Reversing camera - sometimes image upside down

[Zafira]

Afternoon All

My Hobby came with a Blaupunkt audio etc unit, and has the option to display the image from the reversing camera (motorhome was supplied with this fitted as standard).  Sometimes once I have started the engine and select "camera view" on the unit, the image from the camera is the right way up, other times the image upside down. More often than not if I switch off the engine (which I don't like doing as its only just started up!) when I have the upside down image, restarting the engine will then give the view from the camera the right way up, but not always.  The dealer is stumped...........so I'd welcome anyone's thoughts on this, many thanks :-)

[ColinM50]

Not seen this myself but you say switching the engine off normally resets it to right way up. What about just turning it off on the monitor on your mirror? Does that reboot work? Assuming your monitor has an on off switch, I think they all have one. I tend to switch mine off driving at night, I think the screen's too bright so I know mine has an on off switch.

 

Anyway, good luck in getting it sorted. Has your dealer tried plugging in another monitor? If not they're not overly expensive and might be worth buying one and trying it? Sort of c£50 on Ebay and if that doesn't solve the problem send it back?

 

Apart from that, can't really help but good luck. It's this type of annoying niggle that can drive you nuts isn't it?

 

Ah, just read your post again and your camera monitor is in the radio/satnav/head unit? If so ignore what I've suggested though you could of course still fit a separate monitor for the camera

[Brian Kirby]

Zafira - 2018-02-12 4:19 PM

 

Afternoon All

My Hobby came with a Blaupunkt audio etc unit, and has the option to display the image from the reversing camera (motorhome was supplied with this fitted as standard).  Sometimes once I have started the engine and select "camera view" on the unit, the image from the camera is the right way up, other times the image upside down. More often than not if I switch off the engine (which I don't like doing as its only just started up!) when I have the upside down image, restarting the engine will then give the view from the camera the right way up, but not always.  The dealer is stumped...........so I'd welcome anyone's thoughts on this, many thanks :-)

Silly question, and no offence intended, but are you sure it is upside down and not reversed left to right (i.e mirror image)?

 

If it is truly upside down there is a fault in either the camera, or possibly, the Blaupunkt unit. If it is merely reversed, you'll need to find out if the camera is designed to transmit a mirror image, or whether the Blaupunkt unit is supposed to reverse the image to give the correct "mirror image" view. If it is the camera that is intermittently changing between mirror and normal images, the camera is a potentially dangerous dud.

 

If it is the Blaupunkt unit that is supposed to reverse the image, but at times fails to do so, it might be because it hasn't been "told" to reverse the image (in the Blaupunkt menus) or because it is defective and cannot hold that instruction as it should. I suppose this might possibly be the case if you isolate the Blaupunkt when your van is out of use, to prevent it flattening the battery. It might also be a wiring defect, though I can't quite imagine how that would generate an intact image the wrong way round or up.

 

I suggest you contact Blaupunkt with the details of your unit and ask them whether it is the camera that transmits the mirror view image, or the unit itself that reverses it and then, depending on the answer you get to that question, ask if they can suggest where the fault might lie. Then, go back to the dealer and ask them to fix it.

[Zafira]

Thanks for thoughts thus far...... yes the image is definitely upside down when its not working as intended (i.e. sky appears at the bottom of the image).  Very frustrating as sometimes it works and other times it doesn't!  

[Barryrj]

I have a different system but mine also does this occasionally. The monitor menu allows you to invert the image without turning off.

[lancepar]

Is it a touch screen monitor?

Try touching the top and bottom of it.

 

B-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Zafira’s Hobby motorhome is an A55GS model bought new in early 2017, and It might be helpful to know exactly which model of Blaupunkt audio-unit it has.

 

2018 Hobby motorhomes are evidently fitted with a Blaupunkt Series 570 “Los Angeles” audio-unit (with optional navigation)

 

https://www.hobby-caravan.de/en/motorhomes/innovations-2018/hobbycomplete-equipment-and-furnishings/

 

and I think this is paired with a Waeco reversing camera.

 

As ColinM50 has mentioned above, rather than switch off the motorhome’s engine when the camera-view is displaying upside-down, it would be worth experimenting with turning off and on again the camera option via the camera icon on the Blaupunkt’s touch-screen, or turning the unit off and on again via its On/Off button.

 

Some (simpler) Blaupunkt models have the capability to invert the display via their menu system, but the operating instructions for the Series 570 (and similar Blaupunkt units) make no mention of this.

 

If the Blaupunkt unit in Zafira’s Hobby has no inbuilt facility to invert the image it is displaying, then what’s happening should be considered a fault - and, in any case, even if the facility were there, selecting the camera-view should still always produce a right-way-up image.

 

Zafira has said "The dealer is stumped.........” but I don’t know if this means that the dealer has seen the Blaupunkt unit displaying the inverted camera-view, or that Zafira has just told the dealer that an inverted camera-view sometimes appears and the dealer has no explanation as to why this happens or what to do about it.

 

Brian has suggested that Blaupunkt be contacted for advice, but it’s the responsibility of the motorhome’s vendor (ie. the Hobby dealership) to correct this fault and, if ‘inversion’ is only occurring once in a while, it may be difficult to demonstrate.

 

(It may be that the Blaupunkt unit carries its own warranty and that the warranty has just a 12 months duration. If that’s so, and (as seems likely) stopping the camera-view inversion will require the Blaupunkt unit being replaced, the problem will need to be addressed without delay.)

[Keithl]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-02-14 8:14 AM

 

... if ‘inversion’ is only occurring once in a while, it may be difficult to demonstrate.

 

Next time it happens take a photograph, or even better a video of it, as evidence.

 

Keith.

[Brian Kirby]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-02-14 8:14 AM.............................Brian has suggested that Blaupunkt be contacted for advice, but it’s the responsibility of the motorhome’s vendor (ie. the Hobby dealership) to correct this fault and, if ‘inversion’ is only occurring once in a while, it may be difficult to demonstrate.............

Absolutely. I wasn't suggesting that Zafira asked Blaupunkt to remedy the defect, just to see if they can suggest a possible cause, for Zafira to pass back to the dealer to "un-stump" them!

 

One would hope that the Waeco and Blaupunkt have been demonstrated as compatible before Hobby adopted the combination as a standard option, but strange thing happen! But most likely it is a one-off fault.

 

I'm more than a bit puzzled by the idea of playing inverted video on car audio. Is this to give occupants something to watch while they await extraction from the ditch, or is it for the Australian market?

[Zafira]

Afternoon Learned Friends

As ever many thanks for your collective thoughts.....

It is a Blaupunkt  "car multimedia Series 530" unit.

The dealer has indeed seen the upside down image for himself when I took the van in for its habitation check last week so at least they know that it isn't "just a woman thing"!! Dealership promising to chase it up with Hobby & Blaupunkt as they could see no immediate fix/didn't know what was going on such that an upside down image was displayed.

I will have a look in more detail at the options/settings whatever on the head unit tomorrow to see if there's an option to turn/rotate the image the right way up - dealership didn't mention such a setting/option to me when I collected the van after its habitation check...........

[Derek Uzzell]

Operating instructions for the Blaupunkt 530 “San Diego” unit are here

 

http://www.blaupunkt.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Service/SERVICEDOKU_ZIEL/BA/GB/1011303531001_BA_GB.pdf

 

All that is said (Page 18) about the rear-view camera feature is

 

"Video input

This device features a video input at the rear of the device for connecting a camera that is available as an option. If a camera is connected, you can display the camera image.

--- In the main menu, press the [ Camera ] button.”

 

Unlike the loathsome Pioneer unit fitted to my Rapido, the Blaupunkt 530 seems to have no capability to play about with the colour/quality of the camera image - you just touch the Camera icon on the 530’s screen and whatever image is displayed, there’s no means to ‘customise’ it.

[Freebooter99]

Hi Zafira

 

 

Sorry to jump in but I also have a San Diego 530 in a Hobby T75 which is driving me nuts. Fortunately the camera image is fine but the Sat Nav insists that the UK speed limit is 60 MPH which is not correct for motorhomes.

 

Does yours do this ?

 

Many Thanks and good luck solving your issue

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Bernard.

 

The UK speed limits for “motor caravans” are shown here

 

https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

 

For motor caravans with a maximum unladen weight NOT EXCEEDING 3.05 tonnes, the UK speed limits are the same as for cars, with 60mph being the limit for non-built-up-area single carriageway roads and 70mph for dual carriageways. Such motor caravans may be considered as being those UK-registered in the Private/Light Goods Vehicles taxation class (maximum authorised overall weight not exceeding 3500kg).

 

For motor caravans with a maximum unladen weight EXCEEDING 3.05 tonnes the UK speed limits are lower, with 50mph being the limit for non-built-up-area single carriageway roads and 60mph for dual carriageways. Such motor caravans may be considered as being those UK-registered in the Private HGV taxation class (maximum authorised overall weight in excess of 3500kg).

 

Presumably your Hobby T75 has a maximum authorised overall weight in excess of 3500kg. However, unless a Blaupunkt San Diego 530 unit’s software can be configured so that it takes that weight datum into account (which I’m pretty sure cannot be done) the speed limit readouts it will provide will relate to ‘cars’ (ie, to what’s often called UK ‘national’ speed limits).

 

For speed limit readouts that would be more appropriate to ‘heavy’ motor caravans, it would be necessary for a sat-nav unit to be configurable for ‘trucks’ as well as ‘cars’.

 

(Zafira’s Hobby is the compact A55 GS model. This is unlikely to exceed the 3500kg maximum authorised overall weight threshold - in which case a sat-nav providing UK ‘car’ speed-limit readouts would be correct.)

[Keithl]

Freebooter99 - 2018-06-04 6:25 AM

 

Hi Zafira

 

 

Sorry to jump in but I also have a San Diego 530 in a Hobby T75 which is driving me nuts. Fortunately the camera image is fine but the Sat Nav insists that the UK speed limit is 60 MPH which is not correct for motorhomes.

 

Does yours do this ?

 

Many Thanks and good luck solving your issue

 

Hobby seems to list the current T75 models as having unladen weights of around 3,100 to 3,150 kg so in this case. as Derek has advised, you will be subject to the restricted speed limits he has mentioned.

 

You will need to ascertain the exact unladen weight of your Hobby to find out if the restriction applies to you or not.

 

The speed limits applicable to a MH with an unladen weight greater than 3,050 kg (3.0 imperial tons) are shown here as the fourth line:

 

https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

 

Keith.

 

Edit to add: GVW has no bearing on the speed restriction as Derek has implied but I beg to differ with his generalisation as, for example, our AutoTrail has a GVW of 3,800 kg but an unladen weight of 2,945 kg hence is not restricted.

[Derek Uzzell]

My citing the UK tax class as an indicator was very much a rule-of-thumb generalisation. (“MAY be considered” is not the same as “CAN be considered”).

 

There is a specific UK definition of a vehicle’s unladen weight (ULW). That datum is - to the best of my knowledge - never quoted in vehicle technical specifications (certainly never in motor caravan brochures/handbooks) and will not appear on a motor caravan’s V5C registration document.

 

‘Unladen weight’ is not the same as ‘Mass in running order’ (MIRO). A MIRO datum is usually provided in motor caravan brochures/handbooks and may appear on a V5C. The MIRO datum will be higher than the ULW datum, but it’s the ULW datum that’s relevant to motor caravan UK speed limits not the the MIRO figure.

 

A motor caravan’s maximum authorised overall weight (GVW, MAM, MTPLM - whatever acronym is in trend) is indeed not involved where motor caravan UK speed limits are concerned, but becomes relevant outside the UK where 3500kg is the weight theshold not the UK’s anachronistic 3.05 tonne figure.

 

This 2012 forum discussion may be of interest

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Beware-of-your-speed-limits/27935/?DisplayType=nested&setcookie=1&go=Go

 

[Keithl]

Derek,

 

This the Hobby website I was referring to:

 

https://www.hobby-caravan.de/en/en/motorhomes/optima-de-luxe/modell/modeldetails/show/Model/t75-hf/

 

And clearly states "Unladen weight 3.097 kg" and not MIRO, so is therefore over the 3,050 kg limit for lower speed limits.

 

Keith.

[Derek Uzzell]

If you look at the weight-related data on the link you’ve provided you’ll note that the "Mass in running order' (MIRO) figure of 3133kg is a mere 36kg higher than the 3097kg figure given for the motorhome’s ‘Unladen weight’ (ULW).

 

This is almost certainly because the weight described on the Hobby webpage as “Unladen weight” does not actually meet the UK definition for ULW, but includes allowances for fuel (eg. 90% or 100% of fuel-tank capacity) and for a 75kg driver.

 

The 36kg that ‘converts’ the 3097kg ULW datum to the 3133kg MIRO datum probably represents a weight addition for carrying a gas bottle and/or a small amount of fresh-water. It would be necessary to delve into Hobby’s technical documentation (possibly the German documentation) to confirm what formulae Hobby has used.

 

Motorhome unladen weight and its relevance to UK speed limits were discussed in this 2009 MHFacts discussion

 

http://forums.motorhomefacts.com/183-suspension-chassis/57330-unladen-weight-definition-eu-directives.html

 

If Bernard’s Hobby T75 has a technically permissible gross weight of 3650kg, it will be above the 3500kg threshold normally used outside the UK where speed-limits are concerned, and will probably be subject to lower speed-limits than those that apply to motorhomes that do not exceed the 3500kg threshold. Within the UK the 3050kg threshold will apply and his T75 may well be below that figure.