Rear camera at night

[beachvic]

I have a 2018 Precept 33U. The garmin system I have is the fusion system. I am ok with the way the system works, with one execption. The camera night vision is awful. I can not see my toad at all its just a blur. I am wondering if I can replace the camera in the rear and still use the fusion garmin. I don't want to have replace the whole system. I don't know if I should reach out to garmin or Jayco?

[RoyBraddy]

My truck has a rear camera in the FORD EMBLEM on the tail gate. It only gets turned on when I am in REVERSE. It is almost non-usable at night and also when it rains...

If I was going to use a rear camera on a larger RV I would want to mount it near the top of the RV trailer and have it pointing down at a sharp angle to prevent being flared up by approaching vehicles at night...

Something like this photo...

google image

Roy Ken

[Balibe]

Originally Posted by beachvic

I have a 2018 Precept 33U. The garmin system I have is the fusion system. I am ok with the way the system works, with one execption. The camera night vision is awful. I can not see my toad at all its just a blur. I am wondering if I can replace the camera in the rear and still use the fusion garmin. I don't want to have replace the whole system. I don't know if I should reach out to garmin or Jayco?

You should be able to upgrade the rear camera. I also have the Garmin Fusion system in my 2018 Alante 26x. The Garmin only accepts a single video input for the cameras. There is a camera controller that the rear/left/right cameras connect to, the controller sends the correct camera to the Garmin Fusion based on an input signal from the vehicle blinker & reverse signal. My camera controller is located behind the stereo.

My system is made by Voyager (https://voyagercameras.com), yours may also be the same manufacture as our rv's are similar. If you replace the camera with the same manufacture the connection for the camera will not need an adapter. Voyager uses a CEC connection, but they do have adapters for cameras from a few other manufactures.

My rear camera is the VCMS17B, which is a CMOS Color Camera. Voyager does make better cameras than my rv has. One is the VCMS155B, another is the VCMS20B. Both provide better coverage & depth of field, the difference between them is the degree of wide angle view. Both are a Color CMOS IR LED Cameras. Neither should not require any modifications to the system.

Hope this helps ……

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[beachvic]

Balibe - thanks for the info. I checked out voyager and I believe I have the same camera you do! ( big surprise) Do you have the same issue with yours? Or is mine just a defective camera that doesn't work at night.... I think I will give the VCMS20B a shot. thanks.

[Vicr]

You might want to look into a camera with night vision capabilities. $$$.

[Vicr]

Originally Posted by RoyBraddy

My truck has a rear camera in the FORD EMBLEM on the tail gate. It only gets turned on when I am in REVERSE. It is almost non-usable at night and also when it rains...

If I was going to use a rear camera on a larger RV I would want to mount it near the top of the RV trailer and have it pointing down at a sharp angle to prevent being flared up by approaching vehicles at night...

Something like this photo...

google image

Roy Ken

That's where the camera is mounted on the Alante's and Precepts Roy.

[Balibe]

Originally Posted by beachvic

Balibe - thanks for the info. I checked out voyager and I believe I have the same camera you do! ( big surprise) Do you have the same issue with yours? Or is mine just a defective camera that doesn't work at night.... I think I will give the VCMS20B a shot. thanks.

I wish I could answer that. The rear camera worked at the PDI and quit working on my first trip in March 2018. The great service department where I purchased my rv from have had no clue what the issue is or how to fix it. I took it upon myself to figure out this spring after I de-winterized, which is how I got up to speed on the camera system.

After figuring out the route for the 75' cable from the controller in the dash to the rear camera (all one cable), I found the issue. The plastic wire duct with the camera wire was not secured properly under the rv, it was resting against the engine header which melted the wiring causing a short between ground and the video feed. Thankfully the short did not burn up anything as there was 12vdc also in the cable.

I have a new cable on order. Once I get it working I can update you on the clarity at night.

FYI …… If you also have the VCMS17B, it does have a mic in the camera. So you can enable the mic function in the Garmin Fusion, which I understand will allow you to hear what is going on at the rear camera. Not sure how good it is, but the camera controller mic output does plug into the Garmin Fusion.

[beachvic]

Balibe - Sorry to hear about your issue! I looked at my camera last night and I confirmed that I have the same one as you the voyager VCMS17B. We have tried to get the mic to work but so far we have failed......

[Balibe]

Originally Posted by beachvic

Balibe - Sorry to hear about your issue! I looked at my camera last night and I confirmed that I have the same one as you the voyager VCMS17B. We have tried to get the mic to work but so far we have failed......

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Once I get my camera working I will check the mic function. The Voyager Camera Controller (CSW3014) I have does have the audio output connected along with the video signal & trigger wire to the Garmin Fusion.

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[Balibe]

Originally Posted by Balibe

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Once I get my camera working I will check the mic function. The Voyager Camera Controller (CSW3014) I have does have the audio output connected along with the video signal & trigger wire to the Garmin Fusion.

I tested mine today and the mic in the rear camera does work. I had the camera in the rv to verify.

With the camera mic enabled from the gear icon, the lower left mic icon is the selection to turn it on. Selecting it will turn on the Mic and turn off the stereo sound (see first picture attached).

If it does not work for you as stated above, verify the connection on the rear of the Garmin Fusion (see second picture). The audio out from the camera module must be plugged into the Aux 2 - R input, it will not work in the Aux 2 - L input. It may have been plugged into the Aux 2 - L Input from the factory as it is the White input and the Camera Audio Output plug is also White …..

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[beachvic]

Balibe - Thanks for the pictures. This was exactly my issue. Wire was in the wrong connection. Tested it out and the sound is pretty good. So my last question is can you see at night? I can not see my car at all. It is a dark blurry mess, the color of my car is silver, it should be easily visible in the camera.

[Balibe]

Originally Posted by beachvic

Balibe - Thanks for the pictures. This was exactly my issue. Wire was in the wrong connection. Tested it out and the sound is pretty good. So my last question is can you see at night? I can not see my car at all. It is a dark blurry mess, the color of my car is silver, it should be easily visible in the camera.

Haven't fixed my wiring issue yet, I just plugged the rear camera into the controller to test the mic. Hopefully have it fixed in a couple weeks.

Not sure how the IR LED Low Light Enhancement works on the camera. I did cover the camera from light and did not see any illumination from the camera LED's. Will test more at night once I get the wiring issue resolved and let you know.

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[beachvic]

Balibe - Just wanted to follow up with you to see if you have tried your camera at night yet??????