Recording Video Camera System

[RickW]

This very topic was brought up in the length thread. I just happen to be working on this very item this weekend and thought I would post a few thoughts and photos.

 

Monitor:

 

I purchased from Rear View Safety. It is a 7" monitor with quad view and a SD card for recording. It will also do audio. The other feature it has is there are 4 leads. When a lead received 12vdc the monitor will switch to that view. My rear facing camera is used for hitching. So the lead is connect to the same circuit as my reverse lights on the HDT. So when I am backing in to my pin my monitor automatically switches the view to the rear camera only. The same for right/left turn signals. I have not connected these leads yet but my Jackolope will be the perfect spot.

 

I have mounted the monitor on my dash to the left of the steering wheel. I like this position as the monitor is low enough it does not cover up my left fender blind spot mirror. When I check my mirrors on my left side it is real easy to also view the monitor.

 

Left/Right Cameras:

 

It took me a while to finally decide on a mounting place for the side cameras. Originally I thought I was going to mount them to the sleepers sides like the turn signals. What I did not like was that left a huge blind spot from the camera to the front of the truck. My only reason for the side cameras is to record what is going on there as my mirrors already provide great visibility. So after playing around I finally decided on the post between the hood and the door.

 

 

Before the ECR I only had the rear/hitch camera mounted. During the ECR I mounted the side cameras. I had already previously ran all the wire so it was just a issue of finding the final mounting location and finish pulling the wire from under the truck to the proper location. I did find an unexpected advantage of having the side view mirrors on the way home from the ECR. We were expecting to hit rain and were pushing hard to get home before it actually started raining. About 30 miles from home the rain found us. It was a hard rain and being so close to home and know the rain was going to continue the remainder of the day we pushed on. Immediately water and spray made our mirrors difficult to use effectively. The side view camera's on the other hand provided a great clear view of both sides of the truck in the driving rain. About the time any water would build up on the cameras the water got heavy enough it fell off the cameras. A little Rain-X may solve that problem all together.

 

Front Camera:

 

This is the more difficult one to find a spot for and mount. I had to fabricate a bracket for it but it was not too difficult. The biggest initial problem was it was too close to the wiper. I wanted the camera easy enough to get to so that when that big juicy but with the camera's name on it finally finds it it will hopefully not be too difficult to reach for cleaning. There may be a little bounce in the camera due to the bracket I made but a little bounce I figure will not be too big a issue as the only purpose of the front mounted camera is recording. I do not see any value in trying to use it to drive via the monitor!

 

 

I forgot to take a photo of the mount I built. Will have to post it later.

 

[Chad Heiser]

Nice job.

[JPL]

Rick I really like your cameras. I know you were installing them at the ECR. Now all that hard work is done and the end result is great. If you don't mind could you send me a parts list including the monitor? I like that setup. If I understand when you hit the turn signal the turning to side will show up on the screen. Correct? And a wiring diagram. If you have time you could email it to Shirley. Its on the card. Call me if you get a chance. Pat

 

 

The Old Sailor

[RickW]

Pat - we are heading out in a few days for our Spring/Summer trip. Will be on the road for 3 to 4 weeks. I found the that the system it is pretty straight forward. The fun/hard part is pulling all the wire/cables. I removed my drivers seat which allowed me to snake all the cables/wires up from under the truck thru the hole that feeds the air supply to my seat. From there I was able to run everything under the floor mat in the chase that is designed for wires and such to the dash. Then fished it all up to the center of my dash. I left enough of a tail of cables/wires so that I could place the monitor anywhere on the dash I wanted. The important thing is when fishing the video cable thru to also run the extra wire for the camera switching. I went ahead ran 4 wires. I only plan to use 3 of them (right/left/rear) but I did run the 4th for the front just in case. It was easier to run all the wires 1 time instead of multiple times. Each lead for switching the cameras is a different color. The manual will tell you which is which. Because the camera cables are not marked I did wrap the end of each camera cable with electrical tape of the corresponding color to match the switching lead for that camera.

 

The system I am using is from Rear View Safety. There is both a 7" (RVS-2770-DVR) and 9" (RVS-97QUAD-DVR) monitor/DVR. I am using the 7". The system only comes with one camera but added a 2nd camera (RVS-770). Then added 2 RVS-775 cameras. When you order you specify one for left and one for right as well as color (black or white).

 

The drive to the ECR I only had the rear/hitch camera working. Added the side cameras for the drive home. Now I have them all so this will be our first trip with all of them. I did not have time to hook up the switching leads but because I am also planning on moving my Jackolope at the same time it is a little bigger project then just connecting the leads. The DVR comes with a 4gb SD card. Will hold up to a 32gb card. So gotta see if I have one one. If not I will pick one up before hitting the road.

[DuffMan]

Does it have loop recording? On all channels? How about an impact sensor to lock the file in case of a crash. Couldn't find anything on the website covering those. Seems strange they wouldn't cover that for a front & rear view camera system.

[RV_Fan44]

Does it have loop recording? On all channels? How about an impact sensor to lock the file in case of a crash. Couldn't find anything on the website covering those. Seems strange they wouldn't cover that for a front & rear view camera system.

 

It does have loop recording all on channels, but no impact sensor or event recording.

[bmzero]

Looks good!

 

Did you happen to try the cameras at the fender mirrors? I'm considering mounting mine to the bottom of the fender mirrors and was curious if you tried yours there.

[RickW]

My fender mirrors are the older metal tube style. Plus there is the shake in the hood from the road conditions and what not. That is why I opted to mount to the cab as far forward as I could.

[bmzero]

My fender mirrors are the older metal tube style. Plus there is the shake in the hood from the road conditions and what not. That is why I opted to mount to the cab as far forward as I could.

The hood shake has definitely been a concern for me. I like where you put yours.