[HATS] Camera question

[Bill Potter]

I dont have your answer but I do have a caution.  Through the years I have
gone through more than a half dozen tower cameras as well as several other
outdoor security cameras.  None of them lasted much more than 18 months in
an outdoor enclosure, with a fan running and turned on 24 hrs a day.  This
is not to say that some of them did not last longer than 18 months it is
just the performance takes a dive and as time goes on they get worse and
worse.  Of course this experience has all been had in South Texas, no
several months below zero, but lots of months in the 90's and above and
strong sun.

My best towercam was a .02 lux B&W camera with a C-mount lens.  It literally
saw in the dark, was zoomable and mounted on an az/el mount at 60 ft. - easy
to keep out of the sun!  Color cameras were nice but very short lived in the
outdoor enclosure, the colors went "off" and it turned to "grey" as soon as
it got dark.  The CCD lost it's sensitivity quickly and was good for nothing
more than full sunlight after a few months in the summer heat.  Lightning
plays havoc with surface mount components too, keep this in mind!

The moral of this story......For an outside camera, only put up something
cheap and readily replaceable, expect it to fail, build it to be serviced
and repaired on the tower, especially after a big lightning storm and
understand it's performance limitations.

Good luck with your project!  And I hope you find your answer....

73 de
N5MBM
Bill Potter
Chappell Hill Tx.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kc3am@comcast.net>
To: <hats@stevens.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2003 8:59 AM
Subject: [HATS] Camera question


I have a Sony Handicam CCD-TR64 that I would like to use for a tower cam at
my ATV repeater. This camera has a automatic focus feature that I need to
turn off. The camera does not have a manual / automatic focus switch. Does
anyone have any suggesstions on how to defeat this function? My only thought
has been to open the camera up, point it at a distant object and disable the
focus motor.

Dave KC3AM


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