I'm seeking an inexpensive way to get a backup camera on a 370Z that I might be buying in the future.

Is anyone using the following camera and, if so, what do you think of it?
RVS-020813 | WiFi Backup Camera System

If there are any other wifi solutions that you know work well, please say so.

Thanks.

 

If you don't have a screen you can buy a 4-5" pop up LCD on eBay for $20, a wired license plate mount camera for less than $15 and a digital wireless video transmitter for $20 or so and then you don't have to pull your phone out every time and you save a few bucks.. If this option works best for you though, go with it.

 

Do you mean something like this?
4 3" TFT LCD Monitor Wireless Car Backup Camera Rear View System Night Vision | eBay
If so, that's not a bad idea, although, unlike the phone, it would take up room permanently somewhere in the vehicle -- probably the dash's pop-open central compartment where the nav panel would normally be installed.

Presently in our '10 XLS, I have a $10 windshield mount from China which holds our Note 4.


What you see on the phone's screen is an android dash-cam program called "Daily Roads Voyager", which is fantastic and free. I also have a Nav software called "HERE Maps" on the phone, which even has great voice guidance, as well as a digital speedometer and audible warning for exceeding the speed limit. That program as well as the up-to-the-moment map updates are free. It is so good that I will no longer be using or upgrading our vehicle's OEM nav system. BTW, both of the aforementioned programs can run at the same time.

Here's a 370Z with nav.


And here's a 370Z that does not have nav.

Again, a permanent LCD display could fit right in that compartment, but because I'd want to install a windshield mount in a 370Z to run those programs above, I'd probably go with the wifi android backup camera. Yes, I'd have to mount the phone each time I use the vehicle, but I'm doing that right now in the XLS. I can insert the camera in the mount in under 5 seconds. Removal is even faster.

 

I didn't even know they sold those as kits...

Welp if you don't mind and are using the phone anyway that's fine..

Here's one for $30 WiFi in Car Backup Rear View Reversing Camera 1 3" CMOS Cam for Andriod iOS | eBay

I just wonder how much fiddling you will have to do to get it to connect and then once it connects it will likely break your data connection because your phone will start using wifi instead of 4G and there's no internet on that wifi network so then you'll have to constantly **** with settings.

Oh I guess it powers off once you get out of reverse (powered off reverse lights) so it would fall off the wifi after you got back into drive... Still never tried one like this so I dunno how well it will work, particularly if you are somewhere with a different wifi connection available.

 

Thanks for the link. That's an inexpensive option, for sure.

Neither the dashcam nor the nav programs require data connection. In the latter I've downloaded maps for Alberta and will download more if we have to go outside of Alberta.

AFAIK, the phone always uses 4G for phone calls, regardless if it's connected to say our home wifi network, so I assume that that will be the case if we use an android wifi backup cam. But you are correct about having to go to the phone's settings to connect to it. Maybe that process can be automated.

I was just thinking. If one could find a wifi "dongle" to plug into a vehicle's OBDII port, the steering-wheel position sensor data could be sent to the backup camera software so that those guide lines might curve as the wheel is turned. You could transmit a whole bunch of other data, too, I suppose.

 

There's tons of WiFi and Bluetooth dongles out there for OBDII data and they are like 4 bucks online.

I think wheel angle is pretty manufacturer specific data I don't believe there is a standard ID for that information so you would need to reverse engineer it for each car.

It would also take a lot more processing to curve the lines vs a flat overlay (which is usually added in the camera/video signal not by the app)

I've seen aftermarket Android head units that interface with a OBD reader to make a digital dash.

Calls should work fine, I don't know how much you use data (for e-mail, etc.)

Just something to think about, I don't have one so I haven't done research on it.

 

Thanks, Guy.

You know, I was just thinking that the dedicated LCD displays are so small and light that one could probably be installed right in the dash-compartment door. That is, cut a hole right in the door and install the display in it. It would flip up each time the door was opened, but so what? Or even stick it right on the surface of the door.

 

I see no reason why you couldn't install a dedicated display there...

Trying to countersink it and make it look good would be tough unless you have those kind of skills.

You could easily stick it to the outside of that panel with double stick tape and just make a tiny hole behind it to wire it in and just leave enough slack to open the door without pulling on the wires.

Another thought if you want it hidden most of the time is to put the screen on a hinge and stick it inside the compartment, you could have a piece of velcro to keep it tight against the inside of the door then it won't take up your whole compartment and you can flip it down whenever you want and put it away the rest of the time...

Alternatively I don't know how much room there is but it looks like there's a decent amount of dead space between the climate controls and the gear shift.

There's also vent clip mounts you can get.

I've also seen monitors that clip on to or replace your sun visor or rear view mirror.

 

Thanks, Guy. Apparently technology and the owner's installation imagination is the limit on this one.

Still, I'd like to hear from someone who is actually using a wifi backup camera because I have no idea how well they function. If they're really finicky or work like crap, I'd like to know that. In that case I'd probably go with an aftermarket wired system.

Either that or we'd buy a vehicle with nav and use the screen/system solely for its backup camera -- one with the guide lines that curve or straighten as the steering wheel is turned -- a really nice feature, IMO, for any vehicle like the Z that has limited rear visibility.

Thanks again for your input, Guy.

 

Honestly I've never heard of a wifi backup camera until you mentioned it so I think you may have to be the pioneer here and take one for the team...

You can always buy a used nav system from eBay or a scrap yard but it probably won't be cheap.

Does the OEM one actually have the curving lines in it? I've never heard of that feature either.