home-made external camera housing

[ronbo 0]

hi all

 

Im looking to use a PTZ camera, just the camera not the whole case and put it into a much smaller waterproof box and construct a window for the lens to see out of. but im worryed that being out side i will get all kind of condensating problems so im thinking to put a heater inside, a little like the regular external housings which have a box camera in them. so the heater will only come on when it cold enough.

 

I rather not use a heater if i can get away with it, im thinking if the unit is properly sealed then the heat generated from the camera through normal useage should be enough to ward off any condensation.

 

as the little domes you can get has no heater and there for external use

 

while writing this im now realising that the heater regulates the temprature just right depending on out side temps.

 

So since i seen to of answered my own question, Any one out there ever made there own external housings??

 

any comments welcome

 

cheers

 

ron

[C7 in CA 0]

Interesting project. Can you post pictures of your progress? How much smaller can you make your housing over the original? Aren't PTZ's pretty much a tight fit in their housings already?

[ronbo 0]

well im not using the PTZ feature of the camera just the Zoom therefore dont need all the extra stuff inside. so its a static camera in a box really

[vin2install 0]

Just buy a zoom camera only then and buy a weatherproof external housing. Its not worth it to waste time building an external housing. It will cost more in the end. You will have to buy the heating elements, fan, terminal connector blocks and temperature control circuits.

[Kiwi 0]

I've built numerous outdoor housings for home use over the last several years that are fully exposed to direct weather and have learned the basics of what works and what doesn't. Commercial housings are hard to source cheaply in this part of the world and in any case are usually not configured exactly the way I want. I generally use PVC pipe and related fittings as it's easy to work with, cheap, and will survive for years once painted.

 

I don't use heaters and fans, instead have gone in the direction of sealing the enclosure air tight with desiccant installed. This has worked great across seasons although for anything but the smallest housings you need to allow for thermal expansion of the internal air, but there are a couple of sneaky ways to deal with this.

 

If you want to make your own, post a sketch of the basic shape and perhaps I can provide some tips.

 

This one points just a few degrees below the sun's daily arc so the sun shade is shaped to keep sunlight off the window.

 

This one sits under the eaves. Sunshade added later.

This .1 lux monochrome board cam gives acceptable images in daytime and at night under halogen lighting. The green filter in the front is in addition to an IR-cut filter glued to the rear of the lens. The sun shade is a drawer pull and the box is sealed with rubber grease.

Edited May 24, 2008 by Guest

[C7 in CA 0]

Nice work Kiwi!

 

I'm pretty sure I know what camera you have in the second "shorty" enclosure.

[thewireguys 3]

Nice work Kiwi!!!!

[ronbo 0]

thanks kiwi when i get back of my holidays i will send some sketchs in

 

thanks for you time

 

cheers

[scorpion 0]

Drawer Pull!

 

I love creating circuits, and finding those unique items that fill the bill when needed!

 

 

Hey! Glass cutters are pretty cheap. What did you use? A hammer?

[Kiwi 0]

Drawer Pull!

 

I love creating circuits, and finding those unique items that fill the bill when needed!

 

You should see the rest of the system - it's a virtual Rube Goldberg museum of hacked wireless doorbells and plug-in timers! I even have one of the DVR alarm channels hooked up to my backyard sump pump so I can log the start times.

 

Hey! Glass cutters are pretty cheap. What did you use? A hammer?

 

Umm, well, that actually was my first attempt at using a glass cutter. Same result unfortunately with the second and the third attempts ...