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Old 11-04-2007, 12:52 PM   #11
P and B
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Yep Larry, that's my driveway. Bad for backing down but killer views of the bay.

I did a little more hunting around today on the web. For Joe, who's looking for a cheap solution, I doubt we'll find one under the $200.00 mark. I thought about the 802.11 web cams but you have to be careful of the focal lengths. For a backup camera, you'd almost want a fisheye type. Remember that they usually only focus well to a few feet. The ones they list as web cams (as opposed to notebook cams) might work. Problem is you have to buy them to play with them.

I then looked at a USB version, since they are the least expensive, thinking I would just hard wire it. USB has a 15 foot "powered" transmission limit without using active cables, which cost about $20-30 a pop and only come in 16' lengths. I've got a 3124 so I'd need two actives and another short cable to make it work. Transmissionwise, I'm just not sure this is a great plan either.

I did find one site http://www.videosystemsbyjim.com/ who sells a wireless system that claims 100' range but it'll set us back $250. His web site appears to be home grown and doesn't have a lot of information. All of his products are Chinese from a company called "Sharpvision".

BTW- another problem with the off the shelf solutions are that all the cameras seem to run on 5VDC so you'd have to knock the battery voltage down accordingly. All kind of a hassle.

If I do come up with something reasonable, I'll post it here.

Phil
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Old 11-05-2007, 09:20 AM   #12
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Phil, if the price that you have to pay for a "Killer view" is a steep and crooked driveway, then it may be worth it. We live here in the flatlands of California's Central Valley and don't have any scenic views at all. Well, actually we can see some of the distant Sierra Nevada's peaks but have to get out on the highways to see them. The trees in our neighborhood block out all of our mountain vistas.

Cameras with fisheye lenses won't well for backup camera usage. My Boyo backup camera takes in a span of 120 deg. horizontally and 90 deg. vertically. All objects within a range of about 18" to infinity appear to be in focus with my camera. That makes sense to me since photographic wide angle lenses have a greater depth of field than normal (e.g., 50 mm. lenses) or telephoto ones.

I feel it's okay to cobble together a backup camera system, or, anything else for that matter. In doing so, however, you must be willing to risk expending some effort and money that later turn out to be wasted. Also you may discover that the components you select may not be the best suited for their operating environment. For example, these backup cameras need to be completely weatherproof and most web cams may not be. Sometimes it's best to buy a complete system or components from companies that have done enough research to turn out good products.

As far as the "Videosystemsbyjim" is concerned, I am always a little leery of an Internet company that won't list its address and phone number on its website.
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Old 11-13-2007, 03:58 PM   #13
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Thumbs up Hitching success!

Today I had to hitch up my TM, which has been parked in our front yard for several months. As a paving company owner came by and offered to pave our driveway at a very reasonable cost, I couldn't turn him down. Anyway, our TM had to be towed out of the way to the back yard. I therefore attached the tow bar to my truck, turned on my backup camera, and backed up to the trailer's hitch. I had to go back and forth several times to get the ball centered under the cup - while my wife stood by watching in silence. Lo and behold, with the aid of the backup camera I centered the ball exactly under the hitch's cup. My wife was shocked! The backup camera works as a hitching aid!
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Old 11-13-2007, 04:13 PM   #14
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Joe,

This is the cheapest place I found: http://www.videosystemsbyjim.com/

Can't vouch for the guy. His web site looks like it was cobbled together. The manufacturer is Sharpvision out of China. They advertise 300m. I checked the specs and they put out 100mW, which should go the 35 feet I need it to. Still $250. The advantage I see, if it works, is that you don't need to cable through the TV, which would be the worst part. I think this system also will take up to 4 camera inputs.

I'm getting ready to winterize my TM so I'll probably defer this project until spring. I'm getting so good at backing down my driveway, I may not need the camera ;-)

Phil
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Old 11-13-2007, 05:04 PM   #15
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It is true that http://www.videosystemsbyjim.com/ looks like a pretty amateurish page. One of the ways you can tell is by the fact that he discloses his supplier! What he is selling is the Digital Micro Ag-Cam, and you can see the product on the manufacturer's page at www.agcam.com. This is a more professional page, with a lot more info given. If you are thinking of a camera, check out this page. I was impressed.

The mfr's page does not give prices, though, since apparently you cannot order directly from them (they work only through their dealers). As a price check, I always find it fun to check eBay. In this case, do an ebay search for "agcam". Wow! These things are expensive! Makes Jim look pretty good.

Apparently the camera itsaelf can be bought for $81, but that doesn't help much because it transmits in the standard 2.4 GHz band, and so a standard TV receiver won't work. You need to buy at least the camera and the receiver. But the camera is VERY weatherproof, and apparently pretty rugged. Hmmm. I need to think about this.

I'm a little confused by P and J's reference to Sharpvision - I need to go back and check that.

Bill
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Old 11-14-2007, 05:21 PM   #16
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Larry,

thanx for the ideas. I've figured out how to unlock my Mio C230 GPS unit (see my blog) and think it would make a great video monitor for a back-up camera. I've already figured out how to play other movies on it, it has TTS (text to speech) that instructs me when to turn and what the street name is, etc. and it is only around $160.
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Old 11-15-2007, 03:42 PM   #17
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Bill,

The Sharpvision reference can be seen in the background of one of "Jim's" pictures- he forgot to obscure it. They actually make the AG cam in China so they are the OEM for the system.

To Larry's point about hardened hardware is a good one and I don't trust many of these manufacturers to do a good job of it. You don't always know what you're getting. My plan was to put a female 1/8" power connector on the backup light lens. Then wire the male mate to the camera part. As hairbrained as this sounds, I was going to sight the camera with some of that putty stuff they use in California to help keep pictures in place during tremors until I got the proper view. Might have to be upside down under the bumper for all I know. Then I would either mount it using wing nuts or use marine velcro. When I'm done backing up, I'd just unplug the camera and put it in the car. Afterall- The objective is to avoid backing up until I absolutely have to ;-)


Phil
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