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[pconroy]

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?
 

[cyan]

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.

[HA Dave]

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 and here. RED sat in my yard for weeks at a time ready to "look around".

[cyan]

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 and here. 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.

[dave w]

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.

[cyan]

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.

[pconroy]

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!   

[HA Dave]

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.

[dave w]

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.

[Brian H]

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.

[cyan]

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?

[Brian H]

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.

[cyan]

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.

[dave w]

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).

[cyan]

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