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Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: Lensdude on September 04, 2008, 06:16:55 PM

Title: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: Lensdude on September 04, 2008, 06:16:55 PM
Sports photographers are on the verge of having the ability to transmit photos from their cameras on the sidelines to anywhere in the world as they are taken. Current technological offerings are severely lacking in range and connection integrity. Canon and Nikon both have Wireless File Transmitters that are solid for about 20 feet then they get increasingly flaky outside of that comfort zone. Not only that but the Wireless File Transmitter is delicate, finicky and bulky -not to mention expensive. I have been looking for a solution to this problem since trying the Eye-Fi SD memory card. The Eye-Fi SD card is capable of storing 2 GB of photos and has a built in radio transmitter that will transfer a JPEG (slowly) through an internet Access Point to Eye-Fi headquarters and then back to the user's computer but only if your camera is within range of that Access Point. The range for my Canon EOS 1D Mark II is about 3 feet from my D-link (DI-524) wireless router. I have read that some Eye-Fi users have reported transmitting range of more than 50 feet with their plastic case point and shoot cameras. The useful range of wireless file transmitters has to be in excess of 300 feet ( end zone to media room).
I believe that Eye-Fi (http://eye.fi) is on the right track but I'm also thinking that they will be developing the gizmo value more than a tool that a pro shooter can rely on to get the job done. From the limited Googling I've done on this subject there does seem to be a solution that might be as simple as packing along a battery operated radio repeater that will boost the signal from the Eye-Fi to the Access Point. I don't know what the answer is but this seems like a logical place to find someone that does.
So how about it? Who is going to pick up the gauntlet?

Thanks for reading, Trevor
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: airman00 on September 04, 2008, 06:25:04 PM
why not just use a wifi repeater or something?

I am working on a similar project for a portable wireless repeater which could probably be easily modified for your needs. Email me if you want to talk : airman00 at gmail.com
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: Admin on September 06, 2008, 09:40:34 PM
As airman00 said, have the images transmitted to your laptop.

Then your laptop has wireless internet with the much better range to transmit it round the world ;D
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: Lensdude on September 07, 2008, 12:15:22 AM
Getting the images around the world from a camera to the internet is not the technological breakthrough I'm looking for. Sending the images from my camera to my computer over great distances without the internet is the technological breakthrough I'm looking for. I believe the Eye-fi SD device would be a better tool if it was built with a more robust transmitter and antenna housed inside the larger form factor that is the CF card. As far as protocols go, all I know is the CPU inside the camera tells the image processor to write the image information from the sensor to the removable media -either Compact Flash(CF) or Secure Digital(SD) and the camera's job is done. This is where the Eye-fi CF card recognizes image data written to the card by the camera and tells the transmitter to start sending packets to a friendly receiver. Then there's some fuzzy stuff going on until the images appear on a computer located about 300 feet away with built in wi-fi and running on a battery. I'm sure that properly configured MAC addresses, IP addresses, firewalls, WEP, WPA 1/2 encryption and whatever else it takes to get the image from point A to point B then the solution will appear much simpler. I have found some discussion about teaming the Eye-fi with a battery operated Cradlepoint PHS300 but nothing definitive. I'm not opposed to duct-taping a set of rabbit ears to a hard hat but a more elegant solution would be ideal. 
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: airman00 on September 07, 2008, 12:33:21 AM
the battery powered router does not need internet per say. It just uses WiFi . WiFi is like bluetooth. So camera sends info through wifi ( think like bluetooth) to the router and then router sends it to computer. Meanwhile there isn't really internet, meaning you can't go on google.com from that wifi band.
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: Lensdude on September 07, 2008, 10:05:01 AM
Ok, I guess we can conclude that www access is not absolutely necessary. Do you know how to cobble together a CF version of the Eye-fi and write some code that would make it talk to the PHS300 (or other battery powered router)? From what I've read about wireless connections there is infrastructure and ad-hoc. Eye-fi says their SD card does not do ad-hoc and the infrastructure connection needs www access to bring the JPEG to the Eye-fi web server before redistributing the JPEG to either a photo sharing website and/or back to the photographer's computer. There is probably some slick configuration of MAC addresses, IP addresses, firewalls, proxies, encryption formulae, et al, ad nauseum but I don't know where to start.
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: airman00 on September 07, 2008, 11:22:58 AM
programming would be done on the router only , and the router would have to "trick" the Eye-fi card into sending it data

check out the DD-WRT or Open-WRT forums and websites . They should have more info . Please post the final solution when you find it.
Title: Re: photographer needs wireless help
Post by: stan on September 07, 2008, 11:31:25 AM
http://www.pcuniverse.com/Avocent-Emerge-Wireless-Media-Streamer-EWMS1000-Transmitter-Wireless-video-ext/EWMS1000T-001/pd/p3407059&m_id=32&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ps (http://www.pcuniverse.com/Avocent-Emerge-Wireless-Media-Streamer-EWMS1000-Transmitter-Wireless-video-ext/EWMS1000T-001/pd/p3407059&m_id=32&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ps)

why not use wireless video transmitter good to a at least a 1000 feet or more can be cobbled to any camera......?????