Great thread! I plan on doing this upgrade next.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to install 2 cameras with some type of A+B switch? My idea is to have one camera in the back and one in the front. The camera in the back would be for obvious reasons. But, I’ve almost scraped the front end on curbs and those cement parking blocks. The front end seems lower than my previous cars and I’d like to be able to take a quick peek as I’m parking. I know the cameras only work when the car is in reverse, but I wouldn’t mind shifting into reverse just to check if my front end is close to an object. The A+B switch would be to select the appropriate camera. My wife thinks this is going too far, but I say it is just one more gadget to add.

 

Nakover, listen to your wife.

 

The TCH Nav unit only displays the camera video when the car is in reverse. In addition to the A+B switch, you'll need some way to 'fake out' the Nav unit to display a camera image when you are not in reverse.

I suppose you could use an aftermarket LCD display...

 

Let me see if I get this right, what you are saying is that you want to install the second camera on the front and use the reverse gear to see the front of the car, rather than move forward little bit, put the car in park, get out and walk to the front, check the clearance and hop back in move forward a little and so on. You just want to say in side press the brake, shift the car in reverse and see the clearance on the NAV screen, via the front installed camera, shift in D again and move forward….

Now this can be done in theory (this is just my theory, without any experience in this regard), you have to cut and splice the two camera wires into the one going to your NAV, install the switch on the camera wire, before you splice (A+B), bring that switching wires into the cabin, install the switch and if all goes well, theoretically it all should work just fine. If you still decided to do this, please definitely let us know how it went and Good Luck.

 

OK, a few weeks ago I started reading this forum and I have been very impressed with the level of detail and the helpfulness of everyone!

I have never done this before, but I gathered some tools and started this project this weekend...

The most difficult part was getting started with the A/C vent removal. I looked around for putty knives that might work, no one in town had a "moulding removal tool" although you can purchase one on Amazon.com...

I finally settled on some slats of sheet metal from the back of an old computer case. These are used to close the holes where you might install PCI expansion cards. I deburred these by scraping them on a rock (!) and then wrapped them tightly with clear packing tape.

It turns out that the dashboard it rather tough. You don't need to worry too much. I popped the catches on the A/C register on the left side (driver's side), then worked left-to-right releasing the catches. It came free just fine.

The next hurdle for me was releasing the seat-warmer switches, as I had not yet seen anyone post about removing that. No problem, just like all the other connectors, there's a tab that releases it on the connector. Both seat's switches use a single connector.

Today was not so good. I tried to get the pins to engage in the R10 connector but they simply didn't go in far enough. Well, the yellow wire did. I tried pulling everything out and trying again. big mistake: the yellow connector broke off inside my R10 connector.

I managed to push it out with a couple of needles. Took about an hour.

Now I'm back at Square Two: I'll try with a different CD-ROM cable's pins tomorrow.

Did anyone have to re-set their Nav unit to get it to recognize the camera? Or does it Just Work when you put it in Reverse? (assuming the pins are properly installed...)

 

I can relate. This was definitely the most time consuming part of the installation. After having the same experience as you, the advice that I would give is to make sure the the CD-ROM cables that you use are pretty stiff and to keep the ends fairly long (from the connector to the point where you heat shrink the cable) so that all four wires can fit into the R10 connector without having to bend them excessively.

Also, I think that the second time Jag and I inserted the cables into the R10 connector, we didn't press down until all the pins locked into place. As long as the CD-ROM wire is down far enough, the connecting piece of the R10 will engage the pins.

Nope. Just put the car in reverse and you should see an image on your Nav unit along with the warning message.

Mark

 

Wow, thanks very much! I thought it was a bit tough, but your comments make me feel a bit less silly to get stuck like that!

So here's a question -- the pins from the CD-ROM cable have a catch that engages the body of the connector, to keep the pins in place.

If the row of pins that we're supposed to put the pins into is on the "bottom" on the connector (as in the illustration), are the catches for the pins on the "top" or the "bottom"?

I jammed them in there on the "top" -- that is, on the pin-1 side of the connector. But in looking at the connector, it isn't obvious. There seems to be a slot for an offset catch for the pins on the "bottom" rather than the "top".

The connector can be ordered from AMP/TYCO, but I don't know the part number -- however, I think that female, 24-gauge wire pins are available here:
http://www.surplussales.com/Images/C...c-350537-1.jpg
http://www.surplussales.com/Computer...connect-2.html

That's part # 350537, they cost fifteen cents. I haven't tried ordering these...

"Top" or "bottom"? THANKS!

 

Jagbagri,

Fantastic instructions! Thanks so much.

I spent a few hours following your instructions today, and the back up camera works great. I did notice a side-effect, and wonder if I did something wrong, or it's just something that hasn't been mentioned.

Typically, I leave the headlight control in the auto position all the time, including when I leave the car. That way I get the DRL during the day, and head and tail lights at night, and I don't have to remember to turn on the lights.

Now, when I turn off the car, everything goes off except the nav system. If I turn the headlight switch to any other position, then the nav system shuts down.

Did I do something wrong, and if so, do you have any idea what I did?

Thanks again.


Robin

 

hey my bec 106 camera only had a red, yellow and a shield in the long black cable, so where do the wires really go? if you stripped the bec 106 wires up far enough, you find that the white and black are tied together. hmmmmm
thanks. mine does not work yet.

 

does this only work with the eclipse camera described, or will this work with any back-up camera?