rear view camera

Thanks Rob, I have a TomTom GPS unfortunately. What you have explained sounds like a good thing.

Baz

Baz thanks we used the Garmin setup for over 4 years towing our AOR Q+ into most of remote Australia in that time, so that includes lots of bitumen as well. We never had a problem with its capability or performance. Not a shred of interference which is more common using bluetooth setups. The wiring is well shielded and the NFC performance very reliable. And as I indicated no need for a range extender and its extra cost thanks to having the wiring run through the camper to the drawer bar where it terminated into its own antenna box. Meaning the signal only had the length of the car to travel.

The greatest challenge these days is to not have any more screens on your dash than you really need. This sort of clutter can become a distraction which may attract the attention of enforcement bodies. So integration of aftermarket camera systems into OE systems can create frustration, when that need can't be met and joy when and if it can

Rob





This particular aspect of the market offers lots of choice but quality and service backup can be of importance as well

We have two cameras feeding wi-fi into the Garmin GPS on the dash. One is on the back door of the NS Pajero powered off the reversing lights. It gives us both a rear view and a downward view to the hitch. I have upgraded the reversing lights with LED bulbs to improve the camera's night-time performance.
The other camera is fitted to the back of the van with the transmitter fitted to the van's drawbar. This camera is powered off the sidelight circuit of the van. The Pajero is fitted with large towing mirrors too.
The only problem I have is that if the van camera is on for more than an hour, the picture freezes. I suspect there is a video buffer in the GPS which gets full. In this event, I turn the GPS off for half a minute which seems to clear the buffer, and the system will work for another hour or so.

Apologies for a side track question, but my new van has duel cameras on the rear, would you still need mirrors?

Sanantone. In short yes. You must be able to see down the sides of your van.

We have a similar setup. It works reliably and they are very responsive and good for after sales service.

Beforehand though, we had a wireless setup from elsewhere and it was next to useless, even with the supplied intermediate relay unit that was mounted under the rear of the vehicle.

You are correct, if the car was manufactured with side mirrors, they are required by law but what about this - The 2019 Lexus ES, it has side cameras.

It won't be long and all cars will have cameras instead of mirrors.

My D-Max has a canopy and I have blanked out the windows with sun screens so have a 7" monitor mounted over the internal rear view mirror, no point having a mirror if there is nothing to see. When not towing it shows what is behind me using a numberplate camera. If towing I change the AV input to the camera on the back of the van.

Exactly! You must be able to see along both sides of the towed vehicle. That is the law.

The LAW, in Queensland at least and I would expect elsewhere, is that you must have a clear REFLECTED wiew of following and overtaking traffic when towing.

AS for the Lexus there may be something in the latest edition of ADR14 that allows for the use of CCTV for rear view.

Regards
Athol

I think I will just go with a wired in one using the mirror clip on sort.
As mentioned previously, the car internal rear view mirror is no good while towing a van anyway.

Cheers, Baz

Be warned Baz, I tried one of those and found it next to useless as there was too much reflection from the mirror surface.

I ended up mounting a 7" monitor over the mirror and it works very well.

Yes Allan, it is so important to know what colour eyes the driver behind you has haha.

I use my mirrors for looking way back behind me and the camera mainly to see someone tuck right up my ginger. I am to busy concentrating on the road ahead of me to worry about to much detail of what's behind me.

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It wasn't their eyes that I was looking at Kazza. lol

In the Troopy there was never anyone "ahead of me" to worry about. It was those sneaking up behind that I was concerned about. Now, in the Sprinter, I am concentrating on keeping well ahead of the field!

Yes, the rear view from the "reversing cameras is very wide but I usually use mine when backing the van as someone else said, and use the extension mirrors for keeping an eye on the following traffic. They're still of some use to monitor the traffic and I think overall a better option than the narrower view cameras in terms of versatility and certainly, cost. Good to see some alternative ideas though.

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Rear view of the road on the Sprinter was compromised in several ways. The view from the internal mirror was partly obscured by a 28cm wide vertical mullion in the centre of the rear barn doors. Couldn't see any vehicle in the lane behind on a straight road! The outside mirrors are convex so OK for seeing the 'overtaking blind-spots' but poor for rear distance and because of the vehicle's body shape and size, poor for seeing someone close behind.
To complicate it further, an insect screen I fitted on the rear doors reduced vision.
So I was practically blind to an effective rear view.
However, the OEM reversing camera with a dashboard monitor is excellent and with proximity sensors all round, no trouble parking.
So I installed a second camera of 30 degree viewing angle on the roof which affords a view equivalent to a flat mirror and replaced the OEM internal mirror with the camera display. This camera reveals from a vehicle right on my tail to far behind. It is powered to come on with the ignition and will produce an enhanced image on a very dull day.
Very happy with this setup.

I originally fitted a dual camera Safety Dave setup to a 7inch screen at dash level and could switch between distance and wide-angle views. The screen though wobbled too much on dirt roads and occasionally the suction mount failed. For our trip last year of a western half circuit, I changed the screen to one clipped over the internal mirror.

It didn't work out well as way too many relections if set so that both of us could monitor it. Apart from reflections from both sides, the white front of the van added to the issue. Much to the annoyance of the wife, if I angled it towards me it was more acceptable, but only to me. The added reflections of her white hair and my balding head took over too much as well.

I'm going to make up a mount for this over the mirror screen to mount down where the old 7 incher previously was and try that as this screen is far better quality. The wife may just have to give up looking at it, or she takes that duty full time.

While away, we went to the Newdegate farm show in WA and we were looking at a stand with a lot of these things on display. I was talking to the owner, and he said he has exactly the same issues.

I could connect the cameras to the Android head unit, which is much lower, but then that would affect running Exploroz Traveller unless I can work out getting it into dual screen mode.

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Hi Phil,
Our receiver/screen, which is styled like an OEM rearview mirror, is mounted on the original mirror mount stem at top of windscreen. As you have indicated, a feature of such LED screens is that unlike mirrors they do not need to be positioned 'just-so' as do mirrors and so we positioned to provide equal view of both driver and passenger. No reflection issues but we found that the screen resolution was much better if it was aimed directly toward the driver, so that is now permanent. The passenger can still view the screen obliquely but with diminished quality so it only happens when a request is raised.
Positioning it on the OEM mirror mount stem has the advantage of no background glare but bear in mind that such devices mounted within the windscreen real-estate need to conform to ADR in respect to safety break-away function.

I suspect that the trouble with the old 7 inch screen being unstable was that it was top heavy and therefore too much for the suction mount. Attaching a like mount to the combo rear vision mirror/monitor may place it lower and more stable. If not, it will just be the driver who makes use of it higher up in future. No harm trying.

Hi Guys,

My two cents worth. Whilst I can see some advantages to having the front seat passenger able to view the rear view camera monitor, ultimately, it is the drivers responsibility to know what is behind them. After all, the driver is “in charge” of the vehicle. Same thing with any rear view mirrors, no point in having the front seat passenger having the optimal view, when they are not in control of the vehicle.

Macca.

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Macca, I am reliably informed that some of the 'Front Seat Passengers' are in total "control of the vehicle"'. lol

Hi Macca,

As a rear camera is not legally accepted for rear vision, I doubt that any authority would be concerned as to who is looking at it. A rear camera isn't legally required for rear vision immediately behind the van, and that area isn't covered by the external mirrors. The authorities don't even require reversing lights or a buzzer on a caravan for reversing, so their concern for that area is pretty much nonexistent.

From personal experience the passenger has never been able to look at the screen while reversing as they are generally positioned well outside the car anyway.

While the vehicle external towing mirrors are required to see down the sides of the caravan and to see the rear corners, they do not see immediately behind the van, and unless you are going around a bend they generally do not see very well way back behind the van.

Therefore, even if the passenger was solely monitoring the camera screen, I as the driver can still use the external mirrors to see all I am legally required see, which is no different to those that don't have a camera anyway. The camera setup is a pure bonus for rear information, even though at times dust and moisture on the camera lens render it near useless.

The issue of wanting the wife to view it isn't one of only her to be seeing it, just that we would prefer that the screen is visible to both of us at the same time. It's a work in progress to achieve that. Legal requirements for the adjustment of the offside external mirror don't really work well for a passenger to see too much rearwards, so the wife appreciates the camera view.

Yes Allan,

you may be correct there. :-)

PhilD,

Not entirely correct. Cameras can be used as a replacement for rear view mirrors, as long as they provide the correct “field of view”. Those last three words are the important part of the ruling. Some of the latest European trucks entering the Australian market do not have any rear view mirrors but have an array of cameras instead.

Macca.

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From what I can find, ADR 14/02 and 108/00 have content regarding rear view cameras as distinct from reversing cameras. The key thing is that there is reference to their approval on NEW cars. A specific exclusion. No mention of 'aftermarket'. It can be easy to misread ADR…. you need to look at every word.

I also found web articles discussing the evolution of cameras in automotive use that discuss features such as "wing" cameras to cover blind spot areas which are then stitched to the sides of the rear view image to provide a panoramic view of composite focal length. That could be good.
It seems that car makers would also like to do away with outside optical mirrors for the sake of aerodynamics and cost. There was also expressions of adjustability features that alarms me into envisaging a driver being distracted whilst fiddling with the controls! There is more to capture attention on the dashboard of modern cars than there is outside the windscreen!

My Sprinter does have sensors for the blind spots but it is only an alarm not vision. It alerts you to the outside wing mirrors and I do find it helpful.