Hello,
I want to use the XC18A wireless video camera in a stand-alone mode without a
controller (for the camera to be on when power is supplied to it). I presume
that I must figure out how the X10 controller turns on the camera, and then
permanently enable the camera. Therefore, I need to know something about how
the electronics inside the XC18A wireless camera work.

The camera must be turned on remotely by some X10 controller over the mains
wiring. On the camera's power supply there are switches ("Unit" and "House")
which uniquely identify the camera. When the controller contacts the camera
power supply, what "turns on" in the camera electronics?

The cable going from the supply "brick" to the camera has 3 conductors: 12v,
ground, and another conductor. Does this third conductor get 12v when the
"on" signal is received? 5v?

If I had a controller to turn on the camera, I could answer my own question,
but I don't.

Thanks,
--
DaveC

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In article .net,
DaveC wrote:

Hello,
I want to use the XC18A wireless video camera in a stand-alone mode without a
controller (for the camera to be on when power is supplied to it). I presume
that I must figure out how the X10 controller turns on the camera, and then
permanently enable the camera. Therefore, I need to know something about how
the electronics inside the XC18A wireless camera work.

The camera section (everything from the female end of its power cable)
is *COMPLETELY* ignorant about anything having to do with the X-10
system - It only needs a 6-12 volt input to operate in "always on" mode.

The camera must be turned on remotely by some X10 controller over the mains
wiring.

Incorrect. The camera section is always on. The X-10 signal only
controls whether the wall-wart sends power to the camera section or not.

On the camera's power supply there are switches ("Unit" and "House")
which uniquely identify the camera.

Actually, the house and unit switches uniquely identify the wall-wart,
not the camera. If desired, you could "rabbit" the end of the wall-wart
wire and feed however many cameras you cared to from one wall-wart
(within the limits of the wart's output capability) although that would
make a mess of your picture unless each camera was running on a separate
channel. (four available, access to that setting is through the little
rubber plug next to the pivot-arm that holds the lens head on the base
of the camera unit - a similar switch is located on the bottom of the
reciever/base unit that you plug into your VCR/Computer/TV/whatever it
is you're using to view what the camera is showing.)

When the controller contacts the camera
power supply, what "turns on" in the camera electronics?

Nothing. The controller signal does nothing but tell the wall-wart to
start sending power to whatever it's connected to. The camera itself is
always on, and doesn't have the first clue what "X-10" is - Its on/off
state is determined by whether it has power applied or not. The source
of that power is irrelevant, and could be the supplied X-10 wall-wart, a
battery pack made up of 10 D cells wired in series, an adapter cable
from a car battery, the +12V output of a computer power supply, or
whatever else is handy and provides 12 volts.

(actually, only about 6 volts are needed to power up the camera section
- The first thing the juice encounters as it enters the camera is a 7805
regulator that knocks the 12 volts down to the 5 volts the camera
actually runs on, and dumps the "extra" 7 volts as heat, so any power
supply that can give you about 6-12 volts at the proper amperage will
work just fine)

The cable going from the supply "brick" to the camera has 3 conductors: 12v,
ground, and another conductor. Does this third conductor get 12v when the
"on" signal is received? 5v?

Third conductor is unused. No idea why they wasted the extra money on
the stereo (tip/ring/sleeve) jack/plug when a cheaper mono (tip and
sleeve only) jack/plug would have worked exactly the same, but they did.

If I had a controller to turn on the camera, I could answer my own question,
but I don't.

Thanks,

No controller? No problem - Pull the wall-wart out of the wall, then
plug it back in. They default to "on", and remain that way until they
receive an X-10 "off" signal. If you're seeing +12v on the end of the
wall-wart's wire, it's already on.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd for more info

Thus spake Don Bruder:

No controller? No problem - Pull the wall-wart out of the wall, then plug it
back in. They default to "on", and remain that way until they receive an X-10

"off" signal. If you're seeing +12v on the end of the wall-wart's wire, it's
already on.

I'm getting no signal to the TV from the camera, although I see a raster (not
noise). The receiver (VR31A) lights its LED, but I get no indication on the
TV of a video image. I have matched channels (tried both CH 3 and 4, cycling
power for each trial), and camera channels (tried A through D, cycling power
for each trial).

I cycle the power by unplugging the wall-wart and plugging it back in (for
each of the devices).

Am I missing something?

Thanks,
--
DaveC

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In article .net,
DaveC wrote:

Thus spake Don Bruder:

No controller? No problem - Pull the wall-wart out of the wall, then plug
it
back in. They default to "on", and remain that way until they receive an
X-10

"off" signal. If you're seeing +12v on the end of the wall-wart's wire,
it's
already on.

I'm getting no signal to the TV from the camera, although I see a raster (not
noise). The receiver (VR31A) lights its LED, but I get no indication on the
TV of a video image. I have matched channels (tried both CH 3 and 4, cycling
power for each trial), and camera channels (tried A through D, cycling power
for each trial).

I cycle the power by unplugging the wall-wart and plugging it back in (for
each of the devices).

Am I missing something?

Thanks,


Well, I now know you've got exactly the same gear on both ends as I do,
so that's a start...

I'm assuming you're wiring the receiver to the TV via co-ax, rather than
the RCA plugs? If so, that's one potential trouble-spot eliminated (My
first guess would have been swapped audio/video cables on the RCA jacks,
but since you're messing with the 3/4 switch, that likely doesn't apply)

Let's see... Fire up *ONE* camera (unplug any others you have) and the
receiver with them literally side-by-side. Any change in on-screen stuff
when camera is unplugged/plugged in? If not, there are two posibilities:
Cable issues, or camera/receiver/both dead. Getting raster instead of
noise suggests that the receiver is OK.

Do you have RCA inputs on the TV? If so, try those instead of the co-ax,
and tune the TV to take its signal from there. 3/4 on the VR31 doesn't
matter with the RCA outputs - It only counts for the co-ax hookup.

Tinker with the antennas on both receiver and camera - They're fairly
directional, and slight adjustments can make *HUGE* changes in
picture/sound quality - Far more than you'd expect.

What kind of range are you trying to cover? About a hundred yards with
clear line-of-sight seems to be the limit for these little guys.

Any metal in a more-or-less straight line between camera and receiver?
Doesn't need to be a "solid wall" - 2.4GHz (where the system operates)
is surprisingly easy to block. Not as easy as, for instance, satellite
reception, but much easier than over-the-air TV/Radio.

FWIW:
I'm getting excellent signal from my cams out to about a hundred yards,
give or take a bit, but only when the antennas are pointed more or less
directly at the receiver. Closer in, the aiming obviously matters less.

No need to power-cycle for channel (either TV or cam/receiver) changes.
Feel free if you like, but it isn't required.

Work with one camera at a time - Disconnect all but one. Multiple
cameras "powered up at the same time on the same cam/receiver channel
will "fight" each other, and in some cases (location/distance dependent)
can scramble and/or cancel out each other's signal, leaving the receiver
effectively getting nothing to pass along to the TV.

Let me know what, if anything, you manage to come up with, and I'll try
to assist.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd for more info

Let's see... Fire up *ONE* camera (unplug any others you have) and the
receiver with them literally side-by-side. Any change in on-screen stuff
when camera is unplugged/plugged in? If not, there are two posibilities:
Cable issues, or camera/receiver/both dead. Getting raster instead of
noise suggests that the receiver is OK.

Do you have RCA inputs on the TV? If so, try those instead of the co-ax,
and tune the TV to take its signal from there. 3/4 on the VR31 doesn't
matter with the RCA outputs - It only counts for the co-ax hookup.

Work with one camera at a time - Disconnect all but one. Multiple
cameras "powered up at the same time on the same cam/receiver channel
will "fight" each other, and in some cases (location/distance dependent)
can scramble and/or cancel out each other's signal, leaving the receiver
effectively getting nothing to pass along to the TV.

-=-=-=-

Don,
Thanks for the pointers. Only one camera, one receiver in the house. I've got
the receiver and camera on the desk about 2 ft apart. Tried both RF and
baseband video connections, neither better than the other. Neither sound nor
video are received; raster only. Disassembled the camera, but no obvious
cause evident. Wall wart output voltage is correct.

I am going on the assumption that the camera is bad, but it may be something
in the receiver, as well. I'll have to find someone who has this setup (are
you close to N. California?) so as to do module-swapping.

Thanks again for your help,
--
DaveC

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Don Bruder wrote in message
...
FWIW:
I'm getting excellent signal from my cams out to about a hundred yards,
give or take a bit, but only when the antennas are pointed more or less
directly at the receiver. Closer in, the aiming obviously matters less.

No need to power-cycle for channel (either TV or cam/receiver) changes.
Feel free if you like, but it isn't required.

Hi---
a Hundred yards? I thought they were only good for 100 feet max.
I'm glad to hear the range.

BTW, you gave a *great* explanation on them.
I have a 4 channel automatic switcher and I may be able to use that, using
the video/audio lines.

Thanks---
Ron

BTW, I'm curious how the X10 motion activator, which is a stand alone battey
powered "station" turns on a VCR 100 ft or so away in the house.
I know it's an rf signal, etc, but is there an identification of what motion
activated alarm has been activated, then is that sent to the X10 camera,
then that rf signal is sent to the house as video and audio, plus a signal
to turn on a VCR to record what happened?
Thanks a bunch for any info
Best :-)
Ron

In article .net,
DaveC wrote:

Let's see... Fire up *ONE* camera (unplug any others you have) and the
receiver with them literally side-by-side. Any change in on-screen stuff
when camera is unplugged/plugged in? If not, there are two posibilities:
Cable issues, or camera/receiver/both dead. Getting raster instead of
noise suggests that the receiver is OK.

Do you have RCA inputs on the TV? If so, try those instead of the co-ax,
and tune the TV to take its signal from there. 3/4 on the VR31 doesn't
matter with the RCA outputs - It only counts for the co-ax hookup.

Work with one camera at a time - Disconnect all but one. Multiple
cameras "powered up at the same time on the same cam/receiver channel
will "fight" each other, and in some cases (location/distance dependent)
can scramble and/or cancel out each other's signal, leaving the receiver
effectively getting nothing to pass along to the TV.

-=-=-=-

Don,
Thanks for the pointers. Only one camera, one receiver in the house. I've got
the receiver and camera on the desk about 2 ft apart. Tried both RF and
baseband video connections, neither better than the other. Neither sound nor
video are received; raster only. Disassembled the camera, but no obvious
cause evident. Wall wart output voltage is correct.

I am going on the assumption that the camera is bad, but it may be something
in the receiver, as well. I'll have to find someone who has this setup (are
you close to N. California?)

Indeed I am... Butte County.

so as to do module-swapping.

It does sound as if the camera may be kaput, but from here, it's hard to
tell

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd for more info

In article , "Ron G"
wrote:

Don Bruder wrote in message
...
FWIW:
I'm getting excellent signal from my cams out to about a hundred yards,
give or take a bit, but only when the antennas are pointed more or less
directly at the receiver. Closer in, the aiming obviously matters less.

No need to power-cycle for channel (either TV or cam/receiver) changes.
Feel free if you like, but it isn't required.

Hi---
a Hundred yards? I thought they were only good for 100 feet max.
I'm glad to hear the range.

Without a *TOTALLY CLEAR* line-of-sight between the camera and the base,
you can forget it past about 125-150 feet. If you've got good LOS, I've
heard folks claiming 500+ feet, but I have my doubts on that.

A properly aimed "Cantenna" (Google for it) on both ends of the link,
combined with excellent LOS, is supposed to capable of extending the max
range to a quarter mile, but I haven't gotten around to trying anything
that fancy.

BTW, you gave a *great* explanation on them.
I have a 4 channel automatic switcher and I may be able to use that, using
the video/audio lines.

Thanks---
Ron

BTW, I'm curious how the X10 motion activator, which is a stand alone battey
powered "station" turns on a VCR 100 ft or so away in the house.

Like the rest of the X-10 stuff, you set the motion sensor to a
house/unit code, and the RF receiver module to the matching house/unit
code. The RF receiver then retransmits the RF signal from the sensor on
the house wires as an X-10 sequence, complete with the house/unit ID
assigned to the detector, as well as triggering the on/off function for
the socket built into the RF receiver.

I know it's an rf signal, etc, but is there an identification of what motion
activated alarm has been activated, then is that sent to the X10 camera,

If the plan is "When motion sensor says something's moving, start the
VCR recording what the camera sees", then the camera's wall-wart is set
to the same house/unit code as the motion sensor, so that when the
receiver re-sends the sensor's RF signal as X-10 on the house wires, the
camera kicks on along with the socket in the receiver. (which is where
the VCR gets plugged in)

Motion is seen, signal is transmitted to RF receiver, signal gets
converted into X-10 on the house wires, socket turns on, putting power
to a VCR set up to start recording whenever power is present, camera
sends signal, VR31 catches camera signal and feeds it to VCR, and you
get a tape of whatever the motion sensor "saw".

The tricky part of that setup these days is finding a VCR that can be
set to "when powered on, start recording" - Although I've read about
another module that can be put somewhere in line-of-sight for the VCR,
and catches the X-10 signals, then translates them into IR pulses to
control the VCR the same as the normal IR remote would do. I've never
laid eyes on one of those modules "live and in person", though - Only
read about them being available - so I know very little about them
beyond their existence and the theory of how they're supposed to
function.

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd for more info

Don Bruder wrote:
The tricky part of that setup these days is finding a VCR that can be
set to "when powered on, start recording" - Although I've read about
another module that can be put somewhere in line-of-sight for the VCR,
and catches the X-10 signals, then translates them into IR pulses to
control the VCR the same as the normal IR remote would do. I've never
laid eyes on one of those modules "live and in person", though - Only
read about them being available - so I know very little about them
beyond their existence and the theory of how they're supposed to
function.


Hmmm... how about taping down the 'rec' button on the VCR remote,
removing the batteries and powering it via an appropriate PSU from an
X10 outlet?

Phil.

Thus spake Don Bruder:

The tricky part of that setup these days is finding a VCR that can be set to
"when powered on, start recording" - Although I've read about another module
that can be put somewhere in line-of-sight for the VCR, and catches the X-10
signals, then translates them into IR pulses to control the VCR the same as
the normal IR remote would do. I've never laid eyes on one of those modules
"live and in person", though - Only read about them being available - so I
know very little about them beyond their existence and the theory of how
they're supposed to function.

X10 module UX23A. It receives signals from remote motion sensors (that you
place to cover the camera's field-of-view) and triggers the VCR to start
recording. The VCR module comes with a cable with little stick-on infrared
transmitters that stick to the front of the VCR where the IR receiver is
located.

You program the UX23A with your remote control; it "learns" the Record and
Stop functions so it can record video from the camera whenever the motion
sensor near the camera trips.

I have one of these, but haven't gotten that far to determine how it all
works; I'm still trying to get video out of my camera )c:
--
DaveC

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Thus spake Don Bruder:

It does sound as if the camera may be kaput, but from here, it's hard to tell


I was using the wrong power supply for the video receiver module (the PS's
look interchangeable, but aren't). Here's the e-mail I received from X10
support:
- - -
There is no way to absolutely determine if a camera or receiver is defective
without a second camera or receiver to test them against. The issue may be as
simple as a misplaced power supply - check to make sure that the video
receiver is using a D9300 or PR30A, NOT a D9100 power supply - the D9100
power supply is designed for use with the VCR Commander only, and while it
supplies enough power to light the power LED, it does not have enough power
to actually receive video.
- - -
All is well. Thanks for your help, Don.
--
DaveC

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In article .net,
DaveC wrote:

Thus spake Don Bruder:

It does sound as if the camera may be kaput, but from here, it's hard to
tell


I was using the wrong power supply for the video receiver module (the PS's
look interchangeable, but aren't). Here's the e-mail I received from X10
support:
- - -
There is no way to absolutely determine if a camera or receiver is defective
without a second camera or receiver to test them against. The issue may be as
simple as a misplaced power supply - check to make sure that the video
receiver is using a D9300 or PR30A, NOT a D9100 power supply - the D9100
power supply is designed for use with the VCR Commander only, and while it
supplies enough power to light the power LED, it does not have enough power
to actually receive video.
- - -
All is well. Thanks for your help, Don.


AHA! That would indeed be a problem! One that I don't have, since I
power my VR31 from one of the spare plugs I grafted onto the power
supply box of a Tandy 1000 computer (that was already ancient when I
gutted it 15 years ago) that serves double duty feeding a stack of old
SCSI drives - Rated for 4 amps on the +12V output, it's got more than
plenty of juice to feed the stack of drives, the VR31, and pretty much
anything else I care to plug into it. (within reason, of course...)

Glad to hear there's a "happy ending" to your tale!

--
Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist,
or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow"
somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my
ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd for more info

Don Bruder wrote:
In article .net,
DaveC wrote:

Hello,
I want to use the XC18A wireless video camera in a stand-alone mode without a
controller (for the camera to be on when power is supplied to it). I presume
that I must figure out how the X10 controller turns on the camera, and then
permanently enable the camera. Therefore, I need to know something about how
the electronics inside the XC18A wireless camera work.
work just fine)
snip

The cable going from the supply "brick" to the camera has 3 conductors: 12v,
ground, and another conductor. Does this third conductor get 12v when the
"on" signal is received? 5v?

Third conductor is unused. No idea why they wasted the extra money on
the stereo (tip/ring/sleeve) jack/plug when a cheaper mono (tip and
sleeve only) jack/plug would have worked exactly the same, but they did.


Coming in late....

The original X10 cams actually had only one pair of wires (ie power)
from the wart to the cam. These use a normal wall-wart power connector.
I believe at some point X10 modified the design with the extra wire so
that the camera could always be warmed up...turning on only the RF when
the unit is selected. The entire unit, transmitter and power was turned
on by the wart when selected. These are the ones I have. The power
supplies are VERY cranky. Often, they will not turn off at all. The
camera with the best signal then controls what you see at the receiving
end...to a degree.

I've not found a solution for this, although sometimes, removing power
for several days corrects the issue temporarily. I've pondered
connecting each to an X10 appliance module and 'normal' warts...not ideal.


Mine are very temp sensitive...only it's not the camera which is the
issue. Frequency control is horrid at low temps...takes several minutes
below about 40 degrees for the transmitter to ramp up to the proper
freq'...if it ever does. You can watch the process by switching the
receiver to different channels. I was able to restore some
functionality by switching the receiver and cameras to different
channels; but each camera is different in its response to temperature
variation, so that's not an ideal solution.

I've finally moved them all inside, which helps the stability; but the
'always on' issue won't go away.

To the OP, I see by the thread that you've solved your problem.
Congratulations. I wish there was a better solution for mine. I have
one camera which mimics your problem: raster but no video. If I apply
some 'percussive maintenance to that one, it comes back for a time.
I've opened up the camera section, but cannot find any bad solder joints.

jak