GPS w/Rearview Camera

If the camera interface to the Magellan is Bluetooth, then the chances of getting it to work with someone elses unit is slim. The pairing is probably done to an internal code that automatically links the two and another unit wouldn't have the code and passwords necessary.

I am not familiar with Magellan at all, but I did see a discussion on another forum about using a Magellan 1700 with a backup camera. Maybe there will be something useful for you over there or perhaps the members who posted there can help you: http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewtopic.php?t=21775

Thank you so much for letting me know! That sounds like exactly my problem! I'm going to go try out the suggestion today!

I bought the 1700 specifically for this need and have it working with no problem feeding the video to the AV jack on the unit.

The "confuser" is the wiring of the 1/8" four conductor plug that plugs into the gps...

...the base of the four conductor plug is not ground, but video.

Wire the video to the plug base, the next ring from the base is ground and the top two rings are stereo audio.

I'm using an inexpensive wired camera ($10) with the power wired into the backup light power... flawless.

Hope that this information is of value.
Beverly Howard

I have two 1700's. My car unit uses the Magellan 1700 plus the Magellan backup camera. Installation is straight-forward, with the camera sending NTSC color video to a transmitter module (limited to several feet away by supplied cables, and must be mounted inside vehicle shell). The camera and transmitter pair draw about 1/4 Amp from your reverse light, so this shouldn't present any problems because a typical reverse light draws between 1 and 2 Amps by itself. The transmitter radiates a modulated signal (guessing in the 300 MHz region) to a receiver which is clipped on the rear of the 1700's dash mount. The receiver then sends a video signal into the 1700's AV port. Magellan provides a new power pack that feeds both the 1700 and the receiver. BTW, the 1700 autosenses the presence of video at the AV port, and switches to video view mode whenever video is present. My only gripe is that the camera "fisheye" is a bit too much, but that's an esthetic complaint. Also, the frame refresh rate is slow, certainly not 30 fps, so you see a slightly jerky motion as you back up, possibly a bit annoying if you are making a sharp turn too.
My motorhome 1700 uses a zero lux color surveillance camera (it automatically turns on its own IR LED illuminators to see in zero light, but since I like overkill, I also added a pair of 55 Watt halogen backup auxillary lamps). This camera is hard-wired; that is, I had to run coax all the way from the camera to the 1700's AV port. Nice thing here is that the frame rate is the full NTSC 30 fps, so I see Smooth motion all the time. Plus, the camera uses no fisheye lens.
So, if you want easy wireless and don't mind a slow frame rate, go with the Magellan package. If you like to play with cameras and coax, then use whatever video source you like.