Rear camera cable and general socket/cable issues

[GilesP]

Hi All,

Just bought a pair of A129 Duo cameras, one for my wifes car and one for mine to replace my tired old Mini 0803
After installing in my wifes car (small 5 door hatchback), a few things have come to mind:

The instructions state clearly that the camera cable for the rear cam needs to be installed with the right-angle plug to the front camera. Why is this?

I've found that having the straight plug into the top of the rear camera fouls the contours of the boot-lid above the glass in the case of my wifes car, thus I've had to move the camera down the screen further than I'd like. A right angle connection on this end would avoid this problem. Ok, it may cause a headache at the front, as the camera cable fouls the right-angle plug on the hardwire kit when it's plugged into the side of the camera body - again the instructions (and anecdotal experience) state that the auto parking mode won't work when connected through the GPS mount - this is a bit of a pity as it would make the installation tidier.

What would make it tidier still is if both camera and power cables could be fed into the GPS unit, thus removing the front camera/brain is a much simpler exercise than faffing around with little right-angle plugs that get in each others way behind the rear view mirror. I appreciate the fact that an extra set of connections in the signal path from the rear camera may cause problems, however if they could be overcome, the end result would be a far more user friendly product.

On the hardwire kit, overall it's a nice solution, plenty of cable length, discrete and simple enough to install, however putting a right-angle plug on the camera end then fouls the rear camera cable (as stated above) - and should it be plugged into the GPS base unit (despite the above), the assumption is that the cable feeds from the left- not all cars have their fusebox and electrics on that side - OK, this is a minor issue as it's not a problem for me to re-route the cable above the headlining, but for those that are resorting to tucking the cable into the rubber windscreen trim, there may not be the space to double the cable back again. Would it be too much trouble to have a choice of LHD/RHD for cable plug orientations? It would also be nice to include a fuse holder or two on the power lines Edit: Just discovered the kits sold on this site have an option for fuses, I bought my kits elsewhere :/

I really like the attention to detail with the sticky-cable clips, spare sticky pads, and trim tool - please don't change this bit.

I also really quite like the wireless configuration utility - what a good idea, it makes removing the camera much less relevant as footage can be extracted via wireless to a mobile device for further distribution if needed.
What would also be a nice idea, is the option to auto-upload to a 'home network'. I, like many I suspect, have home wifi, which when parked, the car is well within - would a future firmware update allow connection to an external network and then uploading to a NAS or similar storage location - maybe even to the cloud?

I haven't finished testing the installation in my wifes car yet, it's working, but I'm not sure how well as I've not extracted any real footage for analysis. Likewise I've not set up the parking mode properly - motion activation is a bad idea as we're on a busy road. I'm sure I'll have more questions and suggestions in time..

Thanks all..

 

[Capture Your Action]

Placing the 90 degree end at the rear camera isn't an issue. There are plenty of users running it this way.

 

[Systeman]

With reference to your third paragraph.
USB type B, 90 degree right angle adapters are always handy.

I think something like this might work:
USB Type B 90 degree adapter

 

[Capture Your Action]

With reference to your third paragraph.
USB type B, 90 degree right angle adapters are always handy.

I think something like this might work:
USB Type B 90 degree adapter

90 degree adapters or USB extension cables cannot be used with the rear cable. I have seen many rear cables damaged by these adapters. The 90 degree adapter you linked is a 5 pin adapter and the rear camera cable is a 10 pin. These 90 degree adapters are only good for use with the USB power cable.

 

[Systeman]

That is a very good point, something I overlooked.

I wonder if there is one that's compatible.

 

[Capture Your Action]

That is a very good point, something I overlooked.

I wonder if there is one that's compatible.

Not, sure. I would still caution against using one on the video cable, even if it was a 10 pin. Could cause all sorts of issues, not to mention possibly damaging the cable pins.

 

[J.R]

I had monting problems with the rear cam in my Nissan Note too... The straight plug from the rear cam with the outgoing Plug exactly matched the metal frame of the rear window. (no compatible heigt from cam to glass frame!) There was a lot of force to the Plug so I made an easy spacer-socket (clear plasics with 1cm thickness for it). For mounting I used the spare glueing pad for it. Now the cam is mounting fine and cable isn't bent! (additional fixed with the mounting cable stickers. I think this is a Problem with many cars and rear windows so an additional "mounting spacer block" should be delivered with the cam. (For further Improvement better 2 blocks with different angle! -->not everybody can make such a spacer-block!)
Now the rear cam placed securely and worked fine. Due to the dark rear glass you can't see the rear cam from outside

 

[benkar]

I had monting problems with the rear cam in my Nissan Note too... The straight plug from the rear cam with the outgoing Plug exactly matched the metal frame of the rear window. (no compatible heigt from cam to glass frame!) There was a lot of force to the Plug so I made an easy spacer-socket (clear plasics with 1cm thickness for it). For mounting I used the spare glueing pad for it. Now the cam is mounting fine and cable isn't bent! (additional fixed with the mounting cable stickers. I think this is a Problem with many cars and rear windows so an additional "mounting spacer block" should be delivered with the cam. (For further Improvement better 2 blocks with different angle! -->not everybody can make such a spacer-block!)
Now the rear cam placed securely and worked fine. Due to the dark rear glass you can't see the rear cam from outside

Do you have a picture?

 

[J.R]

Here it is...
Thickness is 8mm (Plexiglas-acrylic plastics).

 

[benkar]

Here it is...
Thickness is 8mm (Plexiglas-acrylic plastics).

Great work, thanks

 

[viofo]

We plan to offer both angled USB connector in the future.

 

[GilesP]

We plan to offer both angled USB connector in the future.

This is good news.

 

[SP777]

We plan to offer both angled USB connector in the future.

It would be quite problematic, if not impossible, to pull such a cable through rubber sleeves connecting the car's rear gate to the main body.

 

[GilesP]

It would be quite problematic, if not impossible, to pull such a cable through rubber sleeves connecting the car's rear gate to the main body.

Good point.
I guess that is highly dependent on your preferred routing. I did not use the rubber boot/sleeve on my wife's car during install, it's too full of cables already and wouldn't have made access to the cameras intended location any easier. However when I finally get around to fitting it to mine, I may use that method as there is a sleeve on both sides, with less in each.

 

[benkar]

It is problematic even with a straight USB connector - at least for my car.
It would want some thin flexible connection somewhere on the cable. But this can be a structural-technical problem.

 

[GilesP]

It is problematic even with a straight USB connector - at least for my car.
It would want some thin flexible connection somewhere on the cable. But this can be a structural-technical problem.

Sadly I can't see that happening - the reality is the modified-mini-usb style connection with it's 10 connections (rather than the 5 usually found in them) is quite a feat of high density connector technology. Ok, USB C would also tick that box, but it is not as rugged (in my opinion) as the mini-usb format, and that does need to be a consideration in the car environment. Plus, every joint you add to a cable increases the risk of failure or interference and decreases the signal strength (in an already potentially noisy EM environment).

 

[Bart57266]

Tip for running rear cable through rubber boot, into hatch:

• Run a strong string through the boot, first (a small crochet hook works well).
• Tie string to rear cable, as close to its plug as possible.
• Wrap rear cable end (including pull string) with electrical tape, starting at its base and moving out toward the end of the plug (so the overlapped layers will not peal up when being pulled through the boot).
• Spray the electrical tape with silicone lube.
• Pull cable through boot (this is the difficult part).
• It helps if the boot is as straight as possible. You just have to push and pull and work it through the best you can.

I did two cars this way. It wasn't easy, by any means, but the string, tape and silicone did help quite a bit.

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention, you should disconnect the boot at both ends. This gives you full access to it.
Re-connect it when finished, of course.

 

[Sandpiper]

I Used exactly the same method as Bart57266 on my Toyota Auris, worked out fine, even pulling the angled end through was not a problem.
Tip. You may have to disconnect the boot from both ends first

 

[GilesP]

I may try this technique when I get my longer cable, as there should be enough length to allow a tidy fitting via the one of the cable boots into the tailgate wiring, assuming there's enough space in the boot..

 

[Bart57266]

I Used exactly the same method as Bart57266 on my Toyota Auris, worked out fine, even pulling the angled end through was not a problem.
Tip. You may have to disconnect the boot from both ends first

YES, I forgot that step. The boot was disconnected at both ends. I'm going to update the original post to include it. Thanks Sandpiper!