| Author |
Message |
Greg Roberts (Gregeagle20) (172.150.99.187)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 03, 2002 - 11:20 pm: | |
Have any of you ever tried a camera attached to your laptop as a rear view camera? I know that the image would not be reversed but they are so inexpensive and I will have a laptop at the drivers seat for navigation GPS anyway. Would the signal be too weak from the 40' cable being too long? I would want to use the USB. Appreciate any experiences. |
Scott Whitney (24.205.232.249)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 1:03 am: | |
I don't have any first hand experience on a Web cam set-up. But I orginally looked into it for the same reasons it appeals to you. Apparently the spec on USB limits cable length to 15ft, if I recall. Too short to use as a back-up cam.
You can get a cheapo security cam and CRT monitor for 50-100 bucks on eBay or the big box stores.
I have some pics on my Web site about how I reversed mine here:
http://www.dustyfoot.com/backupcam.html
BTW, I think reversing the image is important. Too hard to try to reverse it in your mind's eye while backing up.
Scott |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 1:21 am: | |
Of course you could always rig your little solid state camera to shoot at a mirror first,and then out to the rear, that would invert the image!! no electronics background needed... |
Joe Shelton (67.242.193.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 7:26 am: | |
I am investigating this too. My Dell laptop (LT) has 2 mci slots (?) and a tech @ dell said a video in-put card would work. as I understand it, the signal comes from the camera to a receiver (TV tuner) then to my LT via the video card. I was looking @ LEDs but 6" and bigger are not cheap. the LT can reverse the image; its a computer. a receiver is not big $. I am also planning on using a remote camera. here is one site that has some of the components needed. can any one steer me to a video in-put card and shed more light on this for us?
http://www.x10.com/homepage.htm |
Ross Carlisle (Ross) (216.107.195.96)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 8:24 am: | |
Try www.supercircuits.com
They have anything and everything pertaining to micro video. They even have a complete backup camera system for $300 for thos who just want to buy and install.
Ross |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (12.146.33.4)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 12:58 am: | |
I have seen an installed unit that was reversed by using a mirror in the area where the visor is to look at a CRT receiver that was mounted directly above the driver.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 |
Don KS/TX (64.24.4.76)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 6:42 am: | |
I have such a system I have never hooked up yet, the reversing is simply a function of the software that came with the camera, it does not use usb for the input.
What worked well in theory and on the workbench top was to have the GPS running on full screen, with the camera running a 1/4 screen at the same time (in a corner of the screen). With the Delorme GPS this still gave you a great view of where you were heading. Now you can see where you have been and where you are going all at once. I have a 9 inch color monitor to mount above the drivers head, like a normal inside rearview mirror location so you have a bright enough image to see all this clearly. |
joe shelton (Littlewind) (67.241.228.242)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 9:16 am: | |
Don KS/TX, I have some questions about your message. Is your 9 inch color monitor an LED? If it is an LED, does it have a TV tuner or is that separate? Are you using a remote camera? What is the camera you are using that comes with reversing software? Thanks, Joe |
Scott Whitney (24.205.232.249)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 11:53 am: | |
Joe, I think I realized part of what confused me about your post. When you say LED, I think you mean LCD. (Liquid crystal display as opposed to light emmitting diode) I still haven't figured out the 'mci' slots you refer to. I am wondering if you meant PCI slots? Those would be found in a desktop computer and not a laptop. Some laptop video cards may have a built-in RCA type TV input, but that is not typical. You could probably buy a another video card that connected to the laptop's PCMCIA port - maybe that is what you meant by mci slot?
Don, if your camera does not use USB, is it a serial connection? Or do you use a video card with an RCA or coax input like I think Joe was suggesting?
Scott |
Scott Whitney (24.205.232.249)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 12:00 pm: | |
Forgot this. . .
Joe, what do you mean by 'remote' camera? At fourty feet distance from the display, I would consider all back-up cams to be remote. But maybe this term means something else I am not aware of. Wireless vs. wired perhaps?
Scott |
Don KS/TX (64.24.4.106)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 10:20 pm: | |
OK, here goes. First of all, it IS a USB connection, I just thought one thing and typed another.
The camera is a Plustek Opticam, I bought it over three years ago at a military PX sale, not sure if they are still in business or not.
The CRT monitor was a flea market special, I think it was used in a bank or supermarket checkout. I have used it on the laptop, really nice bright screen. I think as time has passed, I would seriously look at LCD screens to do the same thing. Also, color backup systems have become more sensibly priced, perhaps this is not even a good way to do it anymore.
I was unaware of the 15ft limitation on USB cable if there is one, and never tried the whole 40 feet of cable with it. |
joe shelton (Littlewind) (67.242.193.6)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 12:01 am: | |
Thanks Don for the info.
Scott, Yes I meant LCD. And yes again, I meant PCMCIA cards; I am looking for a PCMCIA video in-put card. I am also referring to a Wireless camera.
So what I want to do is: install a wireless camera which are often sold with a receiver, send the signal from the receiver to my laptop via cable & a PCMCIA video in-put card. |
Scott Whitney (24.205.238.126)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 3:52 am: | |
Don, in my research about a year or so ago, the spec for USB was 15ft. I could not find cables for sale longer than 15'. Most are about 6ft or less. So in order to rig it, one would have to splice at least three USB cables together. Trippling the specd. max length might lead to dodgy results, but admittedly I have not tried it. Having said that, there is now USB2. I have not researched its specs. Might be time to reexamine the issue using USB2.
Joe, your proposed system sounds like it should work. Your shopping list might be a Wireless camera w/ reciever and a PCMCIA video card with analog TV input. Ideally, the camera and receiver would be 12v. The receiver would probably have an RCA output which would plug into the RCA input of your video card. (RCA are like the jacks used for connecting a VCR or stereo components) Without spending time to research specific products, I might suggest having a gander at Outpost.com. I generally buy my PC stuff from them - good prices, o-nite delivery.
Scott |
joe shelton (Littlewind) (65.58.87.163)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 12:16 pm: | |
I believe the limiting factor of USB for video is speed. As distance may also be a concern, it can be over come by running the signal from the camera to a TV tuner/receiver and then to your computer. I still haven't found a PCMCIA TV-Tuner card to use with my laptop with out buying a bunch of other stuff with it. Joe |
Scott Whitney (24.205.238.126)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 3:36 pm: | |
Something like this might work for you:
http://www.baber.com/laptops/tvtogo.htm
Scott |
Brian (204.126.2.226)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 2:39 pm: | |
Your USB camera would work, but you'd have to go no further than 15' max per cable and have a POWERED USB hub every 15'. If you don't use powered hubs, the signal degredation over 40+' would be too much for the camera to work. In the end, it would probably be cheaper to just use a cheap security-type camera and CRT monitor, but if you want it on your laptop, it should work.
Brian |