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[HA Dave]

I owe this thread to Alan V and his post at my Yet Another Camera Modification thread. Thank-You Alan V for inspiring me... no matter how this turns out.

After putting the omni-directional antenna on an X10 wireless camera to make the signal "less-directional" I turned my attention to the Video Receiver. After a lot of searching the forum... I decided I might be able to resolve yet another problem... I don't have. Using  Alan V's LINK I constructed a "Home-brew Compact 6dBi Collinear Antenna".

Even though I don't speak metric... I found that I had at least one measuring instrument that had "mm". I used 14 gauge wire and a 7/16 wooden dowel to form the antenna. I haven't finished this test yet.... it's a work in progress. I am open for tips and suggestions. The "plan" is to mount the antenna ether in my attic.. or even outside. (The outside option requires I put the antenna inside a PVC tube.)

[HA Dave]

Woo Hoo!

Tests seem to show that my home made antenna (and configuration) at least works. It's cold and raining outside here... so the test was limited. I attached an F connector to the Cameras discared Patch Antenna. Then I used coax to connect the old patch antenna to the new Home Made Antenna.

This allowed me to simply clamp the the video receivers patch antenna... to the one attached to the coax... that leads to the home-made antenna.

I found a place in the garage where when I put the video receiver under my workbench, I lost the cameras signal. Adding the home-made antenna... by putting the patch-to-the-patch... restored the video.

[Alan V]

I'm very interested to hear about your test results.  I hope it works well for you.

I, on the other hand, have not had much luck with the X10 wireless cameras.  I've tried all 4 channels on the camera, as well as all the channels on my wireless router, but I still get video interference.  Who knows, it may even be caused by devices from my next door neighbors.

There are some 5.8GHz wireless cameras (albeit more expensive) that several people have said are immune to 5.8GHz wireless phones.  I may give those a shot, as adding extra wires for me is out of the question.

Good luck to you!

[HA Dave]

I, on the other hand, have not had much luck with the X10 wireless cameras. 

Actually... I've never had much of a problem with the camera reception. I use.. and/or have used, wired and wireless cameras, X10 and other brands. I even use the Sender/Receivers to send movies from my Home Theater to the upstairs and my office.

I am however having a little RF problem in getting my CM15A to control my Ninja... that got me started on the antenna quest. I still have a way to go but I am sure I will get there. Ultimately I hope to use my BVC (Bill's Voice Commander) setup to tell my cameras [Ninjas] where to look. One of the Ninjas I plan on mounting on my XMOP (X10 Mobile Observation Platform).

A little attention to details... like placing cameras near windows (because the RF passes through windows much easier than walls) can be a big help. I also aim the RF transmission to the corner of a room when possible... then aim the receivers patch antenna to the same corner... and let the signal reflect back. Using additional sender/receivers to relay video is also an option to improve reception.

There are some 5.8GHz wireless cameras (albeit more expensive) that several people have said are immune to 5.8GHz wireless phones.  I may give those a shot, as adding extra wires for me is out of the question.

2.4 GHz has become a little crowded. And... I think 5.8 will at some point also. If you want to "avoid the crowd" and maybe save a buck in the process... look at the 900 MHz wireless.

[HA Dave]

Well it didn't get any warmer here.... but it did stop raining. So I did a little testing of BOTH current projects this "Home-made Compact 6dBi Collinear Antenna". And an omni-directional antenna modification of an X10 wireless camera.

I am pleased with both the Colinear Antenna and the Camera.

I am sure the camera antenna mod did give the camera BOTH better range and omni-directional abilites.

I didn't find any increased range with the Home-made Collinear Antenna. I think any range increase the improved design provided was likely lost in the poor transmission of the patch-to-patch. However... the antenna can now be mounted where it can be most effective (inside or outside)... and then coax ran to a location more suitable to the receiver... PLUS the home-made antenna is also omni-directional.

I was able to get great video from two cameras.. at angles from each other... that I am sure would never have worked before. And with one of the cameras being the modified X10 wireless camera I was able to rotate that camera 360 degrees without effecting the image quality.