X10 Community Forum
💬General Category => General Discussion => X10 Product Wish List => Topic started by: cyan on January 22, 2010, 08:17:46 PM
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I'd like an X-10 wireless camera which can be plugged in to an automobile cigarette lighter and a wireless camera which is solar powered.
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I'd like an X-10 wireless camera which can be plugged in to an automobile cigarette lighter
The wireless cameras are 12 Volt. You do have to be sure to get the + and - correct. But I ran my R.E.D. (Robotic Exploration Device (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft9-yxNb47Q)) on car battery power... it even used solar panels to stay charged.
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Thank you for sharing your invention. How much power does an X10 wireless camera use? It doesn't seem as though one would quickly discharge a car battery. A car cam could be placed in a car parked on the street giving a street side view of the home. I saw a reasonably priced automobile DC to AC converter at Walmart, so I suppose that might be an option.
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I saw a reasonably priced automobile DC to AC converter at Walmart, so I suppose that might be an option.
Stay away from the inverter as it will eat up more battery power. Most low end inverters are lucky if they are even 80 % efficient.
>!
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Plus, I've heard that the waveform produced by cheap inverters tends to fry X10 electronics.
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Plus, I've heard that the waveform produced by cheap inverters tends to fry X10 electronics.
that is true as well! A pure sine wave inverter would be needed, not worth the money in this case I'm sure. ;)
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Thanks again for all the input. If a camera uses just a wee bit of power, then the Walmart converter would not be much of an issue, would it? Also the practicality of a sine wave inverter would be of an individual nature: a car parked at the corner of a home would allow one to view two faces of the home as well as the car. Maybe X10 doesn't put an auto cigarette lighter plug on an X10 camera because said apparatus might eliminate the need for two cameras?
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X10 cameras will run on as little power as 6 volts (that's what the battery pack for them supplies) why not look at a cigarette lighter plug that has multiple adaptors for different plugs.(one would be sure to fit the camera's power wire) I know Radio Shack use to carry them and I'm sure Walmart or other shops carry them. You could plug the camera power wire directly to it without worrying about crossing wires.
>!
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Tuicemen; The battery pack has a small DC to DC power supply in it. The 6 volts from the battery is stepped up to roughly 12 volts. I say roughly as unloaded mine reads closer to 18 volts. ;)
cyan; well the power line controlled wall supply is needed if you have more than one. If more than one is on. They interfere with each other. Having only one doesn't need to be switched off unless you don't want constant video broadcasts.
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The camera uses 80 mA. Correct me if my math is wrong... but that is well less than 1/10 of one amp running directly off your car battery. If we think of overnight as 16 hours... 16X80= 1280 or 1.3 Amps... roughly. This is just a wild guess... but if your battery has 975 cold cranking amps.. I would guess if might be able to spare that 1.3 Amp.
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The ECU and radio memory would most likely take more than that.
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When 4 AA batteries will run the camera for 4 hours (according to X10) I don't think the OP would have to worry about draining their Car battery over night. ;)
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The camera uses 80 mA. Correct me if my math is wrong... but that is well less than 1/10 of one amp running directly off your car battery. If we think of overnight as 16 hours... 16X80= 1280 or 1.3 Amps... roughly. This is just a wild guess... but if your battery has 975 cold cranking amps.. I would guess if might be able to spare that 1.3 Amp.
You've actually calculated Amp-Hours, which should be compared with the Amp-Hour rating of the battery, not cold cranking Amps. Depending on size, automobile battery ratings typically run from 40 to 100 Amp-Hours. (The Owner's Manual for the vehicle will usually specify the battery's Amp-Hour rating.)
The camera power supplies are rated 80 mA, but the camera probably draws somewhat less than that.
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You've actually calculated Amp-Hours, which should be compared with the Amp-Hour rating of the battery, not cold cranking Amps.
OMG your right! I even know better than that.. thanks for the correction.
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I'm still wanting a car/dash cam. In Walmart I spotted two inverters which convert auto DC to 100 watt AC. One similar to this http://www.originalpower.com/powerline/mobile is approx. $29.00. A Black and Decker 100 watt DC to AC inverter is $19.88. Could I use one of these in my car and connect an X10 wireless camera, preferably on a robot base? I'm surprised X10 product development has not run with this idea.
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I'm surprised X10 product development has not run with this idea.
I'll bite.
What's the purpose of an X10 camera on a car's dashboard?
???
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I'm surprised X10 product development has not run with this idea.
I'll bite.
What's the purpose of an X10 camera on a car's dashboard?
???
For a home on a corner lot, one camera on a robotic base on a dash [or hanging from a rear view mirror] could pan along two sides of the house as well as offering a street view and some protection for the car. A car cam would be better protected from the weather; the wiring would be as easy as plugging in to a cigarette lighter port. In short, better visualization with fewer cameras and fewer headaches.
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Don't use the inverter. The inverter itself... would probably use several times more battery power than the X10 camera itself. Enough... I think... to discharge a battery. The X10 cameras use 12 Volt DC. No sense in converting 12V DC to to 120V AC... then transform it back to 12V DC again.
You can pick up a power input jack (just like X10's) at "the shack" and wire it to a standard 12V cigarette lighter plug. And you should be able to run off the car battery.
I ran a Ninja and a X10 color camera off a 12V battery. I also used a couple very low amp (cheap) solar panels to keep the battery charged. I used my setup for a X10 Mobile Observation Platform - Robotic Exploration Device. I have a couple youtube videos here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft9-yxNb47Q) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9cUA6LaXTs). RED sat in my yard for weeks at a time ready to "look around".
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Don't use the inverter. The inverter itself... would probably use several times more battery power than the X10 camera itself. Enough... I think... to discharge a battery. The X10 cameras use 12 Volt DC. No sense in converting 12V DC to to 120V AC... then transform it back to 12V DC again.
You can pick up a power input jack (just like X10's) at "the shack" and wire it to a standard 12V cigarette lighter plug. And you should be able to run off the car battery.
I ran a Ninja and a X10 color camera off a 12V battery. I also used a couple very low amp (cheap) solar panels to keep the battery charged. I used my setup for a X10 Mobile Observation Platform - Robotic Exploration Device. I have a couple youtube videos here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft9-yxNb47Q) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9cUA6LaXTs). RED sat in my yard for weeks at a time ready to "look around".
The cord to my headphones was cut by a paper shreader. I thought I'd solder the pieces together until I noticed the metal amounted to little more than a few strands of hair by volume. And I'm certainly no electronics expert. Still, will an inverter act as an energy vampire even if no current is being drawn to a device? I agree your solution is more elegant and parsimonious for those with the needed skills and tools. I just happened to watch your voice controlled home last night. I want one! RED reminds me a bit of Dr. Who's K-9. How small could a solar charged battery be which would operate an X-10 wireless camera? Another obvious product for X-10 to develop.
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I'm still wanting a car/dash cam. In Walmart I spotted two inverters which convert auto DC to 100 watt AC. One similar to this http://www.originalpower.com/powerline/mobile is approx. $29.00. A Black and Decker 100 watt DC to AC inverter is $19.88. Could I use one of these in my car and connect an X10 wireless camera, preferably on a robot base?
Sure. but why? The Ninja base and the camera are cycled ON and OFF strickly by powerline commands, so since you won't be able turn the camera ON-OFF remotely using powerline commands you might as well run the camera and base on the vehicle 12V.
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I'm still wanting a car/dash cam. In Walmart I spotted two inverters which convert auto DC to 100 watt AC. One similar to this http://www.originalpower.com/powerline/mobile is approx. $29.00. A Black and Decker 100 watt DC to AC inverter is $19.88. Could I use one of these in my car and connect an X10 wireless camera, preferably on a robot base?
Sure. but why? The Ninja base and the camera are cycled ON and OFF strickly by powerline commands, so since you won't be able turn the camera ON-OFF remotely using powerline commands you might as well run the camera and base on the vehicle 12V.
I've read of battery power packs for X10s. These battery powered wireless cameras are on until the batteries run down? That's crazy. Does a robot base have to be line powered in order to function, or are you speaking of only the on off function.
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For a home on a corner lot, one camera on a robotic base on a dash [or hanging from a rear view mirror] could pan along two sides of the house
Oh...
I was bringing my own situation to the problem and trying to think thru what you were doing.
My cars are in the garage at night.
A dashboard cam, in my case, would see a whole lott'a nothing! ;D
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I agree your solution is more elegant and parsimonious for those with the needed skills and tools. I just happened to watch your voice controlled home last night. I want one! RED reminds me a bit of Dr. Who's K-9. How small could a solar charged battery be which would operate an X-10 wireless camera? Another obvious product for X-10 to develop.
No parsimoniouses were harmed in the making of those videos.
My RED used a riding mower battery (a little smaller than a car battery).
There is a ton of knowledge/information about how to solder and such on-line. It's a good thing to learn a few new tricks (keeps the dogs young) and will allow you to have automation that isn't commercially available.
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I've read of battery power packs for X10s. These battery powered wireless cameras are on until the batteries run down? That's crazy. Does a robot base have to be line powered in order to function, or are you speaking of only the on off function.
1. Yes the battery powered cameras run until the batteries run down. There is no ON-OFF control. The pack will only run the camera for four to six hours so I assume it is for special use.
2. The Ninja base will pan and tilt by RF control from the Ninja Remote or from the Vangard software running on a PC. But the ON-OFF function is handled over the power line.
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The On Off function in the addressable power supplies don't completely turn off the camera. Part of the camera is on all the time so when you want video from it. The video detector portion does not have to charge up. Giving you an instant on feature. The original cameras took a few seconds to charge up the detector and you got a fade up on video.
The Ninja is also controlled by the supply. So an unselected one will not follow the RF commands meant for a different mount.
Yes the battery pack that uses four AA cells lasts about four hours. It has a simple on off switch and a small power supply that converts the 6 volts from the batteries to 12 volts for the camera. The switched and unswitched power connections to the camera are both connected together on the battery pack.
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Thanks to everyone for answering. If you will indulge me more, let's say I have a workshop behind my home which runs off of a different meter than my home. If I mount a Ninja at the workshop, would I be able to control the on off function from inside my home by RF control? Sounds like I would not be able to, but I would be able to control the pan tilt function as well as switch between cameras? As for the car cam, I am willing to chance running down my battery in order to take advantage of the location, etc. I don't mind starting the engine every day or two to recharge the battery. I'm more convinced than ever X10 needs to develop a car cam and a solar power battery pack. Do any folks in X10 product development acknowledge visiting this section of the forum?
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You maybe able to control the one on the separate meter. If both areas are on the same street transformer the signal may {not a great shot but can happen} get to the workshop.
You would have to use a Tranceiver in the workshop to turn it on and off with an RF remote. Though for that to work. The remote would have to be able for reach it
If any X10 employee is reading things here we don't see any responses as for the most part. This is a user to user forum on their nickle to pay for the servers and upkeep.
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You maybe able to control the one on the separate meter. If both areas are on the same street transformer the signal may {not a great shot but can happen} get to the workshop.
You would have to use a Tranceiver in the workshop to turn it on and off with an RF remote. Though for that to work. The remote would have to be able for reach it
If any X10 employee is reading things here we don't see any responses as for the most part. This is a user to user forum on their nickle to pay for the servers and upkeep.
Thank you for explaining this to me.
X10 Product Development Team, Please read and respond to your end users and potential customers.
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As for the car cam, I am willing to chance running down my battery in order to take advantage of the location, etc. I don't mind starting the engine every day or two to recharge the battery. I'm more convinced than ever X10 needs to develop a car cam and a solar power battery pack. Do any folks in X10 product development acknowledge visiting this section of the forum?
No they do not.
As far as the X10 car cam with solar power. This is a really good idea but don't hold your breath for it. The problem is to run a camera/ninja base 100% off solar power AND charge a battery for nighttime use at the same time, will take a solar panel capable of delivering 200-400ma per hour. That will be a very large and expensive panel. As soon as you throw the word "expensive" into the equation you will eliminate X10's interest, especially if it might not have extremely broad appeal. But it is something you could do on your own fairly easily it just will cost some bucks (IMHO).
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As for the car cam, I am willing to chance running down my battery in order to take advantage of the location, etc. I don't mind starting the engine every day or two to recharge the battery. I'm more convinced than ever X10 needs to develop a car cam and a solar power battery pack. Do any folks in X10 product development acknowledge visiting this section of the forum?
No they do not.
As far as the X10 car cam with solar power. This is a really good idea but don't hold your breath for it. The problem is to run a camera/ninja base 100% off solar power AND charge a battery for nighttime use at the same time, will take a solar panel capable of delivering 200-400ma per hour. That will be a very large and expensive panel. As soon as you throw the word "expensive" into the equation you will eliminate X10's interest, especially if it might not have extremely broad appeal. But it is something you could do on your own fairly easily it just will cost some bucks (IMHO).
I don't know how expensive it would be. This product is less than $40 retail: http://www.batterymart.com/p-isc175-imob-175ma-solar-battery-charger.html
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I don't know how expensive it would be. This product is less than $40 retail: http://www.batterymart.com/p-isc175-imob-175ma-solar-battery-charger.html
I had originally estimated camera power at 150ma since X10 said a battery pack would run camera about four hours. I now think that is too high. Maybe camera is 50ma or so. So the panel must be big enough to power camera and Ninja base standby current(?) 100% of time. I guesstimate a total of 100ma and it must still have reserve to charge battery. This guess work does not include current drain for an P&T action of the Ninja, nor does it factor solar panel less than optimum conditions (the output current given is always "ideal", meaning bright sun, anything less, and output current falls dramatically). I think you would need a much larger panel. Depending on P&T usage, and whether you live in Arizona or not, at least double or even >500ma.
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I don't know how expensive it would be. This product is less than $40 retail: http://www.batterymart.com/p-isc175-imob-175ma-solar-battery-charger.html
I had originally estimated camera power at 150ma since X10 said a battery pack would run camera about four hours. I now think that is too high. Maybe camera is 50ma or so. So the panel must be big enough to power camera and Ninja base standby current(?) 100% of time. I guesstimate a total of 100ma and it must still have reserve to charge battery. This guess work does not include current drain for an P&T action of the Ninja, nor does it factor solar panel less than optimum conditions (the output current given is always "ideal", meaning bright sun, anything less, and output current falls dramatically). I think you would need a much larger panel. Depending on P&T usage, and whether you live in Arizona or not, at least double or even >500ma.
It sounds like a solar powered camera only [No Ninja base] would be readily doable then, maybe for as little as $15-20 additional dollars. Would the wattage of the solar array make a difference? For instance, would a 5 w solar charger work more efficiently/effectively than a 1 watt solar charger, assuming both were rated at 200ma?
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........ It sounds like a solar powered camera only [No Ninja base] would be readily doable then, maybe for as little as $15-20 additional dollars.
Do you still plan on mounting this in a car? If you do... no solar charging should be required... unless this is one of those cars that is mowed around. If you actually drive this car... the battery will recharge itself when the engine is running. Or if you wish... you can put the camera (and Ninja) on an On/Off switch (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=RM01&cpc=SCH).
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........ It sounds like a solar powered camera only [No Ninja base] would be readily doable then, maybe for as little as $15-20 additional dollars.
Do you still plan on mounting this in a car? If you do... no solar charging should be required... unless this is one of those cars that is mowed around. If you actually drive this car... the battery will recharge itself when the engine is running. Or if you wish... you can put the camera (and Ninja) on an On/Off switch (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=RM01&cpc=SCH).
The cars are regularly driven. I'm getting different opinions on whether the camera would drain/stress the battery. I can't imagine a small camera which can be powered by a few little AA or 9v batteries would tax a big car battery, but I do not have a background in or great understanding of electronics. The solar power supply would be an option like the battery power packs. I'll check out the geeks.com link. Thanks.
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If the car is driven every few days, I don't think you have a worry. I thought you were looking for something independant of the car.
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If the car is driven every few days, I don't think you have a worry. I thought you were looking for something independant of the car.
Thanks for your analysis. Also, I probably should have created another wish list thread for the solar power unit. Though the charger could be used in the car, I was thinking more of roof mounts, etc. which might not be available to a power outlet.
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I probably should have created another wish list thread for the solar power unit. Though the charger could be used in the car, I was thinking more of roof mounts, etc. which might not be available to a power outlet.
In that case I would look for a larger panel than the one you had link to. I just noticed Dave_X10 stated earlier the camera draws 80ma.