Haloview BT7 Touch Rear Camera installation on 2022 LEII

[dhaig]

I recently purchased a Haloview BT7 Touch Rear Camera to replace the Furrion Vision S Camera System (Model F0S43TADS) we purchased as an accessory option on our 2022 LEII.  Following delivery of our trailer in February, 2022, it was quickly evident the Furrion camera was largely useless. I continued to use the Furrion camera, with increasing frustration.  The very limited view to the rear was a safety issue.  I began to research RV rear cameras and after reading many reviews selected the Haloview BT7 Touch.   I was impressed by the specs and favorable reviews, but failed to note the camera is designed to mount to a vertical rear wall, not the sloping rear roof of an LEII.

 

I could have returned the Haloview camera, but I did not see a good second choice.   Thus, I decided to fabricate a mount to be installed in the same position as the Furrion camera.  The result is the custom mount below:

 

 

 

Fabrication Process

I had some black acrylic sheet, .010" thick, from a prior project (See: Window Vent Mod- Louvered Ventilators), which seemed suitable material for a camera mount.  I had some thicker acrylic sheet, but decided to first use the thinner sheet to create a mockup by bending the acrylic sheet.  Initially, I had concerns the thinner sheet would not be sufficiently rigid to hold the camera steady, but I was not sure I could bend the thicker sheet.

 

The Furrion camera and its mounting gasket were removed from the roof of our LEII and used to begin the layout of the base for the new mount.  I wanted to use the four existing holes in the roof which held the Furrion camera in place.  I had a scrap piece of acrylic about 7" wide and 20" long.  I used 2" blue painter's tape applied to the acrylic and, with a fine point mechanical pencil, began marking out the mounting hole pattern from the Furrion gasket.

 

Next, I flipped the scrap sheet of acrylic over, applied blue tape and began positioning the Haloview camera on the tape.  My initial concept was to have the main part of the mount be a single piece of acrylic bent to an angle of approximately 80 degrees.  When mounted to the sloped roof of the trailer, the face of the mount would be approximately vertical for mounting the Haloview camera.  The layout of the mounting base resulted in the base being approximately 2.0" wide, and the nearly vertical mounting face approximately 3.5" tall.  I also allowed about 0.75" for the bend radius.  So, before bending the rectangular sheet of acrylic was approximately 6.25" x 7.0".  I cut this piece from the end of the 20" long scrap.

 

Before bending, I drilled all needed holes in the mount base, as marked during the layout process.

 

NOTE:  See YouTube for many useful videos on bending acrylic sheets.

 

To bend the mounting base, I sandwiched the rectangular piece of acrylic between two pieces of scrap wood approximately 12" x 3", with the acrylic area to be bent aligned on the long side of the wood scraps.  I extended the acrylic from the wood scrap approximately 2.5" to 3.0" in preparation for bending.  I clamped the sandwiched pieces to my workbench to ensure it would not move during the bending process.  Using a heat gun, I began to heat the area to be bent, moving back and forth.  Wearing gloves, I held two other pieces of wood, each approximately 2" x 5".  As the acrylic became heated, I applied gentle pressure to the extended portion of the acrylic, using the pieces of wood in my hand.

 

I continued to move the heat gun along the bend area until I could begin to bend the acrylic.  As the acrylic began to bend, I used care to keep the bend straight and at 90 degrees to the sides.  I used a steel carpenter's square to test the acrylic as I bent it.  As I approached the desired finished bend angle, I released the acrylic to check the angle.  Satisfied with the bend angle I trimmed the top of the mounting base to the contour of the Haloview mounting gasket with a scroll saw.

 

Having the mounting base bent as desired, I began to plan how I would make it sufficiently rigid to hold the camera steady.  The photo below shows the other parts which would comprise the rear support area.  Also at the rear I wanted to enclose the wiring connecting the camera to the 12VDC power from the trailer.

 

  

Haloview BT7 Camera and mount parts

Once the mounting base was bent as desired, I cut two pieces approximately 1" wide from either end of the mounting base using a table saw.  These two pieces became the support brackets.  Being bent at the same angle as the mounting base, they fit well to backup the mounting face.  The triangular gussets also add rigidity, being bonded to the mounting base and the support brackets.  The photo below shows the mounting base (face down) with the support brackets and gussets attached at the rear.  Acrylic cement was used to weld all parts together.

 

Mounting base face down with support brackets and gussets in place

 

Side view of mounting base with support brackets and gussets in place 

  

To protect the power supply wiring from UV exposure and squirrels, I added a cover and a top piece across the gussets.  The rear compartment does not need to be watertight, since the wiring connectors are watertight.  Haloview includes a short adapter which connects to the existing Furrion connector protruding from the roof.  The photos below show the camera on the mounting base and cover from the rear and side views.

 

Mounting base and cover (Rear)

  

 

 

Mounting base and cover (Side)

 

Mounting the Camera to the LEII

When I removed the Furrion camera from the roof of the trailer, I noticed several things:

• The 12VDC power supply wiring passes through a hole in the trailer and was effectively sealed with the white caulking used throughout the trailer.  This was not visible before removing the Furrion mounting gasket.
• The sealant was in good condition, however, it formed a small mound on the roof of the trailer.  The base of Furrion camera was hollow and the mounting gasket conformed to the mound, allowing the outer shell of the camera to meet the trailer roof.
• The holes for the screws holding the camera to the trailer roof are NOT through holes, reducing the risk of water leaks into the trailer.
• The Furrion camera was not mounted at the lateral center point of the trailer, but not so far off that I had noticed in over three years using the trailer.
• The Furrion camera was also not quite parallel to the Oliver sign just below its mounting position.  From the ground this was not perceptible.

There were multiple trial fittings of the new mount as the fabrication process proceeded.  From these fittings the following adjustments were made:

• The mounting holes for the new base were elongated (using a Dremel tool) to permit the new mount to be swiveled slightly in azimuth to have the front face of the camera parallel with the top edge of the Oliver sign.  
• Two acrylic "runners" approximately 0.5" wide and 2.0" long, were attached to the bottom of the mounting base to straddle the mound of caulk where the power supply wire passes through the roof.
• I reused the mounting screws, putting fresh caulk into the screw holes and around the screws. 
• The new mount covers the same area where the power supply wire passes through the roof.  It is protected from UV by the new mount, but water can run under the new mount.

 

The Results

The Haloview BT7 comes with two mounts, one with a suction cup for windshield mounting, the other a 3M VHB bonded disk for attachment to the upper dashboard.  I prefer the windshield mount, which is substantial and widely adjustable.  It is very stable, with no vibration.  The signal strength indicated on the monitor showed a 5 bar strong connection to the rear camera.

 

Monitor comparison- Haloview 7" vs. Furrion 4.3" (diagonals)

 

Yesterday, I took a 35 mile shakedown cruise for the camera on the way to the storage facility.  The Haloview camera and monitor have met all my expectations.  The visibility to the rear is vastly improved.  I now see vehicles approaching in the same lane and in lanes on either side.  I was particularly impressed to see merging traffic entering the highway on my right, before I could see them in my mirrors.  Overtaking traffic is now seen well before they come abreast of the trailer.

 

In bright Texas sun, the video on the monitor is clear and not washed out.  There is no jitter in video from the camera, and the signal was always strong, even with the antennas folded horizontally across the top of the monitor.  The touch screen controls work well and are easily used while driving.  Also, my custom mount proved to be very solid, with no vibration of the video due to camera movement.

I recommend the Haloview BT7 Touch camera to anyone considering replacing their Furrion rear camera.  Unfortunately, Haloview does not appear to have a roof mount adapter available.  I had sent an email query to Haloview Support and received a reply indicating they did have such a mount and provided the following URL: https://www.haloview.com/bt-series-camera-peaked-cap-bracket-compatible-with-furrion-and-voyager-pre-wired-rvs.html.  Nothing on this page convinced me it was a roof mount.  It does say the Furrion hole pattern is matched for mounting to the trailer.  But only if the Furrion camera was mounted to a vertical surface.  I have not yet received a reply to my email pointing out they sent me a link to a vertical mount.

I hope this is useful to other OTT owners with Furrion cameras.

Regards, Don

[Snackchaser]

Nice work Don, very creative and well documented!

Being such a handy guy, you might also like my post "Turning on the rear camera automatically."   It sure beats always having to remember to flip the camera switch on and off every time.

Cheers!  Geoff

[dhaig]

@Snackchaser, thanks for the kind words.  I have admired you many technical posts.  I recall seeing your posting on turning on the rear camera.  I had several  projects in my queue at the time, but will revisit.

Don

[Steve Morris]

Don, how persistent is the connection between the camera and the display? Are you seeing dropouts and/or lag? After seeing Mike Urbancic (@Boilermake Chemist) using a Haloview MC7108 at this year's rally, I ordered one, too, along with this adaptor plate with furring to Haloview connectors.

https://a.co/d/iMfzTgw

The setup worked beautifully in the driveway!  But a couple of weeks later when we took our trip to Adirondack Park was the first time I used it on the road. As soon as I got up over 30 or so MPH, I started getting a lot of dropouts. And when there was a signal, a lot of the time there was significant delay. I'd see cars beside me that were just coming into view on the backup camera screen. We moved the receiver all over the dash, against the sunroof, Deb holding it next to the window, all while adjusting the antenna to get best signal. Nothing helped.

We were on a 10 day trip, and my return window was 4 days away, so I'm stuck with it. Worse, the Fusion camera and monitor were at home in the garage. I don't really use the camera for backing up, instead preferring it for lane changes and keeping an eye on traffic approaching from behind. I've got it on Facebook Marketplace now, describing how it would be good for something shorter like a truck camper or back of a truck cap. But no interest so far. Haloview Customerservice was useless, answering there first email with generic tips, and never answering the next three or four I sent...

So, I'm curious to see how yours works with two antenna on the monitor. The only thing I can think of to cause my unit (and many others after reading more reviews) to lose signal at speed is due to 4K bandwidth of the new camera compared to whatever low resolution is on the original Furrion. But it can't just be interference from engine noise, because I manually kept the truck in first gear to test it at low speeds but high RPM, and no loss of signal or delay. I'm perplexed.

[dhaig]

Steve,

Sorry to hear of your poor experience with the Haloview MC7108.  I am not familiar with this model, which apparently dates to 2019, based on the dates of YouTube reviews.  The BT7 Touch, which I purchased, apparently dates to 2024.

My experience with the BT7 Touch is limited to my 35 mile drive on Saturday and driveway testing following installation.  In no case did I observe any flicker, dropouts or lag when viewing the monitor mounted to the windshield using the suction cup mount.  The image was quite stable.  As I mentioned, I folded the two antennas to rest horizontally on top to the monitor, which had no discernible effect on the performance of the monitor.  If I recall correctly, the on screen signal strength meter dropped from 5 bars to 4.

Also, on my short test drive, I was frequently looking back and forth from the TV mirrors to the BT7 Touch Monitor to compare the views to the rear and sides.  The images on the BT7 Touch Monitor seemed to be real time images, with no delay, based on what I was seeing in the TV mirrors.  We tow with a 2014 BMW X5 35d, using the standard door mounted side mirrors, plus a pair of Milenco MIL-2912 Grand Aero 3 Towing Mirrors.  I have used these for 3-½ years, the entire time we have owned our LEII.  I am very familiar with the view to the rear and sides provided by the mirrors, and I was comparing the increased visibility using the Haloview camera/monitor.

We have a 200+ mile trip  scheduled beginning August 27 (coincidentally 4 days prior to the closure of our Amazon return window).  This will give me 3-4 hours driving time each way to observe the performance of the BT7 Touch camera/monitor.  I will be happy to post an update following a trip of 400+ miles.

Also, a minor clarification- The Haloview MC7108 Monitor resolution is apparently 1024x600, 720P high definition, not 4K.  For reference, my Furrion, Model F0S43TADS, had resolution of 480x272.  The Haloview BT7 Touch Monitor is 1920 x 1080, the resolution of 1080p (Full HD).

Regards, Don

[Steve Morris]

Thank you! Great information and I look forward to hear how it works on your trip. 

[mossemi]

I purchased a Haloview BT7 last November to replace my original Voyager system and have about 1700 miles of camping with it.  It has exceeded my expectations so far.  The only issue for me is the annoying pair of antennas on the display.  I usually remove the display from the tv when setting up camp and the antennas were a pain to deal with until I replaced them wiith the antennas pictured below.  They have made the display perfect for me.

 

@dhaig

I was aware of the camera mounting issue before purchasing and fabricated a ‘L’ shaped piece of stainless steel sheet metal to mount my camera to the roof.  It does not look as nice as your mount, but it is functional.  I simple spliced in to the original Voyager 12V power wiring and all is working as originally installed.

@Steve Morris

  I have not experienced any signal issues between the camera and display.  Haloview offers antennas with long coax cables to move the antenna to the front of the trailer for the BT7, but they don’t get very good reviews due to the fact that antennas are fixed at 90°.  I would think that any 2.4G WiFi antenna and coax cable extension would help get the camera signal to the display.  And I just had a thought, are you using your PEPWAVE system when this signal issue occurs?

Mossey

 

[dhaig]

@mossemi, thanks for the info on the stubby antennas.  I will keep them in mind as I start using our BT7.  Since the performance with the antennas laid horizontal over the top of the monitor, I will see how this works out.  Do you see comparable signal strength from the study antennas as you did from the original antennas?

I also take the monitor out of our TV when we setup camp.  I have a translucent Sterilite storage container where I store the monitor, wireless brake controller, etc.  I keep the storage container on a shelf in the closet when camped or the trailer is in storage.  I wrap the monitor in a scrap piece from non-slip rug pads to protect it in storage.

[mossemi]

I have never been a fan of the signal strength monitors on cell phone's.  They are a lot like gas gauges, each tic mark is about 20% which is not enough granularity to be very useful, so I don’t really pay too much attention to them.  I haven’t noticed much degradation of the video on screen, but I don’t pay that much attention to the screen while driving.  I do find the rear view camera very beneficial when executing lane changes and monitoring approaching traffic.  
We sometimes use the display in the Ollie as a security device.

Mossey

[Steve Morris]

11 hours ago, mossemi said:

@Steve Morris

  I have not experienced any signal issues between the camera and display.  Haloview offers antennas with long coax cables to move the antenna to the front of the trailer for the BT7, but they don’t get very good reviews due to the fact that antennas are fixed at 90°.  I would think that any 2.4G WiFi antenna and coax cable extension would help get the camera signal to the display.  And I just had a thought, are you using your PEPWAVE system when this signal issue occurs?

Thanks, Mike. Yes, the Pepwave system is on all the time. But if that's causing interference, I would think it would also occur stationary and with the Furrion system. The Furrion has been reinstalled, with a new dash mount instead of the window suction cup mount. I might see if the 7" compatible display is available so I can see it without glasses.

[FloraFauna]

5 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

I might see if the 7" compatible display is available so I can see it without glasses.

Please let us know what you find here. I too find the Furrion of very limited value and the tiny, dimly-lit display doesn't help.  The larger Furrion display is worth a try if it syncs with the existing camera.

[Boilermaker Chemist]

@Steve Morris, sorry to hear about your issues.  Knock on wood I haven't had any issues to date and just posted my install to this forum.  On my Winnie Minnie I purchased the external antenna and attached it on top of the air conditioner shroud.  You might try that.  But mine works fine on the Ollie without it.