Going to pick up some X10 cameras on the next big deal, but question?

[Blade]

I am going to pick up some of the X10 cameras when the next big deal comes up, but I was wondering about the Ninja robotic arms. Can anyone give me any feedback on these. I saw that there is a CM19A plugin that allows control of them thru HS. How well does this work and how does it work?

Also, do the robotic arms and the X10 cam both need a receptacle or just one plug for both units?

TIA

[zoomkat]

Two X10 night watch cams below for $55.

http://www.x10.com/nightwatch29.htm/2008143

[jokerm5]

The plugin works well, the x10 cameras share the ninja supply provided.
The x10 cameras are cmos and not very good i would recommend just buying the ninja pan and tilts and acquiring a ccd camera and mounting it on the ninja pan and tilt. I bought a ccd camera and mounted it on the ninja base with high quality outdoor tape. The camera, ninja and the plugin have been reliable even in temperatures -20 degrees celsuis.

[Microchip]

Blade

Go here if you dare and have a look at the manual vk75a-om.pdf. It explains all regarding connecting the Ninja etc.
X10 Owners Manuals

I have had 3 cameras, no Ninja, outside for 2 years without problems, 1 wireless and 2 wired. It gets even colder here.

The CMOS X10 cameras are worth what you pay. Better to get CCD cameras as mentioned above.

[JeffCharger]

Blade, there is much written about the X10 Colour cameras. They are well made, however their performance is certainly not as good as CCD cameras. That being said, I still think that they're great value. If you want crystal clear pictures in varying lighting conditions then you won't be happy, but if you just want decent pictures in good light then they'll be fine. I have about a dozen of them and think the value is great.


On the ninjas...the plug-in works great. I bought a CM19A just to provide ninja support and continue to use a W800RF32A for my main receiver - due to range. The Ninja base provides about 190 degrees of motion. You can program 4 setpoints of direction and move to them either via remote (that they provide) or through scripts or remote html. I have found that the range on the ninja is at greatest about 50 feet, so don't plan on using them much beyond that. I protect mine from the weather - like putting under an eave, in a birdhouse or under it's own little roof. They ran reliably all winter at our cottage north of Toronto so -40 C was ok. The ninja requires a special power supply - which powers both the ninja base and the attached X10 camera. If you buy a camera integrated with a ninja base they send you one ninja power supply. If you order the "3-camera deal" and a separate "ninja" deal then you get both the power supplies that are special for the ninja and also the normal camera power supply. I like this way since I have in cases burned a power supply and this gives you the normal power supply as a spare for free.

The deals are about the best you get right now. For $210 US you can order 3 X10 cameras wtih the receiver and 3 ninja bases (with all there respective remotes).

Here's the current ninja deal. http://www.x10.com/home/offer.cgi?IC...jabase7732.htm and here's the 3 camera deal http://www.x10.com/home/offer.cgi?TV...amdeal7732.htm

I still can't find anything that beats it - good value in my mind.

[Blade]

Thanks for the replies.

Does anyone have any experience with the X10 wideeye cameras. How do they compare to the regular Xcam2 cameras?

Also, has anyone tried out the NightCam wireless B&W camera. They say it works better in low light. Is this true?

[JeffCharger]

Bob, I have both - the wide-eye is great - although it does distort the picture dimensions as any wide-eye lens will. I have one mounted on a tree (on a ninja in fact) that I really like). I just received one of the new wireless B/W cameras. They are low light, but still need some direct source of light to get a picture. An outdoor light above a doorway would be adequate to see a simple image....but don't expect to see facial features.

Here's a couple of examples: (it's a dull day here today - probably the same as in Lucan)
- a wide-eye

[JeffCharger]

here's a regular picture

[Blade]

Jeff,

Thanks for the pics. What software are you using to view your cameras on your PC?

Is there a how-to document on how to setup the cameras to get the most out of them?

[JeffCharger]

Bob, there's lots of help here to assist with the setup. I am using Webcam32 to both post snapshots (like the ones I posted) to my private-ISP site and to offer "streaming" video when I want to watch. My system is at our cottage which only has dialup though so my "streaming" means about one picture a second. I have about 10 cameras and post pictures every 5 minutes or so. There are lots of software alternatives to Webcam32 - it's been the best for me, but recognize that it's not really supported anymore and hasn't been updated in a couple of years. I found that it offered the best functionality for me due to my dialup setup. There's a thread either here or on Coccoon that compares the various packages/features.

Here's also a link to a script I use to cycle my cameras for posting. It may give you a start.http://ubb.homeseer.com/eve/ubb.x?a=...186#8572941186