Garmin BC40 wireless camera.....

[AndyPK]

...arrived and fitted today. Video quality is more than adequate for its purpose, and the picture appears on the sat nav (Camper 770 LMTD) within a couple of seconds of giving the voice command (‘show video’). The rear-view picture is always shown first when the ‘van is started, which may or may not be useful? Overall, I’m more than happy with the camera, but I need to find a way of securing it, or perhaps I’ll just take it with me after parking!

 

[Bubblyboy]

...arrived and fitted today. Video quality is more than adequate for its purpose, and the picture appears on the sat nav (Camper 770 LMTD) within a couple of seconds of giving the voice command (‘show video’). The rear-view picture is always shown first when the ‘van is started, which may or may not be useful? Overall, I’m more than happy with the camera, but I need to find a way of securing it, or perhaps I’ll just take it with me after parking!

Hi Andy, I've been considering the BC40 and had wondered if the 7mt-8mt length of a motorhome would be too much for the WiFi? Have you found the connection to the Sat Nav to be consistent and reliable? I was also thinking about the fitting location on my Majestic 285 and had wondered if I could mount it on the bottom rail of the bike rack, the rail mounted on the van I mean, which the actual bike rack is mounted on... Where have you fitted yours or where are you thinking about fitting it? Any feedback would be much appreciated..

 

[AndyPK]

Hi!
Your ‘van is about 380mm longer than mine, but I would not have thought that it would affect the picture stability, especially as (I assume) that you would only be using the BC40 for reversing...? The 285 does have a rear-view camera like the 155, I believe. The connection to the Garmin sat nav seems very stable, and I have mounted my BC40 at the top of the number plate making it a little less obvious, and also affording it a degree of protection from water, etc. The camera comes with a number plate bracket, but I think that there is an optional ‘camper-van’ mount which may be suitable for your bike rack rail or, if not, it should be possible to adapt the bracket. To be honest, I would probably tie-wrap the BC40 to the rail initially to confirm its operation and the suitability of the location wrt coverage, etc. I presume that your bikes do not obscure the rear number plate.....? Of course, you could always mount the camera on the bikes when travelling, and remove it when on site - to avoid anyone pinching it, if for no other reason!
Let me know what you decide to do.

Regards

Andy

 

[Bubblyboy]

Hi!
Your ‘van is about 380mm longer than mine, but I would not have thought that it would affect the picture stability, especially as (I assume) that you would only be using the BC40 for reversing...? The 285 does have a rear-view camera like the 155, I believe. The connection to the Garmin sat nav seems very stable, and I have mounted my BC40 at the top of the number plate making it a little less obvious, and also affording it a degree of protection from water, etc. The camera comes with a number plate bracket, but I think that there is an optional ‘camper-van’ mount which may be suitable for your bike rack rail or, if not, it should be possible to adapt the bracket. To be honest, I would probably tie-wrap the BC40 to the rail initially to confirm its operation and the suitability of the location wrt coverage, etc. I presume that your bikes do not obscure the rear number plate.....? Of course, you could always mount the camera on the bikes when travelling, and remove it when on site - to avoid anyone pinching it, if for no other reason!
Let me know what you decide to do.

Regards

Andy

Evening Andy, many thanks for your reply and your thinking is similar to mine... yes I will only be using it for reversing and as you say I do have a high mounted camera but just want to use the BC40 for close up reversing. If I do mount it where I think, on the bike rack support bar , I will use the Camper Mount version and would do exactly as you suggest re temp fitting it to check the view etc.. My only concern is that the wifi range stated by Garmin is 8mts for the BC40 so its close to its maximum!
Can I ask, what was your method of putting the cam on your number plate please? The reason I ask is that i believe we have stick-on plates so did you unstick it, fit the base plate and then stick the number plate back on? I thought that you could only use the number plate version if the plate was screwed on? Any advice re that would be appreciated...
I have read reviews about the easy accessibility for thieves to pinch it and my thought is to cable tie it to its mount ( when the correct position for the camera is found) , just to make it that bit harder and also just to ensure that it doesn't actually fall off from the mount, which has happened to some people, as its only held between two "arms" I believe... but of course then it means cutting the cable ties each time to remove it myself if I wish and to change the batteries etc..
I absolutely love my 285 but the fitted rear view camera is a let down... On my previous (older) Swift I had a dual cam , reversing and rear view, and was disappointed to see that this van only had the rear view but then again small price to pay for the upgrade in luxury!
Many thanks again for the advice..
Steve

 

[AndyPK]

The number plate on my van is screwed to the GRP bumper, Steve ......I had to drill a couple of 3mm holes in it to get the camera template holes to match (checking that there was nothing ‘important’ that I might drill into......!). The camera mount seems fairly robust, and I can only assume that, if the camera fell-off as some have said, that it wasn’t clipped in properly? I have looked into drilling a couple of holes in the mount and securing it with screws, but there is not much to secure it to without causing damage to the camera, as far as I can see. We must hope that Garmin will take notice of user comments (and possible claims on ‘not fit for purpose’) and devise a way of securing the camera against loss and theft!

Andy

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[Bubblyboy]

Just a heads up if anyone is considering purchasing the Garmin BC40 camera, I have just seen it appear on Amazon at £103.97, it only appeared this morning and is a considerable saving on the next cheapest deal which is from Garmin direct at £129.99! Admittedly this is for the Camper Mount version, NOT the Number Plate version but its perfect for my needs and I've just ordered it... The only drawback is that it could take 3 weeks to arrive but I'm happy to wait...

This is the link .. Amazon product ASIN B07T4L5JLY

 

[AndyPK]

Good spot!

 

[fat haggis]

I ordered mine a couple of weeks ago expecting to wait a good few weeks. Within a week a email from a amazon updating delivery. It came from amazon Germany ?? A few days later . My van is 7.25mtrs and no problem with signal quality on the Garmin 770. I put mine high up just under the 3 rd break light. A ladder is needed to get to it and it seems secure enough. ?

 

[Bubblyboy]

Hi Haggis, my van is roughly the same length as yours so together with Andy's advice re the signal quality, its reassuring to me that mine will be fine too... The price from Amazon fell just right for me and I have the added bonus that if there is any problem, I can return it to them with no quibbles... I hope to mount mine on the support rail that is fixed to the van for the bike rack, it will be about 3ft from ground level and with the ability to swivel it down on the mount bracket, should give me a great view ( well in theory!) I will just need to drill the support rail and install the mount with 2 small self tappers...I only want to see the immediate area behind when reversing...Re the security, I will probably do as Andy does and remove it when parked up... It will be a bonus if it arrives before 3 weeks

 

[fat haggis]

I paid £107 and it was a 3 month waiting time. So price and speed are good now. With mine being mounted high up its actually hard to spot it has the camera on it. I can’t do a pic as a friend who not only fixed the leak it had had but ripped out all the front top bed to grt all the rot out and rebuilt it better than before. He is enjoying a week around Skye with his 2 young kids. I’ll get a pic of mine mounted when I get the van back on Sunday.

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[Bubblyboy]

I paid £107 and it was a 3 month waiting time. So price and speed are good now. With mine being mounted high up its actually hard to spot it has the camera on it. I can’t do a pic as a friend who not only fixed the leak it had had but ripped out all the front top bed to grt all the rot out and rebuilt it better than before. He is enjoying a week around Skye with his 2 young kids. I’ll get a pic of mine mounted when I get the van back on Sunday.

Thanks Haggis, I look forward to the pic's and will probably post my installation too if it might be of help to anyone else considering the same thing...

 

[newbuyer]

HI i know no replies recently but how did you end up mounting this fat haggis? Can the bike rack fixing bar be loosened slightly to get some cable ties behind them or does it need holes drilled into it on a Chausson 640?