SonarStep Backup Sensor

[zmanH2]

Originally Posted by Viet Nam Vette

Picked this up cheap and dirty unit.. wire the camera into the reverse lamps ..or wire it into your trailer plug. Monitor sits on left hand side of dash and plugs into cig lighter.

Picture is good for $99.00 and free shipping ...and it's wireless..

http://cgi.ebay.com/VR3-WIRELESS-COLOR-BACK-UP-SECURITY-CAMERA-DIGITAL-2-4_W0QQitemZ220107741021QQihZ012QQcategoryZ48605QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem

One thing I heard about this unit is it takes time to boot up the monitor (and ofcourse the monitor takes space on your dash too). Also, not so good for night time visuals. So if the monitor will have to boot up everytime you go in reverse, it will be a pain in tight parking scenario (reverse-forward-reverse-forward). They have these exact units at PepBoys & Kragen now too.

Originally Posted by zmanH2

One thing I heard about this unit is it takes time to boot up the monitor (and ofcourse the monitor takes space on your dash too). Also, not so good for night time visuals. So if the monitor will have to boot up everytime you go in reverse, it will be a pain in tight parking scenario (reverse-forward-reverse-forward). They have these exact units at PepBoys & Kragen now too.

Regarding the small monitor, I'm using a Hitchcam with the small color monitor mounted on the lower left corner of the windshield directly over the dash. It's not taking up any useful space on the dash. In fact the sight lines for scanning the monitor and the 2 side mirrors when reversing are about the same.

[Viet Nam Vette]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

Regarding the small monitor, I'm using a Hitchcam with the small color monitor mounted on the lower left corner of the windshield directly over the dash. It's not taking up any useful space on the dash. In fact the sight lines for scanning the monitor and the 2 side mirrors when reversing are about the same.

Steve, you say "Directly over the dash". Is it not sitting on the dash? You then say "It's not taking up ANY SPACE ON THE DSAH."

So I assume it's on the dash. That's where I plan on putting mine. And as you say when you look into the driver side mirrow it's almost in line as you scan your eys over to the rear cam monitor.

Originally Posted by Viet Nam Vette

Steve, you say "Directly over the dash". Is it not sitting on the dash? You then say "It's not taking up ANY SPACE ON THE DSAH."

So I assume it's on the dash. That's where I plan on putting mine. And as you say when you look into the driver side mirrow it's almost in line as you scan your eys over to the rear cam monitor.

VnV - Mine is windshield mounted (with adjustable swivel) on lower left corner of windshield. So it floats about 1/4" over the dashboard surface. It's just the right height for scanning (and about the same level) and about the same height as the 2 sideview mirrors that should also be scanned when reversing.

[Viet Nam Vette]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

VnV - Mine is windshield mounted (with adjustable swivel) on lower left corner of windshield. So it floats about 1/4" over the dashboard surface. It's just the right height for scanning (and about the same level) and about the same height as the 2 sideview mirrors that should also be scanned when reversing.

Is it like a glass sticky mout..?? That's cool..

Originally Posted by Viet Nam Vette

Is it like a glass sticky mout..?? That's cool..

Yea, like a windshield mounted rear view mirror.

[Viet Nam Vette]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

Yea, like a windshield mounted rear view mirror.

Cool.....

[Viet Nam Vette]

Originally Posted by zmanH2

One thing I heard about this unit is it takes time to boot up the monitor (and ofcourse the monitor takes space on your dash too). Also, not so good for night time visuals. So if the monitor will have to boot up everytime you go in reverse, it will be a pain in tight parking scenario (reverse-forward-reverse-forward). They have these exact units at PepBoys & Kragen now too.

Haven't wired it up yet other then testing it in the shop. The Monitor is only 3'' wide. It snaps into the base which doesn't take up much room. Since the HUMMER has a straight windshield there is plenty of room to stick it on the far left side. It's really out of driving site.

As far as boot up time goes... well here's what I plan to do. Have the monitor wired into the on side of the ignition so that the monitor is on when the key is turned on, but blacked out due to no Video signal.

The camera will be off and will only fire up when palced into reverse which inputs 12Volts to the CCD Camera. The Camera fires up instantly. Since the monitor is on...the picture should come up instanly.

I'm sure the back and forth thing won't bother me. Once I'm backing up to the last inch ..I don't paln on going forward again.

Originally Posted by Viet Nam Vette

Haven't wired it up yet other then testing it in the shop. The Monitor is only 3'' wide. It snaps into the base which doesn't take up much room. Since the HUMMER has a straight windshield there is plenty of room to stick it on the far left side. It's really out of driving site.

As far as boot up time goes... well here's what I plan to do. Have the monitor wired into the on side of the ignition so that the monitor is on when the key is turned on, but blacked out due to no Video signal.

The camera will be off and will only fire up when palced into reverse which inputs 12Volts to the CCD Camera. The Camera fires up instantly. Since the monitot is on...the picture should come up instanly.

I'm sure the back and forth thing won't bother me. Once I'm backing up to the last inch ..I don't paln on going forward again.

Cool, we will wait 'til after the installation and a couple weeks of actual usage for your observations.