Rear View Camera Installation

Update November 2018. I replaced the monitor with a duplicate this month.


The Roadtrek 210 came with an integral GPS and rear-view camera. The camera was wired to power-up when the vehicle is put in reverse. In my opinion these types of vehicles have serious obstructions of the rear view. Vans, be they MB Sprinters or Chevy Express vans have large central columns where the two rear doors join. Many of these vehicles also have rear couches and seats which further obstruct the rear view. This is not a problem limited to Roadtreks. It's inherent in the design of these vehicles which have been adapted for use as camper vans.

The solution is a good rear view camera with depth gauge, night (dusk) vision and color which can be used while the vehicle is in forward motion. I decided to add one. This photo shows the result. The gPS is to the left and the new rear-view monitor is to the right This will be one of several posts on the camera and monitor installation. The installation was not too difficult. There is a video at the end of this post which shows how a wireless camera was installed. Note, however, that 12VDC power is required and this is shown in the video. The next post on this subject will show the installation of the monitor.

GPS and New Rear-View Monitor

Selection of Components
I decided to make the install as simple as possible but I did have some requirements. To simplify I avoided front to rear wiring. I decided to use a wireless system and I selected the core components from two suppliers, with miscellaneous parts from a third.

1. Color Camera rear license mounted with (8) IR LEDs.
2. 7 inch color monitor with swivel mount.
3. Wireless transmitter and receiver.
4. Miscellaneous, including wire, two toggle switches, two green LED indicators, terminal block, etc. 

I purchased the components from three suppliers:

1. Amazon retailer for camera and monitor.
2. Amazon retailer for wireless transmitter/receiver.
3. Fry's electronics for toggle switches, LEDs, wire, terminal block. 

Cost of Basic Components

The cost of the camera with license plate bracket and (8) IR LEDs, color 7 inch monitor and transmitter/receiver pair was about $105 (US) plus shipping and any tax. 

The Components

Here are the three major components. The transmitter/receiver came in a bag with minimal information to aid assembly. 

Transmitter/Receiver Pair, Rearview Camera and Montior

Test Setup

I decided to build a test system which would power up the camera, monitor, transmitter and receiver. This was straightforward as I own a small, portable automotive compressor which includes a 12V DC battery and cigarette lighter plug-in.  I purchased the cigarette lighter plug and cord at Fry's. I checked the polarity f the camera and monitor and labelled the plug to match prior to wiring anything to the plug (red is positive:

Test Power Plug 

I then assembled the receiver and transmitter components and wired them to the test power plug. You will note that the monitor includes two RCA style plugs (yellow). This is because the monitor is a two channel device. One plug is for AV1 and the other for AV2. I covered the unused plug with electrical tape prior to installing. You will also notice that the transmitter includes a power cable with inline fuse and connector for power. It also includes a video connector. This made the wiring of the camera straightforward:

Monitor and Receiver Wiring with Temporary Power Wiring

Rear-View Camera and Transmitter with Temporary Power Wiring

Power Up the Test Wired Camera and Monitor

I then powered them up to see how well I had wired them and to see how they worked, prior to the more time consuming final installation. This is the image with the camera looking up at the ceiling in the living room:

Powered Up System in the Living Room

Final Details

At this point I was ready for the final details, which included a toggle switch to power-up the monitor on demand, and the design of the toggle switch plate. I also had decided to re-wire the rear view camera that came with the Roadtrek camper van. So I added a second toggle switch and LED. This could permit the use of the existing camera as an manual rear-veiw camera as well as an automatic backup camera powered when the vehicle is in reverse.

The video is not all-inclusive. I did drill a small hole in the plastic behind the license plate so I could pass the cable from the camera to the wireless trasmitter. This hole also served as the pass-through for the 12VDC power cable to the transmitter. This wiring is shown in the photo above. 

Both toggles and LEDs are shown in the first photo of this post.