Tony is a Geek

I wired up and fitted the expensive rear wireless cameras to the motorhome - yes, I used power tools and things on my £70k motorhome and survived - eeeeek!  Come with me on a magic carpet ride of wonder on how to set these marvels of technology up....and watch me fail, yet again - well, technically, I didn't fail, the technology failed, which then made me fail... but maybe I will find a solution.. we'll see. As explained previously HERE , I need to have eyes in the back of my head - okay, at the rear of my motorhome. I purchased some cheap cameras, but they had their own issues as explained previously . PROBLEM: as mentioned, I just want/need to reverse off my driveway without killing people - yeah, I know, it sucks having to be good - but y'know, sometimes you have to conform.  In order to do this today, I ask my missus to stand the other side of the road with a walkie-talkie and she uses her eyes and brain to determine if/when I can reverse the 4 1/4-tonne weapon of mass...

Okay, so before I start, I kind of already knew that these were dodgy - I can't claim that I was expecting anything different, after all, that is the reason why I don't have a RING doorbell, or anything Amazon / Google voice / Alexa / Home orientated in the house.  Not that I have anything to hide, I just don't like the idea of providing these corporations with vast quantities of "free" data that they then make Trillions of $$$'s with and then charge us more money for goods / products - it's a baffling system this capitalist society concept, the sooner it implodes the better.  However, this is more about "dodgy webcams". My problem statement is explained in the image below: basically, I need to fit 2 webcams to the rear of my motorhome so that I can reverse out of my driveway and not smash into oncoming traffic / pedestrians or cyclists! I purchased a couple of cheap webcams that appeared to be capable for the task in hand - they were USB powered...

Well, this is more of a starter-kit experiment....and a venture into figuring out how solar panels, controllers, inverters and batteries all come together. I initially bought some kit as mentioned HERE . However as time has moved on I've been learning a thing or two.   One thing I've learnt is that I'm a bit of an idiot :-D ( no surprise there for my missus ).  I now have lots of "spares" in the kitchen as I have go along the journey.  BTW - this is not a cost-saving exercise, unless the price of electricity really goes through the roof by the end of 2022 and all of 2023/2024/2025.  I've spent a lot more than I'll probably ever save, however, this is more about the exploration and knowledge experience, something you cannot put a price on.  I'll keep telling myself that. So, what did I have and how did it "grow"? Well, I originally had 2x100W solar panels, an eco-worthy PWM controller and a 12v 110ah leisure battery.  They were setup, as previ...