Front & Rear Camera Kenwood Radio Integration

[scott.semone]

Integrating a Front & Rear Camera into the Kenwood Radio-Navigation Unit (Pictures: See Attached PDF file)
AIRSTREAM Interstate EXT



We recently purchased a 2014 Interstate Ext this past fall; actually built on a 2013 Mercedes Benz Sprinter 3500 Chassis.

I’ve always had a great deal of appreciation for folks who take the time out to post “How too” topics; so with that said, this will be my first and I hope it’s helpful for anyone looking to eliminate the Pyle Rearview Camera system, while Integrating the Rear Camera, as well as a Front Camera system into the Factory Installed Kenwood Radio GPS Navigation System.
Our 2013/2014 Interstate was delivered from AIRSTREAM with a KENWOOD DNX890HD system; this system allows for two separate CMOS Cameras to be installed. This project took me approximately four hours to complete, which included a lot of exploring in finding the existing Rear Camera wiring and such; so hopefully this will help in keeping you on schedule. I should also note that I have gained a lot of experience in this type of work while in college (early nineties) installing Cellular and Two-Way Radio equipment at a local Land Mobile Radio shop. But don’t let that discourage you from taking this project on; in the end, you will have relocated the Hands-Free Microphone and cleaned up the messy wiring, reclaimed your Rear-View Mirror in order to allow you to keep an eye on the rear cabin area, as well as use the rear windows while driving, redirect the rear-view camera through the in-dash Radio GPS Navigation system, as well as adding a Front Camera as an additional parking aide.

Needed Tools and Supplies: I purchased a fairly inexpensive Camera made by Audiovox from my local Best Buy stereo shop; it cost me under $100. In addition, I picked up a roll of wiring loom; crimp type electrical terminals and some heat shrink tubing.
Tools:
· Torx Screw Driver Set (T15 to T25)
· Wire Striper / Terminal Crimp Tool
· Tie Wraps
· Wire Cutter
· Phillips Screw Driver
· Scissors
· Metric Socket Set (1/4” Drive)
· Volt Meter or Voltage Test Light
· Wiring fish ( A tool for snaking wiring through the fire-wall and or Dash Board area)
· Electrical Tape
· Heat Gun or Hair Dryer
· Electrical Connectors (Crimp Type)
· Wiring Loom
· A Female-to-Female bullet (Used in connecting the existing Rear-View Camera to the KENWOOD Radio)
· 6’ Video RCA to RCA cable (Might need it, I didn’t as I was able to use the existing rear-view camera video cable)


Planning: I recommend doing this project when the weather is warm, avoid doing this in a cold environment as the plastic trim parts can become brittle and perhaps crack when trying to remove them.

• Refer to the Attached PDF file for STEP-by-STEP instructions and Example Pictures and Images to help you along.

· Hopefully all went well, and you are sitting back and admiring your craftsmanship. I hope this was helpful and provided some close and intimate time with your family in helping out, as well as providing some time in getting to know your AIRSTREAM better. Please excuse and ignore any spelling and grammatical errors.

[David M]

Awesome writeup! I'll have to bookmark this for future reference. Thank you and welcome to the forum!
David

[UKDUDE]

Excellent! I never liked the Pyle, so I may attempt this early next year. Thank you - your PDF is saved away!
Peter

[Boxster1971]

Welcome to the forums!

Excellent write-up. I would like some extra camera views but would like to keep the Pyle Rearview Camera system. I like having the rear view camera up all the time without having to press any buttons. But adding two "maneuvering" cameras for parking and blind spots would be great.

I see from your photos you have a battery on the Auxiliary tray in the engine compartment. Was that delivered from Airstream? Is it a Sprinter Aux battery or as an extra house/coach battery?

[scott.semone]

Battery: I think our Airstream is a late 2013 Sprinter, actually it's registered as a 2014; however it does not have the new head lights and such that you see on the new 2014 Sprinter Interstates. The battery post is still located uunder the hood, just like the early 2013 models which have the battery located under the drivers foot well compartment.

Back-Up L.E.D. Lights - Future Project: I'm going to install L.E.D. (Wheelen) white lights under the rear area of the Sprinter; forward and aft of the rear wheels (four lights total). The plan is to have all four lights illuminated when in Reverse, and have the two lights on the curb side (passenger) come on when I use the patio light switch.

I might replace the AIRSTREAM OEM L.E.D. patio light with a Wheellen brand.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by scott.semone

Battery: I think our Airstream is a late 2013 Sprinter, actually it's registered as a 2014; however it does not have the new head lights and such that you see on the new 2014 Sprinter Interstates. The battery post is still located uunder the hood, just like the early 2013 models which have the battery located under the drivers foot well compartment...

Thanks -- what you have looks like an auxiliary battery in engine compartment. I'd bet you also have the main battery under the driver floor.

[scott.semone]

Alternative Camera Views: If you like and want to keep the Pyle Rear-View Mirror Video Screen; I was looking at the possibility of putting another camera above the Patio Light. You can access the patio light and wiring behind the Control Panel (Tank Status, Generator Start, Inverter, etc..). It's just four wood screws and the control face plate just slides to the side in order to access wiring and such.

I've been meaning to see if the battery box is in place; I could use it for emergency storage and or an extra battery.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by scott.semone

I might replace the AIRSTREAM OEM L.E.D. patio light with a Wheellen brand.

Source? That's a replacement that makes a lot of sense to me. The one Airstream provides is hardly bright enough to even qualify as a night-light, let alone actually illuminate the patio area.

[scott.semone]

WHELEN strobes and lights; we are starting to see lots of First Responder Apparatus Vehicles equipped with the new WHELEN L.E.D. type lights. I agree with the DIM illumination of the stock AIRSTREAM lights; the WHELEN stuff is super bright and high quality.

I'll post something once I finish up the lighting project.

[73shark]

Great write-up and pics!

Did you consider using one of the unused fuse slots along w/ the piggy-back terminals to facilitate fuse replacement?

I read in a forum someplace where the Sprinter lighting circuits don't play well w/ LEDs. Something about the diagnostic fault circuitry. Maybe the WHELEN LEDs have the proper load resistors to eliminate this problem.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

Great write-up and pics!

Did you consider using one of the unused fuse slots along w/ the piggy-back terminals to facilitate fuse replacement?

I read in a forum someplace where the Sprinter lighting circuits don't play well w/ LEDs. Something about the diagnostic fault circuitry. Maybe the WHELEN LEDs have the proper load resistors to eliminate this problem.

Patio light isn't on the Sprinter chassis harness, it's on the Airstream house harness. And the Airstream-original patio light is an LED light already. Problem is, it's an automotive dome light, repurposed as a patio light, and is not really meant to illuminate the an 8×12 area under an awning.

Side note, when I bought an LED replacement for my Honda Fit toad's dome light, the LED that fit the dome light was exactly the same one that's in my Interstate's patio light.

[Boxster1971]

My brother just told me about a wireless rear camera he uses on his trailer. That would simplify the wiring requirements.

[NewOldDad]

Scott,
Thank you for this great writeup. I just had an in-motion satellite system installed in my Interstate, and while it was at the radio shop, I asked the tech to make the alteration you documented. I gave him your step-by-step instructions. The tech did one other thing for me on his own initiative, which was to add a small switch to the left of the display. With this switch, I can "trick" the unit into thinking I'm in reverse so that I can look out the camera anytime I want. The camera comes on automatically when I go to reverse.
As for the in-motion, the shop did an awesome job with that as well. I went with a Trackvision A-7 with 2 tuners. The receivers were mounted in the cabinet over the driver's head., and an RF modulator was used to get the signal to the rear tv through the installed coax cable.

[scott.semone]

I like the idea of the switch, it's a nice little touch. I found if I hold the AUX button down for a little longer than a second, this activates the camera view. You can then select the front or rear view by using the touch screen to toggle between the two views. You should see an image with two arrows pointing in opposite directions, left and right. For my unit, selecting the left side activates the Front View Camera and selecting the Right Side activates the Rear View Camera.

[buff]

My wife and I did a custom renovation of a 1981 Airstream a couple of years ago and installed conduit from the rear of the trailer to the front and installed an infrared camera behind the trailer. I would not travel without it but I find the monitor on my dashboard of the truck is hard to see in sunlight. I am wondering if I can upgrade the monitor to a HD screen to avoid this problem??

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by buff

My wife and I did a custom renovation of a 1981 Airstream a couple of years ago and installed conduit from the rear of the trailer to the front and installed an infrared camera behind the trailer. I would not travel without it but I find the monitor on my dashboard of the truck is hard to see in sunlight. I am wondering if I can upgrade the monitor to a HD screen to avoid this problem??

Welcome to the AirForums! Glad to have you with us.

Before you spend the money for an HD monitor, consider getting screen protector film for the monitor you have. Most screen protector films not only help prevent scratching of the screen, but serve to cut glare as well.

If they don't make an anti-glare film for your specific monitor, you can get one for an iPad or other tablet computer and trim it to fit. Whichever make/model of screen protector you get, make sure it has a matte finish to cut glare, and that it pulls off without leaving a sticky residue if you want to replace it.

[joemikeb]

HD is unlikely to solve your issue. Protagonists idea might work, but your best bet is to come up with a shield that blocks the sun's glare from getting to the screen. I haven't looked recently but a few years ago there were several mounting iPhone/iPad brackets on the market with an "eyebrow" projection to shed the screen.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by scott.semone

Back-Up L.E.D. Lights - Future Project: I'm going to install L.E.D. (Wheelen) white lights under the rear area of the Sprinter; forward and aft of the rear wheels (four lights total). The plan is to have all four lights illuminated when in Reverse, and have the two lights on the curb side (passenger) come on when I use the patio light switch.

Originally Posted by scott.semone

WHELEN stuff is super bright and high quality.

I'll post something once I finish up the lighting project.

Wondering if you ever did the backup lites w/ LEDs and if so, was there any problems w/ the MB diagnostic circuitry.

[Boxster1971]

I finally got around to installing a front and new rear camera on my Interstate. I feed the video into my Kenwood DNX7190 in much the way Scott did it at the beginning of this tread. I kept the original Sony camera installed by Airstream attached to the Pyle mirror monitor because mine works fine and I like it. I wanted a front camera and a lower rear cameras for parking/maneuvering. Since the Kenwood DNX7190 will also take two camera inputs I thought this would be straight forward as in Scott's description. Wrong! After installing both cameras and getting ready to complete the hook up I found that Airstream had actually cut off the Kenwood camera control input wires right at the plug as seen in this photo.

Those two green wires cut off at the connector were for connection to a Kenwood CMOS camera to enable the touch screen control of the camera. So first task was fixing those cut wires - a challenging job. I got it done and cleaned up the Airstream wire bundles covered wire sticky electrical tape. Here a photos of the front and rear cameras.


Here are screen shots of the front and rear camera video on the Kenwood unit.


Those blue and green bins in front of van were not visible from the driver seat - so I'm pleased with the results.


- - Mike
2013 Interstate Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[73shark]

Does the rear camera produce the superimposed line projections?