Antiquated built-in computer option, now what?

[wardy]

I'm wondering, for those of us that have the built-in camera/GPS computer option... now what. My 2007 Bus dash-computer no longer works (my camera's still show on the screen, just the computer is dead). I realize I could get the 5 + year old computer fixed but why? It's just a very good GPS but a poor camera display screen. To me it dates an otherwise awesome coach. Has anyone had this system re-worked for say a laptop or GPS and camera screens? At some point we're all going to have to rework this or just abandon the computer. So, has anyone modernized yet?

[BCooke]

The poor camera display comes from the NTSC signal being converted to VGA.
Do the power or hard drive lights come on when you turn on the computer? It would be possible for a computer tech to replace the contents of the box to update the computer and still use the rest of the components. If you still have all of the software, that could be installed on the new (rebuilt) system.
As for the camera display we took my fathers and put in a monitor (TV) over the drivers area. He wanted to see behind him as my mother views the mapping software.

[Batman_777]

There are many dash mounted GPS, Camera, etc computers available.

[wardy]

BCooke: yes good reply, you clearly know what I have. I like what you did for your father adding a separate monitor where you can take advantage of the resident signal. I'm looking to do the same. I've not done any trouble shooting of the computer. It functions fine but shuts off after about 5 mins so I may have an overheat issue or the like. What I'd like to do is look past this and replace it. While it had a cool factor now it's just an old Celeron GPS dominating the dash.

[BCooke]

I ill see if he can take some pictures and email me, so pictures can be a couple of days.
We bought a Dynex TV and made a mount to mount it over the drivers seat, moved the camera connector to the AV input of the TV. Mounted a 12 vdc to 110 ac converter behind the front TV. Remade the LCD holder on a friction lid support to tip the LCD to the passenger seat.
When we replace my fathers computer we are probably going to put in something small with a flash drive, his has started shutting itself down as yours did.

[BCooke]

Spoke to my father last night and he reminded me that he had trouble with both the switch to turn the computer on and the power plug (back of the computer) actually melted down a pin in the plug. Pictures to come.

[BCooke]

[Coached]

Speak to Tiffin about the "new" hardware and switching device for your setup (pretty sure it's made by Sony). It mounts on the floor in the cavity behind your monitor and provides much better switching and signal quality. You can upgrade that computer just like any other. Additional Ram (lots of it) makes a huge difference along with installing Windows 7. You can go further and replace the mother board and cpu if you're really serious. I never really liked ours but I know others who love them. They can provide a handy computing center plus give you your choice of GPS software to install. Over on the Tiffinrvnetwork.com you'll find lots of ideas to consider as well. We had an '08 Phaeton 42' tag with that option and we did use it a bit but, the combination of our trusty Magellan GPS for navigation along with my laptop got used more frequently.

[wardy]

Bcooke, thanks for the photo's. That is my exact system as delivered from Tiffin. I also had to fix the front rocker switch & replace the quick disconnect.

Coached: Thank's for the idea-Tiffin. I did call them about this 1 year ago and was told at that time there was no alternative without replacing the camera's. I added a quad splitter at that time to avoid the latency of switching that did exist. I'm like you in that I never really liked this setup. So given my way I'd like to remove the computer but somehow make the dash look as close to "factory" as possible.

Thanks for the ideas!

[blucrabbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCooke Attachment 14667 Attachment 14668

I am seeing something familiar to our 07QSP but the monitor seems to be angled toward the PS which is not true in our coach??
What model do you have and have you made any mods to your coach??!!

[BCooke]

Fathers coach and we mod it each year he makes the loop back to PA.
We put a plate behind the monitor and a hinge to tip it to the passenger.
Multiple other mods as he decides I need to adjust something for him.
Will have to add picture Sunday or Monday as Android app keeps crashing on me.

[BCooke]

Sorry about the multiply pictures, evidently even though it was crashing it was loading the info.

[Coached]

what a great idea ... that would definately make that set up more "friendly" ... way to go

[BCooke]

Hinges are mounted to the mounting holes in the LCD the other side has a piano hinge. The back board is 3/4 inch plywood that is form fit into the dash mount.