I use my backup camera to easily backup and connect to my trailers. Therefore I love that it turns on automatically when I put my truck into reverse. However on occasion I will, for one reason or another, have to put the truck into forward or park yet still want to view it. The camera turns off as it is susposed to and was designed. So to remedy my problem I decided to add a switch that would toggle between reverse activated camera and always on camera.

Please refer to my rudamentary sketch for the following, noting that my symbols my not be drawn correctly thought it has been wired as I describe.

I first ran a wire from the avic to my pico fuse (as everyone seems to agree to call the black plastic piece in the backup camera wire.) Then I ran a wire from the pico fuse to the center of a STDP (single throw double pole) switch. The one side of the switch was connected to the reverse lights to allow the camera to turn on automatically when the truck is put into reverse. The other side was connected to a 12V+ power supply controlled my the trucks ignition. The first one (12V+) I used came off the red ignition wire from the Avic. Didn't work. The second one I found under the dash with my tester. Also didn't work however I will talk about this later. Anyway this wire was to turn the backup camera on when the truck was not in reverse. To prevent the backup lights from illuminating when the truck was not in reverse and also when the switch was using the 12V+ side of the switch, I added a diode to between the switch and the reverse lights.

The problem that I am having is that every time I flip the switch to the camera always on position the avic resets it self. Even after switch the wires. In neither case did the pico fuse burn out.

Does anyone see an immediate problem? If not, does anyone know what current (or range of current) should be running to the avic? I used the meter and the two wires (12V+) that I tried were not exactly the same as from the reverse lights, however I would figure the difference would not matter since there are many different vehicles that avics are installed into.

Any help would be appreciated. I know this is not the most important thing in the world, its just the fact that I can't get it to work and that is bothering me.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

It technically should switch to reverse mode when you apply 12V to the wire. U don't need that diode on there since the switch will never allow those contacts to see each other.

wouldn't it just be easier to select "rear view" when wanting to watch the camera when not in reverse.

wouldn't it just be easier to select "rear view" when wanting to watch the camera when not in reverse.

for some reason that feature never has worked for me. Is there something i need to change in the programing to get that feature to work. i have the hardware bypass installed and I am running one of the mods from the forum. however it never worked even when it was stock.

When you hit the REAR VIEW button on the screen, what happens?

The screen is black with white letters on top saying 'Caution: the screen may be reversed' or something very similar. This is how its been since i bought the unit new. I always figured it was so you couldnt view the camera while moving forward.

I am currently using daiftia's hybrid mod 3.2 however I don't necessarily see that as a problem.

On a totally different note, has anybody incorporated a BT stack in their mod that will allow the HTC Tilt 2 (aka HTC Touch Pro 2) to function without freezing from recieving an incoming call. Thanks in advance as I haven't found a true solution using the forums search function.

The screen is black with white letters on top saying 'Caution: the screen may be reversed' or something very similar.

well either you have the camera only being powered up while the back up lights are on, or you have a defective unit.

since the warning screen is showing up, that means that the avic is switching the the camera input, and the screen is most likely black because the camera is not getting powered up.

where did you grab power for the camera? at the reverse light bulb itself, or an ignition (or accessory) source such as the radio's red wire?

this statement makes me believe the former

Anyway this wire was to turn the backup camera on when the truck was not in reverse.

well either you have the camera only being powered up while the back up lights are on, or you have a defective unit.

 

since the warning screen is showing up, that means that the avic is switching the the camera input, and the screen is most likely black because the camera is not getting powered up.

 

where did you grab power for the camera? at the reverse light bulb itself, or an ignition (or accessory) source such as the radio's red wire?

this statement makes me believe the former

I grabbed the reverse signal wire (purple/white) from the bulb and the carmera power from .... i think an ignition wire it found hidden in the back of the truck. Let me check it out. I actually wired the camera itself a long time ago.

While I applaud your ingenuity, I would agree with the folks above. It sounds like up until now, your camera has only been powered on by the reverse lights or something similar. Most people on here with reverse cameras have powered them by connecting the camera to an ignition or accessory line (anything that supplies power continuously while the key is in the ignition and turned at least to "accessory"). To be fair, the potential downside to wiring it to be always on like most of us do, is decreased camera life, but I don't think it really a factor. I would recommend fixing where your camera gets it's power from to a constant source and scraping your 'fix'.