New Camera Arrived!
 

My new camera has arrived and so far it rocks. The picture is clear, range is great and the price is right. There is one down side to this setup. It does not tune to a UHF channel so you have to use a separate receiver. That isn't all bad since it operates at 1.2 Ghz so it has some punch to it. Now all I have to do is get 4 cameras to work with no interference.

I'm interested in how you mount this camera on your rovers.

could you possibly explain how you do it or even better, Post a picture?


please!


EDIT: I'm also interested in how much it cost you...:)

The camera and transmitter are one unit and they are shaped exactly the same as the Plantraco camera. It will fit perfect in a rover camera body. About the only thing that really needs to be changed is the 9v battery connector. It's really a bit on the large side. This is just a matter of removing the connector and soldering a 9v battery connector in it's place. Camera cost is about $50.

For my test I used three CR123s in a plastic tube and mounted it on the rover with some 2 faced tape. It's a cannoncam. Not sure I like it but it's a start.

so to run 4 different cameras, you have to have 4 recievers right?

do the recievers come in different frequencys or something? or can you adjust the reciever to accept the camera you want?

Here is the monitor I'm using. It's a 5 1\2 inch LCD module. It has audio and NTSC video input on it so you can run just about anything through it, video games, vcr\dvd or the camera receiver. It has 224,000 pixels and sells for about $100.

Billy, can you post where you got the monitor and the camera? I really would like to get them so please post links if you have them. This would be a huge help because a 50 dollar camera is way better than a 120 dollar one! The monitor is great too!

Oh yeah, didn't even think about links. The monitors are available at http://www.partsexpress.com These guys are the best. I have bought from them for years and they have some of the best prices on stuff that is hard to find.

The camera was purchased from http://www.spylinker.com and I don't know that running 4 cameras with this hardware is possible. The guy sez 2 is no problem but that remains to be seen. I can say for a single camera solution, this will work well.

Yes, each camera has it's own receiver. They come as a set. The frequency is the issue right now. They tell me they can be modified so that there will be enuff band separation that there will be no interference between the 4 cameras. I'm still waiting to hear back from them. There is a huge language barrier to deal with but I believe they understand my request. At this point I have my fingers crossed.

that is a cool find
 

whats the model # for the camera you got? im so want a rover
does anyone know how much weight a rover can hold? it would be neat to put the cam on a pivot systemdo you got to buy the reciver too? does it come with the camera?

The camera model I have is a Model Number 203C-50mw. It includes the camera\transmitter and the receiver. They sell for $59 on the website I believe. The only thing I really had to do was dump that power connector as you can see in the photo.

I can't say how much weight a rover can handle but they have loads of torque. If you look at the pic of the cannon cam, that is 3 CR123 cells plus the camera and the rover didn't even know it was there.

This is the receiver and it is included in the $59 price. You can find them cheaper on eBay too. Check the ID spylinker.

thx for the info

damn im sooo torn combat Q or a rover on what to get does the batt change boost power to the camera or just longer life?

Update on that connector. The plug on the end of the camera has a small PCB molded into the plug. The camera will not operate without it. I do have it removed, however it is a royal pain in the butt to get out. If I would have known it was going to be this much hassle I would have left it as is.

Hi Billy!
Many thanx for the links! Got my 2 cameras from spylinker yesterday! Pretty cool!

Don´t know excactly how to fix the camera on my rover, yet. Maybe there´s a solution without disassambling the plug.

The cannon-cam looks very good! How long do your 123-batteries last? And how do you remove them?

Dentman,

The cameras will fit perfect into the camera bodies from Plantraco. The bodies are cheap but the shipping is $10 since the company is in Canada. I was thinking about buying a bunch of bodies and reselling them. The bodies are $2 per so 20 would cost $40 plus $10 for shipping. That is $2.50 each plus $3.85 for any package under 1 lbs to reship them to anywhere in the 48 states. Since most of you wouldn't need more than a couple bodies and they are light, the shipping would be the same for one or 10 bodies. I'm not interested in making any money off the deal...I just need a few bodies for myself. If you are interested drop me an email at billybonz@hiwaypirates.com or post a reply here. Say TinyRC, you wouldn't be interested in taking this project on would ya? I need 8 bodies just for me.

The cannon-cam battery housing works kinda like a flashlite. The batts just side into the tube. I never ran the batts dead with that setup but I did run it for 3 hours nonstop and they still had plenty of juice left. If you used the Plantraco body I think the camera would fit in it without modding the plug, which I strongly would avoid. Then you could stick with the 9v batt and save a few $$.

Your idea of reselling the bodies is good, but I live in Europe. So the shipping is much more expensive... Or are there other guys from Europe and we can share the shipping costs?

Today I go to my dentist. They have real cool materials. Maybe it´s possible to "clone" the body somehow or build a case for the cam and the battery.

Yesterday, I disassambled the plug! While disassambling, the wires broke from the circuit and I had to reconstruct which wire on which place... :confused:
Plenty of work, but I think it was worth it.

Now I work on a solution with the 9V battery and maybe a custom body. I checked the chassis of the rover and found out, that it´s possible to fix a custom body with 3 screws (2 in the front and 1 in the middle of the rear). That would be the solution, if there´s no other way out...

Now here´s the first pic of my rover with the spylinker-cam. I fixed it with a clear tape and it works very well. Next step is to shorten the wires and build in an on/off switch.

Had never thought, that it is so much fun cruising around with the cam on the rover!

billybonz does that spylinker reciever run on mains power?
also what kind of output does it have/what kind of jack?

o yea is it true you can operate the rover from any computer through the net? how does this work?


Thanks,

oh sorry ive just seen it is a 9v power input no need to answer that one now. :D

also dentman how much was shipping on your spylink cam?

Thanks,

sigibbons!

Got my cameras on ebay for 18 USD each. Shipping to Europe was 25(!) USD per camera!

But it was much cheaper (43 USD) than any other solution. Shipping had taken about 15 days (from Hong Kong), so that´s ok I think...

what did u search for on ebay to find the cams?

and from the reciever what out put does it give out?
is it the ariel socket you plug into the back of a normal tv?

Thanks dent!

this formum should be more active no one ever posts on here!

I searched the ID "spylinker" on ebay. Then you see all of his products.

The output of the receiver is cinch. With an adaptor the signal comes into the TV via the AV-Input (similar like for example a Sony Playstation).

The camera is available in PAL- or NTSC-Format. In Europe you have to choose PAL!

ok thanks very much dent!!

what tv are u using for the setup?

Thanks, si

It works with every TV that has an AV-Input. You´ve to switch to the AV-channel and that´s it.
I connect my cams to the video-input of the vga-card of my computer. So it´s possible to view to picture in a window or fullscreen.

are these cams the same shape and size of the ones that are sold for the rover from plantraco, so the will mount up perfect inside the camera shells?

also do i have to take out the power conector like u have? will it still fit in the case with it left on?

Thanks, si

The articles of billybonz above explain all...

putting in 4 ?
 

Im not sure if you said u were going to put on 4 cameras or what but if u are where would u fit them and their batteries? o and how far does ure rover get until u lose reception of ure car ? like what are u going to do with it ?just wondering, cool mod

Wow, great Forum/BBS!

Some of you are from germany?

Where can I get a cheap Desktop Rover + Wireless Cam here?

Any Info on good working rechargable-solutions?

Ordering from the US is not such a big deal either, since my father lives in MN, and the packages are shipped as gift, which raises the tax-limits---- and sometimes he pays shipping and part of the stuff ;D

Ciao!

Hi Marcus!

I´m not from germany but from austria and found the rover on http://www.ev-web.at/. It costs EUR 75.
The cheapest wireless cam I found so far ist the one I described above.

Re: putting in 4 ?
 

I have 4 rovers and I'm fitting each one with a camera. The problem is the camera transmitters interfer with one another. I have found a 4 channel transmitter but it's way too expensive.

http://tinyrc.com/shop/products.php?pid=13 ;) :)

Cool, here in germany its about 79 Eur, the cam 145, Telecommander another 79 Eur-

Maybee I should order it (let my dad buy it and send it to me to save $$$ on Tax/customs here in germany)


Ciao!

The suprise inside the power jack...
 

lo all, my first post here. Great forum. Im pretty new to DTRs, (just ordered my first pair tonight in fact) but I do have a little experience with wireless cam setups and may be able to shed some light here.

I cant be 100% sure without actually seeing it myself, but the small PCB mounted device you found inside the molded DC power jack might be a tiny 5V regulator. The integrated Tx probably runs on the full 9V, but many of these CMOS cams can only accept up to 5V DC. With the regulator in place, everyone is happy. Remove it and you will have problems, possibly even damage the cam.

Nice thread. Looking forward to seeing some more of these mods.