Webcam Help!

stereo_steve

My little sisters freinds keep knocking at the door and its always me who answers it! It really pisses me off having to get up when its just them! So I have a plan! I want to get my webcam and put it looking out the window so I can see whos there! Unfortunately the cable going to my webcam is only about 1m long:(

Its a usb cable and I know that I could probably get an extension lead for it but I'm cheap and my idea sounds like alot more fun! So I was wondering, could I cut the cable, stick some alarm wire in between and join it all up? I could do a nice little solder job! Also I know that the cable should be magnetically shielded but where its going it won't be exposed to any emf's. Also I was thinking I could wrap the wire in some tinfoil. Would that screen any emf's. Then I would probably have to earth it right? I realise this is sounding very daft! And for my final stupid question, Isit possible to send the signal direct to a tv? Its just a video feed isn't it? Nothing has to be decoded or anything?

Any help would be very much apprecited! Thanks

phaxx

I intend to do the exact same thing, for the exact same purpose. Little muppets at the door all the time.

I'm going to buy some USB extension cable from ITDirect (on Parliment street, or itdirect.ie). I think it's about a fiver for 5m. You probably can do it yourself, but I wouldn't bother, to be honest, it's just easier, faster, and more reliable if you buy the extension cable.

stereo_steve

A fiver! Is that all? I thought it was around £30! Heard it somewhere. Still though, playing with the alarm wire would be fun!

Also I was wondering, have you any idea what this bit of the usb cable is for? The big bulgy bit near the bit that connects into the computer. I'm tempted to take it apart but then my webcam wouldn't work:(

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phaxx

Like this... ?

It's a magnet in the shape of a cylinder, and it has something to do with protection from unwanted signals and such. At least, that's my understanding of it.

po0k

That's about it. I forget all that stuff about induction from LC physics, but I think it just polarises the cable and aligns any magnetic flux in the cable giving a better and much more reliable signal.

Gambler

As for hooking it up to the TV afraid you can't do that directly

Jaden

I extended mine with Cat 5 cable. It Works fine. The USB cable itself is very twitchy about stray signals being coupled to it, so son't run it near anything noisy, like a TV. Cat5 is fine, as it's shielded too, albeit, not as much.

Remember that USB specifications state that USB is only rated to 22 feet. You can get more, but it's iffy, and signal integrity tends to degrade quite rapidly.

You can buy/build signal buffers to extend this distance, or do as I did. I built a USB to Ethernet converter, meaning that I can range about 100m. It took a bit of work, and some tweaking, but htese projects can be found online with google.