backup camera and my laptop

[nhcouple]

I have a 1990 class a Newport by Cobra. The original backup camera and monitor do not work. magnavox monitor has white snow only. can i hook the camera into my laptop. any other ideas for troubleshooting would be appreciated

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhcouple I have a 1990 class a Newport by Cobra. The original backup camera and monitor do not work. magnavox monitor has white snow only. can i hook the camera into my laptop. any other ideas for troubleshooting would be appreciated

I believe that the problem may be that the backup camera does not conform with NTSC therefore you won't be able to resolve an image on your laptop. BUT I might be barking up the wrong tree.

[Good man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhcouple I have a 1990 class a Newport by Cobra. The original backup camera and monitor do not work. magnavox monitor has white snow only. can i hook the camera into my laptop. any other ideas for troubleshooting would be appreciated

nhcouple,
I agree with DriVer's assessment...
BUT if you can find an old Black/White battery powered analog TV, you may be able to plug (or jump) your camera leads into that TV.

This will help you determine if it is the monitor or the camera at fault.

If it turns out the monitor is at fault... you may be able to use that little TV as your monitor. If the image is reversed, just reverse the leads.
Jim

[Luv2go]

Nhcouple, Since you are getting snow on the monitor, maybe there is a simpler solution, Snow on the monitor usually means it is getting no signal, but the monitor itself is working.

You may want to try disconnecting, inspecting and reconnecting all the connections from the monitor to the camera. You can temporarily replace a cable that you suspect to make sure it is bad before taking the time to run it properly through the coach. Also, check the power to the camera (there should be some kind of 12V feed, try to check it at the camera end to make sure it is getting power).

I have successfully used an old 5" B/W DC powered TV as a backup monitor as Good man suggested. The TV had a lighter plug adapter so it powered from the lighter socket in the coach. The backup camera was a $30 Harbor Freight security camera, it already had the RCA plug the TV needed. I needed to reverse the TV's horizontal deflector coil wires to see the image reversed but I believe a real backup camera displays a reversed image properly on a normal monitor.

If you do go the laptop connection route, you will have to find an adapter that converts whatever type connector the camera has to an RCA plug and make sure your laptop has video capture capability (or buy a USB adapter card), then hope DriVer IS barking up the wrong tree.

Good Luck!
Stewart

[gripper]

FWIW - My backup camera/monitor quit working (only a snowy picture) a couple of weeks ago. My son checked the connector between the camera and the line (at the camera), to the monitor and found it to be bad. After cleaning and trying to get a better connection, he just cut the connector out and "hard-wired" the connections with "butt connectors". It works fine now. The wires are color-coded, so it was easy to make the connections. Roland