Camera System Mod

[AtomSoft]

Hey guys i have a nice wireless camera setup. I has 4 channels but no remote. I noticed it has 4 LEDs in the front and 1 button on top to switch. I was thinking of having a small pic any 20 pin or less to control this via infrared remote.

I was planning on monitoring the LED signals and producing a count based on on/off signals.

So if its on channel 2 then i will get something like 0010. Depending on how i wire it.

With this info i can easily tell what channel im on and if i press button 4 on my remote i want i to send a signal to close the button the number of times to get 1000

So i assume something like

MyChan = 0;
switch(irCmd){
    case 1:
        MyPressQty = 0b00000001;
    case 2:
        MyPressQty = 0b00000010;
    case 3:
        MyPressQty = 0b00000100;
    case 4:
        MyPressQty = 0b00001000;

}

while(1){
    MyChan = portb & 0x0F;             //This should give me my 2 aka 0010
    if(MyChan == MyPressQty) break;
    closeButton();             //Close the button (press)
    DelayS(1);                 //Delay 1 second
}

Would this work? Ad this is only in my head so far heh...

Is it ok to snoop on the LEDs?

 

[Mr RB]

...
Is it ok to snoop on the LEDs?

Probably. The internal micro that drives the LEDs is usually grounded and there should be a 5v rail you can tap into that runs the micro.

Bear in mind the LEDs may be multiplexed. Check with a DC voltmeter to see if there is an obvious DC ground or DC +5v on one pin of the lit LED. Then check with AC voltmeter again, if the LED is multiplexed one or both legs will have a large AC voltage at least a couple of volts.

If the LEDs are multiplexed you can connect via a diode->cap (1nF ?) and put a high value resistor like 22k in parallel with the cap. You might even be able to just connect via a resistor and check for the multiplex pulses in software.

Anyway my bet is the LEDs are not multiplexed, as the internal micro does not have much to do it probably just has to sense the button and drive 1 of the 4 LEDs and 4 analog switches to switch the video, since they won't be multiplexed the LEDs probably wont either.

Hehe it would be funny if the "internal micro" was just a 4017.

 

[AtomSoft]

heh that would be funny.... I hope they are not multiplexed...

Ok so i will try something tonight and post my results.