Reverse camera in a D40

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merchant

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Hey, what is the best and easiest way to wire up a reverse camera for my new double din gps head unit in the D40?

The camera will be installed in the tailgate lock recess and powered from the reverse lights. I'm more concerned with how to power the head unit so it comes on when reverse is selected.
 
I have a VMS unit so it may be different, but I have to have mine on, and then as soon as there is power to the reverse lights it switches to rear view. Is your head unit on anytime the car is on like a stereo?
 
I've been looking at a number of head units lately that have camera inputs which say they come on when reverse is selected however I've not really found out if any of them do this internally or if you still have to find the feed for the power. I would have thought that you'd still have to provide the power from the reversing circuit to make it switch on when reverse is selected therefore what they are claiming is nothing more than a plug capable of a video feed and the switching is done before it gets to the unit.

My camera is currently hooked up to a 7 inch screen mounted in front of the gear stick and it has a live feed for standby power but the switching feed comes directly off the reversing relay under the bonnet. I just connected my feed wire onto the bottom of the relay and ran the wire straight through the firewall directly behind the relay box and behind the carpet to the screen. It's the same process as running the feed all the way back from the reversing light cluster just less cabling and heaps easier, although if your already running the video feed back then a feed for power may not be a huge issue.
 
I have a 7" HD LCD screen in the dash and it automatically goes to reverse camera whenever it gets a 12v feed from the reversing lights relay.
Only dowside to having the camera in the tailgate is it will show you the ground if you ever have the tailgate down. I have mine on the number plate and it shows things on the ground a lot closer than when I had the camera in the tailgate.
 
The video cable you should get has a wire sticking out each end running the length of it. I ran power from the reverse lights back up this to the head unit and attached to the reverse wire on the unit. Make sure you have the camera video cable plugged into the ccd female video cable (there are a few ). I ran the power from the L/H reverse light wiring to the camera and the signal wire ( didn't worry about a relay as it draws very little. Ran the wiring along the L/H rail into the the grommet at the L/H bottom rear of cab. You have to remove the panels in the inside ( they just pull off carefully) From there i ran it along the L/H side under all the bottom door paneling which all just pulls up and clips back down. all the way to the fuse box and behind the glove box to the unit. bit of fiddling but everything is hidden. oh and everything outside the cab is ran through conduit to stop rubbing and shorts.

Also it would pay to dummy wire it first to make sure you are happy with the image as it would be a bitch to do all this and its in the wrong spot. Went through a few locations till i settled on my mounting position ( above the number plate)
 
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My camera is mounted in the center of the rear canopy window. I was reluctant at first to have it look through glass thinking the image would be hampered especially with a dark tint but even when the car has been absolutely filthy and the window was caked with road dust the camera still works fine. I had to make a bracket that suited the camera which was no big deal and it's not mounted to the window so I can drive with the window open if I really want to and still have the camera do it's job. I was originally planning to mount it in the number plate but I prefer internal stuff where possible.
 
My camera is mounted in the center of the rear canopy window. I was reluctant at first to have it look through glass thinking the image would be hampered especially with a dark tint but even when the car has been absolutely filthy and the window was caked with road dust the camera still works fine. I had to make a bracket that suited the camera which was no big deal and it's not mounted to the window so I can drive with the window open if I really want to and still have the camera do it's job. I was originally planning to mount it in the number plate but I prefer internal stuff where possible.

Krafty

Are you able to post a photo. I'd love to see it.

At this stage i'll probably install just above the rego plate. But i'm always up for new ideas.
 
Krafty

Are you able to post a photo. I'd love to see it.

At this stage i'll probably install just above the rego plate. But i'm always up for new ideas.

The only thing to watch there is where your number plate light shines, Mine sort of shines across the camera at night and makes it hard to see the camera vision at night.
 
The guys that installed my in-dash navigation system placed my reversing camera in the keyhole for the absent tailgate lock (which I was prepared to buy @ $175 but they went and shoved this in).

I can't line up a towbar when the tailgate's down, because there's not enough clearance between the top of the towball and tailgate so all I'd do is clobber the tailgate - so there's no point worrying about that. Camera in the keyhole is good, out-of-the-way and powered by the unit in the dash.

There's a similar camera to mine (it's probably the same, but mine came from Pioneer) in the current Jaycar catalog on page 339. Part number is QC-3514 and they're $119 each. Minimum illumination is 0.2 lux and at night, my tail lights are enough to give me clear enough vision to see behind me. The cable for this runs all the way back to the head unit.

I think they picked up the reversing signal from in the dash. My unit also requires a handbrake signal connection to disable the display of video on the front screen, which they also get from the wiring looms in the dash/console area. I've not actually taken mine apart to see where it is exactly.
 
The only thing to watch there is where your number plate light shines, Mine sort of shines across the camera at night and makes it hard to see the camera vision at night.

I find there is a number of lights that actually make mine hard to see. Of all the lights that stuff mine up it's the garage light. I can't reverse into the garage with the light on because the glare screws the camera up, turn the light off and the infrared does what it's suppose to though. I've also found the odd street or carpark light that must just catch the thing in the right spot too but I have no control over those.

Merchant I haven't got any photos of that at the moment, I'll see about taking something when I get a chance.
 
There's a similar camera to mine (it's probably the same, but mine came from Pioneer) in the current Jaycar catalog on page 339. Part number is QC-3514 and they're $119 each. Minimum illumination is 0.2 lux and at night, my tail lights are enough to give me clear enough vision to see behind me. The cable for this runs all the way back to the head unit.

Wow $119. Sure mines not small enough to fit in the key lock but for $14 off some Chinese place on ebay it sure beats Jaycar. I didn't even have to pay for the bracket it is came from scrap stainless hanging around the shed.
 
Krafty

Are you able to post a photo. I'd love to see it.

Shows how much memory I allocate to past jobs. My camera is mounted on the window so I can't use it with the window open (not that I'm ever likely to want to), it was on the old mans crewman with the shitty ARB canopy where mounting it to the window frame was pointless so we screwed it into the fibreglass.

The stainless steel camera bracket is mounted to the ali window framing and the cabling goes across the roof then down the inside of the left hand corner, pops out briefly to then goes into the tail light cluster. There is enough cable to open the back door/window and never stretch the wires or have the camera get in the way if loading or unloading large items. The camera sits maybe an inch from the glass is is angled down so that I can see to within about a foot of the towball.

cam1.jpg


This shot is from the outside looking in, even through the amount of dirt on the glass and the tinting (which is well darker than legal but not a legal issues because it's on a canopy) the camera has no troubles showing a picture and the only times it's really ever caused me a problem is when there's been lights directly on it.

cam2.jpg
 
Shows how much memory I allocate to past jobs. My camera is mounted on the window so I can't use it with the window open (not that I'm ever likely to want to), it was on the old mans crewman with the shitty ARB canopy where mounting it to the window frame was pointless so we screwed it into the fibreglass.

The stainless steel camera bracket is mounted to the ali window framing and the cabling goes across the roof then down the inside of the left hand corner, pops out briefly to then goes into the tail light cluster. There is enough cable to open the back door/window and never stretch the wires or have the camera get in the way if loading or unloading large items. The camera sits maybe an inch from the glass is is angled down so that I can see to within about a foot of the towball.

cam1.jpg


This shot is from the outside looking in, even through the amount of dirt on the glass and the tinting (which is well darker than legal but not a legal issues because it's on a canopy) the camera has no troubles showing a picture and the only times it's really ever caused me a problem is when there's been lights directly on it.

cam2.jpg

Looks neat and tidy. Good job.

I don't think i'll be mounting mine in the same place. With the crap that chuck in the back of my tray/canopy it's sure to be destroyed at some point.

The camera i have is too big to fit in the tailgate lock recess so it looks as though i'll be installing the camera above the registration plate I think
 
Mine doesn't get in the way of anything in the tub and because it moves with the window it wont ever get in the way of loading or unloading. Things would have to be stacked up to the roof line before mine actually got hit by anything but not all canopies would allow for mounting the same way and dangling from the roof does get in the way a bit in the old mans crewwie.

The only time I'm at all worried about hitting it is when I eventually mount my fishing rod holders to the roof of the canopy. Because they have to go diagonal there may be the odd time where the wires might get in the way but like everything if it's mounted properly and thoughtfully I should be able to avoid it.
 
The only time I'm at all worried about hitting it is when I eventually mount my fishing rod holders to the roof of the canopy.

Krafty

I just use velcro strips to mount my soft plastic rods to the carpeted roof of the canopy - i even leave the small reel attached.

Mind you, i wouldn't do it if i'm wanting to go off-road - but for the odd time i need the rods, they are there. Its easy to keep soft plastics in the car as there is no bait smell.
 
My roof isn't carpeted but even so I usually carry at least 4 15 foot surf rods so there is a bit of weight. In the old mans ute we've used some flat stainless steel and bent it at right angles 4 times and put one at each end. the rods move if they need too but never fall out because the guides stop them from moving too far. For longer trips we have a couple of small eyelets that we can run elastic string through and make them sit a bit tighter. They're quick and easy and on long trips when the tub is loaded with the fridge and clothes and all that other shit one seems to need the fishing rods never get in the way and can stay there the whole trip without even thinking about them. I just have to get around to making mine, with summer coming on it seems like a good opportunity.
 
I've been looking at a number of head units lately that have camera inputs which say they come on when reverse is selected however I've not really found out if any of them do this internally or if you still have to find the feed for the power. I would have thought that you'd still have to provide the power from the reversing circuit to make it switch on when reverse is selected therefore what they are claiming is nothing more than a plug capable of a video feed and the switching is done before it gets to the unit.

My camera is currently hooked up to a 7 inch screen mounted in front of the gear stick and it has a live feed for standby power but the switching feed comes directly off the reversing relay under the bonnet. I just connected my feed wire onto the bottom of the relay and ran the wire straight through the firewall directly behind the relay box and behind the carpet to the screen. It's the same process as running the feed all the way back from the reversing light cluster just less cabling and heaps easier, although if your already running the video feed back then a feed for power may not be a huge issue.

Krafty

I have the camera installed and now wish to wire it up. I have tapped into the reverse wiring to power the camera but now need to power the head unit.

In the above post you said you tapped into the base of the relay under the bonnet. Can you tell me which wire and reply you used? I had the multimeter out this arvo and couldn't find a wire. The ones on the right hand side of the engine bay were all switching on and off as the misses put the car in and out of reverse. That just confused me. What voltage is it?

Let me know?
 
From memory I traced the wire from what the manual said and it was the light blue wire that did the trick. We used the manual and found out what wire was off the base of the relay and heading to the lights and were pleasantly surpised the colour listed in the manual was exactly what we saw under the bonnet so if you get stuck check the manual which someone offered up for download and you should be right but I'm fairly sure it was light blue.
 
From memory I traced the wire from what the manual said and it was the light blue wire that did the trick. We used the manual and found out what wire was off the base of the relay and heading to the lights and were pleasantly surpised the colour listed in the manual was exactly what we saw under the bonnet so if you get stuck check the manual which someone offered up for download and you should be right but I'm fairly sure it was light blue.

Cheer

I think i'll just run another wire along with the video feed. That'll save all the stuffing around.
 

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