Failed B/U Monitor - What to do now?
We bought our Georgetown new in 2004, and while we have had some issues with it, I've never looked back at our decision to buy it because of the enjoyment it has provided us over the years. The one t...
Forum Discussion
I bought the Magellan Roadmate 1700 in order to have GPS an extra video cameras to monitor the inside and outside of a trailer pulled behind the motorhome. I also bought a video switcher and installed some manual switches. There is an aux video input on the GPS, (btw, it's about $170 delivered), and it interrupts the GPS screen when it senses any video signal. So, I use switches to select monitoring, but used the reverse light voltage to automatically select rear trailer cam for backing up, then after shifting out of revers, you get the GPS screen back.
I had to use something like the ring and the sleeve of the 1/8" input jack, and was expecting it to be the tip and sleeve. Don't remember exactly, but that unstandard wiring caused some bad reviews of the GPS since normal adapters might not hit the right part of the jack until you find the right one, or just experiment to find which one.
Also, I found that any wires can be used for that level of video resolution by using a 'balun' which will make any pair of wires (twisted pairs from data cables already run in buildings are one of the uses) act like coaxial cable. They're a couple of bucks, one on each end, and you can get a decent signal with anything. I've used romex house cable run hundreds of feet to monitor something, and it worked fine.
Don't give up, there are just so few wires, that you can make this work with a GPS screen, just make sure it has an aux in jack. Then, a separate switcher that can be triggered with voltage, like when the backup light is on, or the turn signal for each respective camera, or just a switch that you control.
Definitely, for me, hardest thing is running wires, so save what you've got, and adapt easy-to-find new stuff to it.
I had to use something like the ring and the sleeve of the 1/8" input jack, and was expecting it to be the tip and sleeve. Don't remember exactly, but that unstandard wiring caused some bad reviews of the GPS since normal adapters might not hit the right part of the jack until you find the right one, or just experiment to find which one.
Also, I found that any wires can be used for that level of video resolution by using a 'balun' which will make any pair of wires (twisted pairs from data cables already run in buildings are one of the uses) act like coaxial cable. They're a couple of bucks, one on each end, and you can get a decent signal with anything. I've used romex house cable run hundreds of feet to monitor something, and it worked fine.
Don't give up, there are just so few wires, that you can make this work with a GPS screen, just make sure it has an aux in jack. Then, a separate switcher that can be triggered with voltage, like when the backup light is on, or the turn signal for each respective camera, or just a switch that you control.
Definitely, for me, hardest thing is running wires, so save what you've got, and adapt easy-to-find new stuff to it.
