Story by: J.T. Groover
All too often hitching up your boat, RV or trailer has to be a one man show, many times requiring the constant in and out of your vehicle to verify alignment and safety. Mobile Wireless has developed a wireless alternative to this scenario, the VisionStat™ Portable. A wireless color monitor and portable camera system, which creates a safe and convenient solution for all types of hitching applications. Wireless and portable being the keywords here makes this affordable unit useful for many applications outside of just connecting your vehicle to a trailer such as a temporary security camera or a back up camera for tight and low-visibility situations.
Included with the system are chargers for both home and automotive charging, both are equipped with a Y-Cable allowing for simultaneous charging, of the 2.4” color monitor, and night vision enabled, wireless temporary mount Camera. Fully charged the VisionStat™ Portable provides up to 4 hours of un-tethered operation. System also includes a small storage bag for when not in use.
I found the Vision Stat portable to work best when aligning tongue and ball or “tag” style trailers, such a boats, utility trailers, and bumper-pull RVs, making the process safer, simpler and faster when hitching without assistance. However I did find it difficult to use when hooking up my fifth-wheel toyhauler due to the dark contrast of the fifth-wheel and kingpin melding together. The monitor does include contrast controls that are helpful during varying lighting conditions but it did not do much to help the view of the pin and plate on the smaller screen of the monitor. To mitigate this problem I taped off and painted the kingpin and hitch with a white strip, that did make it easier to align the pin.
The suction cup and vent mounts provided with the monitor make it convenient to mount it inside your vehicle for hands free operation. However, as earlier stated the small screen can be difficult to view. The magnetic base on the camera allows for various position options allowing quick work of placing it on your truck or trailer for improvement of viewing angles.
The wireless reception comes in clear when used from the inside the cab to the back of the truck, the night vision view was surprisingly clear and I was able to use the camera easily when hooking up my flatbed car-hauler at night. The only downside to the camera was not being able to get a clear signal past 30 feet although the company claims 300 feet.
The storage bag was lacking not only in size for storing all the components supplied with the system it also offered no protection to the camera or monitor. It would be nice to see the system come with a more rigid form fitted case for storing in a center console or glove-box.
I found the VisionStat™ Portable by Mobile Awareness to be a useful tool when hooking up any style trailer alone, as well as temporary security camera and or monitoring system if needed. I look forward to this saving my marriage from many stressful situations in the future when I am getting ready for a weekend or longer on the road.
