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has anyone tried using an ipad or tablet mounted on the dash as a backing cam


jbalk

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I'm about to purchase a wireless backing cam ($100) designed to be used with a smartphone display . Instead of using my smart phone I'll use my iPad mounted in a removable mount on the motorhome dash. I also use the mounted iPad as a GPS with Rand McNally's tablet GPS software. It seem to work as well as the Rand McNally full GPS display......But without traffic info. (weather and all other features do work) The Rand McNally software costs $99 for ipad.as opposed to$400 to $600 for the full display Rand Mc Nally GPS. The iPad has a higher screen resolution than RM . But I'll have to switch back and forth between backing and GPS use on the dash Ipad. Not such a big limitation because I will still have my old low resolution backing cam system on while driving. I hoping the resolution from the new rear camera will improve back vision over the poorer resolution of tthe old backing cam?

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I think I have bought that very camera. You want it?

 

What it's "box" does is take the signal and broadcast it on a wifi signal. So, you have to log your iPad onto said WIFI network, fire up the app and viola there's the picture. Now mind you, your iPad can only be logged on to one network be it WIFI/3G/4G at a time, so any other data stream is cut off.

 

Unfortunately I loose the signal about 40 feet from the camera, which is 30 too soon.

 

I think this is designed for cars.

 

I thought about getting a WIFI booster but decided to go with the better camera.

Previously a 2017 Forest River, Berkshire 38A, "The Dragonship". https://dragonship.blog/

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Good info! Sounds like the auto smartphone backing cam signal may be marginal for a 34 ft motorhome . I'm going to check out Co Piolt. RM software is ridiculously expensive but there's a lot of up to date data on their server

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I have the RM app, I bought it and got rid of my 7700. I like it, seems the same as the 7700 interface. Only issue is that it takes up quite amount of space so I often delete it from the 16gb iPad mini I have when I am not travelling.

 

I would love to find a digital system that gave me camera functionality on my iPad, as long as I could get voice prompts from the RM app at the same time. I've tried a couple IP cams but there is unsuitable latency. Would work OK for monitoring inside the trailer, but not for driving.

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Good info! Sounds like the auto smartphone backing cam signal may be marginal for a 34 ft motorhome . I'm going to check out Co Piolt. RM software is ridiculously expensive but there's a lot of up to date data on their server

It might make sense to try yours oscarvan. Ill email you? haven't used this blog much.

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Note the latency in the post. I can expand on that

 

I tried putting my go pro on the back bumper of the pickup to line up to travel trailer. Same thing where you connect phone to the wifi of the go pro.

Started backing up lining up left and right and BANG I hit the hitch, then saw the event a few seconds later on the screen. The delay was quite a surprise.

Back to the old fashioned system.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you change your mind, there are other ways to add another camera. I used a cheap webcam and an active USB extension cable connected to a laptop mounted on my engine's doghouse. I used it to make sure my Samurai was tracking properly. It had a habit of swinging to full lock in tight turns or on dirt and I wanted to make sure it castered back if that happened. The cable ran from the front to the rear and through a service panel on the back wall. I bolted the webcam to the back of the rock guard. When parked, I just tossed the cable behind the bed. There are cables up to 50' for around $20 on Amazon.

 

As for navigation, I'll give another vote for CoPilot. I paid for it years ago (before you could just put a destination in Google Maps) and it's still good for the latest version. Does the usual RV stuff like height and propane restrictions, lets you give preference to road types, etc.

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