Rear facing camera wackiness!

[Ultra-Orange]

Did my Kambakk this passed week. Opted for the longer/lower style. Unfortunately this played marry-havok with my rear visibility. I had a nice LCD display that I got in trade. quick search found a cheap camera on Amazon for $23. This being cheaper than Lexan/clear acrylic I opted to go this route (wanted a solid colored Kamback anyways).



So Get the Camera wire it all up.





Ok so. those of you old enough to remember Black and white or early color TVs will remember when you first turned them on you had to let them "Warm up" for a few seconds. Until they where warm the picture was all squigley and would roll horizontally or vertically until it warmed up. THIS is what my new system does, with one major difference. It does it for 10 or 15 minutes. After that it works PERFECT. Once or twice it has came on perfectly, but that's the exception, not the rule.

Since then I have gone back through all the connections, Replaced the RCA wire (Between the camera and the monitor), and tried three different ground locations (two on the body, one to the rear end light harness) with no luck. No difference at all.

I tried moving the camera down to the dash Ala-early corvette but it didn't work out well.

Now. I don't get along with electricity and wiring is not my friend. I'm calling all cars here. Is this a wiring issue that I'm overlooking? or did I just get hosed on the camera? All opinions/advice accepted!

Thanks in advance!

[Arctic Fox]

If you can test this in a different vehicle with no problems, I would guess that your video feed is picking up electrical interference. Try using a heavily shielded (100%) feed, maybe also a line filter for the power (capacitors & inductors).

Does it actually clear up once the engine is warmed? What electrical devices could also be running while you're having these issues?

[NeilBlanchard]

I have been using two cameras and two monitors for side view mirrors for several years now. My current monitors are LED backlit and their only issue is they have to be manually turned on every time I start the car. The cameras I now have are good -- if anything, you want as narrow an angle of view as possible -- ~100 degrees would be best. Because with super wide angle cameras, there is a lot of barrel distortion and judging distance is quite difficult. One way to compensate for this is to have a wide screen 16:10 monitor and 4:3 aspect camera. This "stretches out the horizontal sizes at least which helps you see things better.

As for warm up time -- they should come on quickly, with maybe a delay after you turn them on, but then work well. Flickering could be bad connections, or pinched wires -- watch out for shorts and blown fuses. I pinched a power cord -- they have the conductors concentric, and I melted wires and then blew a fuse so the car would not start. The wires have to not chafe and not be pinched.

[FXSTi]

Can you check the monitor against another camera or the camera against another monitor?

Kirk

[Ultra-Orange]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

I would guess that your video feed is picking up electrical interference. Try using a heavily shielded (100%) feed, maybe also a line filter for the power (capacitors & inductors).

Does it actually clear up once the engine is warmed? What electrical devices could also be running while you're having these issues?

Tried a differant RCA chord but Pretty sure It wasn't shielded. howevere I am starting to think the camera is affected by ambient temperatures. The weather here has warmed up and the "warm up" time of the camera has shortened considerably. and once "warmed up" it stays good for the whole day.

Originally Posted by FXSTi

Can you check the monitor against another camera or the camera against another monitor?

Before installation in the car I hooked the monitor up to my home DvD player and watched "Avatar". was surprised at the quality of picture. I'll try pulling the camera and trying it on a different monitor.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

My current monitors are LED backlit and their only issue is they have to be manually turned on every time I start the car.

The cameras I now have are good -- if anything, you want as narrow an angle of view as possible -- ~100 degrees would be best.

Flickering could be bad connections, or pinched wires -- watch out for shorts and blown fuses. I pinched a power cord -- they have the conductors concentric, and I melted wires and then blew a fuse so the car would not start. The wires have to not chafe and not be pinched.

Mine is the same way. and the monitor is out of arms reach. I ended up Velcroing teh Remote to the dashboard where I could reach it.

Not sure what the camera angle is but id guess between 100 and 120 degrees (There was no documentation with the camera or on the webisght) . I have a 360 degree view around the car with no blind spots for the cost of moving m head to look at the passenger mirror.

I ran the wires through the grommet with the brake lights. so they are pinch and/chafe free!


Thank you all for the great input! You've given me several areas to investigate!

[JasonG]

Sounds like the camera has a bad solder joint that is showing up when it is cold outside.
For low cost cameras, supercircuits has decent equiptment.

[sendler]

I have been thinking of doing this on my motorcycle. My mirrors are probably costing me 10%.