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RE: Camera spotters - Bob McDowell - 05-29-2013
Found this - http://www.howtogeek.com/139373/how-to-turn-an-old-android-phone-into-a-networked-security-camera/
So...
1) 'Old' phone
2) 12 volt battery and car charger for old phone
3) Tupperware box (or similar)
4) $5 for software
5) Pair of uni-directional wifi antennas
6) Laptop
7) Profit
Someone start the actual 'doing stuff' part and let me know how it goes...
RE: Camera spotters - Bob McDowell - 05-29-2013
...and now that I think about it, there are a couple of mods to this idea that could also work.
First, it could be your current phone. It isn't like you're taking calls while on the range, am I right? The only risk here is, well, bullets. Better make sure your insurance covers 'accidental' damage.
Second, you don't have to use a laptop. You could use another phone to look at the images just as easily. And it would probably be easier to see outdoors. You just need to make sure you can rig up an antenna to it, because at decent ranges, only 'line of sight' style 802.11 will work.
RE: Camera spotters - Semtav - 05-29-2013
well you lost me at Android phone to start and 802.11 to finish, but looks like an interesting project to undertake.
Sooooo, to simplify, are you saying one can take an old phone, download something ( to the laptop or to the phone??) and have a remote camera without having to have telephone service for it?
RE: Camera spotters - Don McDowell - 05-29-2013
What about if you don't have any cell service at the shooting location?
RE: Camera spotters - Bob McDowell - 05-29-2013
We'd be looking at WiFi for this application. It doesn't require a license (within certain limits), should work really well at the range (low interference, unless it rains), and is already present on the phone.
This kind of link - http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/487/402 - requires antennas, and that requires somewhere to plug such a thing into the phone. That may be a hangup, because none of the newer stuff has an external antenna port anymore. I _think_ they're still required to accept them, though, so maybe it's a matter of tearing it down, locating it, and drilling a corresponding hole through the plastic casing.
I discussed the idea of 'WokFi', as in putting the device in a metal enclosure (like a can or stir fry wok) to collect signals for it, but it wouldn't be practical to aim the phone's camera at the target and the collector at the firing line. They aren't likely to line up, but a cable between them fixes that, so we're back to antennas.
The simplest diagram would be like so:
[Android phone:Camera -> Software -> Built in WiFi] -> Antenna -> (Air gap) -> {Antenna -> Laptop or Phone to view the images and/or video}
That {curly bracket} part could be lots of things, like a router instead of an antenna connected to an internal card. But that would add another device that might fail on you in actual use. KISS.
Also if you had cell service you could use that instead of WiFi and you wouldn't need antennas, but I'd say you shouldn't design around that being present. Plus you'd need to add cell service to the receiving end if it was a laptop and not a phone.
RE: Camera spotters - Bob McDowell - 05-29-2013
This might work, too - http://miniandroidpc.com/shop/mk812-dual-core-a9-mini-pc-with-camera-microphone-bluetooth
Already has an external antenna jack. Camera's not too spiffy, but might be good enough for our purposes. Not quite sure how you'd power it, but I'm guessing it runs on DC-via-USB from the looks of that wall wart in the photo.
RE: Camera spotters - Bob McDowell - 05-31-2013
This looks interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=G9a40ffHbCU
http://compare.ebay.com/like/380289836137?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
That's about $50 + a scope of some sort you may already have. And that would be all doable from behind the firing line, e.g. at the Quigley.
RE: Camera spotters - Kurt - 05-31-2013
Here you go guys.
This is a project I started for the Wasserburger Mile shoot. All parts are available from radio shack and all you need is two walkie talkies like they put behind the gong targets and a camcorder or a video camera and tv