A backup camera for $50!!!!!!!!!!!

[aczlan]

I see , so I can put an extension from this red wire to the red power wire of the screen and connect to a power wire on the tractor.
I think I get it, now if it can get a it milder here, I will be able to install it on tractor. Very cold here.
Thanks again.

Yes. If your camera came with a power supply, you could cut the plug on the power supply off, if not they are usually 2.1mmx5.5mm (like: Amazon.com: 12 ft 2.1mm x 5.5mm DC Plug Extension Cable for Power Adapter, 20AWG, White: Electronics ) but check yours to make sure it is that size.

Aaron Z

 

[andrec999]

Thank you Aaron,

I'm like Piloon, I kept all the wires from old TV's and vcrs, I'm sure I have this type of wire in my wire box.lol

 

[sodamo]

LOL, I also hoard all those old wires and connectors. One just never knows about that next project

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[s219]

I see , so I can put an extension from this red wire to the red power wire of the screen and connect to a power wire on the tractor.
I think I get it, now if it can get a it milder here, I will be able to install it on tractor. Very cold here.
Thanks again.

If you bought the screen shown in the first post, it has a matching power plug with harness that ends in a fuse on a red wire. That should be connected to +12V (switched if you can, so it turns off when tractor is off). The black wire on the end of the harness is ground and the blue wire can be ignored.

The camera harnesses also have a power plug and short length of wire that ends in red/black (I had to extend mine with 22ga wire). Again red to +12V, but you need to add a fuse for that one, since it was not included. So don't just wire into +12V directly, or junction with camera red wire, without first fusing it. The power wiring is very light (24ga) and will not handle a short too well.

 

[PILOON]

The camera harnesses also have a power plug and short length of wire that ends in red/black (I had to extend mine with 22ga wire). Again red to +12V, but you need to add a fuse for that one, since it was not included. So don't just wire into +12V directly, or junction with camera red wire, without first fusing it. The power wiring is very light (24ga) and will not handle a short too well.

My only gripe for our tractor applications. The wire used is just too fine. Heck the only way to skin them to splice or solder is to use a match and melt the insulation otherwise you cut almost 50% of the conductor.
As to fusing for protection, forget it. You'd need picofuses to protect that spider wire. A short could not even start a fire as that spider wire would melt so fast that it could not ignite toilet tissue.

 

[andrec999]

Excellent instructions very clear. I was thinking of joining the camera red wire to the screen red wire (has a fuse on it) and then go to a power switch. Would that work OK.

If you bought the screen shown in the first post, it has a matching power plug with harness that ends in a fuse on a red wire. That should be connected to +12V (switched if you can, so it turns off when tractor is off). The black wire on the end of the harness is ground and the blue wire can be ignored.

The camera harnesses also have a power plug and short length of wire that ends in red/black (I had to extend mine with 22ga wire). Again red to +12V, but you need to add a fuse for that one, since it was not included. So don't just wire into +12V directly, or junction with camera red wire, without first fusing it. The power wiring is very light (24ga) and will not handle a short too well.

 

[s219]

My only gripe for our tractor applications. The wire used is just too fine. Heck the only way to skin them to splice or solder is to use a match and melt the insulation otherwise you cut almost 50% of the conductor.
As to fusing for protection, forget it. You'd need picofuses to protect that spider wire. A short could not even start a fire as that spider wire would melt so fast that it could not ignite toilet tissue.

Heh, I agree, that was a PITA to solder up. I was able to strip it with a razor blade carefully, but not until a couple tries. Normally with such thin wire I can use my thumbnail to pull off the insulation, but this stuff was a bit too stretchy for that.

I think the wire is about 24ga, in which case a 1A fuse is just right.

 

[s219]

Excellent instructions very clear. I was thinking of joining the camera red wire to the screen red wire (has a fuse on it) and then go to a power switch. Would that work OK.

The screen fuse won't protect the cameras -- you need a fuse on the camera line before you join them at the power source. And be careful how you join them, so that no single conductor is passing the connection for both -- this stuff is thin.

 

[s219]

After weeks of fiddling and ordering parts, I finally got my front bucket cam installed. This is a case where I spent about $100 in parts to rig up an $11 camera, plus a dozen or so hours of labor and more hours of design and ordering parts. So not quite the bargain of 94BULLIT's first post, but still cool.

My goals for the design were:

1) something removable
2) something tough
3) something that could break away gracefully if hit

For the bracket, I welded up an inverted T shape from bar stock, with a small section of rectangular tube at the top to house the camera. Four 39# industrial magnets hold it to the rear of the bucket with the camera facing forward:



I wanted a tough connector mounted to the front bucket near the camera, so I could easily remove it. I first tried an S-Video connector, which worked OK but was not snug enough to be rugged in my opinion. I changed that out for some military-style sealed bayonet connectors from Switchcraft:



The connection on the bucket is attached to the underside of the front lip in a small aluminum enclosure, with a rubber cap over the connector:



I also used an aluminum enclosure on the back of the camera bracket to hide the splice connecting the camera's harness to my harness -- required because the camera has a small inline 12V to 5V circuit in a molded plastic "bullet" in its harness (I found that out the hard way, trying to splice upstream of that the first time, which ruined a camera and required me to order a replacement). Splicing has to come after that bullet, which creates some extra slack to be gathered up, and a little enclosure seemed to be the best option. Here's a shot from the rear of the bucket with everything in place:



And here's a shot from the front showing the camera peeking out:



To run the harness forward across the bucket pivot pins, I did some studying and thinking, made some mockups, and eventually decided to run the wire inside a 2' piece of fuel line to prevent kinks and tangles, and then put the fuel line inside a nylon hydraulic hose sleeve to protect it and clean up the look. I first had to weld up a simple bracket to attach to the bucket pin mounts and route the cable:



Here's the routing with everything complete and the bucket rolled back about halfway:



When rolled full forward, the harness goes nearly straight with a teeny bit of slack. When rolled all the way back, it leaves a nice gentle bend in the harness that is protected inside the frame. From there, the harness goes back to regular 1/4" split loom tube and follows the loader hard lines up the arms, goes along the soft lines (with slack) and then down the loader frame to the location in the mount tube where I have all my wiring.

Here are some shots with the camera aimed to just show the front edge of the bucket:



It gives a real good view of the bucket edge, which is what I was shooting for, and also shows what's in front of the bucket far better than what I can see over the hood. That will come in handy when maneuvering in tight spaces. Will also be great when I use my clamp on forks, as I could never tell where they were pointing without standing up in the seat. With the magnetic mount, I can adapt the camera to a QA setup and quick-attach forks when I eventually get some.

From here, I still have to cut and attach a small plexiglass window to the front of the camera mount for extra protection, and connect a small stainless steel safety cable between the camera mount and bucket in case it ever breaks away for some reason. The idea with the magnets is that they will pop free before anything can break, and then the safety cable will keep the bracket from falling off and stressing the wiring harness.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Looks good, I like the mount. I ended up building a mount like waxman out of some emt I had just to see if I was going to like the front camera or need to change the mount design for my application. I really like the cable connector I plan on either doing something similar or upgrading the camera to one with a single cable. Camera looks well positioned yet well protected.