Can Wireless cameras be converted to wired ?

[jforster]

As for the conversion from wireless to wired, I'm doing the same and thanks to this post - it works very well.  With one exception..  From the X10 power supply there are both a red and white line - I ran only the red and the units will not power off for me via X10 command now.  Is the white a switched power line, and red always hot?  If so do we use just the white to power the unit and ignore the red? 
Any pointers on this one appreciated.  Not sure what I missed - but they sure do look better already!
Thanks!

-Jim

[jforster]

To update - yes, the white is the switched power - Grabbed an old camera and tested it. 
So for future reference, and since I can't remove or edit my post - ignore the red line from the X10 power supply and use the white, it'll save some headache.
Without this thread I wasn't sure what to do with my old wireless units - thanks for the idea, it really does improve the quality.

-Jim

[bohica]

?#1:  If the power is on the white line is this only for non-audio cameras or is the audio on another color wire?

The following were riding the fence on a new thread, but were in response to Puck's post here, so what to do.

Puck,

Puck: Since I use my dedicated home automation PC's TV card to record (via a VCR Commander)

?#2:  TV card, are you using AHP with it, does AHP support it or are you using another capture software?

?#3:  How do you control the start recording through the TV card with the VCR Commander... I didn't think TV cards had IR receivers?  I know they have a IR port to control other devices, but I don't think they can be controlled, or can they.

[Puck]

?#1:  If the power is on the white line is this only for non-audio cameras or is the audio on another color wire?

The white wire inside the camera is the audio. The white wire (from jforster's post) is referring to the X10 Addressable Power Supply. The white wire from the power supply, as jforster stated, is controllable; the red wire is always live and is used to make cameras instant on.

The following were riding the fence on a new thread, but were in response to Puck's post here, so what to do.

Puck,

Puck: Since I use my dedicated home automation PC's TV card to record (via a VCR Commander)

?#2:  TV card, are you using AHP with it, does AHP support it or are you using another capture software?

I am not using AHP as part of my video recording. Unfortunately the VA11 is the only video capture device that's compatible with AHP. I'm just using the TV software.

?#3:  How do you control the start recording through the TV card with the VCR Commander... I didn't think TV cards had IR receivers?  I know they have a IR port to control other devices, but I don't think they can be controlled, or can they.

A lot of PC TV cards do come with a IR remote. The different brands I use do, so it was easy to have a VCR Commander start the recording.

[cabledawg]

Does any one have pics of this mod?

[zimzam]

Howdy fellas....

I have a question.  Puck mentioned earlier about using cat 3 to make a wireless camera wired by opening up the camera.  That part I understand.  How do you supply power on the other end of the cat3?  Does x10 sell the adapter thingy that comes with the wired cameras?  The one where the rj11 plugs into and it has the rca and 12v coming out of it?  Is there a way to make this?

[octavio]

Hey KDR,

I purchased it back in May and have been running it ever since. It works as good as advertised.

With it's Output signal combined with the normal Cable TV signal (using a splitter backwards) I have not seen any signal degradation with the normal cable channels.

Since I am sending the signal throughout the house to 3 TV's and 4 PC's, I do use a cable booster amplifier after the combiner just because of the number of loads.

Here is a simplified schematic to show how everthing is connected:



Puck Edit: added picture.

I have been trying to solve this problem for a while before I saw this forum. I have read all information presented in here but still have several misunderstanding I need to solve soon, such as:

1.- If I cut all the cables inside the camera and run cables to the tv set how Do  I select which camera want to see if I am not using the addresable relay or do I keep this funtion keeping original power supply ?otherwise if I run all the cables how do I select which camera to watch if have all the video signal tied ?
2.- video modulator is just for having a single signal running in all the tv sets in the house ?


Puck edit: fixed quote

[Puck]

1.- If I cut all the cables inside the camera and run cables to the tv set how Do  I select which camera want to see if I am not using the addresable relay or do I keep this funtion keeping original power supply ?otherwise if I run all the cables how do I select which camera to watch if have all the video signal tied ?

When all the camera video signals are tied together you have to be able to turn on only one camera at a time. This can be done with the addressable power supply that comes with some cameras or use an appliance module for cameras with a regular power supply.

2.- video modulator is just for having a single signal running in all the tv sets in the house ?

I use a modulator to add my camera signals to the analog part of my house cable. I did this to have the ability to use any TV in my home as a monitor.

[octavio]

1.- If I cut all the cables inside the camera and run cables to the TV set how Do  I select which camera want to see if I am not using the addresable relay or do I keep this function keeping original power supply ?otherwise if I run all the cables how do I select which camera to watch if have all the video signal tied ?

When all the camera video signals are tied together you have to be able to turn on only one camera at a time. This can be done with the addressable power supply that comes with some cameras or use an appliance module for cameras with a regular power supply.

2.- video modulator is just for having a single signal running in all the TV sets in the house ?

I use a modulator to add my camera signals to the analog part of my house cable. I did this to have the ability to use any TV in my home as a monitor.

Thanks a lot for your quick response.I still have another question: same logic works for audio cable ? I f I decide to keep addressable power supply at the site where each camera is, I have to run just 2 cables instead of five one for the video and another for audio.this will allow me to turn any camera i want using original equipment provided by x10(my cameras bring video and audio) or I have some other advantage on having a remote power supply ? Which are my best options ?


Puck edit: fixed quote

[Puck]

Thanks a lot for your quick response.I still have another question: same logic works for audio cable ? I f I decide to keep addressable power supply at the site where each camera is, I have to run just 2 cables instead of five one for the video and another for audio.this will allow me to turn any camera i want using original equipment provided by x10(my cameras bring video and audio) or I have some other advantage on having a remote power supply ? Which are my best options ?

Either way is fine; it's all a matter of what works best for your situation with respect to wiring. There is no advantage to one way or the other.

[x10challanged]

This is great for TV Jack but I have no TV card in my PC or extra slot for one.  Is there an easy way to take the cable coming out of the splitter and convert it to RCA plug?  I would like to have both coax for 3 TV's and RCA plugs audio/video for 2 computers.

[Puck]

This is great for TV Jack but I have no TV card in my PC or extra slot for one.  Is there an easy way to take the cable coming out of the splitter and convert it to RCA plug?  I would like to have both coax for 3 TV's and RCA plugs audio/video for 2 computers.

You would need to demodulate the signal from the cable splitter to be usable as a video & audio line signal (with RCA cables). This can be done easily with an old VCR. However, your PC would still need some type of capture card to accept the video signal.

[x10challanged]

Thanks Puck would never thought of that, I have an old small VCR player I can use as converter to RCA. 

[chinaboy]

Hi bohica and welcome to the forum.

I changed mine to wired to eliminate the noise (visual as well as audible) with the wireless cameras. Too much interference from things like cordless phones (mine & most likely my neighbours), household obstacles, distance, direction, etc.

Result: clean video and only the sounds picked up by the cameras.

I used 4-wire phone cable since I had a lot of it already available. 6-wire with running separate grounds would be ideal.

I did use RJ11 connectors, but I made a junction box that these plugged into. This box joins the cameras signals together and distributes it with RCA cables to a Cable Modulator which in turn distributes the signals to all house TVs & computers via the existing cable system on an unused channel.

Hi Puck, you said that you made a junction box and distribute the signals with RCA cables. How do you get from RJ11 to RCA cables? Will I still need to use the power supplies that came with my wireless cams? I am trying to get my cameras to work on one TV and also working on a PC in two different locations.

Thanks

[Puck]

How do you get from RJ11 to RCA cables?

I used phone jacks that have the modular socket at front and wired connections at the back. I wired the jacks to RCA female connectors.

Will I still need to use the power supplies that came with my wireless cams?

Yes you will; especially if you want to turn them on & off remotely.