reverse camera

freewilly · July 29, 2005

Hey all, Was wondering if anyone of you have installed the reverse cameras on your trucks. I am planning on getting one when I get my new TNR and was curious to know a good spot to mount the camera.

Also i read somewhere in here the 03 have a gps antenna built into the bigger base for the onstar antennae. I know the 02 had two antennas on top if you had onstar and xm. Guess I was wondering if i could hack into the 03 antennae for my xm radio I plan on adding to the TNR when I get it.

Thanks for any words of wisdom you folks have.

Freewilly

Supurban · July 30, 2005

Howdy, here is a write up on my installation.

Reverse camera project

There are kits from snake-eyes, nav-cam and the like that might be a bit simpler than the route I took:

toneman · August 4, 2005

Hey all, Was wondering if anyone of you have installed the reverse cameras on your trucks. I am planning on getting one when I get my new TNR and was curious to know a good spot to mount the camera.

Also i read somewhere in here the 03 have a gps antenna built into the bigger base for the onstar antennae. I know the 02 had two antennas on top if you had onstar and xm. Guess I was wondering if i could hack into the 03 antennae for my xm radio I plan on adding to the TNR when I get it.

Thanks for any words of wisdom you folks have.

Freewilly

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IIRC--the GPS antenna used by the nav unit is separate from that used by Onstar; the nav GPS antenna is mounted underneath the upper portion of the dash. XM antenna is completely separate from Onstar antenna even on '03+--IOW even on the '03+ trucks, there will be two separate antennas on the roof (Onstar on the driver's side, XM on the passenger's side, IIRC).

freewilly · August 4, 2005

kay that is what I was beginning to think, I can't remember where I read that the XM and the Onstar were co-located, but I have been looking at newer trucks and they do have both antennas. Thanks for the words.

BlueTahoe · August 4, 2005

kay that is what I was beginning to think, I can't remember where I read that the XM and the Onstar were co-located, but I have been looking at newer trucks and they do have both antennas. Thanks for the words.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just read somewhere today that I think on '06 trucks the XM and Onstar antennas were combined in one unit. It would be nice if this fit in place of our current onstar antenna that way there would be no drilling involved. Might be worth looking into when the '06's come on the lots.

freewilly · August 4, 2005

Just an update for you guys. I just installed the GM factory XM system in my truck which currently has the bose 6cdx built in but didn't come with XM. The thing i want to pass is the fact that i had previously bought an after market xm radio which has the little magnetic XM antenna for the roof. Anyway I didn't want to start drilling on my roof to put in the new antennae, and as luck would have it the magnetic little antennae works like a champ with the factory xm setup. Plugged right into the XM module.

So if you are like me and do not want to drill you might consider this as an option. Bet you could get the little magnetic antenna somewhere for less than the price of the GM factory deal.

Mctaf · August 12, 2005

I have the same question on camera mounting. Most of the installs I've seen pictures of, look OK as far as looking back, but for me it would be more parctical to be able to "see" the back of the truck, bumper, etc. rather than just a rear view. Some people have touched on the subject of depth perception and with no part of the back visible there's no reference. I guess if you just want to look back that's fine but I'd like to be able to keep from smacking something I'm getting close to.

In order to do that, with the angles I've seen, 120-130 degrees, to see an 8 foot wide area, you need to be about 28 inches away from it. So anything any closer than 28 inches that's on the side of the bumper will be off camera if it's mounted in the center bumper area (trailer hitch, license plate frame, etc.)

Seems like the best place is up high looking down like the H2 mount or some Ford, pardon the language, 3rd brake light replacement kits that house a camera. That way you'd be far enough away to see the whole bumper if looking down and could see things close before they hit. On my Yukon the brake light area is too far forward and you can't look down from that point. The other problem I have is wiring from that area. I thought about maybe hiding one with those air deflectors but they have a cut out in the area of the brake light so you can see it. I'm thinking about buying one of those $50 or less 120 degree cameras and playing with locations. What might be nice is if someone would come up with an image combiner or split screen unit to use 2 cameras looking different ways then you could see down both sides of the bumper from the center. Then again, this may not be what most folks are using a backup camera for cause there don't seem to be too many products out there right now to do what I'd like.

toneman · August 12, 2005

mctaf--yep, you'd need to mount it on something like a rear-wing spoiler or rear-air deflector like you mentioned if you want the camera angle you're referring to.