going from wired to wireless.

[mvsfan 0]

im new so Ill introduce myself. I worked for an electrical / medical company for 3 years before joining the family business.

 

i learned a lot from my former boss about cctv systems.

 

now im working for the family business and i have successfully set up 8 cameras as well as a linux based 16 channel Dvr.

 

the only problem is that i need more cameras far out on the property and we dont have the money to dig. also our business is also our home so we dont want to string wires on poles.

 

basically, ive got one experimental camera mounted on a tree out front at the gate, and ive set up a solar system to power it.

 

ive got a solar charge controller installed properly and a lawnmower battery supplying 12v.

 

its been out there for 6 months and it always charged.

 

anyways,

 

i bought this wireless transmitter that fit nicely into the weatherproof box with the camera, and set it all up.

 

as soon as i hooked it and the camera up to the solar system, both of them popped and their was smoke coming out of the camera.

 

now, i missed something and am pretty sure what it is i just dont know where to find the solution.

 

the battery is putting out too many amps where the cameras and transmitters are designed to accept milliamps, right?

 

so where would i find something that would bring down the power of the battery to plug into a camera and transmitter?

 

I *almost* got everything right cause i recognized the need for a solar charge controller and installed it correctly. but i missed the other part of it.

 

so before i blow up another camera or transmitter any help would be golden.

[Soundy 1]

Current (amperage) is not your problem - a device will draw only as much current as it needs.

 

Two possibilities come to mind: too much voltage, or incorrect polarity. Either will fry cheap electronics in a hurry. Since you're running this all on a 12V battery, I'd suspect polarity... since the camera alone was working for months and the letting of the smoke corresponds with adding the wireless, my best guess would be that you go the polarity wrong when you reconnected the battery to the whole assembly.

[VST_Man 1]

buy a multimeter and check your voltages BEFORE you connect anything. and connecting to a solar power system can be ticky if you don't know what your doing. Take a few pics and post them and/or send them to me.........

 

reminds me of a time when I was a young "supertech" in the marines. I thougt I was perfect at repairing things.........until I blew up a actuator transformer just because I connected it wrong........I was sure I had it right but the smoke was the truth teller.

 

But then again I did repair the tracking on a Army 20ft. satellite antenna with a soldering iron and paperclip.............worked great!

 

too many stories and so little time

[Soundy 1]

How about re-soldering a torn coil wire on a 12" speaker in the middle of a gig, in the middle of a lake? JBL speaker, too, with aluminum coil wire... soldering aluminum is fun! Great way to break in a brand-new butane soldering iron

[bpzle 0]

You could have accidently hooked the battery and solar panel in series, instead of parallel. This would give you 24v DC when the sun was out, instead of the 12vDC you need. Either way, VST Man had it right... get a meter before hooking anything up.

[scorpion 0]

How about re-soldering a torn coil wire on a 12" speaker in the middle of a gig, in the middle of a lake? JBL speaker, too, with aluminum coil wire... soldering aluminum is fun! Great way to break in a brand-new butane soldering iron

 

I bow to you! You're the man if you pulled that off during a live performance! That is dedication!

[Soundy 1]

How about re-soldering a torn coil wire on a 12" speaker in the middle of a gig, in the middle of a lake? JBL speaker, too, with aluminum coil wire... soldering aluminum is fun! Great way to break in a brand-new butane soldering iron

 

I bow to you! You're the man if you pulled that off during a live performance! That is dedication!

 

Thanks The repair actually held up for several more years, until the speakers had to be reconed anyway. More importantly, it far outlasted the soundman who broke it in the first place

[scorpion 0]

You mean you kept the soundman after he damaged it????

 

Was this your dad or something?

[Soundy 1]

Ha, I was just the roadie, no firing sound guys for me

 

It was an ongoing thing - the speaker had become intermittent, and he'd found that if he pushed on the terminal strip so that it pulled the Litz wires tight, it would start working again. Of course, he didn't take into account that the movement of the cone would be continually tugging on the wire and adding stress to the failing connection... his "fix" worked for him for a couple weeks but finally gave out at a show in the middle of nowhere (of course).

 

As it turned out, the coil wire itself (which runs up the face of the cone) had pulled loose from the rivet that "passes it through" the cone for the Litz wire to attach. I had to scrape and burn the old coating off to expose the rivet and the end of the wire, and basically applied a big blob of solder to bridge the two. We put it back in, tested it... and I smacked the soundman down for his little "fix".

 

I didn't even realize the drivers used aluminum coil wires until I took it in years later for reconing, and the guy in the shop was amazed that my patch had worked at all, let alone held for so long.