Falcon Technology

We have tried our camera R&R on a trip to Bellingham in Northumberland (300-mile round trip) with a very similar set up to yours Treg towing a Swift Elegance 650, I agree with most of what you have said but i soon got used to the distance of the vehicle behind, remember when it used to say on wing mirrors.The image in the wing mirror may be closer than at first appears, i found it very good for when overtaking HGVs. If i did have one problem that has nothing to do with the camera, more to do with trying to shade the tablet screen from sunlight? Will have to sort this out before we go to Spain I did find that using it in the U.K. you become a bit Blase and tend not to use it that often, not as often as you would use the rearview mirror.

Steve

Thanks for further feedback R&R. I really only want it to see immediately behind me on a tablet when reversing rather than for use on the road so the short comings you have experienced shouldn't matter to me.

peedee

Steve - yes, I experienced the sunlight problem as well.  Before our next trip in a couple of week's time, I may well experiment with where I have the phone mounted.  At the moment, it's on a magnetic mount attached to the air vent to the left of the steering wheel, which isn't ideal either for viewing or catching the sunlight.  My neighbour was showing me a cowl he has found on the internet designed to go over the top of his Tomtom which eliminates the problem of sunlight on the screen and I may have a look around and see if there is anything suitable / adaptable for my phone. The only other comment I would make is that I'm starting to suffer from 'information overload'!  I now have my phone - the Tyrepal TPMS monitor and a Tomtom 6200 (in addition to the fitted Satnav which tends to do it's own thing!) all mounted on my dashboard.  Have to keep reminding myself to look at the road!

I have a C-Class motorhome and the overcab tends to restrict sunlight into the cab, not always but a lot of the time. I use a Samsung Android Tablet as a multifunction device fixed to a sceen mount in the top right of the screen where is does not restrict any forward view. It hosts a Co-Pilot sat nav and my Apps many of which are used for travel and I will use it for the reversing camera when I can get one. (they still seem to be in short supply). I also have a TPMS sytem but I have mounted that below the steering wheel. It is less visible but you don't need to look at it that often and it does emit an audible warning signal when tyre pressures are at fault. I keep my Android phone as a phone and as a back up or more portable device if needed. Apart from the tablet, the only other object mounted on the screen is a dash cam which is fixed behind the rear view mirror.

peedee

Hi peedee, please excuse my naivety but what the hell is a TPMS System  and do i need one????. Or is it a M/H secret. Just read R&Rs reply and i now know what it stands for silly me !!!. As for the shading of the screen, well when we finish the enormous box of Corn Flakes we've got I'm going to go back to my Blue Peter years and make one myself it can't be any harder than "Tracy Island"?.

Steve

I think TPMS stands for tyre pressure monitoring system. We don't have them, nothing wrong with a manual check 😉. I read reports/comments that they can set alarms off or give false info 😲 modern technology 

I agree sometimes one has to stop and regroup over the use of initial referrng to posters. In some cases there are more than one poster with the same abbrevited initial!

I believe all new vehicles these days must be fitted with a TPMS system. On my motorhome they are an after sales fit and I have never been happy with it. The front wheel sensors are too exposed to the elements and have failed one to many times. I now only monitor my rear wheels which are more protected from the wet and road grime. With regard to them triggering for no reason, on the retrofit ones, you can set at what point the alarms are riggered, get that right and it is not a problem.

peedee

PD - correct - TPMS was compulsory on all vehicles registered after October 2014.  I have been pleased with the Tyrepal system as fitted by Bailey (albeit that you have to shell out an additional £99 for the monitor).  It allows me to keep an eye on both pressure and temperature of tyres and the alarm can be set at whatever level you require.  And it does work.  I was unfortunate / stupid enough to clip the gritstone kerb outside Reception at Hawes CC site a couple of years ago resulting in a tear in the sidewall and instant deflation.  The noise from the alarm was deafening!  Having had a bad experience on the M5 a few years ago, towing a boat trailer behind a Disco - which unbeknown to me had a shredded tyre with no adverse effects on handling - I wouldn't be without TPMS.  Didn't know it had happened until someone went passed and flagged me down.

Back to the Falcon WiFi reversing camera. I have had one for about six months now and I have been using it with the RoadVue App. I am not that happy with it because it keeps cutting out at critical moments. The picture is great when it is there but it disappears after about 30 secs but I can get it back by restarting the App only for it to cut out again. I have had a word with Falcon but haven't really had a satisfactory explanation as to why this happens. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how was it solved?

peedee

It's happened on mine a couple of times when I've been setting up and the picture has frozen suggesting the Wifi signal has been lost. Re-starting has solved the problem and I've suspected that although my phone is showing it is locked onto the camera Wifi, the house Wifi might be interfering with it. I've not had a problem whilst driving (yet!)

I'm wondering if there may be a battery problem with your camera and the Wifi signal isn't as strong as it should be?