Reverse Camera - where have you mounted them?

[stealthwolf]

found a pic of Hurdy's camera 

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=70579.msg558573;topicseen#msg558573

That's where I've seen it mounted underneath before. It's what I'd consider.

[Top Cat]

try using the rear window when reversing - saves me money

Have you thought of mounting it on Sharpie it will alway's work in the dry and alway's stay's hidden until your not looking and pop's up to help you  not   

[Hurdy]

The reverse camera is a relatively cheap mod to do and IMO is much better than relying on a sensor and those awful beep beep beep noises. I mounted mine on the underneath of the rear bumper and it is discrete and gives a good picture. It doesn't get dirt on it as much as I thought it would and apart from a wipe when cleaning the car, I haven't had to touch it.

[stealthwolf]

The reverse camera is a relatively cheap mod to do and IMO is much better than relying on a sensor and those awful beep beep beep noises. I mounted mine on the underneath of the rear bumper and it is discrete and gives a good picture. It doesn't get dirt on it as much as I thought it would and apart from a wipe when cleaning the car, I haven't had to touch it.

Wanna do a how-to guide for all of us reverse-camera-wannabes?

[p3eps]

Hurdy... do you know what brand of camera / model number yours is?  It looks tiny!
Most of the ones I can see are about 30mm square - yours looks smaller (or maybe its just the pic!)

[Hurdy]

Hurdy... do you know what brand of camera / model number yours is?  It looks tiny!
Most of the ones I can see are about 30mm square - yours looks smaller (or maybe its just the pic!)

The camera is 15mm in diameter and under 3cm long, with a "fish eye" lens that helps give a wider view than you'd normally get. I can't remember what the make of it was and there aren't any markings on it that give the make away :embarassed:

I bought it from http://sourcecars.com/ In Sheffield for £125 and they fitted it for free when I had the head unit fitted.

[p3eps]

Depending on how savvy you re, you could always do what I want - mount it into the rear badge and have the badge tilt to expose the camera: clicky

OK... I've decided to have a go at this myself.  I've ordered up a new boot handle from eBay for 99p + postage (bargain as VW wanted £75!)... and when it arrives I'm going to try cutting into it and fitting the camera.  Once I see how much I need the handle to open I'll order a 12V solenoid which will pull the handle when it gets a 12V signal from the reverse lamp.  I'll have it pull the top half with a string or something rather than using an actuator to push it out... as this is cheaper and easier.  It means I can put the solenoid anywhere inside the boot lid and have the string / wire connected - rather than actually fitting the thing in the boot handle.  Hopefully excluding the camera, the bits to do this will cost me about £10 - but we'll see how it goes.

The ONLY thing I'm unsure of is that when making the handle tilt - it will open the boot.  This normally isn't a problem as when I drive my doors/boot auto lock anyway.  But when I set off in the morning to work, I reverse out of my space.  Unless I press the lock button on the driver door, I guess my boot will open as soon as I put the car in reverse?!  I need to find a way round this... perhaps putting a switch on the inside of the VW badge too which operates the boot instead of tilting the badge?

Hopefully my boot handle will arrive tomorrow and I can start fiddling!

[SteveP]

I like a technical challenge but this looks like it's going to be a proper head scratcher of an install 

Good luck with this p3eps, keep us posted with your progress if you don't mind.

[stealthwolf]

Yes - please take pictures and make a how-to-guide for us if it works.

[p3eps]

I'm looking forward to getting the bits so I can try it as I like a challenge!
I want to see if I can do it and make it all work properly for under £20 (excluding the camera cost) - just to show that the 950 euro one is way OTT!

I don't want to hack apart my existing boot handle - hence why I've ordered another one to play with.  If I wreck it, then I've only lost out on 99p + £5 postage - so its no big deal.

I'm going to see if theres a way I can adjust how much you need to tilt the boot handle so that it actually opens the boot.  As standard its hardly anything - but I'm hoping I can make it so that I need it at pretty much full tilt before it releases the boot.
That way I can make it open about 60% for the camera without unlocking the boot.

I need to wait for the handle to arrive before I do anything, as I don't want to start pulling the internal boot panels off until I have to.

Once I get going I'll get some piccys taken as I go along so that anyone whos feeling brave can give it a go!  It may take a while though as the electrical genius at work who is helping me with the solenoids etc left this morning for 2 weeks in Majorca!