Subscriber Discussion

Micro Power Helios Camera Replacement?

mf
mitchell factor
Oct 20, 2016

Does any one have a suggestion for a replacement for a Micro Power wireless camera?

JH
John Honovich
Oct 21, 2016
IPVM

Mitchell, are you looking to see who might have stock of Micro Power cameras given that they are out of business now or do you want to replace the whole link?

U
Undisclosed #1
Oct 21, 2016
IPVMU Certified

You don't think its possible to just replace the camera with a different one?

Looking at the spec sheet:

it may very well be an analog SD camera going to an encoder. The enclosure is a standard box, so maybe its worth a look inside to see if there is an accessible coax from the camera to the encoder/wireless transciever?

JH
John Honovich
Oct 21, 2016
IPVM

I've never seen the insides of a Helios camera but from how they explained it, my assumption was that this was all-in-one to minimize power consumption, something that would be given up if it was a stock analog camera in a can with an encoder.

U
Undisclosed #1
Oct 22, 2016
IPVMU Certified

...a stock analog camera in a can with an encoder.

I didn't say stock, just analog, meaning NTSC. Its low power (1w), so you would have to see what power is available. If it is a seperate unit, then maybe he can source a new one just from that info.

Also there must be an encoder of some sort, not IP of course, but something NTSC.

As I recall its a pricey setup. It would be sad to have to replace the whole thing needlessly.

Avatar
Brian Karas
Oct 21, 2016
IPVM

You don't think its possible to just replace the camera with a different one?

Nope, they weren't standard cameras.

Basically, the part in the housing is half a camera, it streams a proprietary signal back to a receiver base (which had to be plugged into a 120V outlet) to encode the signal and make it into what 99% of systems would expect (RTSP/H.264). This is how they got to the low-power requirement, a good portion of the power-hungry electronics were moved to the side of the link that was not solar powered.

A standard camera would drive the power requirement up (most likely requiring new solar panels) and would also not work directly with the wireless setup, since it was not Ethernet.

U
Undisclosed #1
Oct 22, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Basically, the part in the housing is half a camera...

Half an IP camera, yes. But most likely a whole analog one, no? To save on power and electronics and cost.

And between that analog camera and the TrustLinx radio would be an accesible wire possibly.

Maybe its all on one motherboard and you can't get in between the two. Have you seen the inside of the enclosure?

Also, I said the enclosure was a standard box, (not the camera), meaning you can open it. Of course you would want as low a power camera (1W), as well.

But all I'm saying there's no harm in just flipping the latches and taking a look.

Especially since if he replaces either the whole link or the whole enclosure, the old one is going right in the garbage.

Avatar
Brian Karas
Oct 22, 2016
IPVM

Half an IP camera, yes. But most likely a whole analog one, no?

No.

Micropower was a spinout of stuff that was developed earlier at Pixon, where Aaron Tankersley (former MicroPower CEO) also worked.

The camera inside is not easily swappable with anything else.

U
Undisclosed #1
Oct 22, 2016
IPVMU Certified

The camera inside is not easily swappable with anything else.

Ouch.

Then he should keep it for the camera museum ;)

Did anyone purchase their assets? I didn't know they had developed especially in innovative intellectual property. Too bad.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Oct 23, 2016

This statement isn't actually true. I worked for both companies. Yes, Aaron also worked for both, but MicroPower was not a spin-off of Pixon and their technologies were totally different.

You are correct that the camera cannot be swapped out.

Avatar
Brian Karas
Oct 23, 2016
IPVM

I was told that research that led to the Micropower product started at Pixon (or their parent company). Yes, very different technologies in Micropower vs Pixon, but started from the same R&D efforts. Is that not the case?

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Oct 23, 2016

They came out of the same business incubator.

mf
mitchell factor
Oct 24, 2016

Guess I am looking for a replacement for a camera and wireless transmission that uses a line of sight wireless signal.

U
Undisclosed #1
Oct 22, 2016
IPVMU Certified

So just like I was saying, this camera is 100% digital. ;)

Seriously though, I would have to agree with Brian and John now, if you can't find old stock out there, you might be looking at a whole new kit.

(1)
Avatar
Scott Bradford
Oct 24, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Micropower used some proprietary technology to cut their power consumption down very, very low. However, the price of traditional solar panels dropped faster than they could raise their technical specs. These days, it's easier and less expensive to couple a traditional IP camera with a UBNT wifi link with a solar system than to fight with Micropower's strange encoding and output process. Micropower had a good idea, it just took them way too long to make it worth while.

So, with the low cost of IP cameras and the lower cost of solar panels these days, I don't think that anyone would bother to make a true MP replacement.

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