There are a lot of small cheap camera’s on the market today. There are 1.2GHz cam’s which are illegal in some countries. (don’t know about my country though). There are 2.4GHz cam’s that seems to interfere with the 2.4 RC controllers. And there are Wifi cam’s that are usually to big to mount on a hex. I also heard that those cheap spy cams need to be fine tuned whenever the battery power drops just a little bit.
Who has got some experience with small wireless cameras and can suggest me what cam I should buy? I rather spend a little bit more money to get a decent camera that I can enjoy much longer then buying a cheap cam and buy another one afterwards.
X10 wireless cams are not the best for a bot, but they can be disassembled such that access to the video transmitter is fairly easy. The advantage of this is it would be possible to place several cams on a bot and switch between them using the single video transmitter for the video. The below link shows info on taking the cam apart. NTSC video signals can be switched using single NPN transistors which would be on the bot.
There are many other (and cheaper) options (just google 5.8ghz video)m but most are larger. I think those two links show options that would be smaller/lighter than the typical consumer wifi camera, even though the camera and transmitter are separate components. Still not sure would be small/light enough solution for your hex though.
Another user on the forums here (Twilight) has done some wireless video work on mobile robotic platforms. His website has some interesting onboard videos showing his results: inspectorbots.com . He also mentioned previously about having interference problems with various controller/video combinations.
The X10 cam on the link looks pretty small. It’s good the actually cam can be mounted separate from the PCB. The vid showed some interference but then again, it really got worse when the rocket was really high. Could the X10 system cause interference with with my RC or PS2 remote?
I checked out the links for the 5.8GHz system. I had never heard of them thanks for the tip. They are a bit more expensive then the 2.4GHz but that’s about the only down side I could think off. I might consider purchasing one.
Yeah, I’ve seen the topic on TB where somebody stripped it down. I’m a bit unsure if I could fit it nicely on a hex though. But on the other hand. It’s just $40
I put an X10 camera on a giant Stuart tank which I controlled with a 2.4 GHz PS2 controller. The camera image degraded badly with any distance and interfered with the PS2 radio control. I switched to a Vex radio and all was well. Decent video image and much improved range. I could control it and receive decent video at about 150 ft.
I put a nexxtech wireless camera on my 4WD rover bot. The camera has 4 channels 2.414 GHz, 2.432 GHz, 2.450 GHz and 2.468 GHz. ALL FOUR channels interfere with my PS2 controller and stop me from being able to control the bot.
Any fix suggestions ???
I guess I can look into spending money on another camera, but I can only find other 2.4 GHz cameras ;(
