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BuckBlu110

Member Since: 19 Apr 2014
Location: in the pub
Posts: 709

1994 Defender 110 BMW M57 3.0 Diesel CSW Buckingham Blue

Pioneer head unit and reversing cameras

After an interim of a couple of years back with a 1 din head unit, I’ve recently upgraded to a pioneer sph-da120, to say it’s a bit of an upgrade from both the 1 din and the old pioneer sph-da110 before that is an understatement to say the least. Very happy with it but unfortunately my rear view camera doesn’t seem to work with it, the camera is a cheap eBay hobby, which I liked because it has a subtle body rather than one that has a screw on mount/foot.
Any way, It definitely worked on the 1din unit and I’m fairly sure this camera was the same one that was fitted to the old pioneer I had and worked on that too.
So basically does anyone have any experience with pioneer head units and generic/universal reverse cameras working as they should together or do these head units only work with pioneers own cameras?

10th Feb 2023 12:11am

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 19534

Check PAL or NTSC compatibility and which version is compatible with which.
Some are dual compatibility some aren’t.
I think if memory serves me well, PAL is British and NTSC North America but often interchanged but not always compatible.

On mine the Head Unit (also pioneer I think is PAL&NTSC compatible and my reverse cam (mopar) is NTSC.
That is video compatibility, but power supply and trigger wiring can also be applicable.

I think I wired mine so the camera was always on when the head unit is on, but triggered when reverse selected to display automatically on screen.
That way you get auto trigger when reverse is selected so displays when revising automatically.
But also you can select video on the HU with camera on even without being in reverse so you have the rear camera can be useful to keep an eye on a trailer in motion.
Which is no different to having a rear view mirror with a lower angle.

Also it may depend on your parking brake (handbrake) wiring too, mine has an electronic bypass as I prefer to use common sense.
If the parking brake sense isn’t used or wired in a way which it’s supposed to be or bypassed then it can prevent quite a few Head Unit features for safety reasons.

The parking brake wiring does have the capability to disable AV features unless it senses a bypass or is wired to the parking brake wiring.
At one time often just grounding it would be sufficient, but not any more with many units.

Whichever way you look at it, common sense must be used.

A horse trailer camera is common to have and anything akin to electronic rear view mirror camera or trailer camera is okay.
Video content for entertainment wouldn’t be, nor obviously things like mobile phone use whilst driving.

One of these things may well be the issue you have, I would imagine the camera IS working that you have but obviously check it is receiving power etc.
Ideally try it on a TV or similar display, a 9v battery should just about power it for trying it as most run between 9v and 14v.
Some can have fickle electrical connectors so that’s another issue too, so if you can test it’s getting power and there isn’t any issue that all the better. Diesel$ Live$ Matter. ⛽️🛢️👨‍🔧🧰⚙️ RED, WHITE & BOOST! 🇬🇧

11th Feb 2023 12:39am

BuckBlu110

Member Since: 19 Apr 2014
Location: in the pub
Posts: 709

Thanks for the help Steve, I managed to get some time to do a bit of investigation and I’ve found the problem, the camera has given up the ghost. After swapping cables and camera from my other 110, I finally narrowed it down to that.
I’ve got a spare video and reverse signal feed cable so when the new camera turns up, I might as well swap the lot and have a fresh system.

12th Feb 2023 6:50pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 19534

Good work, at least you know now.

Diesel$ Live$ Matter. ⛽️🛢️👨‍🔧🧰⚙️ RED, WHITE & BOOST! 🇬🇧

13th Feb 2023 12:27am

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