Rear View Camera (pre-2.5)

[jory]

augkuo has installed both front facing and a rear facing camera connected to a pioneer head unit. does anyone have this setup with the JVC NX-5000 (the head unit stock in a 2.0 roadster with the "electronics group" option)? i am intrigued by the idea of having a forward facing camera but reading the NX-5000 manual it looks like there is only a single composite video input.

 

[Doug_G]

augkuo has installed both front facing and a rear facing camera connected to a pioneer head unit. does anyone have this setup with the JVC NX-5000 (the head unit stock in a 2.0 roadster with the "electronics group" option)? i am intrigued by the idea of having a forward facing camera but reading the NX-5000 manual it looks like there is only a single composite video input.

I think you'd need an external video switch.

It's easy enough to get the video display up while you're driving. Toggle the left side rocker switch left to put it in radio mode (i.e. not GPS mode). Then hit the DISP button in the upper right corner a couple of times. It will first show the speed display, then the video input.

 

[jordanthompson]

I just bought a Jensen camera (currently en-route) and am planning on doing the installation myself. My biggest headache (that I can think of so far) is how to get the wire from inside the cabin outside to the rear license. I am worried about penetrating any waterproofing. I am also worried that I may need to drop the undercarriage shield (looks like a real pain without a lift!) so I hope I can snake the wire back or perhaps only loosen one side of the shield to be able to get my hand in to tie-wrap the wire in place.

Has anyone done this themselves? I have looked online and here, but have not come up with anything.

 

[jordanthompson]

Driver's side console removed:

Console pulled out of the way, revealing the IPOD interface and the tip of the snake:

Radio removed (a little frightening, now that I look at it!)

I removed many, but not all of the screws holding the under carriage shield (it was easier than I thought)

I put some double-sided tape on the IPOD interface box as I didn't like the idea of it rattling around

Here is where the IPOD interface box lives now:

When you go to pull the plastic trim on the door sill up, start from the front (I found that the velcro lifts off the body if you start from the back)

I removed the rear light assembly (be careful of the washers in the next picture - they are easily dropped.)

I noticed that the boot for the trunk release is shot, so I am going replace it

Once I got the nuts off, I used a hemostat (everyone should know a doctor and have these in their took-kits) to get the washers out (when you remove the tail light assembly, these washers will to parts-unknown.

Finally got around to installing the backup camera.
It was not a trivial job and TM in Miami was instrumental in helping me over the phone.
Apparently the radio is originally installed with a minimal harness that did not include the connection wires for the video input or the backup indicator. TM graciously sent me a harness they had, so I was able to complete the job relatively neatly (of course I could have cobbled the wires into the plastic plug, but this made a very nice installation.)
I used a coat hanger to route the wires behind the dashboard and through the door sill.
It turned out that I didn't have to use the Zener diode to clamp the backup voltage from the rear light. I have a new(er) PEM, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
I mounted the camera on the top of the black plastic diffuser and I think it looks pretty good there - its almost invisible.
As I was running wires, I saw that the IPOD "box" was just laying behind the door jamb. so I added some double-sided tape to fix it in place.

Here is a video of the camera in use:
VID 20130128 110114 - YouTube

Here is the camera mounted in the rear:

 

[Doug_G]

Nicely done! Thanks for the additional details on routing the wires.

 

[augkuo]

Nice work and pictures - so from the door sill, how did you get the wire outside to the back?

 

[jordanthompson]

Nice work and pictures - so from the door sill, how did you get the wire outside to the back?

I have a fiberglass snake rod that I pushed from back to front.
First I dropped (much) of the skid plate on the driver's side
then I pushed the snake along the right side of the aluminum box structure (there is something blocking the inside of the box itself - that probably would have been perfect) that runs under the door sill.
I had to reach into the compartment above the sill to grab the snake (there is a picture of the snake coming out of this compartment)

 

[FusionCO]

JVC Unit will not turn camera on automatically when in reverse

I just installed a JVC backup camera into my JVC NX-5000 and the Connection menu item shows the reverse signal is good. I have interlock set to reverse and the camera will not come on.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Lee

 

[Doug_G]

As I recall, they had to put in a zener diode in my car to drop the voltage from the reversing lights, because it doesn't go all the way to zero.

 

[markwj]

As I recall, they had to put in a zener diode in my car to drop the voltage from the reversing lights, because it doesn't go all the way to zero.

I had heard of that issue too. Low voltage was around 0.5V. It is ok for the parrot smart (but the setting to enable the camera was buried in the advanced settings).

 

[FusionCO]

Thank you for the tip.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm fitting the Parrot Smart and a ZENEC ZE-RCV50LP Camera to a 2.0 Roadster. Tesla installed the 2 DIN dash upgrade and I'm installing the electronics. I have discovered a reversing signal in the main audio loom which switches between 3.2V (D/P/N) and 12.8V (R) and is colour coded white with blue stripe. This signal is incompatible with my camera. I'm building a simple circuit to provide the camera with a signal that swings from 0V to 12V.

Is the voltage swing of your reverse wire compatible with your camera?

 

[FusionCO]

I'm fitting the Parrot Smart and a ZENEC ZE-RCV50LP Camera to a 2.0 Roadster. Tesla installed the 2 DIN dash upgrade and I'm installing the electronics. I have discovered a reversing signal in the main audio loom which switches between 3.2V (D/P/N) and 12.8V (R) and is colour coded white with blue stripe. This signal is incompatible with my camera. I'm building a simple circuit to provide the camera with a signal that swings from 0V to 12V.

Is the voltage swing of your reverse wire compatible with your camera?

The camera is the JVC KV-CM20 the instructions don't say too much on it.
GENERAL:
Power Requirement: 12.0 V (11 V to 16 V allowable) Max. current consumption: 60 mA Grounding System: Negative ground

http://www.jvc.fr/files/instruction_manual/kvcm20k_lvt2349-001c_fr.pdf

 

[markwj]

I'm fitting the Parrot Smart and a ZENEC ZE-RCV50LP Camera to a 2.0 Roadster. Tesla installed the 2 DIN dash upgrade and I'm installing the electronics. I have discovered a reversing signal in the main audio loom which switches between 3.2V (D/P/N) and 12.8V (R) and is colour coded white with blue stripe. This signal is incompatible with my camera. I'm building a simple circuit to provide the camera with a signal that swings from 0V to 12V.

Is the voltage swing of your reverse wire compatible with your camera?

Kevin,

The 12V is presumably fine, so just the 3.2V needs to be brought down to 0V. The suggested solution I heard was a Zener diode with Zener voltage around 5V.

P.S. the 3.2V 12.8V should be fine for the parrot.

 

[FusionCO]

Thanks, I just checked and my local Radio Shack has some in-stock.

 

[FusionCO]

The 5.1v Zener Diode fixed the issue. Thank you everyone!

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

P.S. the 3.2V 12.8V should be fine for the parrot.

FYI the Parrot switches to the rear camera when reverse is selected (12.8V) but does not switch back when D/P/N is selected (3.2V). I've wired the camera power to the ignition switch and that works just fine... I'll look at the reverse signal again when I get back from the WAVE.

 

[jimmyz80]

I'm fitting the Parrot Smart and a ZENEC ZE-RCV50LP Camera to a 2.0 Roadster. Tesla installed the 2 DIN dash upgrade and I'm installing the electronics. I have discovered a reversing signal in the main audio loom which switches between 3.2V (D/P/N) and 12.8V (R) and is colour coded white with blue stripe. This signal is incompatible with my camera. I'm building a simple circuit to provide the camera with a signal that swings from 0V to 12V.

Is the voltage swing of your reverse wire compatible with your camera?

Out of curiosity, would you be able to describe where you found the reverse signal? I'm installing a new stereo in my 2.0, and for the life of me I can't find a reverse signal wire that matches your description or the wiring schematic I have for the car. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FusionCO]

Out of curiosity, would you be able to describe where you found the reverse signal? I'm installing a new stereo in my 2.0, and for the life of me I can't find a reverse signal wire that matches your description or the wiring schematic I have for the car. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

It was in the panel just below the passenger vent. Sorry I don't have pictures. There may be some in earlier posts. Mine was an install of a rear view camera.

 

[jimmyz80]

Do you mean the passenger vent over by the door, as in the area covered by the "waterfall", maybe below the fuse panel? There's a huge round screw together connector in there but it's sealed up and doesn't give me access to probe the pins.