New vehicles come with almost every kind of safety equipment you can think of – airbags, parking sensors, 360° cameras, blind-spot monitors, and more. Older vehicles, however, don’t have all these luxuries, but it’s possible to add at least some of the newer safety equipment via third-party accessories. For instance, backup cameras are very easy to add now to older vehicles with kits such as the myGEKOgear SOLARST which features a solar-powered wireless camera and a 4.3″ LCD monitor.
The myGEKOgear SOLARST backup camera kit is very simple to install and comes with everything you need right out of the box. You get a camera/license plate frame that has an integrated solar panel on it, a 4.3″ LCD display that mounts inside your vehicle, and all mounting hardware included. Installation is as simple as screwing in the license plate frame on top of your license plate and then plugging the LCD monitor on your dash and plugging it into power. Because it’s wireless, there’s no need to run any cables to the rear of your vehicle to receive video signals. It’s all done wirelessly. Also, you can tilt the camera as well to your desired angle since not all mounting points will be at the same height.
You will want to charge the camera first before use so that the battery is charged up. After that, the solar panel should be able to charge up the battery (2100mAh) whenever you leave your car out in the sun. I do like that there is a charge port for those of us who might not leave our cars outdoors long enough to top off the battery.
Another thing I like about the SOLARST is that the LCD monitor can be mounted using two different mounts. There’s a 3M mount if you want to permanently mount it to either your dash or windshield as well as a suction cup mount for a more temporary solution if you want to be able to take it on and off. Power for the LCD display is provided through a 12V power cable, though some of you may want to try and hard-wire the unit so that the cable can be moved out of the way.
Using the SOLARST is pretty much just as simple as the installation process is. On top of the LCD monitor, there is a touch panel that you just tap to turn on the display. This will show you what’s going on behind you as well as parking guide lines layered on top. What it won’t do change the parking lines to show you the angle of your turns as this is not as sophisticated as factory-installed units. The video quality is also acceptable, though nothing to write home about. Video quality is just 640×480 @ 30fps so it is a bit grainy. It’s still very usable though and being able to see something is better than not seeing anything.
It’s simple to install thanks in part to its wireless design, and the fact that it can be charged via solar power means you don’t need to worry about the power running low or having to plug it in to charge. So with all that said, the myGEKOgear SOLARST is a solid unit for adding a rear backup camera to any vehicle that needs it.
You can pick up the myGEKOgear SOLARST here on Amazon.
