Rear view monitors

[Kenneth Brewer]

Has anyone used the Ramco outside mirrors with the video camera inside the mirror with the hole/port to view along the sides of the coach? Was it worth it? And can/do you see your towed vehicle, so that it would make passing easier? Costs? Thanks.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

If you cannot see the towed vehicle in your mirrors now the camera in the mirrors will not do any better.

I considered the benefits of the mirrors with the integral camera over what I have now. With a "fish eye" wide angle lens it would sure erase the blind spots, but with the auxilliary wide angle mirror I now have and a small one I stuck in the corner of the flat glass larger mirror I have visibility from on front of the steer axle all the way back.

I would not want to have to spin my head from the mirrors, to the TV, to the road. I'll stick with my mirrors. They have done very well. BTW, to know when it is safe to return to my lane when passing I wait for the bumper of the passed vehicle to reach a certain point on my main mirror. After passing vehicles they "climb" in my mirror until they are so far back they are out of view. When the bumper climbs to a point I have learned provides a safe distance, I can return to the lane.

What I would rather have than mirror cameras is a set of cameras at the outside edges of the rear that show the wheels and tires of the toad. That way I can quickly verify my parking brake is off.:D

[Tully]

I just bought a three way camera system. I have to tell you I am very impressed with this system.

It can work off 12 volt and 24 volt.

The monitor is 7 inch lcd.

I have camera that I have installed on drivers and passenger side fiberglass cap. The camera housing is tear drop and very sleek looking.

So far I have installed the passenger side camera. I have taken out the old black and white monitor and am in the process of having a wooden backing plate made. I used the old plate as a template.

The new monitor has its own mounting bracked and will fit flush.

It .took me all of five minutes to wire up. Very simple.

There is 2 wires that I will tap into turn signals. Hit right turn signal and the right side camera will come on / ditto for left.

I did a dry run with the passenger side camera and per montior, I have a clear clean shot of the entire bus. The blind spot is "no more"....

Will keep you updated on when I get the entire system in and will post photos.

Total cost of system- $479.00. This vendor has sold hundreds and it is
really a nice system.

Tully

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

I was really interested in getting the very same Ramco Mirror w/ Video camera system for our bus when we were buying it from Panterra coach exactly one year ago this month.

However, there were two things at that time that kept me from doing it:

The cost for the (2) mirrors /video system not including any kind of interior monitor was almost $4000. But the real problem at that time was Ramco did not think it would work with my existing video, which is Intec and it was Black and White. :mad:

My only option was to install new mirrors, new monitor, new color camera and new wires to the back of the bus.:( The current wires for the rear camera ONLY worked with Intec video.

At that time Peg opted for me to NOT GET IT UPDATED :( :D

Most of the new bus's coming out now have the built in side view cameras, and I think they would be very important to have if possible.


Gary S.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

I have heard Prevo is coming out with a bus with no drivers seat and no steering wheel for those who have lost their ass and don't know which way to turn.

Mirrors still remain standard.

I am not one for all the latest and greatest electronic gizmos but the mirror cameras are interesting.I think I could learn to utilize them.

[Orren Zook]

Sam's club has a little camera with rear license plate mounting and a 7 or 8 inch color monitor that clips to your sun visor selling for around $100 here in Ohio, no indication on how long the wiring kit is. Maybe you could do some experimenting with it to see how a side view might work then install it in your car or toad. Either way you'd only be out a hundred bucks.

[Tully]

Iam very impressed with this sytem I am in the process of installing. Could not be an easier plug in play.

I pulled out the old Intec monitior / I am using the same wiring harness from the old monitor. Only need the hot and ground. Push button on- good to go.

The side mount camer has some many different way to angle the camera.

I took the mounting plate the old monitor was in, made a template and am good to go. Looks like a factory install.

My level of expertise- maybe a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10. If you could hook up a received, cassette deck and speakers on the old stereos- you can do this.

I have the entire side of bus and basically the whole lane next to the bus.
Crisp, sharp color. Front to back of bus. Iwill still use mirrors but this will help.

Tully

[Kenneth Brewer]

Thanks for the quick responses. I know Jon's point about not seeing any better than I do now with the present mirrors is true, of course (now that I think about it.....duh), and I suppose I could have marked off the distance to the rear where the rear bumper/quarter of the towed vehicle would be and check to see if I can see those points, but I guess I was too lazy to think of it.

The reasons I asked are; the chrome plating is beginning to blister on my current Ramco mirror arm brackets, I already have the color monitor (Alpine system). Jon's point of using rear corner cameras seems better yet (the existing system rear fish eye lens camera doesn't extend vision past a few feet), and then I could see both lanes' blind spots as well, but I will still have to replace the mirror arm brackets near term.

Thanks all. Keep it coming.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Ken, if your mirror brackets, arm, etc are aluminum, you may want to consider having the chrome stripped and the base metal polished. They look real nice that way! Some have done this with good results!
It's cheaper than new and you are in control of the bling from then on, no more pealing chrome.

:)JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ditto what Jim said. Ramco has extremely poor quality on their finishes to the point they were called Crapco mirrors on these forums at one point.

A good plating shop can strip, polish and replate fo rless than the $1800 or so that the replacement cost will be. In a few hours you can have your mirrors off the coach and disassembled.

Prevost sells new terminals to replace any you damage when you disassemble the harness end.

The quality issues we all have relate to corrosion silently and invisibly eating away beneath the surface of the chrome on the aluminum. When it does become visible it is beyond a simple fix like metal polish.

[Darrell and Linda]

Tully, I am looking at upgrading the old b/w Sony back up camera to a color one. Does the upgrades offer a adapter to connect to the old harness or do I have to run a new one, the coach is still in storage until the end of next month...... just doing a little preplanning.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

When my B/W monitor puked a while back I also gave consideration of going to color. I don't know about other coaches, but mine has a 4 wire cable from the camera to the monitor and it would not work for color.

So I have a B/W monitor. Not the latest and greatest, but it works.

I think on my coach I have the ability to fish a new cable the full length with about four or five hours work. I spend that much time after every trip polishing my slack adjusters so it didn't seem like a lot of work, but when I gave it thought I just didn't want to go through the hassle without getting any real advantage.

[Darrell and Linda]

Jon, I feel the same way. Forty feet is a long way to tug cable. I thought maybe someone upgraded by an easier means. Do you or anybody know much about the the wireless systems. I don't know but there's a lot of metal between the front and back.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Our 85 XL has a 3/4 ID empty conduit running from front to rear for whatever you need to put in there. It is a Prevo installed chassis component.

Has anyone else checked to see if they have one. Darrell yours is older you might.

The pipe ends in the rear above the air tank on the drivers side. I posted pictures of this find just a few days ago.

I have been told the picture quality on the wireless is poor.

[Darrell and Linda]

Joe, I saw your pictures and was thinking about that as I was writing. The coach is in storage and I'll have a close look in about 5 weeks., our coach is a 1990. I have a sneaking suspicion that the existing camera cable is buried internally.

I too, have heard that the wireless is not the best but who knows, technology is constantly changing. I would love to have color but I not spending 30 hours of labour just to install / upgrade. The b/w sony is still working fine. I'm upgrading the old alpine to a new touch screen multi media 106 & nav system. I thought I would upgrade the works. The alpine has designated input (usb, I think) for a color back up camera but its the wiring all the way to the back of the coach and into the rear cap that I'm not looking forward to.

[Kenneth Brewer]

"Our 85 XL has a 3/4 ID empty conduit running from front to rear for whatever you need to put in there. It is a installed chassis component."

The cost of joining POG is paid once again several times over if this is true. Thank you in any case. I will try and hunt for it this week. If I find it I will run cctv cable and a few spare wires for other purposes as yet undetermined while I am at it. It is almost impossible, and certainly undesirable, to try and run other cabling in conduit that has something in it already.

If and when I attempt this, I will take pictures for subsequent posting if anyone is interested. Thanks again all.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I hope everybody remembers one thing. The B/W monitors are still available and supported. The latest radios with all the goodies are not built to last very long and they are not supported after a few years.

As such I have learned to stay with the basics and when the radio dies, I toss it and get another. I'm from the old school that used to repair stuff and my opinion of the latest stuff with "gee whiz" features is they are junk designed to impress. I cannot say if the color monitors are durable, but the integrated monitor/GPS/radio/CD player/M3 player etc. would appear risky to me. I expect to get flamed for this, but it makes no sense to buy a bus capable of a million miles and then stick stuff in it that has a 3 year life.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I seem to recall some few mentioning that they have found extra wires/cables in their bus (front to rear) that were provided by the converter for future use.

Marathon comes to mind, but I am not certain.
I can't imagine Liberty not having done it, they seem to think of everything else.

That wire may be overhead above the finish ceiling.

I also think there is a wire/cable chase/duct over head in which the extra wire lies. You may be able to pull through, with the existing wire, those more suitable to your specific use.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

My full length wire chase is down the LH side wall near the floor. There may be extra wires already in place, but Liberty would have to identify where they are and the type of wire.

[MangoMike]

My Liberty has probably the same B&W monitor as Jons. The Marathon has the new color monitor. If I could switch the two successfully I would as the B&W has more clarity and more importantly has a lot better night vision then the color monitor. The color monitor at night I can make out headlights and that's it. With the B&W I can actually see the cars.

Now this may be a camera issue, but it falls back to sometimes simpler is better.

MIke

[Darrell and Linda]

I like the pop up touch screen. Operating the multi-media on a large screen with one fat finger works for me. Instead of a pressing or twisting small knobs or buttons. Can't read the worn out lettering....... You know, its a safety thing right guys.

That's interesting about the color monitor at night. Are all the color monitors that difficult to see ay night?

[Judi Brown]

My husband Phoned liberty about running cable for color monitor. He said nothing is impossible, but that might be. He bought a Weldx colour unit and their is a guy that has adapter. But won't sell him one unless he buys unit from
him.
JudiB

[truk4u]

Thanks to Brian, my backup camera is a Garmin 7200 Street Pilot. It is color of course and is the display for the GPS, Weather, XM Radio, AM/FM Radio, CD Player and IPOD.

I for one would never want to go back to a B & W single display.

[Judi Brown]

Tom
Were you able to use cable that was in there.
Thanks JudiB

[truk4u]

Judi,

Brian did the install and probably used the existing wires for the original back-up camera, but maybe he will jump in here.

[BrianE]

Indeed, there is an answer for those old Sony BW backup cameras. When installing the Garmin setup in Tom's bus I got lucky and found Tim Lazaroe, http://www.rvcams.com/. Tim had all the answers for converting the 4wire Sony plug setup on the Liberty to a color backup system. The entire setup requires NO wiring because Tim has manufactured and sells adapters that make the color system a plug and play deal.

It's a rare opportunity to be able to one up A-1. :)