Front-rear camera touchscreen parking protection switch kit reservations

[rbergquist]

Re: I have a Signature so we could not remove the nose cone; even called my local service center and talk with a tech who said basically try ANYTHING so you don't have to remove it its is almost impossible to do hence the production changes.

In the end we shined a flashlight up from the outside grill toward the radiator top and could see some light coming thru. That lead to an area of the (attached) nosecone we could drill a small hole in for the cable and pry the grill open to fit a wire thru. Taped the cable to the wire, and get the cable routed.

I've also got a Sig and have been held up on the cable routing behind the nose cone. If you have any more details or pics on how you did the cable routing and hole placement I would find that very useful. Thanks.

 

[artsci]

I've also got a Sig and have been held up on the cable routing behind the nose cone. If you have any more details or pics on how you did the cable routing and hole placement I would find that very useful. Thanks.

Yes, it would be great to have more specifics that can be shared with other signature owners.

 

[pilotSteve]

I've also got a Sig and have been held up on the cable routing behind the nose cone. If you have any more details or pics on how you did the cable routing and hole placement I would find that very useful. Thanks.

Unfortunately I did not take pics while working. We'd had a long day and needed to finish up and get on the road.

Here are some thoughts on what worked for the sig:

(a) remove the grill panel that accesses the 12V battery terminals and the frunk driver side panel.
(b) shine a bright light up thru the driver side front grill and have a friend look near the radiator from the top of the frunk.
(c) we could see a thin line where the front of the radiator met the edge of plastic grill.
(d) using a pry bar we opened up that line (basically scooted the plastic forward).
(e) we then snaked some electrical wire thru the opening and worked it along the front radiator (behind the grill) until it was in the grill middle.
(f) used a hemostat to grab the wire and bring it out the grill.
(g) make a u-shaped hole in the area you located in (d) to allow the video cable to not be pinched (we used an air drill and moved the bit around). Hole is the diameter of the cable, not the size of the video connector.
(h) cut away a small section of the front grill to allow the cable's connector to pass thru the grill.
(i) attach video cable to the electrical wire with tape, carefully pull thru grill. Use pry tool to hyper extend the plastic so the video connector goes thru then route cable into the u-shape hole and remove pry.

Came out quite nicely. Wish I had pictures. Good luck! Steve

 

[RodF]

Not yet. RF Supplier have taken the problem very seriously. They are working on the quality, consistency, and accuracy of the twisted pairs. WhiteP85, who designed the PCB, indicates that the consistency of how the pairs of wires are twisted is an important factor as it affects the radio frequency impedance. If that is not right the signal gets distorted from reflections which could result in the camera not being seen. The shielding is also being improved. So hopefully after what appears to be several days wait while they make improvements that address these issues we'll have a very good solution.

I just placed my order for the kit from the OpenEV store. I contacted Tesla to order the camera. Does the kit include all necessary cables, or do I need to also order this cable? When I tried to follow the link above it goes to the website but not any specific product.

 

[swegman]

You need to order the cables from RF Supplier. My understanding is that they are redesigning the long cable to address problems I and some other people experienced. Alternatively, you can order the cables from Tesla, which also require gender changers. I don't know the Tesla part numbers. Artsci (Rick) knows the part numbers from Tesla, but is on vacation for about another week, though he appears to check in periodically.

 

[RodF]

You need to order the cables from RF Supplier. My understanding is that they are redesigning the long cable to address problems I and some other people experienced. Alternatively, you can order the cables from Tesla, which also require gender changers. I don't know the Tesla part numbers. Artsci (Rick) knows the part numbers from Tesla, but is on vacation for about another week, though he appears to check in periodically.

Artsci, when you return, can you provide the part numbers for the cables that are required in addition to the kit? Thanks for the help and for providing this great product.

 

[RodF]

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed/asked; looking back on previous posts, it appears that if the license plate holder blocks the grill just below the nosecone, a bracket for the camera would be required. Has anyone installed the camera with a "The Law" license plate holder? Did you need to use a bracket, and if so, is one included with the kit?

 

[swegman]

I have the Tesla license plate holder and use the camera bracket that artsci created. It is an extra cost item (as not everyone needs it) that is not included with the switch (at least not when the switch was purchased directly from artsci).

 

[justaddsun]

Artsci, when you return, can you provide the part numbers for the cables that are required in addition to the kit? Thanks for the help and for providing this great product.

Per artsci: You want two cables, as follows:


Cable, HSD, Liftgate, Camera 1006780-00-D ($23.12)*

Cable, HSD, Body Left, Camera 1006781-00-D ($25.68)


The first cable is short, the second long. *You need the first to connect the long cable to the front camera (a gender issue). *Then you use one of the short Chinese cables on the other end of the long *cable to connect it to the PCB).

 

[RodF]

Per artsci: You want two cables, as follows:


Cable, HSD, Liftgate, Camera 1006780-00-D ($23.12)*

Cable, HSD, Body Left, Camera 1006781-00-D ($25.68)


The first cable is short, the second long. *You need the first to connect the long cable to the front camera (a gender issue). *Then you use one of the short Chinese cables on the other end of the long *cable to connect it to the PCB).

Got it. Will contact the SC on Tuesday. Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

I have the Tesla license plate holder and use the camera bracket that artsci created. It is an extra cost item (as not everyone needs it) that is not included with the switch (at least not when the switch was purchased directly from artsci).

I believe the bracket will be necessary with this license mount:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/35042-Torquelift-Central-s-The-LAW-No-Drill-License-plate-bracket-install-review-A

I didn't see it on OpenEV. Artsci, is this something that you still have available for sale?

 

[artsci]

Per artsci: You want two cables, as follows:


Cable, HSD, Liftgate, Camera 1006780-00-D ($23.12)*

Cable, HSD, Body Left, Camera 1006781-00-D ($25.68)


The first cable is short, the second long. *You need the first to connect the long cable to the front camera (a gender issue). *Then you use one of the short Chinese cables on the other end of the long *cable to connect it to the PCB).

These are the Tesla OEM cables, which are a proven alternative to the long Chinese cable. But you still need the short Chinese cables for the necessary gender change for connecting the front and rear camera to the PCB.

- - - Updated - - -

Got it. Will contact the SC on Tuesday. Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -



I believe the bracket will be necessary with this license mount:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/35042-Torquelift-Central-s-The-LAW-No-Drill-License-plate-bracket-install-review-A

I didn't see it on OpenEV. Artsci, is this something that you still have available for sale?

The bracket was designed to mount the camera under Tesla's OEM plate frame. It may or may not work with other plate frames. If you have a low mount plate frame the camera can be mounted on the grille to look over the top of the plate frame.

 

[RodF]

Thanks for the info, Artsci. I know you are traveling and appreciate that you took the time to answer the questions. I understand that the Chinese cables are not available right now. I think I am going to cancel my order with OpenEV until I am sure I will be able to procure the right cables, and figure out how to attach the camera to the bottom of the license plate frame, as Torklift's "The Law" frame does block the grill right below the nosecone.

 

[artsci]

Thanks for the info, Artsci. I know you are traveling and appreciate that you took the time to answer the questions. I understand that the Chinese cables are not available right now. I think I am going to cancel my order with OpenEV until I am sure I will be able to procure the right cables, and figure out how to attach the camera to the bottom of the license plate frame, as Torklift's "The Law" frame does block the grill right below the nosecone.

Just took a look at the Torklift design. Regrettably, the could not have done a better job of making it extremely difficult to place the front camera. If it's not too late I'd use a front plate frame from another manufacturer.

 

[dsmith2189]

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed/asked; looking back on previous posts, it appears that if the license plate holder blocks the grill just below the nosecone, a bracket for the camera would be required. Has anyone installed the camera with a "The Law" license plate holder? Did you need to use a bracket, and if so, is one included with the kit?

I bought a "the Law" license plate bracket and have "dry fit" it with my camera. it looks like everything fits. I currently have another lower mount license plate bracket solution so I won't say I am 100% certain, but it looks good and its adjustable.

in addition to "the Law" bracket I am also using the camera mount that you can purchase from Artsci when you order the kit. the tabs with the screw holes are a bit short but I think I have figured that out...
I bought a "Bell Universal license plate Mounting Kit, part# 46127-8) and cut a slot in the bottom "long flat oval opening" not the very outside part of the mount (hard to really explain exactly) to fit the tabs. put a flat piece of plastic to fit the oval opening and drill holes to match the location of the tabs on the camera bracket. screw or rivet the bracket, license plate mount and the flat piece of plastic together (sandwich them together)
Sorry No pictures, I took everything apart last weekend to do my camera install but didn't finish the install (ie mounting the camera, etc...)

----Update ---
I was able to find an old picture that may help. (disregard the camera bracket in this picture, this is not Artci's camera bracket, his is much nicer:biggrin
you can see a picture of Artsci's camera bracket in pilotSteves post
this is a picture of the Universal mounting kit (license plate mount) on "the Law" bracket showing roughly where you need to put the slot for artsci's camera bracket.
Note: you may want to get some shorter license plate screws. the ones that come with the kit are long and pointed. ouch!

 

[yobigd20]

I haven't read all 600 and some posts, but I am curious - was anyone able to use any aftermarket camera with this or did everyone buy the camera part from Tesla? If only the Tesla camera works, I am just wondering what the restrictions were here that forced that decision. I would just think they aren't in the business of manufacturing custom cameras and I would think that any COTS camera should work as long as the interface remains the same. That being said, does anyone know what the interface is? Analog? Digital? Protocols? Etc.... (I had some ideas for a project im rolling around in my head so just very curious here).

 

[swegman]

The issue is that the 17 inch screen only communicates with the Tesla camera. No other camera is compatible with the touchscreen. Any other camera connected to the touchscreen results in an error message being displayed on the touchscreen. The output of the camera is LVDS (I believe).

 

[artsci]

I would just think they aren't in the business of manufacturing custom cameras and I would think that any COTS camera should work as long as the interface remains the same.

The camera is manufactured for Tesla to Tesla's specs. Any COTS camera doesn't work. WhiteP85, who designed the camera switch circuit, said it was one of the most sophisticated designs he'd seen, and any variance in the signal from the camera to the touchscreen results in the "Camera unavailable" error message on the touchscreen. This is why just a cable without high quality and consistent twisted pairs and adequate shielding results in failure.

 

[EBill]

Does anyone have details on a source and part number for the gender change cables, either from rfsupplier.com or another vendor.

The Chinese cable manufacturer has apparently taken the Tesla cable assembly off their website. When I either click on the links on this thread or search for Tesla at the rfsupplier I get no results.

 

[artsci]

Does anyone have details on a source and part number for the gender change cables, either from rfsupplier.com or another vendor.

The Chinese cable manufacturer has apparently taken the Tesla cable assembly off their website. When I either click on the links on this thread or search for Tesla at the rfsupplier I get no results.

We're arranging to supply Tesla's OEM cables to people who have bought the kit and have problems with the long Chinese cable (it's a loser but the short ones, which are needed even with the OEM cables, work fine). RF will be making the short cables available again presently.

The Tesla OEM cables needed are these:

Cable, HSD, Liftgate, Camera 1006780-00-D (this cable attaches to the front camera and makes the necessary gender change) $23.12
Cable, HSD, Body Left, Camera 1006781-00-D (this cable goes between the cable above and the PCB) $25.68

 

[Gizmotoy]

Any suggestions for someone who hasn't had time to install yet? Just buy the Tesla cables and not worry about it, or risk a bad Chinese cable?