I'm about to buy a digital camcorder with the intention of using it in car. Will I be able to run it off the cigarette lighter socket rather than invest in spare batteries ? If not can I charge batteries via the cigarette lighter ?
Cheers
Depens on the camera voltage. I'm pretty certain that most manufacturers sell the leads.
If you don't know what you're doing, don't.
Try Kenne electronics, as they generally are cheaper and quicker than the original manufacturer.
You might find it more usefull to charge the batt from the car, and run the camera on the proper battery. that way you'll have more mobility.
dm
I agree to try Keene Electronics, or Hi-Way. I got the 12v battery adaptor from Hi-way (around £30 I think) and it works great. The transformer is in the dummy battery box which makes the connections in the camera. I also use a 12v lead acid battery which came with my Hahnel Zoom 50 light. This will give you the portability which Dave has rightly pointed out, and power you up for a very long time indeed.
Paul
Careful my Panasonic gets very hot if used for long periods, so the battery that lasts an hour is OK.
Good thing though when I have had the cam pointing out the windscreen the behaviour of other drivers improves quite alot.
If you're going to power the camera from the car battery, be careful. If you use a reputable cable/regulator/adaptor, you should be ok. But don't be tempted to try making one yourself, the good ones contain some fairly sophisticated filtering to remove the nasty impulses that cars produce. Car electrics are notorious for being able to destroy delicate electronics, under the bonnet of a car is probably the worst place you'll ever find for nasty electrical problems.
Thanks for the advice. I have since looked at www.keene.co.uk and they have a vast array of power products including cables to run cams directly from the cigarette lighter and also for charging batteries via the same route. Just what the doctor ordered.
Ta
[This message has been edited by tvrboy (edited 27 April 2001).]
Many in-car cameras available today, go http://www.szswill.com if you are looking for a mid-priced one.
All these camera comes with a power cord terminating in a cigarette lighter insert. You will need to (obviously) cut off the lighter portion if you are going to hard wire the camera. Inside the power cord are two very fine gauge (24?) wires. The red wire is hot, and goes to the green/white striped wire. White is the common, can simply be grounded under the bolt in the overhead console. With wire this fine, I stripped off a large portion of the insulation and doubled the wire back on itself to increase its diameter and ensure a good connection in the posi-taps.
I would imagine he's got one now, this thread is 13 years old