Community Forums

Crasher · 08-03-2015, 07:31 AM

When we pull our enclosed trailer, I miss not being able to know when I am passed a vehicle to pull back in the right lane. I know I can add another hard wired camera to the rear of the trailer, but don't want to deal with routing the cable through the trailer and up to the front of the MH. I tried a wireless a couple years ago, but there was too much data to be sent when above 30 mph that it could not keep up and would revert to still pictures that were not current. Has anyone found a wireless system that can send the data of traveling 65 mph? The camera would be over 70' from the monitor.

Elexwiz · 08-03-2015, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

When we pull our enclosed trailer, I miss not being able to know when I am passed a vehicle to pull back in the right lane. I know I can add another hard wired camera to the rear of the trailer, but don't want to deal with routing the cable through the trailer and up to the front of the MH. I tried a wireless a couple years ago, but there was too much data to be sent when above 30 mph that it could not keep up and would revert to still pictures that were not current. Has anyone found a wireless system that can send the data of traveling 65 mph? The camera would be over 70' from the monitor.

Your speed has absolutely nothing to do with the data transfer rate of the camera. There isn't any more data sent at 70 mph then when you're sitting still. It just appeared that way because data rate could not keep up with the changing picture at 70 mph.

If I were to guess it sounds like the distance between the camera and receiver are a too far. Add the obstacles of a large metal trailer and an even larger metal motorhome and you'll get crappy data rates.

A great improvement would be to mount antennas on the top of the trailer and the motorhome so the system is in line-of-sight with itself.

Crasher · 08-03-2015, 09:57 AM

I can't recall the brand of system I tried, but when I contacted them about the problem, they said that the system was designed for backing up and that they were aware of the problem above 25-30 mph. It was their comment of to fast of changing data their system could not handle and it would go into an overload default. They were working to correct the problem, but I returned it to them for a full refund. At the time, I could not find another unit that would keep up above 30 mph. Distance is not the problem because it performed very good and clear at slow speeds.

Elexwiz · 08-03-2015, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

I can't recall the brand of system I tried, but when I contacted them about the problem, they said that the system was designed for backing up and that they were aware of the problem above 25-30 mph. It was their comment of to fast of changing data their system could not handle and it would go into an overload default. They were working to correct the problem, but I returned it to them for a full refund. At the time, I could not find another unit that would keep up above 30 mph. Distance is not the problem because it performed very good and clear at slow speeds.

Let me offer a final thought. I am an IT Program Manager with many years in the field. A wireless camera is no different than a wireless network in your house or a bluetooth connection to your smart phone. All wireless networks suffer from distance and obstacles. What happens when you get too far from your wireless network at home? Movies/videos start to buffer and web pages take a lot longer to load. Same thing happens with a bluetooth device. What happens when you're talking through your bluetooth device but you walk away from the phone? The connection starts to get go bad. As the distance increases the data rate will decrease because the system is constantly correcting transmission errors caused by distance.

With regard to your camera, the picture was changing too fast for the camera to keep up. At low speeds the picture didn't change fast enough and the data rate was able to keep up.

In your case the manufacturer admitted this was designed as a backup camera. Chances are it was designed to go on back of a MH, not the back of a trailer. So it was designed with a low data rate, and you might have exceeded the max distance when putting it on back of the trailer. These factors led to a less than desirable performance. Once you find a capable camera, if it's not a hard wired camera, I sincerely recommend placing antennas on top of the trailer and your MH. This will ensure a line-of-sight connection between the two. If possible, move the trailer antenna as far forward as possible and move the MH antenna as far rearward as possible.

Filthy-Beast · 08-03-2015, 01:43 PM

There are some of the newer ones that have boosters available. Id think hardwire camera antenna to front of trailer then install signal booster mid MH might get it done

sprayman · 08-03-2015, 02:27 PM

i have a voyager, works fine for me.

Jim

Crasher · 08-03-2015, 03:24 PM

Elexwiz, I understand what you are saying, but do not see what distance has to do with my setup. It worked fine while traveling less than 30 mph. While moving 60 mph, the distance was the same, so how would antenna's change the performance? I understand that the camera could not keep up with the faster changing scene which is a problem with the camera. How would antenna's correct that?

Crasher · 08-03-2015, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sprayman

i have a voyager, works fine for me.

Jim

Where is the camera mounted and what is the distance to the monitor? What model Voyager do you have?

Elexwiz · 08-03-2015, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

Elexwiz, I understand what you are saying, but do not see what distance has to do with my setup. It worked fine while traveling less than 30 mph. While moving 60 mph, the distance was the same, so how would antenna's change the performance? I understand that the camera could not keep up with the faster changing scene which is a problem with the camera. How would antenna's correct that?

Data transfer rates depend on signal quality. The better the signal quality, the higher the transfer rate, up to the maximum capable by the device.

In your case, you already said it had a slower data rate and was specifically designed as a low speed "backup camera". There isn't anything you could have done differently for that camera. As you said, it was a limitation of the camera. A similar example would be your computer camera. Have you ever been in a Skype call or other video call? The video looks great when people aren't moving but when someone starts moving fast the video quality drops some.

The rest of my post was me trying to offer advice for a future camera. I haven't done a lot of research on them but from what I've seen most wireless backup cameras are not designed to be at the rear of a trailer, but rather the rear of a MH. Placing the antennas as close together as possible would mitigate the distance and obstacle issues improving your signal quality. As you know, the camera has to be capable of properly capturing and then streaming the high-speed video.

CarlGeo · 08-03-2015, 06:17 PM

Contact RVCams.com and pose your question to Tim. He will give you a straight answer and probably have excatly what you need to get a quality setup installed.

Crasher · 08-03-2015, 08:50 PM

Thanks for the info. The Triple Vision system we have in our MH has a fourth input available if I were to go to a hard wired camera. Another thought I had was to do a hard wired unit up to the rear of the coach and then through a selector switch tie into the current rear view camera cable to be able to switch from the rear of the MH to the feed from the rear of the trailer when pulling it. That would eliminate the need to run cable all the way to the monitor.

Dtwallace · 08-03-2015, 10:03 PM

The camera is a nice addition for safety but I would not sugest you get used to it as the primary means of decision making.

The use of the proper driving skills has to be the primary means. Let me suggest this, practice timing you passes of objects to your right. Use the rate of closure timing to clear them while you are concentrating on what's in front of you, then when the time runs out, look to your right through your mirror and you should be clear to change lanes.

Adjust this timing to create the safe distance you'll need, and you'll never cut it short.
Never stay in the mirror as you pass an object. You'll lose your situation awareness of traffic to your front and left, thats dangerous.

Other things to factor in is moving traffic on your right that may change speeds. Then when you look into the right mirror just prior to the lane change you see something you didn't expect, a car that is not where it was supposed to be.

Shadows are your friend. When a shadow is casted on your side and you can see it though your mirror, use the shadow as a mark in the road.

This is especially beneficial when pulling a towed or trailer. When the shadow of the towed paseses an object you are clear to change lanes.

This method will work for you every time, and then when or if you have a camera, you may be able to verify the clearance.

To be honest, I have never been able to rely on my cameras to verify my clearance. I will often see something in the camera that conflicts with what I already know to be the case using the timing and shadow method. There have been a few cases as where I put myself in a dangerous situation spending too much time using the camera. I now glance at it for a split second and use just the bumper clearance area for situational awareness.

TVforMyRV · 08-04-2015, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crasher

Elexwiz, I understand what you are saying, but do not see what distance has to do with my setup. It worked fine while traveling less than 30 mph. While moving 60 mph, the distance was the same, so how would antenna's change the performance? I understand that the camera could not keep up with the faster changing scene which is a problem with the camera. How would antenna's correct that?

I think you will find that most of the wireless camera systems exhibiting the problem at speed, are NOT digital. I don't know why many of the analog systems can't reliably transfer the signal while driving, but it is a common problem. Many of the analog systems are also more susceptible to interference from other transmitters.

The Voyager digital wireless systems do not have those issues. The cameras are "married" to the monitors and transfer the data without much chance of interference. (That's not to say that these signals can not be "jammed" by an overpowering transmitter, but it's not the norm.) Sometimes you do get what you pay for. Jensen/Voyager has a large portion of the heavy industrial and ag markets for rear view monitoring systems. They are very well built and rugged.

Crasher · 08-04-2015, 12:01 PM

Dan, I agree with you and have never relied solely on the camera to determine my position. after many years of pulling heavy equipment trailers and some flatbed semi trailers, I have developed a pretty good sense of distance using the mirrors and as you said, shadows. I should have more clear in my original post. My reason for wanting a camera 75' back on the trailer is just to confirm that I am in a safe position to change lanes. It's not something I "need", but rather an option I "want". Also, sometimes I need to back up to re-position or turn around. Without a known position of an object or shadow, someone has get out and check. It's a piece of cake with a good camera.