Customer Reviews

Swift Hitch SH01 Portable Wireless Camera System

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great little unit. Color screen is clear and easy to see. And the instant night vision lets you see clearly at night. I like the magnetic base to mount the camera; you can place it about anywhere. The range surprised me; I have used the screen over 300 feet from the camera.
This thing has more uses then just backup. I use it to monitor my horses in the trailer while driving down the road. And I have used it to keep an eye on cargo in the back of my truck. A++ worth the money.

I too agree with the other positive reviews on this item, however, there is room for improvement. I needed it to hitch up my RV trailer and for backing up my trailer on the blind sides.

The magnetic camera would not stick to my trailer's aluminum and fiber glass walls. I researched this unit on the net before buying it from another vendor on ebay. The reason being that my unit, same as the one here, came with a complimentary custom storage bag for the unit & all it's accessories, & a suction cup adaptor for the camera which sticks to any part of my trailer. The suction cup adaptor solved any location placement issues I had with the camera & worked great for my trailer.

The other issue is the charging of the camera & monitor. The unit only came with a 12 volt charger for your vehicle, no ac charger, & the unit requires to be fully charged before first use. It is not practical to drive around for hours charging your unit in your vehicle until it is charged. I solved that problem using a Wagan 5 Amp AC to 12V DC Power Adapter I had previously purchased on amazon for about $20. This way I can always charge the unit at home before any outing I need the unit for.

One other useful trick I discovered, which came in handy, is the video out cable the unit came with. The monitor's 2.5" screen is a bit small for backing the trailer on a the blind side next to my block wall I have nearly missed several times in the past. I simply hook the video out cable from the 2.5" monitor to my high resolution Sony 8" portable dvd player & instantly have an 8" screen to look at instead of the 2.5" mini screen. You can hook up the 2.5 monitor to a TV or any other monitor with a video plug in.

No more fighting with your spouse when you hitch up the trailer. I think my wife actually gets some perverse satisfaction out of our hitching sessions. That makes one of us. So when she steps back into the house to grab a jacket (or whatever that "one more thing" is that keeps us from leaving), I quickly snap the magnetic camera onto the tailgate and hitch up the trailer before she makes it back outside.

Yes, it's that fast.

The image quality is great. The display is very clear. You can even reverse the picture to correct for the "my left or the camera's left?" challenge. My only complaint is that there is a little static as you get farther away from the camera (or if the charge is low).

I bought this camera for a specific reason (not to avoid the hitching wars with my wife, because that's actually kind of fun--kind of). The spaces in my RV storage yard are very close together and I have a very bad blind spot on the curb-side of the trailer. This happens to be the side that swings wide when I pull out of my space. One time the rear corner of my trailer hit the mirror of the RV parked next to me. So I bought this camera in hopes of correcting that blind spot.

Although my awning arms are aluminium, there's just enough metal hardware for the camera's magnet to stick to. Then as I'm pulling out of my space (or backing in), I can see how close I'm getting to my neighbor's RV. The picture quality isn't great at that distance, but it's still good enough to help me avoid any more close calls.

I kind of doubt the claim of 300' range. Mine has never worked at even half that distance. I'm lucky to get a signal from the rear end of my 30' trailer, but I'm sure there's a big difference between unobstructed line of sight coverage and bouncing the signal around my trailer and over the bed of my truck (probably about 40'). Honestly though, there's slight signal loss just from sticking it on my tailgate ten feet away.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the product. It's not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than buying another mirror for my neighbor's RV.

I do like this camera and have used it once to hook up my small travel trailer. As others have mentioned, an improvement would be to have a wide angle camera view until you get closer to your target. I did find that sun glare and shadows affected my view. I quickly found one other handy use for it too: I can view the fill level on my water tank inside the camper when I'm filling up without having to stop and start constantly to go inside and check the water level.

For everyone who does towing they really need to have one of these, it saves time, no damage to your vehicle or trailer, you can use it in complete darkness, and you can hook up your trailer by yourself.

Makes hooking up trailer behind my van a one person job. Once the camera is setup I only get out to lower the trailer onto the ball.

No more fighting with your spouse when you hitch up the trailer. I think my wife actually gets some perverse satisfaction out of our hitching sessions. That makes one of us. So when she steps back into the house to grab a jacket (or whatever that "one more thing" is that keeps us from leaving), I quickly snap the magnetic camera onto the tailgate and hitch up the trailer before she makes it back outside.

Yes, it's that fast.

The image quality is great. The display is very clear. You can even reverse the picture to correct for the "my left or the camera's left?" challenge. My only complaint is that there is a little static as you get farther away from the camera (or if the charge is low).

I bought this camera for a specific reason (not to avoid the hitching wars with my wife, because that's actually kind of fun--kind of). The spaces in my RV storage yard are very close together and I have a very bad blind spot on the curb-side of the trailer. This happens to be the side that swings wide when I pull out of my space. One time the rear corner of my trailer hit the mirror of the RV parked next to me. So I bought this camera in hopes of correcting that blind spot.

Although my awning arms are aluminium, there's just enough metal hardware for the camera's magnet to stick to. Then as I'm pulling out of my space (or backing in), I can see how close I'm getting to my neighbor's RV. The picture quality isn't great at that distance, but it's still good enough to help me avoid any more close calls.

I kind of doubt the claim of 300' range. Mine has never worked at even half that distance. I'm lucky to get a signal from the rear end of my 30' trailer, but I'm sure there's a big difference between unobstructed line of sight coverage and bouncing the signal around my trailer and over the bed of my truck (probably about 40'). Honestly though, there's slight signal loss just from sticking it on my tailgate ten feet away.

Anyway, I'm very happy with the product. It's not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than buying another mirror for my neighbor's RV.

The Swift Hitch performs as advertized. It is simple to operate and very effective in lining up camper and truck. I have been looking for such a device for somme time.

I wish I would have known about the Swift Hitch a long time ago. It saves me time and frustration when connecting to any trailer. I place the camera on the tailgate and use the monitor to direct me to the tongue of the trailer. This one is a no brainer, if you have a trailer to hook up to and your older than 50 then you need the Swift Hitch.

You'll note an upgraded model offered with a longer battery life and case and suction mount included for about $40 more at the time of this review. I ordered SH02 for the extras as I also plan to use the unit to video monitor the outside of my camper trailer while parked at the campsite at night. The newer version claims to extend the battery life of the camera from 4 to 10 hours. If you don't need the extra battery life, suction mount or case - SH01 should be just fine. I'm recently disabled and hoping this unit helps me hook up the pop-up and get mobile again. JEc