This past season Haloview sent me their new
Haloview Byte Tango BT7 Observation Camera System to review. I had previously tried their MC5111 and Range Dominator 5 systems and liked both those systems, so I wanted to give the new BT7 a try because the monitor is now claimed to be 1080P vs the 720P of the previous systems.
My Rockwood Signature fifth wheel is about 34’ long so the range of a wireless camera system might be a challenge. The BT7 camera installed easily with mounting screw holes that match the pattern on the Furrion-ready mount that came with my trailer. The system includes a camera mounting bracket that conceals the excess cable and acts as a rain hood. The BT7 comes with a repeater that I mounted in the front storage compartment in front of my batteries. There are lots of YouTube videos on the installation and setup of Haloview systems so I didn’t bother to document that. The camera and 7” IPS monitor were already paired in the box so I didn’t have to do that.
I used the BT7 system on all our camping trips this past season and it performed flawlessly. Using the repeater, the camera never lost connection with the monitor. The 1080P camera in the BT7 system did appear to provide a more crisp and more vibrant image compared to the MC5111 and the RD5. The video image is smooth and clear. In addition to providing a very good image with good colour, the monitor is also usable with polarized sunglasses on. That’s something I couldn’t do with the original Furrion monitor.
As with most, if not all, wireless camera systems, there is some latency (delay in showing the image) of the video although the latency in the BT7 system is improved. Watching vehicles pass me, the delay seems to be less than a second. (Haloview claims its 100 milliseconds). My understanding is that the latency is probably due to the time needed for image processing and wireless transmission to the monitor.
Although I didn't have an opportunity to tow in the rain with it, it has rained heavily since I installed it and it seems to be waterproof. I haven’t read any online reports about that being an issue so I have to assume that it is IP69K waterproof as advertised. Also, the image at night is very usable.
The new monitor has buttons along the side of the screen rather than under the screen as the other systems had. I liked that better. The interface to control system settings was fairly easy to use but does take some time to get familiar with. It could be more intuitive. The icons are easy to understand but understanding how to navigate the menus required that I re-read the manual a couple of times.
The camera includes a microphone and it was actually decent when my DW helped me to back into campsites.
While the BT7 package includes a couple of mounts, it doesn’t include a suction cup windshield mount for the monitor, so Haloview sent me their new
AM40 Arm Mount with Super Suction Cup. Its quite long but held the monitor solidly in place. The BT7’s monitor was not compatible with the monitor mounts that came with the previous generation systems because the built-in mounting bracket attachment point is different.
Overall, I’m very happy with the Haloview BT7 Observation Camera System and highly recommend it. It’s a nice improvement over the already good previous generation systems.
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