Hey wonderful people of the VAG forums,
My first post and I need help (shock). I found a couple of really old threads similar to this but I didn't want to resurrect one of them for fear of this going unnoticed. Happy to move this to one of those if that's a better idea
So... I went and bought a head unit from ebay (RCD330+ or RCD330g, depending on which one you look at) to replace the functional yet somewhat functionless RCD310 that came with the car. The new one came with a OEM plug to RCA connector which is added to the connector block on the back of the unit. Based on the sellers information this is to directly attach a camera which I duly purchased from ebay.
Head unit -->
6.5" Car Stereo RCD330+ MirrorLink,BLUETOOTH,USB,AUX,VW Golf,Caddy,Passat,Polo | eBay
Seller is called eodaworld and has been pretty helpful so far.
Camera -->
Direct Fit RCA Rear View Reversing Reverse Camera Backup For VW Passat B6 B7 CC | eBay
Seller is on holiday and i'd like to get started on fitting this if possible. The camera is part of a unit designed to replace one of the number plate light units.
It seems I don't need any relays or switches and can just connect the RCA connector to the head unit, but I'm having problems with power for the camera itself.
From what I've read so far, I should be able to pick up power directly from the reverse light to run the camera which I assume helps to ensure it is only powered when I'm actually reversing (seems sensible). However, a couple of questions remain on this:
1. As the reverse light is part of the canbus, should I anticipate signal noise (lines in the display) and if so, what can be done to reduce/eliminate this altogether?
2. Can I instead just use the permanent live from the number plate light itself or will this throw errors up on the dash? (Could I use VCDS to ignore the error?)
3. Is there another, more suitable live I can use to power the camera? (NOTE: my B6 does
not have a 12v socket in the boot)
Just to clarify too, the instructions supplied with the camera are a poor translation from Chinese into severely broken English... I'd use them but even the diagram doesn't actually make sense!!
Thanks in advance to any who can offer some friendly advice with this.
PS happy to add images if they'd help, just ask
UPDATE: having to return the camera and source another. The unit fits perfectly in the number plate light hole... but the bulb connector on my car is just an OEM connector (the bulb is housed inside the actual unit) and the camera unit is expecting a twist fit bulb holder. Will update further once i have a new camera unit that actually is a "direct fit"