[Rob Nicholson]

We've just bought a Linksys WVC200 wireless webcam to make a low-quality
recording of a meeting. It comes with a built in microphone which doesn't
have sufficient range to capture everyone talking. It has a socket for an
external microphone and I've just tried plugging in an external Sony
microphone (which has a little battery in it) what we use with our iRiver
MP3 recorder but it doesn't work - no sound at all. I've asked Linksys to
let me know the specification of the microphone socket or some
recommendations for microphones but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm about vague about AV and wondered if anyone could suggest somewhere good
to learn about microphones. I suspect it's all to do with gain :-)

This is a link to the camera itself:

http://tinyurl.com/2rape2

Thanks, Rob.

[Arny Krueger]

"Rob Nicholson"
wrote in message


We've just bought a Linksys WVC200 wireless webcam to
make a low-quality recording of a meeting. It comes with
a built in microphone which doesn't have sufficient range
to capture everyone talking. It has a socket for an
external microphone and I've just tried plugging in an
external Sony microphone (which has a little battery in
it) what we use with our iRiver MP3 recorder but it
doesn't work - no sound at all. I've asked Linksys to let
me know the specification of the microphone socket or
some recommendations for microphones but I'm not holding
my breath.

I'm about vague about AV and wondered if anyone could
suggest somewhere good to learn about microphones. I
suspect it's all to do with gain :-)

This is a link to the camera itself:

http://tinyurl.com/2rape2

Thanks for the reference, but as tech doc it is a total loss for audio. The
microphone input is documented as a, and I quote from the vendor doc,
"port". No detailed picture, either.

Usually, ports like this are a 3 mm jack of some kind, with either 2 or 3
signal lines, and probably with built-in bias for an electret mic. A mic
that is designed for use with a consumer PC sound card might work with it.

That all said, the best kind of mic for picking up a conference is probably
a PZM mic sitting in the middle of the conference table. I don't know of any
that are designed to interface with your Linksys mystery box.

[Rob Nicholson]

Usually, ports like this are a 3 mm jack of some kind, with either 2 or 3
signal lines, and probably with built-in bias for an electret mic. A mic
that is designed for use with a consumer PC sound card might work with it.

The socket is a normal PC jack. I've got a microphone stand a home which
I'll bring in to try.

That all said, the best kind of mic for picking up a conference is
probably a PZM mic sitting in the middle of the conference table. I don't
know of any that are designed to interface with your Linksys mystery box.

Thanks for the PZM bit - off to read about it.

Thanks, Rob.

[Rob Nicholson]

That all said, the best kind of mic for picking up a conference is
probably a PZM mic sitting in the middle of the conference table. I don't
know of any that are designed to interface with your Linksys mystery box.

A standard PC stand-microphone does work but the range is not good enough as
well as there being a lot of background noise.

So on the hunt for a good quality omnidirectional directional desk
microphone.

Regards, Rob.

[GregS]

In article , "Rob Nicholson" wrote:
That all said, the best kind of mic for picking up a conference is
probably a PZM mic sitting in the middle of the conference table. I don't
know of any that are designed to interface with your Linksys mystery box.

A standard PC stand-microphone does work but the range is not good enough as
well as there being a lot of background noise.

So on the hunt for a good quality omnidirectional directional desk
microphone.

Regards, Rob.


thats not going to help unless the mic is closer to the voices. What you need
is a microphone and a mixer amplifier, and its hard to say if the camera has
compression. Compression is needed regardless to hear all, including
room noises. I would buy a cheap PZM type and a all purpose mic amp.
Try looking in Guitar Center or something like that. Having an isolated output
stage or transformer, may be critical to reducing hum. They also used to make
remote mics for camcorders which may be another alternative.

greg

[Rob Nicholson]

Try looking in Guitar Center or something like that. Having an isolated
output
stage or transformer, may be critical to reducing hum. They also used to
make
remote mics for camcorders which may be another alternative.

Thanks will check them out.

It turns out that a standard PC microphone will plug in except that Linksys
have wired up the socket strangley. They are using the R channel which means
that if you plug in a standard mono microphone, it doesn't work as R and
ground are shorted together. Plug it in part way and it works :-)

Rob.

[Stuart Welwood]

"Rob Nicholson" wrote in message
...
It turns out that a standard PC microphone will plug in except that
Linksys have wired up the socket strangley. They are using the R channel
which means that if you plug in a standard mono microphone, it doesn't
work as R and ground are shorted together. Plug it in part way and it
works :-)

What's this "Linksys" box that you keep referring to? AFAIK Linksys is a
company, not a product. Do you have a model number or description of this,
as Arny put it, "mystery" box?

[Rob Nicholson]

What's this "Linksys" box that you keep referring to? AFAIK Linksys is a
company, not a product. Do you have a model number or description of this,
as Arny put it, "mystery" box?

It was described in my original post. It's a Linksys WVC200 wireless webcam.

I've ordered a 3.5mm mono socket to 3.5mm stereo plug adapter which is
designed for use with stereo input camcorders but should also work with this
device. Just quite why Linksys designed the WVC200 with a microphone socket
which doesn't accept a standard mono-microphone is rather beyond me.

Cheers, Rob.