Garmin BC 40 Wireless Backup Camera

 

Has anyone used the Garmin BC 40 Wireless Backup Camera? If so, how good is it?

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wil01
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Gpscity

How are these guys to deal with? It seems like nobody sells the BC 40 in Canada except these guys. I need to buy a Drivesmart 55 also.

bdhsfz6 wrote: From what I'm

bdhsfz6 wrote:

From what I'm reading in this thread, I really don't see a reason to give up my BC30 for the new BC40.

The lack of wiring for the BC40 is a plus for new installations but IMO, it's offset by the required battery replacement. if you know which end of a screwdriver to use, the BC30 wiring is quite easy.

Of course this is just my opinion but unless you have a compatibility issue with your GPSr, I'd stay with the BC30

Yes, absolutely you don’t need to upgrade if you have bc30. Functionality wise, I think both devices are same. It is just the connectivity is different.

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

jackrabbit000 wrote:How are

jackrabbit000 wrote:

How are these guys to deal with? It seems like nobody sells the BC 40 in Canada except these guys. I need to buy a Drivesmart 55 also.

They are pretty good. I got the camera next day. Very fast shipping.. I have previously ordered few items from them. They are very good to deal with.

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

They

jackrabbit000 wrote:

How are these guys to deal with? It seems like nobody sells the BC 40 in Canada except these guys. I need to buy a Drivesmart 55 also.

They are really good to deal with. I have purchased a number of GPS units from them and have always got good service, fast delivery and probably the best day to day pricing of any dealer in Canada.

Would recommend them to anyone.

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Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Upside Up?

At an airport parking lot I removed the camera and threw it in the cab. Returning days later in the middle of the night I found it difficult to orient on re-installation due to the symmetry and the fact that the Garmin name is barely recessed and black-on-black. I haven't done anything yet but it needs something visible or tactile added to tell top from bottom.

minke wrote: At an airport

minke wrote:

At an airport parking lot I removed the camera and threw it in the cab. Returning days later in the middle of the night I found it difficult to orient on re-installation due to the symmetry and the fact that the Garmin name is barely recessed and black-on-black. I haven't done anything yet but it needs something visible or tactile added to tell top from bottom.

I have same concern that someone will unplug it and take it away. So, may be we should remove it every time we park it in a public place?

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

Which

Which is what I said many posts ago.

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Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Why

minke wrote:

At an airport parking lot I removed the camera and threw it in the cab. Returning days later in the middle of the night I found it difficult to orient on re-installation due to the symmetry and the fact that the Garmin name is barely recessed and black-on-black. I haven't done anything yet but it needs something visible or tactile added to tell top from bottom.

Why not just turn the vehicle's lights on? I'm sure that would have given you enough light to see which way the Garmin name was displayed.

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Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

You Are Right, But

t923347 wrote:
minke wrote:

At an airport parking lot I removed the camera and threw it in the cab. Returning days later in the middle of the night I found it difficult to orient on re-installation due to the symmetry and the fact that the Garmin name is barely recessed and black-on-black. I haven't done anything yet but it needs something visible or tactile added to tell top from bottom.

Why not just turn the vehicle's lights on? I'm sure that would have given you enough light to see which way the Garmin name was displayed.

At 2:00 A.M. after two flights thinking is too much to expect. I'm dressed for Florida and in Colorado with rain and temps in the upper 30s. And, and,,, I've hated air travel since before there was a TSA.

You are right of course.

Great Product

I will be looking for one soon based on the input so far.

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romanviking

It doesn't matter

Interestingly enough, from playing with mine, it doesn't matter which way you reinstall it. It seems to automatically detect when it is upside down, or you can flip it in settings if it doesn't detect.

In fact, this was suggested to me by Garmin when I was having early connection issues.

Your

Chickenhawks wrote:

Interestingly enough, from playing with mine, it doesn't matter which way you reinstall it. It seems to automatically detect when it is upside down, or you can flip it in settings if it doesn't detect.

In fact, this was suggested to me by Garmin when I was having early connection issues.

Your right, I had forgotten about the "flip" option in the settings displayed on the GPS screen.

--
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Well

minke wrote:
t923347 wrote:
minke wrote:

At an airport parking lot I removed the camera and threw it in the cab. Returning days later in the middle of the night I found it difficult to orient on re-installation due to the symmetry and the fact that the Garmin name is barely recessed and black-on-black. I haven't done anything yet but it needs something visible or tactile added to tell top from bottom.

Why not just turn the vehicle's lights on? I'm sure that would have given you enough light to see which way the Garmin name was displayed.

At 2:00 A.M. after two flights thinking is too much to expect. I'm dressed for Florida and in Colorado with rain and temps in the upper 30s. And, and,,, I've hated air travel since before there was a TSA.

You are right of course.

I know there are a number of safety related things to do before driving away.. seat belts.. mirrors.. seat position.. But a backup camera can probably be put off till you got home.

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Lives in Edmonton AB A volunteer driver for Drive Happiness.ca and now (since June 20 2021) uses a DS65 to find his clients.

BC-30 - don't think it uses Bluetooth

alandb wrote:
John from PA wrote:

What would really be interesting is a hands on feature comparison of the BC 30 vs. the BC 40. The BC 30 can be wired to the back-up light circuit quite easily.

I think the BC 30 uses Bluetooth for the wireless connection where the BC 40 uses WiFi. That is why the BC 30 is compatible with more older Drive and nuvi models. The nuvi 3597 which has been quite popular with POI Factory members does not support either of these two cameras. I was always surprised that Garmin did not include this support on the 3597.

I'm not convinced that the BC30 uses Bluetooth, at least in the way we think it does (from Camera -> GPS or even from Camera -> BC-30 wire -> Bluetooth -> GPS). You can test this by turning on your GPS without the BC-30 power/receiver wire plugged in and you'll get no backup camera if you put your car in reverse.

Secondly, from what I've gathered, the BC30's wire is traffic ready but it's the old style (FM Traffic) and not the new style (HD(Radio) Traffic). As such, you won't get traffic through it, which kind of sucks, unless you have an older GPS. The 51/61 will not receive traffic through the BC30 power cable. I wish Garmin would have been a bit clearer on their site with this. I see "traffic cable if you're device supports it" and see that my devices (51/61) both support traffic so I should be set! I wasn't.

I kind of hate having to run apps in the background for these things. I just want them to work when I get in and it sucks to be out on the road, not see any traffic on the map or in the routing, but definitely be stuck in traffic and all you think is, "Crap! The app isn't up or my phone restarted so it's not even floating around in the background so now I have to fish it out of my pocket if I'm to use it."

One thing they did do which I like is that they layered the traffic (HD Traffic) so that when your GPS first comes up, you have traffic, but if your phone connects and the app is running, then it picks THAT traffic over HD Traffic and you get a bit more detail for some things like weather, radar, etc.

@BradBishop

Yes, I believe you are correct about the BC 30 not using Bluetooth for the wireless connection … it was an incorrect assumption on my part.

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

Updates

Anyone have an update on the BC 40 now that it's been out for a bit.

After the latest update to

After the latest update to the DriveSmart 65, the BC 40 has worked perfectly.

I keep it on high resolution and even though I have had it on for long periods while adjusting the guidelines, Energizer lithium batteries lasted three months.

One great thing about is that it can be activated at any time by one button click or voice command. That feature isn't available for units connected to a backup circuit.

Think carefully about how want to adjust the guideline. After several trials I decided to have the guidelines match the white lines of a shopping center parking space.

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wil01

Working great so far

I purchased mine in early May this year. So it has been two months now and still using first set of batteries. Works very well for me. It took long time for me set guidelines properly. It has made reverse parking so easy.

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

Tomorrow will be three months and I remain pleased.

Tomorrow will be three months and I remain pleased. There is one location that I frequent that apparently has significant Wi-Fi interference and it won't work there and it sometimes issues a bogus "replace the batteries" message. I haven't replaced the batteries.

The software update since I bought the unit improved the Wi-Fi connect times significantly. Responsiveness to the "camera" button is completely satisfactory.

The recent discussions here at the POI Factory concerning recent changes outlawing the touching of phones and perhaps GPSs is concerning. Is it illegal to touch the "camera" button to turn on the backup camera in some locations?

edit: The automatic gain control keeps the screen readable day and night.

Every case I have heard

Every case I have heard about refers to "handheld" devices." No GPS in an auto should be handheld so that concern should be void.

But in any case, all the rules I have seen allow for a one button click.

Then if you still have a concern, just use the voice command. It requires just one click and works very well.

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wil01

Edit: The voice command,

Edit:
The voice command, "Show Video" doesn't require any clicks. Neither does "Stor Video."

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wil01

Thanks guys for the updates

Ordered one from gpscity.ca this afternoon. Already shipped and I should see it on Monday.

My BC-30 Died so I Bought a BC-40

After 5 years of reliable service, my BC-30 failed. Not sure if it's the camera transmitter or receiver mount. It's a moot point anyway since replacement parts are not available.

Rather than buy another BC-30, based on the reviews here, I decided to try the new BC-40. I guess I'm getting old since I didn't feel like fooling with wiring again.

As many have said, installation was quick & simple. I downloaded the latest software for my new Drivesmart 65 and the pairing went smoothly.

Mounting the camera was fairly simple using the supplied bracket. My only complaint was I had to remove my decorative chrome license plate bezel. The BC-40 bracket won't allow the use of a bezel. I didn't care for the "naked" look of the plain license plate so I ordered these polished stainless steel frames:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M25MOB7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

I cut out the section between the top mounting screws and it fit fine & looks good.

I'm still playing with the line alignment. There are several factors to consider which can vary with different parking situations.

Security was mentioned in a few posts and I can see where it could be an issue. To minimize the theft risk, I've gotten in the habit of backing into parking spots (It's easy with the new camera!). That way, the BC-40 isn't exposed to people walking by. When parking in an airport lot, I'll likely do what another poster suggested and remove the unit.

So far, the performance of the BC-40 is on par with the BC-30. The only significant difference is the 2 to 5 second delay for the camera to boot. This is offset by the fact that the BC-40 can be used while driving. it gives a clear view of traffic behind you and lets you check a trailer when towing.

Depending on battery life, I'll likely try using rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries. Freezing could be an issue though and the 1.25V nominal voltage may cause problems. I'll post with the results.

License Plate Obstruction

License plate obstruction has been discussed here before but I thought I would pass this along. Some states are cracking down on license plate frames that obstruct or make it difficult to read the plate. Yesterday, I received a written warning from the Pennsylvania state police due to my BC-40 camera.

When installed in the default or upper position, the camera partially covers "Pennsylvania" along the top of the plate. Luckily, I was able to reinstall the camera in the optional lower position where it doesn't obscure any plate information.

I though this was a petty offense but it is technically against the law here in Pennsylvania. Luckily, it was just a warning and not a ticket.

Anyone using the BC-40 should be aware of this when installing the camera.

On my Honda Odyssey

I have a black plastic dealer license plate frame that I cut out the top centre piece and spray painted the name/lettering black. The camera fits in between and with the wide black bottom part, it kind of hides the camera and doesn’t make it so obvious. But, it’s still a stupid mount because it basically takes 2 sec to remove it. The BC40 when installed on the default top placement, on my Honda Odyssey, it shades the license plate lights above it. So at night time, you can barely see the license plate.

License plate obstrucrtion

bdhsfz6 wrote:

License plate obstruction has been discussed here before but I thought I would pass this along. Some states are cracking down on license plate frames that obstruct or make it difficult to read the plate. Yesterday, I received a written warning from the Pennsylvania state police due to my BC-40 camera.

When installed in the default or upper position, the camera partially covers "Pennsylvania" along the top of the plate. Luckily, I was able to reinstall the camera in the optional lower position where it doesn't obscure any plate information.

I though this was a petty offense but it is technically against the law here in Pennsylvania. Luckily, it was just a warning and not a ticket.

Anyone using the BC-40 should be aware of this when installing the camera.

I don't have a BC-40, but on my Ford Ranger, I recently installed a cheapo backup camera from Amazon that partially covers my license plate in the same way you describe. It doesn't seem to me that it obscures anything important, but I wonder if I will get stopped for this. Here is how it looks: Backup Camera on License Plate

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

I sure

I sure hope it isn't an issue in Arizona as I just looked at my BC-40 and it covers the whole word ARIZONA across the top of the plate. You can still read the tag information in the upper right corner which I suspect is the most important stuff. grin

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Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

I Doubt

alandb wrote:
bdhsfz6 wrote:

License plate obstruction has been discussed here before but I thought I would pass this along. Some states are cracking down on license plate frames that obstruct or make it difficult to read the plate. Yesterday, I received a written warning from the Pennsylvania state police due to my BC-40 camera.

When installed in the default or upper position, the camera partially covers "Pennsylvania" along the top of the plate. Luckily, I was able to reinstall the camera in the optional lower position where it doesn't obscure any plate information.

I though this was a petty offense but it is technically against the law here in Pennsylvania. Luckily, it was just a warning and not a ticket.

Anyone using the BC-40 should be aware of this when installing the camera.

I don't have a BC-40, but on my Ford Ranger, I recently installed a cheapo backup camera from Amazon that partially covers my license plate in the same way you describe. It doesn't seem to me that it obscures anything important, but I wonder if I will get stopped for this. Here is how it looks: Backup Camera on License Plate

I doubt I would have been written up for a setup like yours Alan. You can still read the state name with little trouble. In my case, the entire state name was covered.

Hopefully, I won't have any more trouble with the camera mounted on the bottom of the plate.

t923347 wrote: I sure hope

t923347 wrote:

I sure hope it isn't an issue in Arizona as I just looked at my BC-40 and it covers the whole word ARIZONA across the top of the plate. You can still read the tag information in the upper right corner which I suspect is the most important stuff. grin

I live in Ontario Canada. I mounted this camera in the first week when it came out and never realized this issue of hiding Ontario on the plate. I am driving around everywhere in front of cops too but no one has stopped me so far. I believe in Ontario they are looking at the licence plate renewal sticker is visible or not. I have heard that it is against the law to hide state name in some states in US.

I realized this issue when I watched reviews on Fensens Parking sensor. It had same issue that when you mount it on your rear license plate, it covers state name on the license plate.

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

framesThat Partially Obscure Tags

I’ve wondered when there would be a reaction to the frames that partially obscure tags. I regularly see tags from states that I can’t read. No one (including me) cares if I can or can not identify a tag’s origin. Perhaps I am naive and would learn to care if I were involved in a hit-and-run.

I confess to having a frame on my front tag celebrating my spouses alma mater. I further confess that it wasn’t in the rear only because my pickup’s rear bumper wouldn’t permit it. Now my BC-40 won’t permit it either.

In the spirit of e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous where you may get over alcoholism but are forever susceptible, I left New York City ~50 years ago. I am compelled to lock locks. I set up my BC-40 slightly covering the top of my rear tag. The antediluvian NYer in me eventually found that offensive. It screamed “I am here,,, steal me”. I raised it higher and it no longer covers the tag. I am at peace.

In the spirit of threads dedicated to forecasting the next Garmin Map update I offer this in the same spirit of boredom.

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