Long range camera to watch your target

[P7id10t]

With our families, it's rare lately that my buddy and I can go shooting together. As you all know, spotters are invaluable for ELR.
Also, good optics cost more than my gun.

So I figured radio cameras would do the trick for me.
I picked up these parts back in January but didn't make time to put it all together until today.
I bought the stuff from a place called TMart.com. TXD/RXD units shipped from Hong Kong.

Parts List:

Items	SKU	Price	QTY	Total
1.5W 12-Channel Wireless Audio & Video Transfer Systems	21001534	$79.69	1	$79.69
1/3" Sony CCD 700TVL 36IR LED Waterproof Security Camera	21000657	$85.42	1	$85.42
USB 2.0 Video and Audio Capture Adapter TV DVD VHS	CV129	$10.00	1	$10.00

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$175 in video gear, need two batteries and a laptop.
In my test today, I turned on the camera and transmitter. Took the receiver, frame grabber, and laptop with me.
The video feed is live at ~30 frames per second. Good enough to watch the cars drive by my place.

The image started getting mediocre around 1km. I lost it at 1.5km - but this is through a heavy canopy of trees.
I figure with yagi antennas you could probably go 2 miles or more.

 

[medium rare]

That is awesome! I need one.

 

[superde]

I looked up yagi antennas, and they were $400. How about a how to set up, and how it works?

 

[P7id10t]

Yagis are simple to make. Here's a DIY: Building a 2.4 GHz 10 el. Yagi - Ham Radio Library My favorite is the "Pringle Can Yagi" http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CFoQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.qsl.net%2Fkb9mwr%2Fprojects%2Fwireless%2F2pt4GHz_Pringles_Can_Antenna.pdf&ei=12JpUfeuM8aC2wWRm4GAAg&usg=AFQjCNEKExSKjiPbnuQZpyp_AP6lwo0qyQ&sig2=Uxw4pnKf6QG77k8nr4AAQA&bvm=bv.45175338,d.b2I

I use this camera because it has adjustable focus and zoom. Connecting the stuff takes <5 minutes. Adjusting camera properties ~10 minutes (adjust bloom, look at focus, etc)
I used such large batteries because that's what I had laying about.

Ideally you set it up with one person at the target, one at the shooting site. So you can check video quality and reception. Probably 30 minutes to set it up total.
I'll report back as soon as I get into the field with it.

 

[tacticalpanda]

This is pretty cool. Are they easy to set up? I don't know much about electronics but that sounds a lot better than dropping $800+ on the professional set ups.

 

[warbonnet]

I just bought one of these.

Bullseye Camera Systems - The Ultimate Target Camera, Shooting Camera and Long Range Shooting Camera

 

[nobiman2]

Thanks for the information, let us know how it works with the yagis.

 

[JB5812]

The most limiting factor with your setup are the standard dipole antennas. Yes, a Yagi would be a much better option as it is directional (~), and you will have a fixed target, but you don't need that for fairly direct line of sight. Buy some cheaper higher gain dipoles, or even just a better dipole for the receiver, and you will most likely be good to as far as most of us will ever shoot. You are entering the world of FPV R/C builders that have perfected the art of wireless video and transmitter builds for which I have some experience. My longest setup is right around 3 miles using a 1.3Ghz video Tx/Rx with high gain dipoles for all around direction on an R/C plane. It's good to much farther out, but I don't like flying my $1000+ plane out that far. You should really look into a couple LiPo battery packs that you could power your system with. You might need a step down for the correct voltage, but those are cheap and easy to connect inline. A 3 cell 3000mAh pack could power that transmitter or camera for many many hours and can be recharged in 35 minutes. 2.4Ghz is great for video setups like this with correct power Tx's and antennas since you don't have R/C controls to worry about interfering with.

If you need resources for antennas, parts, connectors, or any other possible thing for a video setup, let me know.