Magnetic WIFI Rear View camera.

[Scully]

Does anyone have experience of the quality of this camera and how well it works on a smartphone.

Amazon product ASIN B07W4FKPTT
or it's much more expensive cousin

Wi-Fi Wireless Rear View Reversing Camera for Motorhomes, Caravans, Camper Vans – Falcon Technology

www.falcontechnology.co.uk

Both get 4 star rating as cameras, however their respective apps, to allow display on iphone/ipad, both get a poor rating of 2.

I know these would connect to Garmin satnav, but I'm looking to use as a rearview camera rather than a reversing camera, so that is not an option.

No point is having a decent camera, if the output on the phone is poor or unreliable.

It would be great to hear from users who have tried either of these.

 

[Millcourt]

Useless..... is the only word I would use describe it.

These were more expensive and I paid £159 for one 3 years ago, naively thinking it would be a cheap solution in our previous PVC. I wanted to use it as a rear view camera, rather than just a reversing camera.

Keeping the internal battery on the camera charged was a nuisance and I resorted to a long USB cable to an adaptor in a 12v socket. The App needs your smartphone on continuously and drains its battery without being on continuous charge. The connection between the camera and smartphone is via WiFi and this frequently dropped out and needed rebooting.

Unfortunately, I bought it several months before I got around to fitting it, so was outside of any chance of demanding a refund. I did return it to the company I bought it from and they tested it and exchanged it for a replacement camera which worked no better. As we were about to get a new MoHo, I did not pursue this further and had a proper wired camera installed.

I did not think I could resell it, as it would have been likely to lead to a lot more hassle. I gave it away a few weeks ago to a young couple who thought they would give it a go in their recently acquired elderly VW camper van. I heard from a friend that they too had given up on it.

In short....... don’t waste your money!

 

[IanRJ]

Problem for me is they only have around 3-4 hours battery life, I got that directly from the Falcon chappy, so don’t doubt it will be correct. I know the ones on Amazon and eBay say differently. He qualified that by saying most people would stop before that time, either for the end of their journey or for a break, when they could remove the camera and charge it up! Not sure how long it takes to charge but longer than 3 hours I’d guess and likely need your engine running? So I’d probably end up charging it as I drive which sort of kills the point of the exercise!

Also would need to be mounted high up to prevent it being nicked at any time you stopped, lights and such! Mounting it high up makes it difficult to grab at a rest stop to charge and then replace on the van.

For those reasons I’ve now discounted it as a sensible (for us) option.

As for the app I believe there are a number of apps you could use, and if purely used as a rear view camera, one of them would work I suspect.

 

[icantremember]

Although we have twin rear view cameras for driving I also have the Aguri magnetic version purely if I want to view close up of the tow hitch when coupling the toad. I have fixed a galvanised plate just above the hitch in a place which doesn't show when not in use. Aguri don't recommend leaving the camera attached when travelling as it may fall off.
This connects by wifi to the satnav and gives a good clear picture but as said, a bit pricy.
I wouldn't use one as a permanent rear camera.

 

[tonyidle]

Although we have twin rear view cameras for driving I also have the Aguri magnetic version purely if I want to view close up of the tow hitch when coupling the toad. I have fixed a galvanised plate just above the hitch in a place which doesn't show when not in use. Aguri don't recommend leaving the camera attached when travelling as it may fall off.
This connects by wifi to the satnav and gives a good clear picture but as said, a bit pricy.
I wouldn't use one as a permanent rear camera.

Just a thought: you could maybe put the camera in the toad for a view when hitching?

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[chatteris]

I fitted one of these Amazon product ASIN B07YS272Y4 fitted monitor where rear view mirror was and mounted camera to a bar mounted high up on bike rack, have not had to charge it since i fitted it 10 weeks ago, only downside is not on permanently (although max on time of 90 seconds is good for most times) and can take a few seconds to come on after pressing button

 

[Minxy]

Details of what we did about a rear view/reversing camera for our last few campers on my website here:

www.globecarcampscoutinfo.yolasite.com

 

[icantremember]

Just a thought: you could maybe put the camera in the toad for a view when hitching?

That wouldn't work for me .. I wanted to hold, with a short piece of broom stick, the A-frame up above the tow ball level and reverse the moho so I can drop the hitch straight on to the ball.

 

[Scully]

Thanks for your help, I'll continue looking for another solution. I've an old cheap wired camera, I will experiment with Minxy Girl's bumper level rear view suggestion but suspect the view will be too restrictive for me. Worth giving it a go though.

 

[Minxy]

Thanks for your help, I'll continue looking for another solution. I've an old cheap wired camera, I will experiment with Minxy Girl's bumper level rear view suggestion but suspect the view will be too restrictive for me. Worth giving it a go though.

Another option is to feed the cable up through the rear corner structure internally and then along to where the upper brake light is and then attach it under it, we did that on a previous camper and it was where it was going to go again but due to shortage of time when we swapped vans and were going away it was temporarily put on the bumper and stayed there.

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[Scully]

I have upper brake light and built in reversing camera. I though it would be a relatively simple job to mount a rearview camera above that and feed the wires through existing cable route. I have had the van at 2 auto electricians, including one with vast experience of motorhomes. Both have said that the van convertors have done such a thorough job of stuffing every neuk and crannie with insulation and sealing internal wall covering that it would take a lot of time and probably cause some internal damage so neither wants to take the job on, hence why I was exploring the magnetic WiFi route.

I'll experiment with your bumper suggestion. That suggestion also got me thinking about mounting the camera on the underside of the bike rack and routing the cable along the rack itself to the righthand bottom door hinge and down/under the van.. I think there might be just enough room at the hinge to avoid cable crushing when the door is shut. Just not sure if there might be too much vibration of the rack to give me a stable image. Worth a shot.

My first time driving a van and I really miss the general awareness of traffic that a rearview mirror gives.

 

[IanRJ]

On a previous caravan, I mounted a wireless camera on the rear roof and fed a power cable through the bedrooms roof light. This was long enough to reac the shelf above the bed. I bought a 12v rechargeable battery and used that to power the camera. The camera linked via WiFi to a screen I mounted in my Shogun.

Worked a treat, except when I forgot to charge the battery the night before . Battery lasted in excess of 12 hours fully charged, bought from a security camera company on eBay.

Guessing you could use any power bank to run it?

Hth

 

[Scully]

Ian, it was the reviews of the poor/unreliable WiFi linkage I was concerned about. I've only a 6m van, so wifi should in theory be better than the caravan but Millcourt was definitely not impressed with his camera. Perhaps your setup used better combination of equipment and app . Can you give me more detail on your setup.

 

[IanRJ]

Ian, it was the reviews of the poor/unreliable WiFi linkage I was concerned about. I've only a 6m van, so wifi should in theory be better than the caravan but Millcourt was definitely not impressed with his camera. Perhaps your setup used better combination of equipment and app . Can you give me more detail on your setup.

I used something like this camera and screen, but I think there are several wireless screens you could use. My Caravan was 8.5m long and I towed it with a Shogun, it worked perfectly once I had the screen antenna positioned just right. A van would have no issues at 6.5m. Copy and paste this to amazon, seems I’ve still not mastered linking on the iPad yet!

Vehicle Backup Camera System, Wireless 18LEDs IR Night Vision Waterproof Reversing Reverse Rear View Camera + 12V-24V 7" TFT LCD Color HD Monitor for Bus /Truck /Trailer/RV