Furrion or Tadibrothers.com observation/backup camera?

[twvette]

Was just about to pull the trigger on the Furrion observation camera as seems good reviews (rplacing horrible Boyo camera). Then stumbled on info that tadibrothers.com has a good offering too and seen some are choosing it over the Furrion now, especially due to larger monitor options. Any further recommendations or true differences between these systems to help make the decision? In a 43ft toyhauler now so signal is what I am most concerned with.

[Y-Guy]

twvette thanks for the follow up!

[twvette]

Success!!! The additional SMA extension cables I ordered were low loss type so were a bit thicker than the initial extensions I ran to the roof so they did not fit well in the vinyl trim. So, I ended up running them across the roof as already have several solar panels etc. that could secure them too all the way to the front. Just did a 200 mile trip out in the open and not a single flicker or issue and all five bars showing at all times. Not surprised as its only about 15 ft away now, but glad to have done this. If I had to do it all over again I would do the same extensions but run it down to underneath the trailer so one less thing exposed to the sun up on the roof.

[nayther]

I bought the Furrion from CW, it was on sale plus another 10% so about $400.00 OTD. installation took about 20 minutes for the camera, screen mounts via suction cup and then plug into cig. lighter.

Works PERFECT!

My trailer is 30'

[twvette]

Another update: I messed with the antenna's with no luck. Did a bit more research and went off on my own and purchased a larger 18in high gain antenna to try. Did not see an obvious signal difference in the park so figured it would not help much if any. My rig is just too big, too many walls, too much aluminum, etc. for the signal to not be blocked it seems.

I am hell bent on figuring this out and making this work, so next step was to buy some SMA cable and adapters so I could run the 18in high gain antenna to the roof. I ran the cable under the vinyl trim pieces that keeps water from coming in which worked well and fairly easy to do. Just used some silicone where it jumped from one trim piece to another to hold it in place/seal in the corners, etc. and worked my way to the trim piece up near the roof. I then secured the antenna to the top of my ladder handles temporarily for testing that are up on the roof in the drivers side corner but it is still at the back of the roof. This worked better in that had signal at speed but still had signal loss many times going down the road. If I came to an open area (no hills, trees, or guardrail next to road) is when it would loose signal as nothing for the signal to bounce off of and thus could easily tell the truck is basically in a dead zone without some reflection when moving at speed. It was very easy to tell this and repeatable. So, I have ordered some more SMA cable and gonna get the antenna all the way to the front up on the roof and I am very confident this will finally work to not get signal drop out. My only real concern is I will then have about 55ft of SMA cable and not sure how much signal loss there will be across this long of a cable and the multiple connectors it will have to make it this long of a run. Assuming this works, sure would be nice if manufacturers just ran a wire to put the antenna up front if going to offer cameras on long 5th wheel rigs.

[slapshot12]

mat60 wrote:
May I ask why you don't like a wide view? I think it helps allot.

Most of the time it isn't an issue, however, when you're in a tight area, a closer view would be nice. I wish it had a zoom feature like some rear cameras on pickups.

[nayther]

twvette wrote:
Update:

I went ahead and ordered the Tadi Brothers SKU90113 based on their recommendations shortly after the original post. Frankly, the sales experience was really weird as was a very stereotypical and cocky sales guy that would not listen and promised the world.

Anyways, had to change things up a bit to get it installed but was not that difficult. Reception was good when not moving within the RV park from a distance, color image was just ok, the audio is a nice feature, and IR at night was not very good at all. Gave it a shot on first trip and once got above about 50 MPH never had any signal and got no more than 10ft of view behind trailer (even with its 120 degree field of view) which was pointless for an observation camera I had requested.

Contacted their Support which was excellent at responding (even well after hours) and ok with refund if I wanted to go that route. Ended up upgrading me to a "Commercial" version SKU90121 which was different camera and screen but it did cost even more and was otherwise a hassle free process and they promised to extend refund policy till after next trip which was many months out. There were several obvious differences I could tell like the LCD screen had a nice sun shade, LCD just seemed better quality, two large antennas instead of one on the LCD receiver (this is not pictured on their site), more IR lights, more robust metal camera housing, etc. Had to redo everything again to get this camera mounted as different holes, etc. but again not that big of a deal. The reception again seemed really good in the RV park, color image was really nice, had audio also, and IR was better but not great. Tried it on trip this week and worked well up to 65 MPH until got out into open areas where only got occasional reception when close to a guard rail or 18 wheeler passing me to reflect the signal. Really like the 170 degree field of view as good to still work for backup purposes and enough depth to see vehicles following me or approaching to pass me.

Did some more research and I think part of the problem is cant get my antennas straight up for optimum transmission of signal towards the front. A little disappointed this was not even mentioned during the Support I received. I might need to move the camera down further to get the antenna vertical on it and see what I can do to get the two antennas vertical on my dash as just not that much room with the big LCD. Considering just running a special SMA type extension cable from the camera to put the antenna on my ladder which is on the side of the trailer to give the signal a much better chance of reaching the front. I am open to any ideas for other antenna solutions as overall like this setup if can just get more consistent signal out in the open when moving at speed.

Again, I have a 43ft garage model toy hauler so lots of walls to penetrate and also the tallest hauler I have ever had plus rear awning just above camera so I think I am about the worse case to get signal to my truck cab. I don't want to deal with hard wired camera or similar.

Very interested in the final outcome. I bought a camera on amazon that connects to my iphone, which was very easy and it works great, as long as I have a signal but when I put my phone in its holder on my console it loses the wifi signal. My trailer is only 30' non-TH 5er.

[twvette]

Update:

I went ahead and ordered the Tadi Brothers SKU90113 based on their recommendations shortly after the original post. Frankly, the sales experience was really weird as was a very stereotypical and cocky sales guy that would not listen and promised the world.

Anyways, had to change things up a bit to get it installed but was not that difficult. Reception was good when not moving within the RV park from a distance, color image was just ok, the audio is a nice feature, and IR at night was not very good at all. Gave it a shot on first trip and once got above about 50 MPH never had any signal and got no more than 10ft of view behind trailer (even with its 120 degree field of view) which was pointless for an observation camera I had requested.

Contacted their Support which was excellent at responding (even well after hours) and ok with refund if I wanted to go that route. Ended up upgrading me to a "Commercial" version SKU90121 which was different camera and screen but it did cost even more and was otherwise a hassle free process and they promised to extend refund policy till after next trip which was many months out. There were several obvious differences I could tell like the LCD screen had a nice sun shade, LCD just seemed better quality, two large antennas instead of one on the LCD receiver (this is not pictured on their site), more IR lights, more robust metal camera housing, etc. Had to redo everything again to get this camera mounted as different holes, etc. but again not that big of a deal. The reception again seemed really good in the RV park, color image was really nice, had audio also, and IR was better but not great. Tried it on trip this week and worked well up to 65 MPH until got out into open areas where only got occasional reception when close to a guard rail or 18 wheeler passing me to reflect the signal. Really like the 170 degree field of view as good to still work for backup purposes and enough depth to see vehicles following me or approaching to pass me.

Did some more research and I think part of the problem is cant get my antennas straight up for optimum transmission of signal towards the front. A little disappointed this was not even mentioned during the Support I received. I might need to move the camera down further to get the antenna vertical on it and see what I can do to get the two antennas vertical on my dash as just not that much room with the big LCD. Considering just running a special SMA type extension cable from the camera to put the antenna on my ladder which is on the side of the trailer to give the signal a much better chance of reaching the front. I am open to any ideas for other antenna solutions as overall like this setup if can just get more consistent signal out in the open when moving at speed.

Again, I have a 43ft garage model toy hauler so lots of walls to penetrate and also the tallest hauler I have ever had plus rear awning just above camera so I think I am about the worse case to get signal to my truck cab. I don't want to deal with hard wired camera or similar.

[mat60]

May I ask why you don't like a wide view? I think it helps allot.

[slapshot12]

I just installed the Furrion. My Momentum came pre-wired for it, so the install was easy. I found the camera was wired from the factory so it was always on, so I rewired it to a running light so I can control it. I hard wired the monitor power to an up fitter switch on my F-350.

With the trailer hooked up in the driveway, I have 2 bars of signal strength. The picture is a little wider view than I'd like, but it'll work ok. It was paired already, so I just ran through the setting real quick and it was working in less than 5 minutes.

If you do have signal issues, you can replace the antenna with slightly taller one.

[mat60]

Best I can tell you is I have the Furrion observation camera. My trailer is only 28ft total. I like it that my new TT came with a furrion camera mount and all I had to do is take off a plastic cover, plug in a wire and install the camera. Less than 5 min job. Monitor was all ready paired to the camera so I just plugged it into the cig lighter to power it and turn on the parking lights. It works great for backing and on the highway. Im glad the monitor is not any bigger also. For me it is well worth the extra money.