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Step 2Powering the laser and the other stuff
Well, the one problem with the wired cameras is that they don't have any convenient mechanism for applying power. Luckily, there's a detachable stand that comes with the wireless camera modules that has a power jack, a power switch, and a power LED.
If you rip open the bottom, its pretty easy to modify this base to power the laser. The problem, though, is that the wall warts that come with the Homesight equipment are 9V and 12V. Since the laser runs on roughly 3.3V (3 x button cells), I'm going to have to do something about that lest I burn out the laser before my intruder comes a knocking.
So, how do you step down a 9VDC source to ~3.3V? Well, you use a Voltage Regulator circuit, of course. Doing a bit of Googling, I found a tutorial on http://www.sparkfun.com/ on how to build a breadboard power supply. Perfect for my needs. I adapted it somewhat to reduce the components, etched my own PCB (tutorials abound on this topic), and, VOILA! a regulated 3.3VDC source.
If you rip open the bottom, its pretty easy to modify this base to power the laser. The problem, though, is that the wall warts that come with the Homesight equipment are 9V and 12V. Since the laser runs on roughly 3.3V (3 x button cells), I'm going to have to do something about that lest I burn out the laser before my intruder comes a knocking.
So, how do you step down a 9VDC source to ~3.3V? Well, you use a Voltage Regulator circuit, of course. Doing a bit of Googling, I found a tutorial on http://www.sparkfun.com/ on how to build a breadboard power supply. Perfect for my needs. I adapted it somewhat to reduce the components, etched my own PCB (tutorials abound on this topic), and, VOILA! a regulated 3.3VDC source.
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