I am hooking up a camera system for my MCI 1985 102 A3. Does anyone know where to find the reverse wire under the dash to hookup the rear camera ? I know that I can hook it up directly to power to have it on all the time but this deactivates the left and right camera from coming on automatically when I use the turn signal.
Welcome to the site. You will find a ton of real people to be of assistance as you work on your bus.
However, you do need to tell us the type of vehicle you have, and whether it is automatic or standard transmission, if we are to have a chance to help locate that wire !!
You have a great day, and someday, we will all meet you at a gathering.
I think you will have a 740 transmission. You will have to go to the power wire the turns on the backup lights. That is form a switch on the transmission. You should be able to find a unused wire in the rear elect. box to go to the front electric box.
Jack
you should have a backup lamp in the instrument panel. Maybe hook into that?
The backup lights might be 24 volts which would present problems to the backup camera if it is looking for 12 volts.
Perhaps simply fit a switch to turn the back-up camera on? There's lots of reasons to want to use the rear camera when going forwards
Jeremy
Leave it on all the time, it is worth its weight in gold in traffic.
I agree on just leaving the backup camera on any time the vehicle is running. One problem, at least with my backup camera, is that if it is angled to truly be useful for backing up it isn't useful for seeing traffic. We are usually pulling a trailer on trips so the camera isn't of much use for anything then.
Bakbonz, I picked up a RF on/ off switch from Frys electronics store, that had two on/offs on one fob like device, with two corresponding electronic switch units, all 12volts. So I turn on my side and rear cameras from the fob that hangs near my switches in the drivers area, turned my inexpensive rf camera from pepboys into my side view camera, hung from the outside passenger mirror, which clearly allows the view of pedestrians and motorcycles, enhancing the mirrors, lvmci...
When turning on to Hwy 99 yesterday, I heard a thump and felt a shake. I thought I hit a pot hole, but immediately began to wonder if my toad detaching had been the cause. Of course, I can not see the toad unless turning. I had to wait till the next exit to find the toad still there and happy. A backup camera with a manual switch would certainly have been useful!
We have ours wired into the house batteries. That way if there are odd sounds in the back while parked we can investigate without going out side.
Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neolan AN340
I totally understand not wanting to leave it on fulltime if it's going to mess with your side cameras. But rather than be limited to using it only when you're in reverse, i think the suggestion to put it on its only toggle switch is a good one. That way you can use it in the odd situation that you hadn't foreseen. My 2 Lincoln's worth. Good luck, Will :)
Quote from: belfert on July 16, 2012, 05:08:33 PM
I agree on just leaving the backup camera on any time the vehicle is running. One problem, at least with my backup camera, is that if it is angled to truly be useful for backing up it isn't useful for seeing traffic. We are usually pulling a trailer on trips so the camera isn't of much use for anything then.
I spent some time fiddling with an electric mirror mechanism to build a system that would enable me to point the the rear camera in different directions from the driver's seat. The electric mirror mechanism was a good idea in principle because they are neat little self-contained units which allow you to control movement in two planes (up-and-down and side-to-side) simultaneously. But I found that they don't really have enough travel to take the camera from a 'looking down the road' to a 'looking at the rear bumper' position. Eventually I gave up and just fitted two rear cameras, with a switch to switch between them.
Jeremy
Quote from: Jeremy on July 17, 2012, 03:21:25 AM
Quote from: belfert on July 16, 2012, 05:08:33 PM
I agree on just leaving the backup camera on any time the vehicle is running. One problem, at least with my backup camera, is that if it is angled to truly be useful for backing up it isn't useful for seeing traffic. We are usually pulling a trailer on trips so the camera isn't of much use for anything then.
I spent some time fiddling with an electric mirror mechanism to build a system that would enable me to point the the rear camera in different directions from the driver's seat. The electric mirror mechanism was a good idea in principle because they are neat little self-contained units which allow you to control movement in two planes (up-and-down and side-to-side) simultaneously. But I found that they don't really have enough travel to take the camera from a 'looking down the road' to a 'looking at the rear bumper' position. Eventually I gave up and just fitted two rear cameras, with a switch to switch between them.
Back up camera is the wrong description, it is a keep an eye on the toad camera!!
I tried the same thing Jeremy, after several hours I gave up and threw it all out. 2nd camera is a great idea. JIm
Jeremy
mine died last week, and i can't find the sales reciept.... >:(
i checked it and it's the circuit board inside...
A trailer is even more reason to leave it on, it is always nice to see if the trailer is still there or if smoke is pouring out from it!! It helps check the trailer when backing also, nice to see if it is straight.
It is just one more safety feature, buses need all they can get.
A tip; set the backup camera so the bottom of the monitor shows about four feet from the rear bumper. To do that set something on the ground four feet away and adjust the camera so the object just shows on the bottom of the monitor. If you are an expert and confident backer you can set it closer - maybe, some won't tilt down that much. I had to put shims under the top mounting bolts on mine to get it down to four.
The Camera that I mounted 3 years ago has a tilt feature built into the camera and controlled by the flat screen monitor on the dash. While the camera is in a very small housing, the housing is fixed with no moving parts visible on the outside. The camera tilts inside the housing. I can look straight down at my ball to facilitate hitching up a trailer or to see how far I can back up to something. Then I can tilt it up to look down the hiway behind me to see traffic. My camera is on all the time when the bus is roling.
I feel like I'm flying blind when my camera is off while moving because it has a nice wide angle, I can see vehicles on either side on the monitor when they begin to appear in my outside mirrors. This gives me great piece of mind about cutting off anyone when changing lanes.
Some electronics don't like being turned off and on often. If it is hooked to a reversing switch this will happen when maneuvering in parking lots and RV parks, better just to leave it on.
If you don't want to leave it on it is better just to have a simple on/off switch on the panel.
Thank You for all of the responses. I found the turn signal wires under the steering column. I call MCI and they told me that the reverse wire is in front JBox under Driver window outside on my 1986 MCI 102 A3. It is correct but it has constant power and grounds when you puit bus in reverse which turns camera off. If I hook the backup wire directly to power it can be on all of the time but this disables the turn signals turning the side cameras on automatically. What I decided to do is get a 24v switch and hook the backup wire to the power lead so that I can turn camera on while driving and if I know I am going to be in traffic and need to use side cameras I can turn it off .
Here is a link to my 3 camera system and it was only $399 for everything.
http://www.busrvparts.com/rvs_back_up_cameras.htm (http://www.busrvparts.com/rvs_back_up_cameras.htm)
Warning
That site (http://www.busrvparts.com/rvs_back_up_cameras.htm (http://www.busrvparts.com/rvs_back_up_cameras.htm)) has been affiliated with Walker bus. He has scammed a lot of people out of a lot of money. Buyer beware! If you purchase from him, make sure it is on a good credit card that you can get your money back from (if needed). Also, even though he says he can work on buses, never take your bus there. Search the archives for Sam Walker. I am not badmouthing, just warning. I would hate to see somebody else burned by him. As long as him, or any websites he was affiliated with, are brought up, I will keep reminding.
FWIW
John