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So this is probably one of THE stupidest things ever, but I got bored and I look at my car projects as an opportunity to learn. I also plan on putting an STI lip under my ASPEC lip, so any scrape essentially would probably rip the STI lip, which is what this camera will try to prevent. This will require that Dom's Unit be installed already, or any other unit that can provide a 2nd video input other than the reverse camera.
Q: Why not just use a pre-made switch box?
A: That is always an option, but switch boxes come with input/outputs in sets of 3: Video, Left Stereo, Right Stereo. I don't need the stereo to be switched, and I haven't found a viable solution on the market just for video. I also wanted to have a small simple switch go right in the lower dashboard, so I went with this route.
WARNING: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MAY DO TO YOUR CAR
Materials:
3 RCA cables (The red, yellow, white cable for old DVDs. These can just tear apart individually)
3PDT toggle switch (Can either use ON-OFF-ON, but I used ON-ON)
Heat shrink 1/4" diameter
Male + Female wire connectors
Female/Female RCA connectors
Red + Black Wiring. Can also have other colors if you wish to be more organized
Front (or Rear camera; rear camera should have option to to turn off mirroring or grid lines if desired)
Optional:
RCA Extension cables
While a 2PDT switch can be used, the front camera will have to be wired to a power source that's always on. With a 3PDT switch, we'll be using the third pole of the switch to act as the switch for power, as I don't want power to be fed to the front camera when not in use, with the other two being the positive and negatives for the RCA cables.
RCA wires are slightly different from a regular power cable in the sense that the wires are not next to each other, but one is covered by the other. When the RCA head is cut from one end of the wire, you'll find that you have shielding (ground) wrapped around a smaller inner wire. You can treat this as negative and positive by brushing away the shielding and braiding them, and then stripping the inner wire.
3PDT Switch Diagram
1-2-3
4-5-6 Toggle UP/DOWN
7-8-9
While we have 3 poles here, the input will always be selected, and thus the middle (4-5-6) will be designated as the output + power. When we switch UP for example, 1-2-3 will be connected with 4-5-6, and when we switch DOWN, 7-8-9 will be selected with 4-5-6.
In this tutorial, I've designated as 4-5 to be the video output, so 1-2 and 7-8 will be the outputs. Since we are just essentially closing a wire, we can use 1,4,7 as the inner (positive) RCA cable, and 2,5,8 as the shield (negative) of the RCA. We'll also be using #6 as the power wire from the fuse box, and #3 as the positive cable to the front camera.
On to the steps!
1) Solder wires accordingly to the switch. Ensure that 1-2-3/7-8-9 are at top and bottom of the switch by verifying which way the toggle moves. I went with this set up:
1 2 3 : + - P out
4 5 6: + - P in
7 8 9: + - Closed
Closed is just wrapped in shrink wrap as I don't need power going to my media player (already getting power from fuse directly)
You should end up with something like this:
(Note: Forgot to take picture of all wires soldered to this)
2) Now that the switch is soldered with wiring, solder/crimp male/female connectors to the ends of the wire on the switch. Keep in mind that you'll do the same thing to RCA wire, but you'll have to reverse the male/female ends to ensure that positive can still go to positive and vice versa
3) Do the same for the RCA ends
4) Find a place for where you want to put the camera. Depend on the camera you get, you can drill directly into the bumper, but I opted to use my license plate bracket like so:
The wiring for the camera can be shoved right through top hole in where the bracket mounts to.
5) Bring wires through the engine bay, ensuring that the wires don't get near any heat source for fear of melting. The wire can then be pushed through the hole that's covered by a grommet in the firewall.
6) Connect all video inputs to their respective RCA inputs. Connect video receiver to Video output RCA (should be middle set of switch) Connect the power wire for the switch to your add-a-circuit or fuse, and connect the the respective power line on the switch to the camera power.
7) Mount the switch in desired location
If everything is wired correctly, you should be able to default to your media player when in regular use, but the front camera will activate once the switch is flipped.
Quicktip: when testing, remember that the flip switch has a reverse orientation. I.e. when looking at the switch from the top, if it's flipped "up", then the bottom portion, or 7-8-9 will be selected. When flipped "down", then 1-2-3 will be selected.
I hope this completely useless addition helps at least SOMEONE out there. Enjoy!
5) Bring wires through the engine bay, ensuring that the wires don't get near any heat source for fear of melting. The wire can then be pushed through the hole that's covered by a grommet in the firewall.
Wire looms or flex tubing would ensure this is a non-issue
02-12-2017, 11:43 PM
