Adding OEM Front Camera?

[rrroscoe]

Couple of things. The soft key can take a while to display and also it will be greyed out in certain instances if polarity is wrong. Hope that helps. Mine took several hours to come back on when installing it in the Uconnect.

If you have a way to reboot the radio, the soft key will show up right away. I used a Tazer for my install and it has a reboot function.

 

[Gts]

Sure, the switcher I used is this one from Amazon. Iy allows 4 inputs and is triggered by either a positive or negative voltage feed to switch cameras.

As far as the switch panel. It is also from Amazon but has been heavily modified. When I got it, I had a friend replace the internal LED's with clear ones as they were green. Then my wife printed new labels with her Cricut machine.

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Amazon.com: 6 Gang Switch Panel, Nirider Universal Circuit Control Box Button Switch Pod Touch Switch Box for Truck ATV UTV SUV Car: Automotive

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So you installed a cargo cam. What pins did you connect to on the plug behind the Uconnect?
And where did you connect your video in cable, RCA I assume for your front camera?

I had to disconnect my cargo cam to put a RCA video cable there to hookup my front camera. But I now don’t have the cargo cam.

 

[gecko6375]

So you installed a cargo cam. What pins did you connect to on the plug behind the Uconnect?
And where did you connect your video in cable, RCA I assume for your front camera?

I had to disconnect my cargo cam to put a RCA video cable there to hookup my front camera. But I now don’t have the cargo cam.

Mine was pins 21 and 22 for the RCA dongle into the UConnect. The switcher I installed allows up to four rca ins and just the one main output. So the output went directly into the dongle connected to Uconnect and the two cameras rcas went into the switcher. The system defaults to cargo cam and when I provide a trigger voltage to one of the other inputs it overrides the cargo cam and gives me the front camera on the screen. When I kill the trigger it goes back to cargo cam. Hope that helps. That switcher is a bit of a learning curve and trial and error.


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[Gts]

Mine was pins 21 and 22 for the RCA dongle into the UConnect. The switcher I installed allows up to four rca ins and just the one main output. So the output went directly into the dongle connected to Uconnect and the two cameras rcas went into the switcher. The system defaults to cargo cam and when I provide a trigger voltage to one of the other inputs it overrides the cargo cam and gives me the front camera on the screen. When I kill the trigger it goes back to cargo cam. Hope that helps. That switcher is a bit of a learning curve and trial and error.


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My pin 21 and 22 I could not get the front camera to turn on plugged into those with a rca video cable.
Did you have to provide a trigger switch, power to the rca video cable in pins 21 and 22?

 

[toyboy1980]

My pin 21 and 22 I could not get the front camera to turn on plugged into those with a rca video cable.
Did you have to provide a trigger switch, power to the rca video cable in pins 21 and 22?

Are you providing power to the camera somehow?

 

[gecko6375]

Are you providing power to the camera somehow?

Yes, both cameras I am using are analog and require power.

 

[toyboy1980]

Yes, both cameras I am using are analog and require power.

Yes, I am aware. That was a troubleshooting question in reply to @Gts saying that he wasn’t getting signal.

 

[Gts]

Are you providing power to the camera somehow?

Yes.
I have been told that since I have the backup and cargo camera I cannot add the front camera.
I am also having a hard time getting the soft keys on the backup and cargo camera screen that says”Camera” and the other key says “Surround “
I do have those two keys on in the controls screen.

 

[toyboy1980]

Yes.
I have been told that since I have the backup and cargo camera I cannot add the front camera.
I am also having a hard time getting the soft keys on the backup and cargo camera screen that says”Camera” and the other key says “Surround “
I do have those two keys on in the controls screen.

Gotcha. Yeah I think the smart way to do it is probably how @gecko6375 did it with the switcher.

 

[gecko6375]

Yes.
I have been told that since I have the backup and cargo camera I cannot add the front camera.
I am also having a hard time getting the soft keys on the backup and cargo camera screen that says”Camera” and the other key says “Surround “
I do have those two keys on in the controls screen.

That is true. There is only one analog input for a camera on the back of the 12" uConnect that I am aware of. That’s where the switcher comes in. My switcher output goes into the back of the radio. The cargo cam is on input one. It’s always powered when the ignition is on. When I want the front camera. I flip my switch, it gets power, and it sends power to the trigger wire of a different input on the switcher and thus it switches to front camera. The Uconnect still shows it as cargo camera. As soon as I kill power from the switch it goes back to the cargo cam after about 3 seconds. Hope that helps.


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[gecko6375]

Yes, I am aware. That was a troubleshooting question in reply to @Gts saying that he wasn’t getting signal.

Sorry. I didn’t see that when I responded.


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[Gts]

That is true. There is only one analog input for a camera on the back of the 12" uConnect that I am aware of. That’s where the switcher comes in. My switcher output goes into the back of the radio. The cargo cam is on input one. It’s always powered when the ignition is on. When I want the front camera. I flip my switch, it gets power, and it sends power to the trigger wire of a different input on the switcher and thus it switches to front camera. The Uconnect still shows it as cargo camera. As soon as I kill power from the switch it goes back to the cargo cam after about 3 seconds. Hope that helps.


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When you say your Cargo cam is on input one, are you meaning the switch box input one?

I have the 8.4” Uconnect and there is no video input on the back of the screen.

My cargo cam is wired into pins 24 and 25. My backup cam is pins 31 and 32.

If I put my video rca cable in pins 31 and 32, nothing happens. The same goes for pins 21 and 22. But when I take out the cargo cam wires in pins 24 and 25 and install my rca video cable in those pins, then my front camera works.

I may have to do like you and get the switch box and the rca video cable splitter and install that rca video “cable in” the pins 24 and 25. Then on the switch box I would control the Front cam, and Cargo cam. I would like to also add Left cam and Right cam under the mirrors.

Am I thinking this out correctly?

Also if I do what you did, which I like very much, would your wife be interested in making some custom labels for me for my 6 way control box? If so, how much would it cost?
Thank you

 

[gecko6375]

When you say your Cargo cam is on input one, are you meaning the switch box input one?

I have the 8.4” Uconnect and there is no video input on the back of the screen.

My cargo cam is wired into pins 24 and 25. My backup cam is pins 31 and 32.

If I put my video rca cable in pins 31 and 32, nothing happens. The same goes for pins 21 and 22. But when I take out the cargo cam wires in pins 24 and 25 and install my rca video cable in those pins, then my front camera works.

I may have to do like you and get the switch box and the rca video cable splitter and install that rca video “cable in” the pins 24 and 25. Then on the switch box I would control the Front cam, and Cargo cam. I would like to also add Left cam and Right cam under the mirrors.

Am I thinking this out correctly?

Also if I do what you did, which I like very much, would your wife be interested in making some custom labels for me for my 6 way control box? If so, how much would it cost?
Thank you

My understanding is the uConnect will only accept one analog camera input on the back. That’s why I used the switcher. So, I think your logic seems correct. I will say this, if you go with the same switcher I did then there are some things to be aware of. The directions are very misleading. First off, you obviously need to power and ground the switcher through a switched 12v input. Where it gets tricky is the inputs. I ran my cargo cam on input one and the camera itself is powered by a switched 12v power source.

This is where it got tricky, input one through four all have a positive and negative wire to activate them. For input one, I just had to tie into the positive switched power. Input two, even though it doesn’t say this requires a negative input. So I used input three for my front cam. Again, I just used the positive wire. It’s really weird because I am not used to only hooking positive and negative wires but this switcher requires an either/or and not both or it wont work. Took some time to figure it out. Let me know if you have questions but in my install I am using input 1 and 3. I skipped input two as I didn’t want to do a negative input or I would have had to rewire my relay setup. Not really a big deal but, I basically had to forget most of what I know of 12v wiring for this thing.

As far as switch legends, are you going with the same switch? The stock version of what I had has green LED’s and my labels would look very weird on the stock one. If you leave the LEDs green you’d likely want different colored labels than what I went with. I was lucky and have a friend that is a mad genius with electrical components and I had him alter the board to white LEDs as I hated the green. That said, if you’re still interested in new labels I can certainly ask my wife what she’d charge. I know she would need what you’d want on them and what colors you need. Take care and let me know if you have any other questions.


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[Gts]

My understanding is the uConnect will only accept one analog camera input on the back. That’s why I used the switcher. So, I think your logic seems correct. I will say this, if you go with the same switcher I did then there are some things to be aware of. The directions are very misleading. First off, you obviously need to power and ground the switcher through a switched 12v input. Where it gets tricky is the inputs. I ran my cargo cam on input one and the camera itself is powered by a switched 12v power source.

This is where it got tricky, input one through four all have a positive and negative wire to activate them. For input one, I just had to tie into the positive switched power. Input two, even though it doesn’t say this requires a negative input. So I used input three for my front cam. Again, I just used the positive wire. It’s really weird because I am not used to only hooking positive and negative wires but this switcher requires an either/or and not both or it wont work. Took some time to figure it out. Let me know if you have questions but in my install I am using input 1 and 3. I skipped input two as I didn’t want to do a negative input or I would have had to rewire my relay setup. Not really a big deal but, I basically had to forget most of what I know of 12v wiring for this thing.

As far as switch legends, are you going with the same switch? The stock version of what I had has green LED’s and my labels would look very weird on the stock one. If you leave the LEDs green you’d likely want different colored labels than what I went with. I was lucky and have a friend that is a mad genius with electrical components and I had him alter the board to white LEDs as I hated the green. That said, if you’re still interested in new labels I can certainly ask my wife what she’d charge. I know she would need what you’d want on them and what colors you need. Take care and let me know if you have any other questions.


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Yes I agree. 12 volt use to be pretty easy. Red is hot or positive and Black is ground or negative .
I don’t like the green n yellow leds too. I am looking at a switch that is blue when off n red when on. Can ur wife use clear or just cut out the color part of the letters? Lol I know nothing about that.

You said a relay. Did you install a relay on your switch? I don’t know much about relays. Are there different ones.
Thanks for all ur help

 

[rebel69]

Finally got mine to work. 2019 Rebel, 12” with nav. Enabled cargo cam with Tazer. Pins 21 & 22. Thanks for all the knowledge and instructions on these 19 pages!

Hi RRRoscoe,

looks like we have the same vehicle. So you used Tazer and what hardware did you ended up getting?

 

[dts828]

Hi RRRoscoe,

looks like we have the same vehicle. So you used Tazer and what hardware did you ended up getting?

I have 19 Rebel and enabled my front camera a few months back with the tazer. I used this camera based on another member and very happy with it. I tried a few other first that I ended up returning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H852D49/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_3ikdGbX5JA7VF?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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[gecko6375]

Yes I agree. 12 volt use to be pretty easy. Red is hot or positive and Black is ground or negative .
I don’t like the green n yellow leds too. I am looking at a switch that is blue when off n red when on. Can ur wife use clear or just cut out the color part of the letters? Lol I know nothing about that.

You said a relay. Did you install a relay on your switch? I don’t know much about relays. Are there different ones.
Thanks for all ur help

The switch kit I ordered, from Amazon, has a relay for each switch. This handle the higher wattage of lights and what not. Probably not needed to send the signal wire and power a camera but it never hurts.

What switches are you using? Usually that dictates the back light color then the label goes over that. Typically labels are black with the letters cut out clear so the back light shows through.


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[rebel69]

I have 19 Rebel and enabled my front camera a few months back with the tazer. I used this camera based on another member and very happy with it. I tried a few other first that I ended up returning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H852D49/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_3ikdGbX5JA7VF?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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thanks

and did you need any of the switches and panels described by others? Or does this camera go straight to the panel in back of the 12" and be operated by the cargo view button? I realize the answer is likely in this multi-page thread so feel free to not provide an elaborate response. I should be able to just search for your contributions in the thread....

 

[toyboy1980]

thanks

and did you need any of the switches and panels described by others? Or does this camera go straight to the panel in back of the 12" and be operated by the cargo view button? I realize the answer is likely in this multi-page thread so feel free to not provide an elaborate response. I should be able to just search for your contributions in the thread....

If you go look back through this thread, I did a write up with needed parts, links, etc.

 

[dts828]

thanks

and did you need any of the switches and panels described by others? Or does this camera go straight to the panel in back of the 12" and be operated by the cargo view button? I realize the answer is likely in this multi-page thread so feel free to not provide an elaborate response. I should be able to just search for your contributions in the thread....

Other than the Tazer and camera you will need rca pigtail. You can make it yourself(parts linked above) or purchase from Tazer. This is all you need for basic install with camera mounted to bottom of "A" of RAM nameplate on Rebel grill.

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