I've used them for years here - not the wireless ones - but the cheap 1/3
CCD B&W type, mostly purchased at Dayton over the years. I have too many
towers to monitor and the distances are a bit much for the X10 stuff.
Mine usually run 24/7 with IR leds for night viewing when trained on the
mast, or with spotlights as needed to view the whole tower and see the
position of the home brew side mounts. Leaving them on likely keeps the
moisture from condensing and accumulating, as they generate a bit of heat.
The lens will fog up internally if exposed to direct rain but usually OK
with a rain hat. The lens seem to dry out eventually....
They don't seem to generate any noise and seem unaffected by RF as well. I
use RG59 or whatever I have available to get the signal back - sometimes
just twisted pair. Some runs are over 700 feet.
Overall they've been reliable and very useful for see what is going on, not
only the position but the weather conditions as well. In fact I just
checked the position of the 80m yagi and I can't read the markings on the
mast as they are covered with wet snow. First of the season and way too soon
if you ask me.....
73 Don
VE6JY
----- Original Message -----
From: "kd4e" <kd4e@verizon.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 23:34
Subject: [TowerTalk] Using a Camera to Indicate Beam Direction
> Is there any good reason to not use a little wireless
> X10 type camera pointed at a mast with directional
> markings as a directional indicator?
>
> The context is someone using a prop-pitch or other
> rotor where there is no built-in indicator or the
> indicator system has failed and the cost to repair
> is prohibitive.
>
> The little cameras are cheap, may be readily stuffed
> into a tiny weatherproof box, and can grab what little
> power they need from the rotator supply.
>
> WDYT?
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Thanks! & 73, doc kd4e
>
> |_|___|_|
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> ============\ # http://bibleseven.com/kd4e.html
> KD4E =========================================
> West Central Florida
>
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> ?(~~~{ @ @ } Sent from
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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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