Cheap camera for project

[Capt. Camping(PANAMA) 1]

hecko,

What do you think about this cheap camera for a project I have for connecting 4 wireless cameras with 4 receivers to 4 different tv?

http://www.compuvest.com/Description.jsp?iid=250999

* Specifications Mfr Part Number: 809

* Audio/Video Mini Wireless Color Camera (Can Be Used As Security Cam) 1/3 inch CMOS

* Color: Silver

* 380-lines Resolution

* 300-foot Range, Composite Video Connections On Receiver

* 60Hz Scan Frequency

* 3 Lux Illumination

* 900-1200MHz Output Frequency

* NTSC

* Full Motion Real-time Color Video With No Delay

* Built-in Microphone, Camera Runs On 9-volt Battery Or AC Adapter

* With Receiver, Video Cables, Adapter, Antenna, Manual

* Packaging: Retail

Edited November 16, 2006 by Capt. Camping(PANAMA)

[Haku 0]

I wouldn't reccomend it for a couple of reasons, the camera isn't very small, ideally you want a chalk-cube sized one. Secondly the cameras are on fixed frequencies and to get two or more that run on different frequencies is pot luck - if you bought 4 cameras there's the chance that 2 or more run on the same frequency.

If I were in your position I'd ask a seller if you buy 2 3 or 4 cameras off them that they can check to make sure the cameras don't clash and do run on different frequencies.

This seller takes BidPay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130048647331

[JMS 0]

Hi there!

I persoanlly have both those cameras you guys have mentioned above, and the picture is terrible. It's not very clear and the reception is unstable. Like they say... you get what you pay!

Perhaps for a affordable good start, you might look into this, (http://cgi.ebay.com/2-4Ghz-200mw-1-5km-Wireless-Color-Spy-Camera-Receiver_W0QQitemZ300049774863QQihZ020QQcategoryZ73259QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

then throw the camera away and buy a cheap dome camera with a

"Sharp" sensor. They are small and tough! Mine has 420 lines, and a mic. The picture is reasonable, although a bit on the "white" side, but for $20.00 (ebay) is worth it. Hey it even comes with a 5.5 volt regulator which is good for conserving battery life!

Well I'm sure there are many ways to go around this solution, but this is what I have experimented, unfortunatly it's my back up camera, I'm now using a Sony Super HAD, and a Sony EXview 420lines.

Cheers!

John

[Capt. Camping(PANAMA) 1]

Thaks haku, that one has bidpay, I am going to ask the seller about the frequencies.

Thanks jms for telling me on advance about the bad resolution the Astak CAM-WL809 has. I will continue the updates of my project on the Project forum section.

[Haku 0]

As you haven't committed yourself to buying any speicif wireless camera setup yet there's one other factor you should take into account, with CMOS cameras you'll need a lot of light to get a good picture from them, daylight is fine but indoors they're not so hot because of the 3 LUX minimum they need.

The fairly cheap Sharp CCD cameras that litter eBay work as low as 1 LUX and are ideal for indoor lighting conditions, the higher image resolution also helps if outputting to a tv, I've got one on my RC car and it works well indoors and out so I can still drive through LCD glasses on a rainy day

[Capt. Camping(PANAMA) 1]

That´s a good point, because at any moment the project will be indoors.

Could I use my pc as a video server? Maybe by using the computer as a video frecuency tuner also? I can get some pci cards with rca input for cheap.

[Kilrah 2]

FYI, the project you linked to used CMOS, that worked wery well in a normally lit room. I took my car with a CCD on it (the one that has a bunch of red/white tape on it in the video), it was indeed better as a CMOS is but for general public I can assure you people are already amazed by the "good quality" of the CMOS

CRT TV's often tend to give a more contrasted image that makes it turn out better too.

Of course if you want to stream that over the net you can capture the video with a PC. For live use with people at the controls it will be easier with the TVs though (no configuration to do, find capture cards that don't have a lag, reliable software that will let you display full screen,...

[Capt. Camping(PANAMA) 1]

The only main problem I find here is the posible frecuency crash of the signals between the rx and tx of the cam.