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Long story....I had an issue with the CD changer in my 2006 with the REC Nav unit. Mine was early enough that I didn't have the camera port. So I bought a newer one on ebay with the intent of getting mine repaired and reselling it on ebay. This started me down the path of adding a reverse camera and tapping into the video feed on my factory VES system so I could watch it on the front screen as well. Lockpick arrived yesterday and I finished the install. So far it has been a 90% success. The reverse camera works just as ordered. Power, ground and a video cable. Running the wires from front to back was not really fun but not impossible. I mounted the camera in the black plastic cover at the bottom of one of the large handles next to the hatch. It pops off and has a perfect open area to place the camera. You can remove the tail light to find a hole into the back and then you can go behind the panels all the way to the front.
Knock #1.... The LCD screen on the nav unit is really poor at displaying video. On mine the color has a reddish tint to it and there are no video adjustments you can make other than brightness. I used 2 different devices sending video with the same result so my guess is this is the best it is going to get. Viewable yes, quality.... very poor.
Knock #2.... I tapped into the video feed and video ground on the factory VES at the harness at the back of the DVD player in the lower console. I cannot view the video feed and hear the audio on the VES channel at the same time without a work around. Both the reverse camera and video input can not be on at the same time or there is a conflict and you get garbled video. The work around is to put a manual video switch so that only one is sending a signal to the REC at a time. The lockpick can switch between 2 inputs but the second input only allows sound if you are on FM. This would be fine if you had an aftermarket DVD and you could use an FM modulator or the audio inputs they provide. In my case the Factory VES only sends out sound when you are on that input on the REC so I need to be on that input. Also the VES video always sends out a signal even if it is "off" so it cannot be connected to the REC when the reverse camera is in use. My fix is ordering a manual switch. This way when you turn on the REC's video input the switch will allow me to select which feed gets to the screen...the camera feed or the VES video feed.
I took pictures of the install just in case anyone else wanted to attempt. I scoured the forums and found little help.....
My 2 cents....
Knock #1.... The LCD screen on the nav unit is really poor at displaying video. On mine the color has a reddish tint to it and there are no video adjustments you can make other than brightness. I used 2 different devices sending video with the same result so my guess is this is the best it is going to get. Viewable yes, quality.... very poor.
Knock #2.... I tapped into the video feed and video ground on the factory VES at the harness at the back of the DVD player in the lower console. I cannot view the video feed and hear the audio on the VES channel at the same time without a work around. Both the reverse camera and video input can not be on at the same time or there is a conflict and you get garbled video. The work around is to put a manual video switch so that only one is sending a signal to the REC at a time. The lockpick can switch between 2 inputs but the second input only allows sound if you are on FM. This would be fine if you had an aftermarket DVD and you could use an FM modulator or the audio inputs they provide. In my case the Factory VES only sends out sound when you are on that input on the REC so I need to be on that input. Also the VES video always sends out a signal even if it is "off" so it cannot be connected to the REC when the reverse camera is in use. My fix is ordering a manual switch. This way when you turn on the REC's video input the switch will allow me to select which feed gets to the screen...the camera feed or the VES video feed.
I took pictures of the install just in case anyone else wanted to attempt. I scoured the forums and found little help.....
My 2 cents....