120 deg Wide-Angle Rear View Reverse Camera off Ebay - REVIEW - Page 7

hd54321 · 11-10-2004, 04:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kefka_killer

Before you go out spending money, I would hook up the camera and see what the picture is like. If its pointing straight out wouldn't you lose your sense of relativity. IE you don't know how close you are to your bumper because you can't see it. Also you would have to rely on depth perception purely, and with a wide angle camera would get tricky and take some getting used to.

Its been said before but I would go underneath the tailgate handle, or maybe even in the third brake light on the cab. It wouldn't let you see exactly where your bumper is, but the high up perspective plus the wide angle would let you see both corners of the tailgate and you can basically estimate that the bumper is aroud 5in further back from the tailgate, though estimating sort of defeats the purpose of a camera. Just another idea though.

Thanks for your suggestion - because of what you said, I'm not going to mount the camera in the keyhole anymore. You're right, there is no point to having the camera point forward, it won't show you how close you are to the car behind you when parking. I've purchased a camera similar to the OP with adjustable rings, I'm going to mount the camera above my license plate facing down at an angle so I could see the rear bumper. The problem is getting the camera at the best angle to give me a good mix of seeing what's behind me and the bumper below.

-HD

tbird2340 · 11-10-2004, 04:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Dominik

If you were willing to ricey and put a wing on the back it would make things easier

Not a chance....

muldrick · 11-11-2004, 12:27 PM

TBird, do u intend to use this as a backup camera or a rear view "mirror". (Mines gonna be a rear view "mirrior, cause that's where my screen is, SUV)
If you're not gonna use it as a backup camera, put it by the high mount brake light? or "in" the high mount brake light?
How about putting it inside one of the taillights? (Get a used lens and mess with that)

Just my crazy thoughts...

tbird2340 · 11-11-2004, 12:33 PM

Well my intentions are to help when backing up.. Being that I have a truck it is VERY hard to tell how far away I am from cars when backing into parking spots. I'm not sure if mounting it high in my third brake light will work or not... I plan on mounting it into my hitch for the first try out location..

I just got back from getting the conduit.. Hopefully I can get that done today. I already have the camera mounted into the hitch cover. It looks great. One problem... The nut it came with doesn't thread tight.. Yea.. Totally sucks.. I go to tighten it and it just keeps turning. Lowe's didn't have a 15/16" nut so I dunno what I'm gonna do about that.

hd54321 · 11-11-2004, 12:43 PM

Screeeeeeenshots!!!!! (I also can't believe this thread is 95 posts long!)

RPI Geek · 11-11-2004, 02:06 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tbird2340

I just got back from getting the conduit.. Hopefully I can get that done today. I already have the camera mounted into the hitch cover. It looks great. One problem... The nut it came with doesn't thread tight.. Yea.. Totally sucks.. I go to tighten it and it just keeps turning. Lowe's didn't have a 15/16" nut so I dunno what I'm gonna do about that.

If the threads on the cam just end, or if they're stripped at the end, you only have to put a washer in between the hitch cover and the nut so that it still catches the (good) threads. If the threads are just gone, try getting/making a spring clip in place instead but be warned that it might not come off without breaking the hitch cover!
I'm talking about a plate of spring steel cut with a hole cut just a little bit smaller than the camera body, with radial cuts going away from that hole, and you just push it down over the camera body so that the metal bends up and won't come back off.
Or you could just glue it.

tbird2340 · 11-11-2004, 02:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by hd54321

Screeeeeeenshots!!!!! (I also can't believe this thread is 95 posts long!)

I know... The title says "Review" and I have yet to "review" it..

I have the conduit run and the camera installed. I just have to go get some wire and then I'll be all set. I'm liking the way it looks in the hitch I just hope the results are useable...

BoyNextDoor · 11-11-2004, 02:53 PM

hope to see some pics soon, so maybe i can get one too...

tbird2340 · 11-11-2004, 03:45 PM

Two quick questions...

I'm using an end from an AC adaptor that fits into the camera power. I'm just going to snip the ac end off and strip the two wires back.

Question 1: How do I tell which one is power and which one is ground?

Question 2: I'm going to tie the power wire into one of my PSU's YELLOW (12V) wires.. Can I just ground the other wire to my chassis or should I also run a ground wire to one of my PSU's BLACK (ground) wires..

Thanks

old_lou · 11-11-2004, 03:47 PM

If its to near the ground will you get it dirty very quickly and have to keep cleaning it, as flat backed vehicles create a small vacuum behind them and suck up the gunge of a wet road (asuming its outside the motor).
sorry if this is a repeat not got time to read all the posts just an observation.

RPI Geek · 11-11-2004, 04:03 PM

That's one reason to try making it waterPROOF rather than just water resistant, so that you can just hose it off.

Giwo · 11-11-2004, 04:59 PM

Tbird, you'll need a multimeter or continuity tester to tell which wire is which. You can make a makeshift tester using a light bulb and a battery. attach a wire to the negative end of the battery. Then attach another wire to the positive end of the battery and one of the contacts on the light bulb. Attach a 3rd wire to the other contact on the light bulb. Now strip the two remaining loose ends of the 1st and 3rd wire. Also strip the ends of the connector. Then insert one of the loose wires inside the center of the connector. Finally touch the remaining loose wire to the stripped ends of the connector. Only one will light the bulb and that one is the positive. I don't know if I would attach the camera to the psu, but if you do, attach the negative side to the black wire, the chassis may work, but the wire is a better choice.

muldrick · 11-11-2004, 07:20 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Giwo

Tbird, you'll need a multimeter or continuity tester to tell which wire is which. You can make a makeshift tester using a light bulb and a battery. attach a wire to the negative end of the battery. Then attach another wire to the positive end of the battery and one of the contacts on the light bulb. Attach a 3rd wire to the other contact on the light bulb. Now strip the two remaining loose ends of the 1st and 3rd wire. Also strip the ends of the connector. Then insert one of the loose wires inside the center of the connector. Finally touch the remaining loose wire to the stripped ends of the connector. Only one will light the bulb and that one is the positive. I don't know if I would attach the camera to the psu, but if you do, attach the negative side to the black wire, the chassis may work, but the wire is a better choice.

Boy, that confused me

(no offense

)
U probably allready have a multimeter (If not, get one. You'll allways use it)
With the camera hooked up (the way it was when u had it working), probe each wire the following way: One lead of the MM to one wire, and the other lead to the other, you can tell which is positive by the meter reading, it'll show a positive or a negative value. If it reads negative, reverse the probes, when it reads positive...the one that you have the red lead too (from the MM) is positive.

Giwo · 11-11-2004, 09:09 PM

Muldrick, No offense taken. Actually it is a very simple circuit, but I even realized when I wrote it that it seemed complicated in the description. A picture would have made it simple, and I agree about buying the meter. The only problem is if he hooks the camera up the way he had it working the power has to be plugged in where the connector with leads would go, so he can't read the voltage. He would have to set the meter to impedence. Insert one lead into the center of the connector and then probe the two stripped ends with the other. The positive lead would be the one that registers. If your using a meter with a needle the needle will swing all the way to the right. If you using a digital meter it will probably register 0 which just means there is no impedence.

tbird2340 · 11-12-2004, 08:18 AM

It's Ok.. I had already tested it w/ a multimeter before anyone replied.. Just snipped the end off, stripped the wires, and plugged it in. Then I put the probes on the wires and got 12 + for one then switched the probes and got 12 - so I knew which were pos / neg..

I got the install complete.. Didn't have a chance to take any pics but I will tonight / tomorrow..

I ran into a speed bump when I went to plug in the Lilliput cable for composite input. It's a USB adaptor and I couldn't plug it in because the plug kept hitting my cigarette lighter.. I ended up having to cut out my cig lighter to make it fit.

The picture quality is excellent in daylight. In darkness you can't see jack. This was just sitting in my driveway so I'm not sure if it will be any better when there are street lights and what not..

I'll post some more later...