Comment: Tips for Buying a Reversing Camera

Hi Tom,
I have fitted a monitor and a reverse camera to the last three cars I have owned and to both of the last 2 caravans. That gives me some experience to speak of.

The last unit I fitted to our 100 series Landcruiser.
The monitor is similar to the one in the link which follows this parragraph but the camera shown in that link is different to the one used on the caravan in that the one I got for the caravan had 18 infra red LEDs. Otherwise they look the same.

The second link shows the camera used on the car by drilling a hole in the bumper bar and inserting the camera that way.
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Reverse Monitor and Camera.

Reverse camera for the bumper bar.

I experimented with the wireless variety but found they were useless on the caravan and not much better on the car so I discarded it and went for the hard wired variety.

From the caravan to the car I have usedt one of those Wozza Wozza cables from Bashes Imports, purchased via ebay, and while it was not cheap it does the job very well. On the previous van I used good quality TV ariel cable and "F" connector to go from van to the car.

It also helps to be able to do the wiring yourself as that will save you heaps and you will understand the setup better if you do it yourself, if you are capable.

There is no need to spend heaps of money on a unit and installation unless you want to go that way, for whatever reason.

Do a search on ebay for 'reverse camera' and it will bring up many pages of the things.

Good luck.

Cheers, Bruce.

Hi Tom o
Unless you are an absolute genius reversing to hitch up, I would strongly recommend putting a camera on you vehicle as well, you're running the wiring anyway, and a number plate camera is a snack to fit.
I have bought my gear on line from Safety Dave in Victoria (easy to find on the web). All his stuff (for car and van) is reasonably priced and for me is still working fine and his service was quick and easy.

Happy travelling

TJ

I had the manufacturer fit a Waeco camera to the rear of my Trakmaster van and hard wired up during construction which meant the installation was easy and didn't look like an after thought, plus there were no potential water leak problems later on.
My Land Rover Discovery has 2 round 7 pin plugs as standard near the towbar and I used one of these to connect the camera loom to the vehicle. People look confused when I plug in 2 plugs to the car when hooking up the van but it is neat, tidy and works well in both dusty or wet conditions.
I also had a second smaller (reversing) camera installed in the tailgate of the car which assists when hooking on to the tow ball and is wired to the loom that runs back to the Discovery Sat Nav. The Sat Nav control unit sits under the passenger seat and has a switch fitted that automatically detects the car camera when in reverse gear and the caravan camera when it is plugged in, this then sends a signal to the in dash Sat Nav LCD screen which gives a perfect colour picture when switched to Accessory mode and a great view of what is going on behind the van while travelling. I can toggle between Sat Nav and Camera if I need to use the Navigation function.
Day time the camera gives good depth of field although vehicles may appear very small until they get closer, say 100 metres. The camera adjust well to varying light conditions but night time is not as good as cars that are right behind you with lights on tend to dazzle the camera optics but you still have a good view of what is happening behind you.
I still consider it the best thing I ever did, I love knowing what is going on behind me, especially in heavy traffic on city roads and I have no messy wires running every where in side the vehicle or screens bolted on to the vehicle dash. Just plug in and go.

tom o
I would also recommend Safety Dave from Melbourne as I am a happy customer of his I even sent him an email and he got back to me and we discussed what was needed then it arrived in one day also second the Wosser cable as mentioned above
No affiliation with Safety Dave just a happy customer
Terry