Hi
I am looking for recommendations for a camera that I can mount in our trailer to monitor the horse, and bluetooth the video to our Iphones.
Thank you in advance!
I just purchased this Swift Hitch camera and am using it as both a rear backup camera to hitch my trailer up (bc my truck doesn’t have one) and to monitor horses during travel. So far so good and easy to use.
Has it held it’s charge well?
I used this DIY setup. It worked great until my battery pack decided to not charge anymore. Sadness.
(Bluetooth isn’t generally used for streaming video, but you should be able to find a wifi solution.)
I have one from Tadi Brothers with a separate monitor. They may also have some that can be viewed on your phone if you look around the site.
https://www.tadibrothers.com/products/9-monitor-with-2-built-in-wireless-mounted-rv-backup-cameras
210221_8043 by Wendy, on Flickr
More in the album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmoak/albums/72157718190127752
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That would cause very distracted driving. I would rather not know what they are doing back in the trailer.
Thank you everyone for the advice!
wsmoak - Would you recommend the model you have? It looks like what I was looking for - having both backup view and in trailer view. Just wondering how long you may have had yours and if the external camera has been ok with rain/cold, etc…
What is the battery life like? I have an iBall and the battery lasts 2 hours, and it’s a bitchkitty to change.
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I am terrible at charging it fully before use so it always drains on me but I’m going out on Friday so will charge it until then and report back…
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I set a reminder to come back and answer this because we had a big trip planned. I have not had the camera system long, I bought it in December and there was some back and forth getting one of them replaced. So that’s the first thing. Tadi Brothers has done the work of matching everything up and they are heavy duty metal housings but this is still made-in-China electronics stuff. You’re paying for the knowledge and the customer service. They will get on the phone and troubleshoot and send a label for you to ship it back if it doesn’t work right, but be prepared to spend time thoroughly bench testing everything before you install it. That means having power sources available (you can probably find adapters around the house from other electronics.)
That said, the system worked great for our trip from Georgia to Virginia and back. The image cuts out now and then – anecdotally we think other wifi networks interfere with it, so if you’re in a residential area, or even passing several vehicles – betting people are traveling with hotspots these days to keep the kids entertained! If the image disappears for too long, we’d just turn the lights off and back on – mine are wired into the running lights for power so that worked to reset them.
It also worked far better on one camera view than the split view. Which makes sense, that is twice as much work to do.
We were hauling a three year old pony who had only been in a trailer once before as a yearling. Having a view of him back there to make sure he was okay was priceless.
210430_8375 by Wendy, on Flickr
ALSO we had a scare when the tire pressure monitoring system in the truck came on. We got off the road and checked everything… the tires were fine, if perhaps over inflated because it was hot. So we got back on the road and… nothing. Then I put the monitor back up on the dash, and not too long after, another alarm. Again anecdotally… I think the camera system interferes with the TPMS in my Ford truck. If the monitor was on my lap (passenger!) or in its RAM cupholder mount, it was fine.
Hope that helps!
After even more research last night, I found TadiBrothers which seems to get very good tadibrothers reviews. Anyone ever heard of those? They have a 30-day guarantee so I could at least try it out on the road, as suggested.
My anecdotal evidence of n=1 …
They were awful. Stuff broken, hard to get ahold of, didnt know their products, stuff felt SUPER cheap for the price. I returned one set, they sent me another which was totally wrong compared to what I ordered, and I just gave up and sent the whole thing back.
My post just above yours is about a Tadi Brothers setup. It is one step above consumer grade – metal camera housings, endless possible combinations of cameras and monitors.
I had to do a couple rounds of returns but I’m reasonably happy with what I ended up with. The sound on one of the cameras is bad but as I did not pay for sound… okay then!
I think we will end up replacing the antennae with something sturdier and run it to the front of the trailer – in general, making wifi work inside a moving metal box is a hard problem.
As for support they were very responsive considering they were all working from home. They were able to view videos I posted to show the problem. My issues were escalated to a more technical support person who walked me through troubleshooting and immediately issued a return shipping label.
So, Recommended with Reservations – you will need to put some time into bench testing and may have to return/replace parts until you get it all sorted out.
Finally coming back to say that I cannot recommend the Swift Hitch. In just three months I can’t get the thing to charge at all. Before it stopped charging altogether, the last time I used it I charged it fully and when I got to my trailer I couldn’t connect to its wifi. When it worked, it was great but huge disappointment and waste of money….
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Thanks for coming back and useful feedback!
My husband got me a Trailer Eyes camera. It was a pain to install to the 12v battery in the trailer (well probably pretty easy for the guy who ended up doing it… more of a pain trying to get hubs to do it and failing!) but it works great and feels solid. I am sure there are cheaper options but this one is installed!
I wanted to update the thread. In case others search for camera’s and read this thread.
I had ended up buying the Tadi-Brothers dual camera system. Worst buy I have made in years.
I had bought inbetween my first post and wsmoak updating. The problems that post noted were similar to me but in end never got a solution.
First I live in Canada and was surprised by a big border brokerage. The border called asking me for a representative - I emailed Tadi Brothers and they said first time they have been asked that. Then when I got brokerage bill I emailed Tadi Brothers and they wanted me to send CRA a letter which stated that the package had replacement parts. I did not as that is clearly not the case and at that point I was worried but paid the bill.
The camera is not something for someone that has no idea how to power up things to test out, as wsmoak noted need to bench test and I did not have the adapters to do so.
I brought the camera system to the trailer specialist in our area,and they hooked it up for me. Add on extra $250 for that cost.
Went to hook up and worked 
Ok worth all the trouble.
Drove down highway and sure enough the system kept cutting out when on dual screens. Ok put to one screen. That worked for that day.
Next day drove trailer back to barn to park and backup camera was off an on - Literaly would be working then half way through back-up just black out. Took a video of it and sent to Tadi-Brothers asking them for solution. Never heard back.
I decided to see how it would go trailering. I have a 2+1 trailer and one camera inside horse compartment and the other camera was back-up camera on rear of trailer. The camera in the horse compartment always worked. The trailer for back-up worked at the beginning maybe 1/3 of the time then last 5 times using did not work at all.
Gave Tadi-Brothers another call asking for a refund, as they have a 100% guarantee.
The guy who called me back was HORRIBLE. Was not going to give me any money back because beyond the 60 days - when I noted that my first voicemessage was within the 60 days and was not returned he would not acknowledge that. Finally he agreed if I took out the system and sent the camera’s back he would refund me - but I would be out the brokerage fees, the installation, the deliver fee to return (essentially ~$750). I did return it, because it was useless to keep on the trailer when not working.
So if you are still reading, I cannot say how much I regret that purchase. I would never deal with Tadi-Brothers again.
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In answer to this old thead, in case anyone still is interested.
I have had three trailer camera systems. First was the Trailer Eyes system. It was a pain to get all wired up, and was by far the most expensive of the three. At the time it required it’s own hard-wired monitor, so does not answer the OP’s request for using a smart phone as the monitor. I pulled the sustem out of my trailer, sold it, and acquired the Swift Hitch.
The Swift Hitch suffered from short battery life, so I ended up hard-wiring its charger into the trailer electrical system. Another drawback was the magnetic attachment. My trailers are aluminum, so I had to rivet on a steel plate to mount the camera. I did not like using my phone as the monitor, primarily because there was not a great place in my truck to locate it for easy viewing. So the Swift Hitch now lives in a drawer in my tack room.
Then I bought an iBall canera, and I also bought its dedicated monitor. Again, not what the OP wants, I know. The monitor is easy to connect since it’s a 12V cigarette lighter plug, and a flexible shaft with the small color monitor on the other end. I ran power directly to the camera via a wall switch in the trailer dressing room, so that it is operational and also recharging whenever the trailer is hooked up to the truck and the power switch to the camera is on. The monitor is easily positioned just to the right of the steering wheel in both my tow vehicles. It just takes a quick glance to check out the horses.
As to the comment about a trailer monitor being a driving distraction, so is not being aware of problems inside the trailer. My example is my 17 hand idiot who released his Velcro breakaway trailer tie and then got his head and neck under the chest bar, went down on his knees and could not get up. We were about 10 minutes into a 2.5 hour planned trip and he would have suffered like that for another two hours plus. The monitoring camera saved him. I pulled over, released the pin on the chest bar, he got up, shook, and we were fine.
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. The monitor is easy to connect since it’s a 12V cigarette lighter plug
not all pickup trucks have a cigarette lighter theses days, it is an option on Fords
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