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My GPS really came in handy on my trip. Accessing my manually operated positioning back-up device was difficult as driving my truck, at just about any speed, requires two hands and your full attention. When you are already averaging less than 50 MPH, stopping to look at a map would pull down your average even more.
My "Bob Jones" power source also worked well. The only difficulty occurred at the end of the first day's run. My battery was almost fully discharged at that point because my generator wasn't charging, and the GPS stopped working as a result. The next day, with the battery charged up to 6.8 V's overnight, the GPS performed beautifully the entire 9 hour run.
Now that you have mastered the maually operated positioning device; maybe you could look into the pusbutton image capturing device and post some pictures of your road trip ?
It sounds like it is going to be an adventure for sure. How's the engine holding up to the constant use ? No leaks or over heating I hope.
Hey Tom--The engine is running great--no leaks or oil consumption. I can't be sure about overheating because the gauges don't work, but it seems fine--the paint is not burning off the engine at least.
It's true, I have been negligent in posting pictures. I'll try to do better. Just keeping up with the driving part of this adventure has been taxing, however. After all, you have to drive fast enough so as not to be pulled over by the police, but still slow enough so that when crossing over railroad tracks parts don't start falling off your truck. You also need to keep track of the number of cars behind you and get your truck off the road and out of everybody's way when the number exceeds two.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a rear view camera? Visibility is poor for panel trucks, and I'm thinking a rear view camera might be just the thing to make driving mine a little safer. I can get a wireless camera designed to work with my GPS for about $150. Has anyone had any first hand experience? My GPS runs fine on 6V. Would a camera that needs to generate a signal for a remote receiver do so as well? My GPS is a Garmin Smart-Drive 61 and the camera that goes with it is a BC-30. Thanks.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a rear view camera? Visibility is poor for panel trucks, and I'm thinking a rear view camera might be just the thing to make driving mine a little safer. I can get a wireless camera designed to work with my GPS for about $150. Has anyone had any first hand experience? My GPS runs fine on 6V. Would a camera that needs to generate a signal for a remote receiver do so as well? My GPS is a Garmin Smart-Drive 61 and the camera that goes with it is a BC-30. Thanks.
Jim
It looks like there are some wired versions that work on 6v OK but as best as I can find wireless needs 12v. I was surprised how inexpensive they are.
Pete, that's interesting that there are so many 6v cameras. I hadn't done a search specifically for 6v systems. In my "travels", I found some wireless cameras that use AA batteries to power the transmitter. I was thinking the transmitter would require a lot of power, but if they can be AA battery powered--that may not be the case. Maybe a 12v transmitter will run on 6v just like a GPS will?
Jim
P.S. QuickVu is an example of a battery powered camera with a built-in wireless transmitter. The monitor for this system is 12v.
Jim what GPS are you using. I’ve been thinking about a rear view camera for my 56 Panel. Actually my 16 F150 has one and it’s nice for hooking up trailers too!
I have a little up-date to share on the rear view camera situation. For Christmas, I received a Garmin BC 30 wireless backup camera as well as a Digiten DC-DC converter.
The camera should be compatible with my Smart Drive 61 GPS. The Digiten converter is supposed to step-up my battery voltage from 6V up to 12V at 10 amps. We'll see. With 10 amps available, I may be able to convert my tail light circuit to 12V. That would be nice.
The last of our Holiday guests are leaving tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to moving my truck to my friend's shop (again) and getting started on re-wiring my charging system and instrument panel--also installing my new toys.
I'll be sure to let you know how the back-up camera works out.
...So it's taken awhile, but today was the day. My rear view camera is finally installed and functioning! I opted to use my (unused) blower switch to move back and forth between GPS and camera mode rather than relying on the touch screen. It works great.
I should have washed the windshield! Sorry. The GPS looks like a living room size flat screen TV, but it's actually the usual size for a GPS unit.
...So it's taken awhile, but today was the day. My rear view camera is finally installed and functioning! I opted to use my (unused) blower switch to move back and forth between GPS and camera mode rather than relying on the touch screen. It works great.
I should have washed the windshield! Sorry. The GPS looks like a living room size flat screen TV, but it's actually the usual size for a GPS unit.
Jim
Jim it may be the camera angle but you might get stopped because it creates a large blind spot out the windshield? If so maybe you could move it down and to the right a couple of inches?
Bought A Garmin Smart 61 today, Don't like it as much as my Tom Tom. Went online to register it and got a fake website that took over my computer. The guy Indian sounding (not American Indian) wanted me to pay $149 to do updates. I started shutting down his connections which really pissed him off. I then got a hold of the real site and called Garmin up. The first choice was do you think you got hacked, they know this is going on and don't put a sticker or something on the device to tell customers the correct web site to use. Not a good day!
Don52M3
09-15-2017, 06:57 AM
