Negative: Furrion

[Dennis Carpenter]

Got a Furrion back-up camera at the FROG rally. Listen to the sales pitch and decided I needed one. Installed on my 5th wheel with no trouble. Signal cuts off and on mostly off . Book says and the one time I talked to tech support said I had a low signal level, and they had a fix. They were suppose to call me back that afternoon with a fix. That was a week ago and still waiting for the call. Have called several times since then and get voice mail and no return calls.
Know several people who bought these cameras at the rally and all are having the same problems.
Do not buy this brand unless you want a headache

[tmhyer]

Thanks for the forewarning

[B and B]

I am part of the poor signal club with the Furrion as well. Do keep us up to date on this problem. There website is cryptic to contact for warranty, there is a link there bottom right area.

[RhoZeta]

Sounds like you need some sort of repeater, depending on what kind of signal it is should be fairly simple.

[B and B]

It should not need one, they advertise 100 feet range, even when beside the trailer the Signal Strength drops out. It is Digital Spread Spectrum, need to get a analyzer and see what frequency it is.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by B and B

It should not need one, they advertise 100 feet range, even when beside the trailer the Signal Strength drops out. It is Digital Spread Spectrum, need to get a analyzer and see what frequency it is.

I have contacted the US Engineer Manager and they are sending a replacement Camera system to me. I sent him the information he required.

I would give that a try.

Brian

[Dennis Carpenter]

After calling everyday finally talked to tech support. Going to send new system to me to try Said doubt it would fix problem but try it. They are working on a solution and would let me know the out come

[Papicamper]

Only real "fix" I can see would be to buy a shorter rig so the cam transmitter and monitor receiver are closer together! Seriously: They're right! Signal runs out when you put trailer and truck stuff between them. These systems operate up around 1.5 Ghz...microwave region and are extremely susceptible to line of sight, reflected signals, etc. Even a slight movement of one or the other will produce pics or dump them. Proximity is the key. You could test by moving cam/trans to other positions (even a couple inches may work better) but there is no way to make it foolproof short of a stronger transmitter. I'm pretty sure all the units on the market today use very similar, if not identical, circuitry regardless of the bells and whistles on the unit...that's all cosmetics. I tried two wireless units and finally opted for a wired unit (yes, I am able to do that based on my profession as TV broadcast engineer) and I know many folks cannot but if you can find someone to do that you'll be VERY happy. I have 100% solid pic under all conditions, as you'd expect. Wire runs out with unbilical to a 4 pin XLR male/female mounted next to truck bed connector...the rest is ugly fishing of wires and power...but it's great. I hope you can get lucky moving it around a bit...if not try the wired type if at all feasible.

[emt676]

I also am in the same boat I bought mine over the weekend with our new 5th wheel it will not hold a signal either. I have called furrion they are sending me a new unit as well.

[wbdavey]

I have not experience with Furion, but had heard similar problems with nearly all wireless cameras on longer trailers. On my previous 5th wheel (43 feet) I used a hardwired camera system from Rear View Safety. They have lots of different kits and configurations available and a nice 7" screen. A little trouble running the cable all the way to the back of the trailer, but the performance was worth it. My system had a camera on the tailgate of the PU for hitching regular trailers and a camera on the back of the 5th wheel. Kit included all plugs, connectors, cables etc needed for the install and was about $400 as I recall. No interest in the company, just a satisfied customer.

[B and B]

Broadcast engineer as well. I have a Motorola baby monitor RF system. That works just fine its 900 mhz. The fusion is 2.4 ghz and as much as I would the new one to work if and when it arrives I highly doubt it will. I have a patch antenna I am going to mount on top of th e ladder and point at the truck. It has 6 db of gain so here hoping it helps.

Sent from my Z30 using Forest River Forums mobile app

[DaveSchwartz]

My Garmin BC-20 camera still works well - picture has never failed to come up when I flip the headlight switch to 'parking' and the trailer running lights come on.

The BC-20 has the advantage that the transmitter is not in the camera so the signal at least doesn't have to fight its way through the back wall with its aluminum structure first. I attached the transmitter to the inside of the cabinet door frame filler panel in the center of the rear overhead cabinets... signal has a straight shot between the slides with nothing but a few interior wood walls and the front cap betwixt transmitter and truck. Garmin sells a 50ft extension so you could probably mount the transmitter all the way up in the cap if you wanted.

Of course, the GPS and camera were more than just the Furrion camera but I needed a new GPS to replace a 10 year old one anyway.

[The Bandit]

It seems they have updated since this thread was started. There is a new Furrion FOS48TAPK version that has a much longer range. Works great as my rear view mirror while driving with my 25'.

[dbledan]

Important to note the difference between the backup camera Vs the observation camera. The backup camera is low power the observation camera is high power. I have the observation camera and it works great on my 30' TT.

I tried a wireless backup camera I had from a previous trailer and it worked until I put the transmitter in the camera box...then not so much. I would get a picture every few seconds. I gave up and spent the cash on the furrion observation camera and it works great. What a world of difference. I like the other monitor I had but this works fine.

I saw a few $70 units on ebay but didnt want to deal with it a third time.

[Big1]

I'm having the observation camera being install on my TT now.

[Feldhege]

My dealer only sells the observation version because of the poor signal strength of the backup version.