Wireless, Solar Powered Back Up Camera

By Tom VandenBerg,  O’Tug – NT37-110, Solomons, MD

We just completed our 9th trip up and down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW).  In the 11 years we’ve been transiting the AICW, we’ve witnessed a steady decline of courtesy specifically with the faster boats calling the slower boats for a ‘slow pass.’  During this past fall and winter transits, it was a steady ‘head on a swivel’ watching for the fast movers coming up behind us and then calling them to request a slow pass.  A few times, we got surprised and we all know how well our Nordic Tugs take a beam sea from a wake. 

I wanted to put a backup camera on the boat for not only watching for the fast movers, but also to assist backing down.  First consideration was where to mount a camera since our Highfield dinghy is on the Weaver davit system and blocks looking aft through the salon. The second consideration was how to power the camera.  My real desire was not to have to drill any holes in the fiberglass or do any additional wiring.

I started researching vehicle back up cameras and my camera power solution was solved when I found this system on Amazon:  Magnetic Backup Camera Wireless Solar: Portable Auto Energy-Saving 7'' Zoom Truck Hitch Trailer Rear View Camera with Monitor Rechargeable Scratch-Proof Reverse Camera for Car RV, model AMTIFO A24.

I picked up some light steel sheet to make a camera mount plate. The camera has a very powerful magnet on that back that is actually removable.  I put several coats of exterior enamel spray paint on the plate to hopefully keep it from rusting. I considered mounting the plate to the fiberglass aft cockpit over hang, however, the height didn’t give me enough visual over the dinghy.  I mounted the camera on the upper deck’s top railing with two rail mounts and since this photo was taken, I flipped the plate over to give the camera more protection from the flapping US Flag.  

The monitor is 7” with a suction cup mount and a 12v power cord that you can either use the 12v cigarette lighter plug or a USB port plug.  I have moved the monitor higher on the side window to keep it in my visual scan.  The monitor has several nice features, ie zoom, wide picture, center the backup guide lines, timer for monitor (15, 30, 60 secs or on constant), flip the picture, etc

Total cost for the project was under $130 with getting the camera system and rail mounts off of Amazon.