Defective Camera
 

Hello,

I recently decided to venture into making my own aerial videos, something I've been wanting to do since I started the hobby. I purchased the needed components from [link=http://microcameras.com/]microcameras.com[/link] and received them yesterday. In particular, I bought a 200mW 2.4GHz TX/RX set along with a KX-121P 5V CCD color camera. Unfortunately, things have not gone very well, and I was hoping I might get some helpful advice here.

First of all, the products came with zero documentation. Although the pin-outs weren't difficult to figure out, I have no idea how to set the 8-position DIP switch on the receiver (so I just leave it as it came with all switches OFF). When I connected the camera to the TX and powered them up using a 4.6V NiCd battery, I received no video (though the audio from the built-in mic on the TX worked fine). I thought that perhaps I had a loose connection or something so I spent a bit of time troubleshooting. I discovered that one of the pins on the camera board connector was bent. In particular, pin 6 was bent causing it to short to pin 5. After a bit of Internet searching, I found a small PDF on the camera which showed that pins 5 and 6 are the I2C clock and data pins. After straightening pin 6, I now get white video but still no picture.

I suspect that shorting the two pins together must've damaged the electronics somehow. I've tried a number of things to fix the problem, but I'm out of ideas. I probably need to return the camera for a replacement, but I figured I'd try this forum as a final attempt at suggestions. Is anyone familiar with the KX-121P camera? Does anyone have information on the 8-position DIP switch settings for the receiver?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

RE: Defective Camera
 

Hi Dave,

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I sell the same 200mw transmitter offered by Mark, and have some pretty good documentation for it that I'd be glad send your way, just PM me your shipping address or give me your fax.

Regarding the camera, if you have a way to plug it directly into your TV or VCR, this will positively verify that the camera is the problem. There is a small chance you have the tx and rx exactly 1 channel off... this will result in audio but no video. You can test this pretty easy by moving both switches on the tx to the left or right (doesn't matter) and all three switches on the rx in the down position. If you don't see anything, then move both switches on the tx to the other position. If you still don't see anything, then you have a genuine problem... if the above test with the camera shows that the camera is working, then the problem lies in either your tx or rx.

Regards,
Bill
[link=http://www.blackwidowav.com]Black Widow A/V, LLC[/link]

RE: Defective Camera
 

I still get white video when I connect the camera directly to a TV. Thanks for the suggestion though (I can't believe I didn't think to do that). :)

RE: Defective Camera
 

You will not have electronically damaged anything by shorting the IIC lines together. They are open-collector I/O lines and can be shorted together, to 0V or to 5V without any problems (except you won't get a picture during the short). What sort of lens are you using? Do you see any discrenable video at all? Panasonic cameras are usually very reliable, except for physical damage they generally don't go wrong (and I've seen a lot of them)...