Outdoor Camera Mod - FBS189

Ed Venture · 02-12-2016, 03:09 PM

Catching up on my mod posts!

Here is my outdoor camera mod I installed for my wife when she is on a trip with her sister, girl friends, and/or my daughters. When we took the window blind down above the sink and frosted the window, we neglected to realize that now you can't really see outside when someone knocks on the door or if you hear something outside. The door is already frosted and the window over the bed doesn't provide a decent viewing angle to see what is right in front for the door.

I wanted them to be able to peek outside without opening the door so I decided to add an inexpensive backup camera and monitor so they could easily and safely take a look. I bought everything I needed from Amazon for about $45.

You can get a cheaper unit, but this camera has great resolution and it doesn't have the backup guide lines so you get an unobstructed view:
Esky EC170-06 HD Color CCD Waterproof Car Rear View Backup Camera (No guideline Version) : Car Electronics

I am sure you can get a better monitor, but this one works just fine and had good mounting hardware:
Generic 7" TFT LCD Color 2 Video Input Car RearView Headrest Monitor

Once again, for some reason I am light on pictures from the actual install. Come spring, I can take more if there are questions. Basically, I mounted the display on the side of the cabinet above the sink right inside the door. I tapped in to the power for the sink light and ran the camera lead out of the exterior speaker hole. I mounted it about 1/2 inch from the speaker on the side of the trailer with a nickle sized dollop of Dicor caulk. So far it's held nicely for several trips. The camera is super light and really doesn't need screws to hold it on. If it breaks free, there is only about 1/2 inch of cable so it wont really flop around.

As a side note, at the same time I replaced the factory speakers with these (which sound WAY better):

JBL MS6100 Marine 6.5-Inch Dual-Cone Marine Speaker

Once connected, I installed a round rocker switch next to the monitor so that you can turn it on and off. Here is the final result:

You can't really tell from the photo how far the field of view is because I am parked up tight to my garage, but when you are out camping you have a clear filed of view of everything under the pull out awning and beyond.

There you have it!

Ed

Michigantraveler · 02-12-2016, 03:40 PM

Great idea. Frosted glass has pros and cons I guess, which you solved. Is that a convection microwave? Your tiles look great. I can't wait for nicer weather to do some mods.One of our outside speakers allowed water to get in this winter. We had to tape them up.

Ed Venture · 02-12-2016, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michigantraveler

Great idea. Frosted glass has pros and cons I guess, which you solved. Is that s convection microwave? Your tiles look great. I can't wait for nicer weather to do some mods.One of our outside speakers allowed water to get in this winter. We had to tape them up.

No -its my Toaster Oven mod. We never used the micriwave but always used the small toaster oven we packed in the compartment above the sink. Here is the post on that:

Toaster Oven Mod - 189FBS

Ed

Michigantraveler · 02-12-2016, 04:41 PM

Ah!!! I'm not a fan of toaster ovens. But I would like to replace our microwave with a convection/microwave so I could bake or roast.

PaintyLiz · 02-12-2016, 05:13 PM

I have a toaster oven on the shelf where the bunk used to be over our bed. I don't even have to move it from there to use it. Fresh cookies every night while we're camping! Woohoo!

PaintyLiz · 02-12-2016, 05:19 PM

I like the tiles in your kitchen. Are those the fake plastic ones? Or are they real glass? They look really good. Guess I need to class at my kitchen. I did remove the tacky utensil rack I didn't realize how bad it looked until I saw the photograph lol

Ed Venture · 02-12-2016, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaintyLiz

I like the tiles in your kitchen. Are those the fake plastic ones? Or are they real glass? They look really good. Guess I need to class at my kitchen. I did remove the tacky utensil rack I didn't realize how bad it looked until I saw the photograph lol

They are Smart Tiles which are fake, but a pretty good fake:

Smart Tiles

The nice thing is that they are super light weight and don't require heavy backer boards, grout or mastic. Not only is weight an issue for me, but I was worried about cracking grout from all the flex in the trailer while traveling.

Ed