How to Connect a Pinhole Camera to a PC

A pinhole camera has the advantage of a minute size that allows it to hide from sight while providing a wireless video stream to a PC that can be a distance away. To connect a pinhole camera to a PC, set up the video receiver that receives the signal from the camera. Adjustments to the video viewing program that comes with the pinhole camera must be made as well. A wireless video pinhole camera can be acquired from a hobby store or select hardware stores and provides its own wireless network -- no added hardware is needed.

Things You'll Need

• Wireless pinhole camera receiver
• Installation disc
• Coaxial cable
• TV tuner card

Instructions

1. Place the wireless video pinhole camera's receiver next to the PC. Angle an external antenna, if there is one, so that it points in the general direction of where the pinhole camera is located.

2. Eject the disc tray and place the installation disc on the tray before closing the tray; if there is a front-loading slot instead of a disc tray, push the disc into the slot instead.

3. Double-click the icon of the disc on the desktop when it appears. Double-click the installation program inside the window that pop-up on the desktop. Follow the menu commands to install the video viewing program on the hard drive. Right-click the icon of the disc and select "Eject" from the pop-up menu. Eject the disc tray and remove the disc and close the tray, or grip an edge of the disc when it partially ejects from the front-loading slot and pull it out. Restart the PC.

4. Insert the USB cable connected to the receiver into a free USB port on the PC; if the receiver only has a coax output, connect one end of a coaxial cable to the coax output and the other end to the coax input on the TV tuner card's connectors that can be found on the back bottom case of the PC.

5. Press the wireless video pinhole camera's power button or slide its selector switch to "On" -- the actual procedure is dependent upon how the manufacturer has built the camera. Plug the power cord from the receiver into a wall outlet for power and press its power button or slide its selector switch to "On" also.

6. Launch the video viewing program that was installed earlier by selecting it from the "Start," then "All Programs" pop-up menu.

7. Click the "Install Wizard" from the "Advanced" or "Options" drop-down menu at the top of the program's screen. Follow the "Wizard" command windows to select the input to the PC from the receiver (for example, "USB") and the wireless network that is being generated by the pinhole camera -- typically having the camera as part of the network's name. If the program does not provide a wizard, manually select the input and the camera's wireless network using the "Video input" and "Network" settings in the "Options" or "Advanced" menus.

8. Click on the "Video window" button, if there is one, on the program's main screen to refresh the video window that is part of the screen. View the video transmission being sent from the pinhole camera wirelessly.

Tips & Warnings

• Computer-based wireless home networks can interfere with the wireless video signal being transmitted by the pinhole camera to the receiver.

References

• X10: Video Receiver To Use With X10 Wireless Camera Systems

Resources

• Advanced Intelligence Spy Shop: Wireless Video Pinhole Cameras