Reverse Camera Interference
 

I tried fitting an aftermarket rear/reverse camera on my yr16 Xc60, using a number plate light adaptor. It worked perfectly except that I started getting intermittent signal dropout on my DAB radio.

Strangely I had exactly the same problem with a self contained rear dashcam in my previous V40 (I eventually removed the camera permanently). There is no dropout if I move the camera head well away from the rear window and off the tailgate, but the problem then is - where to put it. There is simply nowhere else to place it low down on the rear of the car.

Has anyone else experienced this or, better still, solved it?

The DAB aerial is in the rear window, so any cameras or dash cams always seem to cause interference. Not sure how the Volvo reverse cam gets around this. Possibly shielded cables? Someone with more technical knowledge can shed more light on that.

Exactly. I found out about the window in my V40 but thought it would be ok in the Xc60 because the camera is supposed to be there. Not so; it’s just as bad.

Since there is nowhere else to site it, shielding the cable with grounded tinfoil was my next plan, but I wanted to know if anyone had cracked the problem first. Plus its a long cable, not to mention getting it through the flexible hose between the tailgate and body.

Start with a ferrite bead on the cable to stop the noise travelling down the power line.
Easier and more effective than tin foil

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead

I can echo what swissxc90 says.
I fitted front and rear parking cameras a month or so ago and when testing the cameras out on the driveway there was no interference at all, as soon as I pulled away I would get drop outs and chirp noises from the dab radio, it would eventually drop out completely so I had to swap back to fm radio.
After some research I put some ferrite beads close to the cameras and the interference persisted, what solved the problem was placing beads on the very start of the extension cables with the little power pig tails. I can only assume that the short cable from the back of the camera was shielded but the extensions not so. I believe the rear camera was the culprit
Anyway, after that I now have no dab interference!
Good luck sorting out, it was frustrating after spending many hours fitting the kit to have this problem

Some Braided Cable Sleeving like this should be easier and more robust that wrapping with foil if you decide to go down that route.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I had noticed these wee things on cables before and wondered what they did.

A bit of research methinks, but hope now springs.