice view behind the trailer. Took me about 4 hours to get everything installed, adjusted, and cleaned up. Of course, the real test will be on the road next week when traveling from Illinois to Colorado -- I'm curious whether there will be much interference in the wireless signal as I'm driving down the road.


I really appreciated the information on the forum for helping me know what I was getting into and for planning the installation!

TabberJohn

@FishDocter - For a do-over I'd place my camera to one side of the light like you did with your license plate clip cam. My cam is currently mounted directly in front of the light. That's too close to the drip line on the lip so in heavy storms water pours right onto the camera lens. This clears up on its own when the rain lets up but during a heavy storm the view is useless. :(
Your cam is tucked in under the lip and shouldn't have that problem.
What model cam is that? I may decide to switch instead of drilling another hole.

FishDoctor

@TabberJohn -- it was an Auto VOX wireless camera kit (this one). As I mentioned, I haven't road-tested it yet to see what kind of interference I get on the signal, but I had a good stable picture in my driveway tests. The camera is mounted to a metal plate that the license plate screws go through. In order to mount it off-center as shown, I had to drill a new hole in the metal plate to match the existing license plate mounting screw location while making sure the mount for the camera didn't "peek out" from behind the license plate. I used silicone adhesive to seal around the wire where it goes through the skin of the T@B. There are small screws for locking in adjustments to the up-down angle of the camera. Being off-center by the small amount shown doesn't make much difference in side-to-side alignment of the camera image. The camera image displays guidelines (which can be disabled by clipping a small loop of wire). I like having those and used the guide lines to help me make adjustments.

Of course (as I'm sure you know), if you are happy with your current transmitter set-up, you could easily change out just the camera without replacing the transmitter -- just plug in the new camera line to the existing transmitter plug-in jacks. And there are lots of camera choices out there!

atlasb

Just found the back up camera in the new 400.  open the front and rear shades and screens and look through the windows. You can see who is in your lane behind you!

FishDoctor

FishDoctor said:

"... Auto VOX wireless camera kit (this one). As I mentioned, I haven't road-tested it yet to see what kind of interference I get on the signal, but I had a good stable picture in my driveway tests. 

[AUTO VOX Wireless Backup Camera Kit with HD Rearview Mirror Monitor and IP 68 Waterproof LED Super Night Vision License Plate Rear View Camera]

Just an update... During a 2,000 mile journey, I noticed that there was occasional interference with the signal, but nothing that lasted long enough or happened enough to really bother me. There were times that it was nice to know whether there was someone following real close, but much of the time I felt that the side view mirrors on the car were good enough because the T@B is really not any wider than the distance between the TV mirrors. The one downside with using this particular setup for a continuous rear view is that the camera is a wide-angle (170 degrees). Because of this, things in the distance are very small and almost unnoticeable until they are pretty close (maybe 75-100 feet?). Of course, those distant things are easily seen in the side-view mirrors. If I was changing out the camera, I would choose one with a narrower field of view. It will help you decide if you are far enough ahead of a vehicle you just passed to safely move back into the lane.

The rear view was great when I was backing up the trailer.  I left the guidelines set to ON (you snip a wire to turn them OFF, so it is more or less permanent one way or the other). The LED assist with low light situations worked well and the distance guidelines made me confident about how close things were behind the trailer.

Finally, the rear-view mirror that has the image display was pretty easy to mount and unmount from my existing rear-view mirror for those time when I was driving the TV without the trailer. I would just unplug and stow the display until I needed it.

BrianZ

T@B Backup Camera Option..

I admire all the innovative solutions that T@Bers have presented here for installing various kinds of rearview cameras.  We've always used the eyes, hands & feet manual method to backup the car or trailer, with or without a helper guide, but I am ready for an easier method for solo use. 

Our Sienna van has no backup camera, so I've considered some of the many commercial solutions available that would provide cameras at both rear of car & rear of trailer.  With wide view mirrors installed, I don't feel any need for a rear camera view while driving on the highway, just when hooking up the trailer & for backing it up.  While I'm not intimidated by a solution that involves wiring, I also wanted to first consider whether I might be able to use something I already have on hand.

My first thought is that we have an old cell phone, and would it be possible to send its camera view to my current phone.  One way I found to do this is by using a camera app so it works like one of the inexpensive security cameras available that send a live image to your phone.  The only problem is that these work as IP cameras which need a local network router available, so that would limit their usefulness to only around the home environment.  Our Samsung Note phones are capable of a peer-to-peer WiFi connection directly between phones via "WiFi Direct" technology without any network connection, but I'm not aware of an app for viewing one phone's camera on the other phone's screen using only WiFi Direct.

Then I remembered that I also have a little Samsung Gear 360 camera that I got last year as a free gift for preordering my Galaxy Note8 phone, and it uses this same technology to send the camera's image to my phone, which also uses an app to capture still or video images through either or both of the two Gear 360 cameras (180° or 360° view).  There is very little time lag, and the range is quite good, letting me control the camera & see its view on my phone from opposite ends of our house and through 2 or 3 walls.  I'm anxious to try this out, but everything is covered with snow right now & the trailer is covered for the winter.

I found this very handy little camera mount (Panavise ActionGrip 13101 Shorty) on Amazon, which has a very strong suction cup with standard 1/4" x 20 tripod mount for a camera; and I think it will be the perfect solution for attaching the Gear 360 camera to either the back of the car or back of the trailer as needed for a backup view.  For that matter, it could be fun to shoot a 360 video from the roof of the car or T@B while driving through a scenic spot.

Here's a shot of the Gear 360 camera mounted on the ActionGrip suction mount...

This mount lets you adjust the vertical angle of the camera using the screw knob, which I expect should work great at rear of either car or trailer.  Suction is very strong & made to hold cameras on the outside of moving vehicles.  I'll let you know at some point how it works.

dmerzbac

@BrianZ Good ideas! I have been looking for some sort of wireless camera setup for my T@b ever since I tagged a tree backing up last August. The hazards of solo camping. 

BrianZ

Well, the snow is melted & warmer temps let me test my camera on the back of the car today..

There was just enough flat surface at the bottom of the trunk lid to suction-mount the camera, then I just push a button to turn it on and opened the Gear 360 app on my phone.  I wanted to mount it fairly low anyway, so the hitch doesn't look too small through the camera's wide angle lens.
Here's the view from the phone app, which lets me snap stills or video, either 180° or 360°, for 2D or 3D rendering..

This gives me a good close view of the hitch plus a very wide view of the entire driveway.  T@B is still under cover in the backyard for the winter, but I'll be anxious to try this out later for hitching it up & on back of the T@B for backing it up.  I already have a beanbag cell phone holder for the dashboard that I can use for this (we sometimes use it for Google Maps navigation). That's my [former?] ground guide in the background.

For Android users wanting to try pairing two cell phones as backup camera & monitor, I found two apps ("Zapya" & "Cam Wimote") that can use "WiFi Direct" to setup a peer-to-peer connection between phones without the need for connecting to any WiFi network like "IP Cameras" use.  These apps let you designate one phone as the remote & the other as the camera, so you can view the camera live on the other phone.  I tried them both on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 & Note8 & they worked (with some pros & cons).

Blueespy

Ramrod said:https://pearlauto.com/  Ramrod, thanks for the link.  I think this would be great for our new 400 as well as my jeep now that I've gotten large tires and my wife can't see out of the rear view mirror.

rcuomo

Here’s my idea:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/6507/update-wired-rear-view-camera-for-less-than-50-and-with-no-holes-drilled-in-trailer

DougH

We have a 70mai Pro dashcam. 

High resolution (2592 x 1944).  I wouldn't bother with the GPS module as it's not fully implemented like other dash cams even with latest June 2019 firmware. $69 without GPS, $79 with GPS on Amazon.  Great looking video with audio option, voice control, etc.

But what makes it great for T@bbers is its wifi hotspot.  VERY long range.  And there's an Android / IOS app to view the photos and videos on the 64Gb card, or more importantly, do a live view through the camera.

So when setting up camp, just slide it off the windshield mount, use a short micro USB cable and a small power bank and attach it to the back of the camper.  Great high res low light RV backup camera. You'll have to create the bracket for the license plate if you don't want to just rest it on top the camper near the door. 

Now put the Anderson leveler behind the low wheel, move the camera to look at the wheel, hop back in the car and watch your phone as you slowly back up and decide if you need 1" or 4" lift on that side.  Multi-windowed with the Remote Level app if you have a spare phone to put on the camper floor.

Then reattach to the windshield.  It has a parking mode in case another camper or moose bumps the front of the car overnight.

We love it.  Three devices in one!

DougH

Finally took some pictures...

Here's the $79 (Amazon) 70mai Pro high-res dash cam in its normal place on the windshield.  But it's got a long range wi-fi, and can hook to an app on your phone, where that phone can be fifty feet away from the dash cam.

So here's that same dash cam, slid off the normal GPS mount on the windshield, and just resting on a spare battery, looking at the low wheel with an Anderson leveling chock behind the wheel.  I know, I know, I should really have it cradled below a drone so I can move the camera around without getting out of the car.  But the leveler chock is too heavy for the drone to pick up anyway.

So with a spare phone or tablet in the camper reporting via Bluetooth to the Remote Level app on the phone (in one window)... and with the 70mai dash cam app (in the other window)... you can easily just reverse or drive forward until the left to right reads zero degrees, or slightly to the right if you want to help the air conditioner drip towards the drain.  All while making sure you don't drive right off the leveling device.  Looks even better on a tablet.