grimer
08-31-2011, 08:37 PM
Picked this up in my travels.It is a Toshiba "mini camera".The tv has no tuner,
just a multi-pin plug on the back,as does the camera.The case is metal and it
has some weight to it.I do not have the special cable to connect the camera.
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff289/grimer66/minicamera.jpg
crtfool
08-31-2011, 08:58 PM
The monitor supplies power to the camera and receives video from the camera via that multi-pin cable. You can probably determine which pins supply the power by measuring the outputs on the monitor connector to identify GND and Vcc. You can also open the camera body to identify which pins are for video - they should be the pins that have coaxial wire attached to it. The camera most likely uses a mini-vidicon tube, so the image could be very bad if the tube has a lot of hours on it - generally cameras from this era were aimed and left on permanently.
It could be a fun project trying to get it to work. I had a similar camera, or it may have been the exact same camera, back in the late 70's, but I could not get the monitor for it.
Eric H
08-31-2011, 09:25 PM
That's very cool looking.
Looks like something they would've used for a prop on Space 1999 or 2001.
bgadow
08-31-2011, 10:35 PM
Zenith marketed one like this to install by your door. You could look and see who was there...the TV shop I last cleaned out had a store display for one (but in bad shape) and one of the actual units-the owner kept the monitor on his desk. I can't remember where he had the camera. I was going to grab it but I guess he took it home with him? I think they called it the "Video Sentry" or some such. Since this Toshiba has a call/talk function, I'm thinking it could be used the same way.
mpatoray
08-31-2011, 11:34 PM
Grimer,
could you post pictures of the connectors on the back of the camera and the monitor?
Some of these units used somewhat easy to find connectors/cables.
The camera would be a small Vidicon tube probably a 1/2"
Cool conversation piece,
Matt
zenith2134
09-08-2011, 10:02 PM
Hiya-Matt--I'm the new owner of this piece. From what I can tell the camera is way past its prime.What i did was simply prop the camera up while fitting the male multi-pin plug into the back of the t.v. section. It worked. But neither the lens adjustment or camera focus could render a sharp image.---crtfool was right as far as I can tell!--
I want to take the camera apart and see if its an easy to find tube. the monitor is high quality.