This is my first post here since I only found this website a little over a week ago. I discovered this website while searching for info on how to install a backup camera. Anyway, with help from the tech staff at Crutchfield, where I bought my equipment, and dribbles of information from lots of places, I succeeded in getting it to work in my 2005 Ram 1500 Quad cab.

"It" consisted of a Jensen DVD-receiver with monitor and a Boyo license plate camera. My factory DVD-receiver came out and the Jensen went in. It took a lot of spare time over a week and a half to ponder about the installation, run the cable from the rear to the receiver, and figure out how to connect all the various wires. I still haven't found the backup light switch but got the camera's feed to show up on the monitor by running 12 volts from the cigarette lighter to the receiver via a double pole, single throw switch mounted on my dash. The first photo shows what the image looks like when backing up in my driveway and the second shows the camera at the top of the license plate's frame:

It's a big help when backing up in a busy parking lot, like that of a supermarket. Before installing the camera, I used to inch out slowly and twist my neck from side to side to visualize what's behind my truck. I was always a little anxious that I would hit a little critter or dent someones fender because I have such a large blind spot directly behind my truck's tailgate. Now I can see what's behind better than I can see what's directly in front of my truck.

Pardon me for being a little proud, but, I'm a retired doc who's never installed any type of radio or electronic unit in a vehicle before. Actually, I was expecting a puff of blue smoke when I turned it on, but, that never happened.
Larry


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i love backing up with the tailgate down.....
the camera seems like a cool idea though. also, the picture on the backup screen looks really good...
how much did the set-up cost you?...

 

Welcome to the forum!! The camera setup looks good, good job!!!

 

What are you gonna do with your factory DVD??

 

Looks good. I am in the market for a wired camera now for my monitor. I got the wireless kit with a 7" LCD monitor, but there is to much interference from something and the image is real fuzzy.

Welcome to the forum doc.

 

Wow that looks great was the back up camera wireless and if so how did you get the signal into the dvd player

 

Thehemiman, the installation cost me around $700. The breakdown was $399 for a Jensen DVD-receiver, $225 for the Boyo camera, and around $50 - $60 for 3/8" flexible metal conduit, a roll of 16 ga. wire (I had a lot of rolls of 18 ga. on hand but needed 16 ga. for the 12 v. lines), various connectors including line taps, assortment of heat shrink tubing, etc. Crutchfield estimated it would cost $200 - $250 for professional installation but, after completing the job, I figured here in California it would have cost me $800 - $1,000 (my projects tend to be more meticulously done, however, and a local installer would have spent less time doing it). At first I considered installing a Visor View system but thought that routing cable through the headliner and windshield's side trim would be more difficult than routing it through the firewall. It still was difficult working underneath the instrument panel and in the corner of the engine's compartment because of cramped conditions in these areas. The Visor View system would have cost a couple of hundred dollars less. $500 to $700 is quite a bit of money to pay for a feature like this but consider how much an accident, especially one causing injury to someone, would cost.

Under most conditions the rear view picture is sharp and clear. When sunlight falls directly on the lens around midday, though, the excess light washes out the picture. The same thing happens at night when a vehicle pulls up behind my truck. Its headlights create a bright ball of light - until it comes up close when I can make out the outline of the vehicle. The wide angle image produced by the camera takes a little getting used to.

I wanted to install the latest Sanyo camera but, since it was a surface-mounted camera on a bracket, decided not to. We have a lot of vandals and delinquents around here and a surface-mounted camera might look like a ripe fruit to some of them. One of the views the Sanyo camera offers is a remarkable, computerized view from above, called the "Air-Cam." This virtual view looking down from high in the air behind your vehicle shows how far you are from any object you're backing up to. Since the view contains distance marks at 1', 2', etc., you can back up very close to another car or lamp post without hitting it. Backup cameras are very neat. I predict that every sedan and truck will have them as a standard or optional feature within 4 - 5 years.
LarryL

 

MoparRob, I gave the factory DVD-receiver to my son-in-law. He's rebuilding an old Plymouth that has a real old radio.

Sddunn2, no it's not a wireless sytem. It's a hard wired one. I researched wireless systems since they're easier and cheaper to install. Most experts, however, state that wireless systems are not all that reliable due to interference - probably of the RF kind. Turning on my ignition turns on the camera. Therefore when the ignition is on the camera is sending images constantly to the DVD-receiver. It requires another input, however, that normally comes from the downstream side of the backup light switch, to tell the DVD to put the image on the monitor. When the vehicle is put into reverse, the backup light switch turns on the backup lights and also sends this signal current to the DVD-receiver. This tells the DVD to put the camera's image on the monitor. It's neat how some electronics designer figured this all out. I haven't located the backup light switch yet. However, I run 12 v. current from the cigarette lighter to the second input wire I mentioned through a single pole, double throw switch on my dashboard. This acts like a manual bypass switch that allows me to show the camera's image on the monitor even when my truck is not in reverse - like when driving down the highway, for example (middle terminal of bypass switch is connected to DVD, one side terminal to backup light switch and other side terminal to cigarette lighter). Later, when I connect the manual bypass switch to the backup light switch, the camera's image will show up also whenever I put the truck into reverse.
LarryL

 

That's a nice screen. Does it slide into the stereo?

 

Oh yeah, one more question.. does your camera only work in reverse? Most of the cameras installed at the factory only work in reverse......just wondering if yours was configured that way also.