I am in the middle of installing back up camera and LockPick (literally) when I realized that I don't have instructions/idea to which wires I need to tap for power? Yeah I know very stupid of me.
So what wires do I need to tap into for power to ensure two things:
1. Back up camera automatically turns on and MyGig screen shows camera feed whenever I switch my Auto tranny into reverse.
2. I want to be able to switch MyGig into rear view camera mode whenever I want to (for those times when I got too much crap in the back and rear view mirror not helping)

Nobody did this mode?

Does the camera have two or three wires? I'm looking to see if it has power, ground, and a reverse trigger or if it is only power and ground.

After half a day leading wires and installing LockPick I still don't have a working back up camera.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Camera came with two wires:

1. Long video wire with red (power) thin wires coming off of each end of the video wire for simplicity lets call this wire VIDEO
2. Short (about 3 feet) power wire that has mail connector into camera power. The other end of this wire splits into red and black thin wires. For simplicity we’ll call it POWER wire.
3. Camera itself has two wires out with female connectors - power and video inputs.
4. I ran the VIDEO cable from the back to the front, now I have video male with split thin red wire coming off of it on both ends – front of the jeep and rear.

The LockPikck instructions tell me to connect power wire into orange/black 12V wire on the LockPick that labeled "BackUp camera V12 power". It also asking for the ground to be connected from the camera into the ground wire that comes off of the LockPick. However, I don't have a ground power from the camera at the head unit location (remember, only one thin red wire comes off of the VIDEO wire on each end).

So here is how I wired it:
1. Red thin wire that comes off of the VIDEO wire plugged into the orange/black wire off of LockPick.
2. In the rear, I connected red thin wire that comes off of the VIDEO cable to the “reverse hot” wire (I found that gray wire with white stripe is actually responsible for the power when I shift into reverse).
3. I also connected black thin ground from the short POWER cable that came with the camera into the black ground that leads to the rear stop light.

After all of the above I only had one more thin red wire hanging loose - it s part of the POWER wire that came with the camera.
At this point I assumed I should be able to see what’s on camera when I put it reverse. Well, nope no picture.
I took it one more step farther – I connected loose thin red wire from the POWER wire into the same “reverse hot” wire.
STILL NOTHING! What am I doing wrong?

When I hit reverse the LickPick recognizes it and switches MyGig into reverse mode input, but I got no feed from the camera, the screen is black. What am I doing wrong?

Without tearing my dash apart and unleashing a nightmare of wires, the only lame help I have is my memory. I simply followed the directions. One or two RCA wires and a black power wire hooked up to mine. You have to have the camera that they sell too. Not just any camera. I have the knock off lockpick but I'm sure installation is the same.

I agree, I would need to know which camera brand you have in order to solve this problem. I have installed over a hundred back up cameras at my job but I have never dealt with the lockpick version. Since Charles has used this device before I am tempted to agree with the notion that you will need either a lockpick brand or another knock off. Since this camera is a proprietary product I do not think there is a way to integrate it into both the reverse input and as a basic video input to the lockpick. Using an aftermarket brand that is not proprietary gives some room so that the electronics can be manipulated to provide what you need. Unfortunately this means you will have to replace the video unit as well which defeats the lockpick and the factory look.

I got a basic cheapo camera off of ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_2157wt_939

I believe that the lockpick reverse camera is operated through a data connection so no matter what camera is used the picture will still show. The problem you are having is that the lockpick power and ground for the reverse camera might not be a true 12 volt supply and therefore not enough to power any camera other than the proprietary one. Instead of using the lockpick's power and ground, try connecting the camera directly to another power and ground (preferably the radio) and see if the picture comes up on the screen when in reverse. If so I can help you wire the system so that you can have both a backup camera and a camera for any use.

Yep, tried, that up above I described that I was hooking up camera power into the reverse light wire which comes up hot when I shift into reverse.

I am starting to think that I need to purchase the so much more expensive proprietary LockPick camera in order to make it work :-(. $70 versus $15 that is a big difference.

Where did you get the lockpick? If you got it from TVandNAV2Go, pm me your email and I can send you the instructions.


You should not need the proprietary camera.


Cheers!

PM sent

Please see the write-up I did on installing the lockpick.

The white harness is an optional feature that gives you the ability to hook up more A/V inputs to the unit as well as cameras. This is probably only for the TVandNAV2Go version.

Yours probably looks more like this.

Here's a picture from the camera post.

I see two cables:
1. Video (Yellow, RCA)
2. DC (Black with a barrel plug on the end)

From an earlier post, you mentioned a red wire coming from the RCA cable? Hmm...

Try, hooking up the camera RCA to the RCA input labeled "REV IN" on the lockpick. Then, the red wire coming out of the barrel plug (or whatever wire pings out to be connected to the inner conductor of the barrel) will go to your lockpick wire (orange/black). The other wire (I'm assuming black) that comes out of your barrel plug (or whatever wire is connected to the outer conductor of the barrel) should go to the black wire of the lockpick. If that doesn't work, I would try connecting the black wire to a chassis ground. It's a good rule of thumb to connect video grounds to a chassis and not a "return" or "floating" ground coming back from a light.

Anything yet?

I tried exactly what you said up there, except trying to connect black wire to the chassis.

I would definitely try the chassis ground. Also, you may want to check your dip switches on the box to be sure. Maybe resetting the unit?

If you have a TV with A/V in, run an extension chord out to the Jeep and make sure you are getting a video signal from that cheap-o camera. Hook 'er right up to the battery posts. If that doesn't work, you're camera isn't working. If it does work, you're probably going to need another camera anyway.

Sorry, dude. That's really all I got.

Oh! One more thing...try hooking the camera up to the head unit without the RCA extension cable. Sometimes those little CCD cameras struggle pushing a video signal through a long line.

After all that...Call Coastal Tech and ask them for help.

Also, if they suggest doing something...don't just say, "I did that." As silly as it sounds, the easiest things can be over looked and trying it again is never a bad thing.

Good luck!

Thanks.

any luck?

Ok, guys, last night I went into local BestBuy and purchased another back up camera. I connected it directly to the battery (red and black wires) and ran video feed to LockPick. STILL no video feed :-(. The moment I shift into reverse the screen turns black, but no video. So could it be that LockPick is at fault here?

Did you take the lens cap off?

JK. I would get send that box back and get one from Dominic at TVandNAV2Go.

My last $.02