Dash Cams and reversing cameras!

When we first collected the Perentie, one thing that it did have and that worked was a half decent double din sized car radio with a reversing camera.

When I decided on the new dashboard arrangement using the raptor engineering product we did not have room for a double din sized car radio – I also wanted Apple CarPlay so that I could operate the phone from the radio and use the Apple Maps App, this would also give me the option to use other mapping apps such as Waze, which seem to work well.

I did like the idea of a decent sized screen, especially for the maps, so after some research decided on a Pioneer AVH-Z7200DAB 7″ Flip-Out Multimedia System, which had a reversing camera facility. I figured that the flip out screen would just about clear the dashboard when mounted in the raptor dash – I was right….just!

The existing reversing camera was externally mounted and was well rusted for some reason, so it was to be replaced. I also suspected that it might not be compatible with the Pioneer. As previously mentioned the radio was fitted early on – when the dash went in and only now am I looking at the camera etc.

Following our accident in the Autumn, I had been thinking about a dash cam and had purchased a Ring RBGDC50 a while ago.

I follow a You Tube Channel Grizzly N Bear about a great couple that are overloading around the world. They had their Land Rover 130 written off early in there journey in Spain and video footage would have made their insurance claim much easier. They did a post abut this subject and decided on a Jeemak product that had a rear camera that also recorded in case you got hit from behind – this also doubled as a reversing camera. This is what I need – me thinks!

The Jeemak product is not available anymore, so it was back to the research. This threw up many products from Garmin, Road Angel, Black Vue, Think Wave, Viofo and many others.

What became immediately obvious was that most did not record from the rear. If they did have a rear view facility at all, this was either a stick on camera (no use on a Land Rover), or the rear view module was placed on the rear view mirror and relied on a view through the rear window. Again useless as I wanted a rear camera that would securely bolt on the the back – I would probably make up something to protect it from knocks. Also, prices varied widely from hundreds of pounds to very cheap – I did not want to spend a fortune!

It would have been nice to have something that recorded the interior as well, in case someone broke in. But then you can’t have everything and you have to consider power usage as an internal camera would need a permanent feed.

I eventually came up with a product that seemed to tick all of the boxes made by Yundoo whoever they are – mind you – I had never heard of Jeemak and that seemed to work OK. Anyway £30 and 12 hours later – Thank you Amazon – it is sitting on my desk and looks – not too bad. We will see – I am not expecting too much from the rear footage.

The Yundoo does need a feed from the reversing light to switch on the reversing camera; but luckily, I had already put one of these in when I did the rear lights, to avoid having to cut into the cable at the rear of the car. Prior to this thought process, I had also made provision for the reversing camera on the Pioneer by connecting a wire directly to the reversing switch on the gearbox – so I have 2 options. I suggest that I will stick to the Pioneer for the reversing camera as the image will come up on the radio screen which is bigger and has the guidelines which can be edited specifically for your vehicle.

The Pioneer camera is a ND-BC8 which is a separate purchase and costs about £70.00. It is finished slightly better overall, but the bracket seems not so strong but is supplied with a sticky. I will need to carefully drill through this in order to fix it properly.