Before I go down the rabbit hole of splicing wiring diagrams together, I wanted to see if anyone else has already pursued this. Basically I want to be able to turn on my backup camera (Pioneer ND-BC8) whenever I want, not just in reverse. I know some people accomplish this by just wiring a separate switch to control the camera when they want to look at it. I am trying to avoid adding another switch somewhere, I just want to use a different input selection on the headunit (Pioneer MVH-300EX). I also have the reverse bypass wiring piece as well as I think that will come into play. I haven't installed anything yet as I am trying to do the wiring in one shot. Open to any suggestions on pursuing this option....
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Headunit as switch for backup camera?
- Thread starter chinsH3
- Start date
JPaul
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- Way up north, UT
My Kenwood has a camera button on the controls to bring up the camera whenever, looks like yours has it as a touchscreen option. Page 30 of the owners manual gives directions on activating the camera when not in reverse: https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Car/MVH-300EX_OperationManual032818.pdf
As for powering the camera, if you don't want it on all the time then you'll need to wire a switch to the power. Personally I would just wire the camera to be on when the ignition is on. This is actually how the instructions for the camera show you to wire it in, so Pioneer is expecting the camera to be powered on any time the car is on, not just when it is in reverse. So no worries about warranty or anything like that. The headunit relies on the reverse signal in the headunit's wiring harness to determine if it needs to bring up the backup camera automatically or not, rather than detecting if the camera is on.
So just follow the wiring directions for the headunit and the camera to the letter and you will be fine. If you haven't spliced the headunit's harness to the adapter harness yet then you can simply add the backup camera wiring to the corresponding splices, just need to hook to the ground (black) and the accessory power wire (red according to the headunit installation manual).
As for powering the camera, if you don't want it on all the time then you'll need to wire a switch to the power. Personally I would just wire the camera to be on when the ignition is on. This is actually how the instructions for the camera show you to wire it in, so Pioneer is expecting the camera to be powered on any time the car is on, not just when it is in reverse. So no worries about warranty or anything like that. The headunit relies on the reverse signal in the headunit's wiring harness to determine if it needs to bring up the backup camera automatically or not, rather than detecting if the camera is on.
So just follow the wiring directions for the headunit and the camera to the letter and you will be fine. If you haven't spliced the headunit's harness to the adapter harness yet then you can simply add the backup camera wiring to the corresponding splices, just need to hook to the ground (black) and the accessory power wire (red according to the headunit installation manual).
Traxx, I was just trying to avoid mounting a switch somewhere is all. JPaul no I have not wired or spliced anything yet. And thats what I was hoping, by using the wiring harness as is and the added parking brake bypass, I can bypass the reverse if it is needed. Thanks for the input and I will keep ya'll updated....this might go into a new build thread 
Happy Hummer
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- Wisconsin
Here is a very helpful video for you....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-fZJBg28oCs
I've watched it a few times.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-fZJBg28oCs
I've watched it a few times.