Wireless camera on caravan
Submitted: Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 10:53
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OzWatson
Hi all,
My folks have just bought a wireless camera kit for their rig. I haven't seen it yet, but I understand it comes with 2 wireless cameras and a windscreen mounted display. One of the cameras will go on the back of the troopy and the other on the back of the van.
According to the instructions, it recommends using the reverse light to power the camera which is fine for the car, but the van doesn't have reverse lights. He also wants to be able to use it while driving to give extra visibility behind the van (not as replacement for mirrors).
I was wondering how other people might have approached this. There is a general power wire to the van but that would mean the camera was powered and transmitting continuously whenever the van was hooked up to the car, even when stopped for the night. This might not be desirable. He could put a switch in the van somewhere to turn it on/off, but chances they would forget to turn it on or off. Another option is to run another lead across the coupling with another plug so he could switch it from the dash. Bit messy and kind of defeats the purpose of having a wireless camera.
This of course assumes the wireless works
well from the back of the van.
Any thoughts?
Andrew
Reply By: Life Member - esarby (NSW) - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:27
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:27
Hi OzWatson. I had a wireless camera fitted to the rear of my van. I had it wired so the I could plug it in to one of the sockets that ran the fridge. As I unplugged the fridge after use, I automatically unplugged the R/camera. You will get in the habit very soon after a few flat batteries. Great for seeing traffic behind you, though I did not like it for reversing. Steve.B...
AnswerID:
469742
Reply By: bobsabobsa - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:29
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:29
Hi I just get my power from the tail light, that way all you have to do is have the parkers or your headlights on.
Very easy fix and no messing around trying to run acc power from the car.
Bob
AnswerID:
469743
Follow Up By: bobsabobsa - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:30
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:30
That is the tail light of the caravan.
FollowupID:
744169
Reply By: Member - Boo Boo (NSW) - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 12:57
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 12:57
Andrew
Have they actually got it working yet?
I have read on this
forum that wireless rearview cameras don't really work that
well as there is interference or to much metal between the camera and the monitor.
Someone is sure to know the exact details.
AnswerID:
469753
Follow Up By: dbish - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 13:15
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 13:15
It pretty mutch depends on the instilation & howmutch shielding My wireless camera is inside the back window of my van & works fine. But the poptop roof is only fibreglass, & powered by tail lights. It realy is trial & error.
FollowupID:
744176
Reply By: OzWatson - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 13:32
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 13:32
Thanks for the replies so far.
I like the idea of running it off the tail lights and did discuss it. He seemed reluctant to run with the lights on (during the day). Not sure why. Seems by far the most pain free way of turning the camera on from the front
seat and he's not going to forget to turn the lights off, even if is does have the van hooked up overnight.
The van itself is a 15 foot pop top with aluminium sides and roof so not sure how the reception will be. I assume the camera has an antenna on a lead (need to check) so maybe that can be extended and put at the front of the van or on the side. If it's inbuilt in the camera then could have a problem. Will suggest he hooks it up and tries it out before installing it.
Andrew
AnswerID:
469755
Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 16:39
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 16:39
Hi Andrew
Our wireless did not work through our solid van. I could get a picture when the camera was inside the rear of the caravan, but rarely from the outside - and only fuzzy. We hard wired it. For that one we drew the power fro the caravan batteries. We how have a different one and the power goes to it with the cable from the tug - no extra wiring to go wrong (which was the downfall of the d.i.y on-the-road wiring with the wireless).
The only other thing to be aware of is the focus of the cameras. Reversing as for on the car (for reversing or hitching) is a close focused camera, whereas rear view is usually required for seeing what is coming up behind from the distance, and with a reversing camera you cannot really see them until they are about to pass.
Motherhen
AnswerID:
469774
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 16:50
Friday, Nov 11, 2011 at 16:50
Monitor windscreen mounted? Anything above the dash in the line of vision is illegal. We mounted ours in front of the centre vents with the Patrol. With nowhere suitable on the dash of the F250 (due to airbags) it is on the roof above the mirror, but we don't use it much as with wide mirrors on a wide vehicle vision is good, and dust to the rear of the caravan obscures the vision when on dirt roads.
Mh
FollowupID:
744195
Reply By: OzWatson - Monday, Nov 14, 2011 at 09:10
Monday, Nov 14, 2011 at 09:10
Hi,
A bit more info. The kit is a Jaycar response unit with 2 cameras. It is called a reversing kit but I don't think they are fish eye cameras so hopefully should be able to see enough behind the van. They have a long lead from the camera to the antenna, especially for the van, so should give some options for mounting the antenna closer to the car. They claim a range of up to 80m - that seems ambitious but with a bit of luck we can find a spot that gives good reception.
The antenna box doesn't look waterproof so might have to go inside the van or in a waterproof box.
For power, hooking into the tail lights sounds like the go.
Looking at mounting the screen above the mirror to keep it out of the way.
thanks for all the suggestions.
Andrew
AnswerID:
469974