Rear view cameras

[Absolutebeginner]

My new Pilote comes with a rear view camera connected to a fancy Pioneer radio/DVD/CD player. The view obtained when in reverse is decidedly limited. I can see the bumper and about 2 feet further behind it. And the view is a bit pink in daylight with a bit of a white band strobing down the screen.

 

There is no makers mark on the camera, but the dealer says that it is a two conductor wACO fitted by Pilote at the factory. My previous motorhome had a Vision Plus screen and rear view camera which showed about 10 feet behind the van including the bumper and had a grid superimposed on the screen to help decide if the van will fit the space you reverse into.

 

I can't help but think that with all the motorhome reviews in MMM that they might concentrate a bit more on evaluating such fittings that the manufacturer provides. I should have taken more care I guess rather than assume that it would be a good view.

 

With it being a two conductoe camera, the dealer says that an alternative camera with a wider angle view would be hard to find as they are mostly 3 conductor cameras and that would mean rewiring.

 

Any suggestions?

[Caroline]

My camera is in a cowling on the back of the van and like yours was limited vision, we shaved some of the cowling and tillted the camera up and got a lovely reverse view.

 

:-)

[Derek Uzzell]

WAECO’s current range of reversing cameras is displayed here

 

http://www.conrad-anderson.co.uk/categories/browse/reversing/cameras

 

I would have guessed that Pilote would have chosen a CAM50 camera to go with your Pioneer in-dash unit, but that camera should have the WAECO name on its sun-shade. My understanding (based on what I was told at the last NEC Show) is that you OUGHT to be able to fit an alternative camera using the existing cabling and a suitable adapter

 

http://www.leisurespares.co.uk/files/waeco_compatability_information.pdf

 

but it might prove a costly exercise and a cheaper and better solution might be to dispense with the Pioneer unit as the monitor and install a complete replacement system (eg. a Vision Plus one).

 

Motorhome magazines can’t cover every aspect of the vehicle being reviewed. Besides which, it’s commonplace for a reversing-camera system to be an option rather than standard fitment and a motorhome on test might not have it (or the reviewer might not use during the test).

 

(Do you know which Pioneer receiver you have? Is it an AVH-X2700BT by any chance?)

[AliB]

The Waeco CAM50 is one of the smaller models and as such is based on a 1/4" CCD Image Sensor.

You can expect a angle of view H90 deg, V70 deg.

This is limiting, 1/3" CCD cameras will usually give 120 deg angle of view.

Being based on a CCD Image sensor you should expect good true colours. Cameras based on a CMOS sensor often give a pinkish tint to some colours.

The white band strobing down the screen is probably caused by an earthing fault. The monitor and camera are at a slightly different earth level.

 

There is not much you can do about the angle of view but you should complain to the dealer about the pink tinting and strobing band.

 

http://www.dometic.eu/product/waeco-perfectview-cam-50/

 

 

[Absolutebeginner]

Thanks to both respondents. Both replies are very helpful.

 

You are spot on with the Pioneer head end. It is a AVH-X2700BT. Is this significant?

 

I get the impression from the dealer that the camera and wiring were factory fitted and the dealer chose the Pioneer.

 

I also suspect that it might be a CMOS camera, although the image certainly deteriorated in wet weather sugesting a connector issue. I will be going back, I just want to be a bit better informed.

 

I must say that the Pilote handbook isn't much use. Much of what it includes doesn't relate to my van, including the rear view camera!

[Derek Uzzell]

Absolutebeginner - 2015-05-14 8:04 PM

 

...You are spot on with the Pioneer head end. It is a AVH-X2700BT. Is this significant?

 

I get the impression from the dealer that the camera and wiring were factory fitted and the dealer chose the Pioneer...

 

 

It’s only significant in that a Pioneer AVH-X2700BT head-unit + Waeco CAM50 camera is what’s fitted to my Rapido. This combination is part of Rapido’s ‘Camera Pack’ (that also includes Remis cab-blinds and an entrance-door flyscreen).

 

I would have expected Pilote to have taken a similar approach and, if a WAECO cable had been used, a WAECO camera would also have been fitted. It’s possible (for anti-theft reasons) that your Pilote dealer fitted the dashboard radio after the motorhome had arrived in the UK, but I suspect that Pilote would have specified that the Pioneer head-unit be installed.

 

The Rapido handbook makes only a passing reference to the radio and reversing camera, relying on the buyer reading WAECO's and Pioneer’s own documentation to familiarise himself/herself with the equipment. (Hardly surprising really as the on-line manual for the Pioneer unit is 66 pages long!)

 

I can’t tell you how well the system works in my Rapido because current personal circumstances mean that I haven’t had time to use the motorhome. I wanted the cab blinds and flyscreen and wasn’t sure about how Rapido pre-wired for a reversing camera. Consequently I thought it would be wisest to opt for the complete Camera Pack (which made some sort of financial sense) rather than fit a camera system myself.

 

On-line research had strongly suggested that a) the CAM50 camera should be adequate and b) that I would loathe the Pioneer unit. It remains to be seen whether ‘a’ proves correct, but the ‘b’ prediction was definitely right.

[Robinhood]

Derek Uzzell - 2015-05-15 7:58 AM

 

On-line research had strongly suggested that a) the CAM50 camera should be adequate and b) that I would loathe the Pioneer unit. It remains to be seen whether ‘a’ proves correct, but the ‘b’ prediction was definitely right.

 

...at least it's got the basis of a good navigation system (assuming it's got the add-on Primo based unit).

 

Or maybe that's (part of) what you don't like? ;-) (I think Naviextras toolbox is still only Windows based. Rather inconvenient for a Mac user).

[Derek Uzzell]

Adding a navigation system to Rapido’s “Camera Pack” would have cost a further £410.

 

I’ve absolutely no interest in in-car entertainment and could easily do without any sort of radio. My wife is almost as uninterested except she does like to listen to Radio 4 when the motorhome is parked. So, radio-wise, all we need is a unit that will be capable of picking up just one specific BBC station well (which my Pioneer unit seems reluctant to do) and could happily dispense with all the Pioneer unit’s other bells and whistles.

 

I don’t want a rear-view camera image on an in-dashboard unit - I want it in immediate line-of-sight (ie. on a monitor above the dashboard) and I want it on all the time the motorhome is being driven not just when reverse-gear is engaged. Similarly I don’t want a sat-nav image on an in-dashboard unit - I want that image also in immediate line-of-sight and separate from the camera image.

 

I want what I had on my Hobby motorhome - two rear-view monitors displaying separate rear-view camera and sat-nav images, with the monitors mounted centrally above the dashboard line. The sat-nav’s no problem as I have a current-model Garmin device I can fit, but there was always a good chance that I’d have to ignore the Pioneer unit’s rear camera capability and fit a separate camera-monitor myself.

 

Truth is I don’t like anything about the Pioneer unit and, if I could have been sure what Rapido had done with the camera pre-cabling (and with the benefit of hindsight) I would have chosen a simple basic radio and added the camera and monitor myself.

 

Snag was that opting for Remis cab-blinds would have cost £410 and opting for an entrance-door flyscreen £230 ( = £640), whereas the Camera Pack that included those items and added the WAECO CAM50 camera plus posh Pioneer radio (£510 as an individually-specified option) cost just £70 more. So £710 essentially got me £1150-worth of kit even though I knew full well that the Pioneer unit was vastly over-specified for my requirements.

[Rayjsj]

I had very similar dislikes of my Autotrail's 'media system' which was a 'jack of all trades' but master of none. I have now, finally got it how I want it, but had to get rid of most of the original kit (thank goodness for Ebay). I did not 'specify' the kit, it was already on the van, when purchased new. NOW : A twin camera reversing system, with monitor that clips over the useless rearview mirror, Both cameras on all the time, that the ignition is switched on, rear view camera and a reversing/ check on the towed car and coupling one,with a toggle between the two. A decent DAB cab radio, with a good aerial. A flip down 16" TV/DVD (with a decent catch to keep it 'up', the original used to come down onto my head when driving,very disconcerting !) a seperate TomTom camper Sat-Nav. I think that the newer 'Media packs' for Autotrail are much better ? so I've been told. Ray