Homebuilt ROVs Forum

Hi!!! I'm an electronics newb who is looking to build an ROV.
I wanted to use an ethernet (CAT5) cable for a tether and an ethernet camera i have for a camera, and an arduino with ethernet shield to do control

Does anyone know if i can both communicate with the arduino and have a feed from the camera over the same cable??? Or do I need two cables??

Thanks,

Super

the easy answer is, to communicate with both over a single cable, you will need an ethernet switch (a hub will work too) in the rov.

However, fast ethernet only requires two pairs and a single cat 5 cable has four pairs. you could split the cable into two, two pair cables, crimp rj45 connectors on each and it should work without a switch in the rov. you would need a switch or a computer with multiple ethernet interfaces on the surface, though.

Thanks!!! On second thought it looks like I may end up using a composite video camera - but can I still send an RCA feed over the same wire using RCA baluns???

yeah, as long as the baluns operate over one or two pairs. I'm not familiar with them so I can't say for sure.