Inside a big scary rotating CCTV camera.

Having mentioned the big scary robot-head style CCTV cameras that used to be in many shops in the 70's, it seemed appropriate to find one and take it to bits.
Sorry for the rogue autofocus. It appears that OpenCamera doesn't lock it when that function is selected.
Rather intriguingly, when I first moved the camera rotation mechanism which had clearly not moved in decades. It released a classic electromechanical smell from the freshly exposed grease.
If you enjoy this channel you can help support it with a dollar for coffee, cookies and big scary retro things at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm

[@markmercer3662]

Hi Clive! I am astonished at the interest you have generated in my 1970's baby! Does it have a serial number stamped on the aluminium casting? If not, it was made in the garden shed at the back of my home, where I first started. Cameras in those days were always supplied by the installers, usually Hitachi or Ikegami with monochrome Videcon Tubes. (I could not afford to stock cameras!) The units most observers have seen and commented on were actually quite a bit bigger than the one you have assessed and would pan, tilt, zoom and focus those large old fashioned cameras. You would be very intrigued to take one of them to bits. I have been retired over a decade now and have enjoyed indulging in a little nostalgia over my pioneering days!

[@LoneWolfZ]

Very cool to see you comment here. Funny how putting your name on the board mask would lead here 40+ years later.

[@brian9731]

This now dates me as I was involved with your kit, Mark, back in 1999-2000 at the British Library Archive Warehouse at Woolwich Arsenal. The tired old armament factory was (is) a listed building and as such, had to have "heritage" brackets which your company made and your electronics for camera control and the cameras fitted inside. That meant we had DM control kit running your telemetry kit which necessitated some kind of converter - all good fun. When it broke one time, I locked your guy and the DM guy in the equipment room (not literally) and told them to get on with each other and fix it - I had no concern whose fault it was.

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

Clive should pin this.

[@Romin.777]

Clive doesn't care so it seems, i bet he doesn't even read the comments..

[@Diamondo25]

@@Romin.777 guess what

[@renxula]

I think that case is pretty clever. It fools some into thinking they're all cameras, but probably more importantly it hides the true direction of the camera pretty efficiently. So even a thief who knows there's just one camera inside doesn't know where it's pointing.

[@marshallemmet1366]

Precisely what I was thinking, it is actually pretty ingenious really.

[@karlhawkes]

Six cameras now cheaper than that elaborate housing

[@ComradeRachel]

pro tip - if a security camera has a blinking light then its 99% chance fake lol

[@markmercer599]

In those early days the flashing light was to draw attention to the camera as a genuine warning. I always refused to supply dummy only systems. Five dummy lenses but always one live - pan and tilt in the larger versions.

[@TechBaffle]

Lots of airports have those CCTV cameras with spinning LED lights on them They look like a KZbin video trying to buffer but they do annoyingly attract your attention!

[@yamatoclassmusashi8830]

Also the ones that have “Security Camera” written on the side. Just on the off chance you thought it was a slowly rotating blinking toaster.

[@StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

And if a large office building has smoke detectors that look like they belong in a home and don't blink, give it a friendly wave. There's a good chance it's a fisheye camera.

[@JamieVegas]

But this one IS a real camera. It just doesn't want you to know which direction it is pointing, so it has dummy lenses.

[@daoneTM]

Am i the only one who wants to see the picture quality of the cam and see the insides?

[@a178design]

yes!! power that cam up

[@ridjexmc]

i would love to see that

[@witeshade]

Clive should send it down to Mike and have him have some fun with it!

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

So would I!

[@pixoariz]

Ikegami cameras were/are generally excellent build quality...however it's an ancient vidicon camera. Video would be smeary with motion with poor resolution and low light performance in any case.

[@markmercer599]

Wow! 35+ years old and still working! Absolutely fascinating to see it analysed this way. Corrections: Monochrome picture was sharper than most of what you see on Crimewatch etc today, though vidicon tubes were vulnerable and used to require replacement. Bulbs had a permanent faint glow to preserve filament life. It worked didn't it? Some still flashing! The flash was (obviously) to attract attention - as with burglar alarms today. The simple control system did NOT utilise earth. It was a simple figure eight pair switching left or right relays via steering diodes. Go figure it out for yourself. This was the very first model designed and made (metal work, plastics, electronics and all) in my garden shed - even the lenses! This earliest "Multicamera" was made a good few years before the company was formed. Mark Mercer

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's just suddenly become even more impressive now I know you made the whole thing from scratch. Was the alloy motor assembly cast as well as machined? Or entirely machined?

[@markmercer3662]

Chap named Jessop had a small sand casting foundry in Huddersfield. Patronized him till the EU regs for fume containment closed him down. Having no money at the time, I was my own pattern maker.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I think the ham-fisted EU regs have closed down a lot of businesses with their ever increasing wall of red tape. That's even more impressive that you created a custom metal casting for the chassis. What was your work background before making the cameras?

[@markmercer599]

Electronic repairs and installing poor quality equipment for a young, pioneering CCTV Company. No engineering background. Had to rely on common sense and quick learning.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Ah, I know that exact scenario. There's no better education than learning from other peoples mistakes. And it's so frustrating fixing the same awkward faults over and over again that it makes you want to design something better. Which you clearly did. That's also how I ended up building my super-rugged fairground lighting controllers and making retrofit modules for existing ones to solve ongoing technical issues with the original designs.

[@garyhoward2186]

Installed it myself without any issues. The wifi signal is great even kzbin.infoUgkxE_D_sddGAdiVUKp7PkkmyxO7bRtgqmk5 when the router is located far away. I really enjoy the night vision feature that allows me to see clearly any activity near our house (mostly cars and wild animals). The motion detection is helpful to me as well to monitor what happens on our front.

[@ethanpoole3443]

The reason the bulb glows dimly and flashes brightly is to greatly extend the bulb's service life. By never fully turning it off they keep the filament continuously heated which reduces thermal shock when it is flashed...essentially it is going from hot and glowing to even hotter and more brightly glowing, but never to cold since it is always on. That, combined with running the bulb below its maximum ratings, results in an indicator lamp that will flash for many years without servicing.

[@markmercer3662]

Absolutely right Ethan. I still have spare bulbs that were never needed.

[@ElectronicNoobBlog]

"running the bulb below its maximum ratings" - over year a go i was fixing old triac dimmer in my grandma house. Funny fact, regular AC bulb was from 80's ! i check house and i found couple of them... never replaced over 30 years.. answer? dimmer.. was set to never turn fully ON so it always working under maximum wattage when it have predicted 1000 hour service life. So how to save some money? Buy dimmer, put 200W bulb and set it to 100W it will may last forever.

[@LiftFan]

Like the centennial bulb?

[@user-po6hn9id1t]

+LiftFan something like that I suppose

[@GeraldMMonroe]

Heh. This won't save you money because the actual lumens/watt is abysmal when you do that. Modern LEDs would last even longer (well, in theory - the power supply can fail) and also use a lot less power. That 100W the bulb is consuming could be about 10-20 watts for the same brightness with an LED.

[@colinedwards7250]

Very old trick. The bulb will last a lot longer if not fully turned off. Less thermal stress and much lower current rush in.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Ah, pre-heat. Good point.

[@krishna34674]

you stole my comment ;)

[@bigclivedotcom]

+omsonic I saw your comment after. I was thinking of dimmer pre heat for things like PAR cans. Great minds (or theatre minds) think alike.

[@SeanBZA]

Yes, the lamp initially starts with low current and thus the sudden current pulse from cold only will fail it when it really has evaporated the filament away. Typically means a lamp designed for 200 hours of life in the standard test setup ( typically 15 minutes on and 5 minutes off for these small signal lamps, at rated voltage on AC) can easily get 5000 hours of life. Camera is most likely an older Vidicon monochrome tube, probably very flat picture by now, and probably does not have an image burn on it as it moved, though many were used in a fixed location most of the time ( facing entrance) so it might still have a ghost view of the shop in the tube. Using the mains earth was a side product of grounding the supply common, as the use of a 3 core mains cable was available to connect, and you used the earth core as a common to switch with a box on the desk. Board was made with Letraset from RS, they probably provided every part aside from the actual plastic mouldings, though of course they did provide the blank polystyrene sheeting used to make them. There are a lot of discontinued RS parts that were hardware and fixings. The motor and gear train was available from RS as well, I did buy some of them for repairing other machinery, but sadly they were discontinued.

[@drumid1881]

Damn, you beat me to it, I was saving this video as well (as a treat). Loved the vid Clive

[@muh1h1]

Would it be possible to get the actual camera to work? Would be intresting to see what kind of quality they had to deal with back in the day :)

[@sadface]

I second this

[@sadface]

I second this

[@BeatboxNorwich]

Third

[@stepanf6471]

Yes, and then tear the camera down.

[@foxtrotkilomike]

I was hoping for the same

[@RegebroRepairs]

I remember seeing something like that in the 70's or 80's in some big shop. And I wondered why it turned, when it had cameras on all sides, and did come to the conclusion that all but one was fake, so you wouldn't know which way it was pointing. I'm very happy to see that I was correct.

[@arcadeuk]

I remember how menacing those things looked when I was a child, and most of them probably didn't even have any cameras in them back in the 80's

[@888johnmac]

same.. I used to hate going into woolworths as a small kid.. watching one being dissected is a sweet revenge

[@AndreasDelleske]

I knew that if they turn around in one direction it must be fake because you can’t do Video contact with a brush contact. Not even Vcc. But I didnt steal anything ever as far as I remember.

[@TheLightningStalker]

Most of the yellowing might be from cigarette smoke. I remember almost everywhere you went it would be wafting in the air. Most of us probably have permanent health damage from all that second hand smoke.

[@tsm688]

@@AndreasDelleske You thought wrong ;) Your standard VCR carries video through a swivelling head at 30RPM and early ones DID use a brush contact. Later ones used a very simple device called a rotary transformer.

[@KX36]

OMG you're not just a pair of disembodied hands and a voice! it's like seeing what the newsreaders wear under the table!

[@jrf84]

This was very informative,I remember seeing these in shops like Boots in the late 1980s.As a small child,I found them to be quite scary and thought they were like something from Star Wars. Its surprising to see how they actually work and that they weren't as sophisticated as I had thought they were as a child

[@AMD1]

The current was probably limited to the lamp on its "off" cycle so the tungsten never fully cools, and increase lamp life greatly.

[@GordonGaz]

Agreeded, the large inrush current from a cold filament would blow the light in a short time. Would not be a very good warning light if it stopped working evey week

[@rogersmith9808]

Just as FYI, a quick internet search shows "Mark Mercer Electronic, LTD" as being a security/CCTV manufacturer that specialized in dome style camera systems and was in business from 1978 to 2013 until what appears to be bankruptcy. The UK company "Maxey Moverley" seems to be the company who bought Mercer's remaining stock, parts, and test jigs and claims to be the main supplier of service, parts, and support for Mercer equipment. Being from the U.S., I'd never heard of either company but remember seeing similar (now hokey looking) "systems" as a kid. If memory serves, I think it was Woolworth's and K-Mart's that I saw those in.

[@bergpolarbear]

When I first saw one of these on the TV show Are You Being Served I thought it was a caricature for dramatic purpose because it looked so obviously fake. Eight 70s era cameras inside a tiny housing, maybe on Gallifrey. The fake cameras we have in the US are more realistic.

[@imark7777777]

I was thinking something along the same thing, except with 8 cameras why would it need to turn unless it didn't have 8 cameras. and I originally thought it was a prop. ( simpleminded yank. and nice work on the Dr. Who reference).

[@proyectosledar]

nice intro!!!

[@lancelot_dev]

gaston que haces aca

[@user-ur1bv3kc8z]

Mal

[@SimplyElectronicsOfficial]

Yet another great video. I do love your little humorous intros you sometimes do :)

[@Tomsonic41]

I do remember those kind of camera domes in shops in the 1980s. I always thought every camera was genuine and no angle was being missed, but your disassembly has proved that only one lens was real! Given the size of the camera, I'd be surprised if you could get more than one in there...

[@calicantdrive]

They left the lamp constantly glowing so it could pulse ON more quickly. If they shut it off completely, it would cool between pulses, resulting in a "ramping up" effect where the lamp would fade on rather than flashing on. The dark lens makes the lamp appear completely off from a distance with ambient light, so when it's hanging on the ceiling and you're standing on the floor, you see a lamp pulsing off and on. Thanks for all the quality content, keep it up!

[@fattestroyal198]

You spoke of this in the fake camera video, and Im glad you got a hold of this product. Im happy to have seen the insides of this thing,

[@theheathster2]

I’ve been watching your videos for ages, but only just come across this one. I worked for Mark Mercer Electronics between 98-06, and whilst we’d moved on to variable speed DC and stepper motors and slip rings by then, I remember these well, covered in dust in the service dept! The dummy lenses were known internally as ‘teddy bear’s eyes’ They had just built a new facility in Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax, when I joined them.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I bet you didn't realise that these things would become iconic in a spooky way.

[@theheathster2]

@@bigclivedotcom I certainly didn’t! Seeing the thumbnail for the video brought about a certain amount of joy and excitement! Mark Mercer is still inventing things, living just a few miles from me.

[@redstoneablecz5742]

Got recommended to me now, almost 5 years later, the algorithm blesses you!

[@BigG3686]

Same

[@Gameboygenius]

The trickle current to the lamp could be for making sure the filament doesn't cool off too much between each cycle. An incandescent lamp will have a bit of an inrush current when its cold due to the relatively low resistance of the filaments. Those repeated spikes could significantly shorten the lifetime of both the lamp and the switching transistor.

[@laurensa.1803]

The opening of this video is epic. You should do these kind of openings more often!

[@charliewolf7500]

Looks like Nicotine Yellowing like it came out of a Pub. That reminds me, I used to work for a Mechanical Services company, where by we would, amongst other things, install high voltage, Electrostic Filters in Air conditioning in Pubs and Clubs. The purpose of these devices was to electrostatically attract and trap tabacco smoke in the filters. An interesting device to experiment with, if you can get hold of one. The devices have been retired in Australia since we have also band smoking in Pubs and Clubs

[@B-System]

We made extensive use of them on the boat for catching oil mists and similar, and just let me tell you what a joy it was cleaning them out every goddamn other watch.

[@richardboyce4921]

The good old days! Easy to work on, simple discrete components and lasts for ever. Very interesting. Brings back memories of my electrical apprenticeship. Thanks for another great video.

[@comedyhunter]

Wow takes me right back to the 80's. Last time I saw one of those was in Boots in the late 80's

[@_Piers_]

Yeah, that's where I remember them from the most. I guess they kept them longer than other places.

[@Mentski]

Our local Boots had big black round ones that looked like the interrogation droid from Star Wars... That certainly didn't spawn childhood nightmares.

[@killer1479]

i remember tham from woolies :O! im 27 now, so, i guess it would have been about 94-95 when they got phased out to more discreet units, lol

[@dansolo9978]

Weren't they Chrome, similar design to Clive's but a Chrome Dome Upside Down (of Course.!) With 4 Lens' and the Obligatory Red Light..? A bit like a Darlek's Head..!

[@Mentski]

Dan Solo The ones I remember were almost certainly black, but yeah. Big domed buggers.

[@msylvain59]

You finally found one of those ! congrats !

[@karebu2]

Is there a part 2? I would like to see the camera in detail

[@Novalight2550]

Second. I'd be a lot of the parts will be rather bulky and easy to explore.

[@ColHogan-le5yk]

Third, I want to see if the footage is shit

[@izools]

Fourth :)

[@candeo3687]

fifth i really wanna see the picture it outputs!

[@Tone260]

Your opening dialogue made me laugh. "Hey BigClive, what's that ya got?" 🤣🤣

[@charlieoscar09]

Hey Clive your videos just get better and better...Thinking the ZZ Top beard looks ace.Cheers for the time your putting in fella.

[@unfretted7230]

Pl 259 connectors were standard fare in CCTV in the 70's & 80's BNCs came along late 80's. All the cameras from those times were Videcon (with some low light variants Nuvicon, Ultracon, etc.) tubes. Effectively it was like a cathode ray tube in reverse and the target (a wafer thin gold foil at the head of the tube) was scanned and this high voltage target fluctuated depending on the light falling on it and then produced the image. They did need constant adjustment and the target suffered from image burn-in. So you could watch as ghostly live figures drifted across the burnt in image. This burn in means you can plug an old camera in and see the scene it was looking at all those years ago. Resolution at best in modern terms was about 200,000 pixels total. The image sensor was 2/3 inch, or 16mm. The lenses were borrowed from the 16mm film industry and had the same connector, so if you had a 16mm film movie camera, you could unscrew the lens and put it on a CCTV camera. Mostly the CCTV lenses were poor quality plastic adding to image degradation. Companies at the time were: Ikegami, RCA, Hitachi, ITC and Panasonic. The RCA ones were pretty good but a pig to adjust in the field, the top and bottom casing had to be removed leaving the live circuit board in you hand as you adjusted pots, usually 100 foot up a tower getting shocks of the PCB, the target voltage was around 5000 volts if I remember correctly.

[@bassl0va]

It's been said, but I'd also really like to see the camera in action. All 144 lines or whatever horrid resolution it is

[@MsBananasmel]

I remember all the big shops having these in the 1980s when I was kid. I was fascinated by them because then they looked so futuristic. Thanks for the vid !

[@2010GRABOWSKI]

I'm so happy you have this, I remember you drawing a picture of one not long ago. hope you enjoyed it!

[@wupme]

They still had those in the late 90s in Woolworth in Germany. In that UGLY orange color and looking like an UFO. They also had 1 camera in them, because there was monitors showing the feed at some places in that store.

[@fatmeatball]

What's the name/model number of this? Because you don't really get good results for googling "Robot head security camera"

[@SamuelMitchell1]

As far as I remember they were called randomes

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

@@SamuelMitchell1 can't find anything on that.

[@SamuelMitchell1]

They were made by Mark Mercer electronics. If I remember rightly they were based in West Yorkshire

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

@@SamuelMitchell1 Mark Mercer himself commented a few years back about these domes he made. Not sure if the name of the product was ever mentioned though.

[@MrSammyTeee]

I was so excited to see this video after seeing the original video on it. Glad you found one!

[@NaoPb]

I just love it. All 70's goodness. I wish I had one of these, just for the looks of it.

[@chris_vandepeer]

OMG they had these in british home stores "aka BHS" when i was a kid

[@Forestfire600]

"That's going to potentially introduce a lot of ripples into the picture, then having said that, the picture in this thing would have been shit anyway" Favourite line from the video, so casual. xD

[@zorrilnz]

I love the fact that you actually found one of these things that actually works!

[@orinokonx01]

I was looking forward to this! Thanks Clive! Very entertaining! :)

[@goose300183]

Hi Clive, great video. Any chance that we could see what is inside the actual camera in this?

[@ghostraider4312]

+GNU/Bird It makes sense since reverse engineering motherboards is not easy.

[@lewiskelly14]

personalised very surprised that that was missed out

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

I'll be honest, didn't think you had a beard... But I love it!

[@Chris173972]

You finally got hold of one, I wondered how long it would take. I remember seeing these in Asda and other places in the 90's. I remember thinking they can't all be real cameras and looks like I was right. Great video :-)

[@xplore7359]

You sir, deserve more subs! Your videos are always such a joy to watch :D

[@Dr.-Smart]

is it possible to see if the old camera still works ? maybe via capture card? sometimes if its a valve sensor pictures are burned in of the location , making funny ghost like images on the actual image

[@LuxidWRLD]

Anyone remembers these in Toys R Us?

[@bosapiutsa3829]

Very fascinating stuff, great job Clive!

[@RoyanGreenwood23]

This is the first video of bigclive that I have ever watched, now I am binge watching

[@FurryTrash_]

Magnificent beard sir!

[@arcadeuk]

Clive, the way the lamp is operated, is the same thing they do in pinball machines with flasher lamps :) (hey I knew this pinball education would pay off one day lol) The lamp is supplied a continuous low current, and when you want to flash the lamp, a higher current is supplied by an alternative path. The reason is that, flashing a lamp on/off when the filament is cold significantly reduces it's life as parts of the filament surface are blasted off each time it is powered. By keeping the filament continuously warm, the damage done when flashing the lamp is significantly reduced. This is particularly important in pinball machines, as the vibration adds to the stress to the filament. In this scary camera unit, it is being done just so that the lamp doesn't require regular replacement. (which was probably quite tricky) There is a side effect that the lamp can be flashed on quicker, than from code, so that may also be a consideration.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Ah. None of my pins is new enough to have flashers. I should maybe check out the schematics on some newer ones.

[@arcadeuk]

My Gorgar (1979) has flash lamps, but I doubt they used the twin current design. Look at schematics for Williams System 11/Data East era games, when flash lamps were super popular, I think most of them used the twin current design (Data East had large ceramic resistor pairs on the PPB boards for the flash lamps)

[@rayrobinson7883]

Wow! lacing cord to hold the wiring loom into shape!. I do distinctly remember being taught this during my apprenticeship and was used extensively during production. That was back in the early to mid 80's. I also remember nylon ties just coming in around that time. I guess that dates this camera to sometime prior to the mid 1980's. great stuff :)

[@adcurtin]

The bulb cycling between dim and bright is really good design. Toggling an incandescent on and off every few seconds 24/7 is a lot of thermal stress, and the bulb would burn out quickly. By going between dim and bright, they get essentially the same end effect, but with much less thermal stress on the bulb and it'll last significantly longer.

[@shoominati23]

Lol, I wonder if there was ever a case of the footage from one of these EVER used to prosecute somebody for shoplifting? "Exhibit A , your honour, the strange blurry blip was seen the secret the item on his person behind the grey pixellated scrolling mass"

[@bigclivedotcom]

It appears that the camera used in this unit was very good quality and high resolution for the time.

[@markmercer599]

In very many cases people were shown poor pics of themselves and would simply fess up not realising that a good solicitor could blow it out of court. In fact the overt cameras were never there to CATCH criminals but to DETER their activity. Loss figures did show beneficial results in many cases.

[@jx866mashups]

The camera is an Ikegami CTC-4700, there's a service manual here: www.manualslib.com/manual/679286/Ikegami-Ctc-4700.html

[@Strider9655]

I think the purpose of those was always to house a single camera, but to leave the public unaware as to which direction the camera was facing at any one time, so as to prevent people thinking they could evade it.

[@TheEPROM9]

These type of cameras were used into the 90s as our local Sansburys used the type that was round and had lenses poking out. I imagine they would be very similar to this one internally.

[@scott8919]

Love the intro

[@robbmg9716]

That switch hysteresis is ingenious!

[@robbmg9716]

Albeit not very robust...

[@bigclivedotcom]

Worked for decades though.

[@robbmg9716]

I mean, I guess. Even if the parameters drift a lot, the screw can be used to adjust. I just had that kind of gut feeling about it. :D

[@vk2zay]

Looks like the old complementary pair flasher circuit with medium current BJTs and some lamp bias current to extend its life. I'd love to see the exact topology though, old stuff like that is always fun to reverse engineer.

[@un1qu3-senpai]

This is the best opening to one of your vids ever.

[@OkowscCoUk]

is that a poundland precision screwdriver i see?

[@TheEPROM9]

I am going to have to see if I can get hold of one now.

[@kyoudaiken]

But why?

[@TheEPROM9]

***** Because I am a pack rat. Plus it would be fun to crack open the type I remember in the store. First eBay searches have not been successful.

[@kyoudaiken]

***** For me it would not be worth the money. :/

[@pranksteraleks9066]

I would love to get one and convert it to a light shade, I could creep people out and feel nostalgia all at once.

[@mikecowen6507]

Holy cow! I can't believe they used a genuine Ikegami camera in that hokey contraption.

[@thatee1006]

Bigclive

[@R3Cat]

Wow! That camera has a UHF connector on it! I've never seen those used anywhere but radio! It probably outputs some kind of RF ... probably standard analogue CATV PAL (or NTSC if they bought it from america) signal that you can plug into a standard, old fashioned telly.

[@whiskeythrottle9369]

You got a like just from the intro :D

[@acheron1872]

This guy is like Bob Ross levels of chill, these are great for sleep. Kinda awesome to see this stuff too...

[@JustAlex686]

Love your vids Clive.

[@ecutechltd]

Clive, where did you purchase it? ebay?

[@rud]

It might be because bulb will last longer when it is not switch all the way off. IIRC the old scoreboards at stadiums that did simple animations with incandescent bulbs, kept them warm by not turning them 100% off, at least the ones i know about did.

[@ray_gannon]

Agree with that Martin. Doing things that way reduces the thermal shock to the filament. Used the same technique in a 70's design myself!

[@LeifNelandDk]

Same as traffic lights; they also glow all the time. Except the LED's of cause.

[@SwarthyPlinker]

Awesome video. This was one of my favorites.

[@davegsm82]

Not sure if anyone has already replied, can't see one but, The reason for the lamp resistor will be to prevent the filament from going completely cold, it will keep a bit of heat in it to stop thermal shock from destroying the filament very quickly.

[@intercity24]

I'm going to take a guess that you've picked this up from a closing BHS store?

[@upcomingcloudrapperluca7645]

can you take a closer look at the camera or try and get it working?

[@RTTOE]

I remember you talking about these in another video. Channel is meta af.

[@redrocket763]

I remember one of these in the old Co-op when I was a kid. And just like everyone else, I assumed it had a camera for each side. Great idea to deter shoplifting!!

[@dlock2k]

"Dalek head camera"... and I thought the camera chassis looked like K-9!

[@5roundsrapid263]

Daleks would make sense. The video quality probably looked like '60s Doctor Who!

[@bigclivedotcom]

The Dalek head ones are different. I've not got my hands on one of those yet.

[@dlock2k]

Keep up the great work, Clive! I really enjoy your videos!

[@phils4634]

Clive - the black shiny Dalek head models were certainly used by C&A, and Marks & Spencer (at least in their Portsmouth and Southampton branches), in the md-80's. This might be of use if you're keen on hunting some down!

[@zx8401ztv]

mark mercer electronics, 1985 - 2013 liquidated, shame :-(

[@jezgb]

Yep - I worked at Mark Mercer Electronics for a short while - I actually assembled some of these. The ones I did were destined for Selfridges on Oxford Street. What a blast from the past!!

[@zx8401ztv]

Im supprised that clive got one, i looked around the web after he talked about one a few videos back, hard to find. That camera looked like it had a vidicon tube or similar inside, not the most sensitive in the world lol.

[@scratchpad7954]

+jezgb Have you heard of the PBS seires of the same name?

[@scratchpad7954]

+David Stott Series

[@jezgb]

You mean the "Mark Mercer" KZbin channel? Different Mark Mercer I think!

[@JackKirkpatrickVideos]

Sucks it's so cheaply built but I would love to find one of those to hang up in my basement. It would fit the environment down there perfectly. I've never seen one in the US but I'm sure it would look cool in my early 80s arcade haha.

[@AlexLaw_Qld]

Cross pollinate with the replica props nerds and make one ;-)

[@charlie_nolan]

I like spooky-looking industrial or fancy commercial stuff such as strange security cameras, industrial lighting, tornado sirens, etc. I would love to get ahold of one of these spooky spinning camera units and actually use it

[@Castle6064]

Good I remember working on those type of units. They were pure sh1t when they were new. Noisy too. especially on hollow ceiling. the ikegami camera, probably 2/3inch tubed camera. very old as it has a pl259 style connection. they were the Rolls of its day. Still making cameras as far as I know especially in the tv studio business

[@Castle6064]

Oh and yes the picture was sh1t by todays terms. the tube lasted at most 1 year before it had to be replaced which as more than not was rarely done. Pictures jumped, shifted and rolled as they switched from cam to cam. Mains earths did cause a lot of picture noise and quite often the mains earth and the coax earth caused an earth loop which drove the cameras mad as did the motor noise after time. often the units where left with the mains earth disconnected from the camera to get rid of the noise. and don't get me started on either end being poered from different phases

[@markmercer599]

People who, unlike you Alan, understood and followed our information sheets did not allow local mains earth noise on the video cables!

[@Castle6064]

+Mark Mercer well Mark I see you haven't changed. Talking down to people as usual. I have been on site with your technical staff who were unable to sort out that problem either. On while you are on your high pillar even your mini domes you produced in the early to mid 2000s had faults your tech people couldn't sort which they lied and said couldn't happen yet your ex son in law told me you knew all about. So mind the drop there Mark your not that perfect.

[@markmercer599]

Technical issues could always be solved, people issues rarely. Their abuse of suppliers and equipment was usually in inverse proportion to their own competence.

[@Castle6064]

+Mark Mercer again your head as always is up you're arse your belief in your yourself and the reality of your company are two different things. You're ability to blame issues with your products on the installers and end users is not unique to your company but more progressive companies that take issues that were not for seen on board and resolve them are still at the for font of the industry. Only older people remember mme and then some with a bad taste. I will give that your product was all bad but your obnoxious arrogance which came as part of the package could be intolerable. But then it is not hard to see where that attitude comes from

[@ValugaTheLord]

i'm curious about video quality... also design looks.. redundant? isn't it better to have stationary camera than rotating one.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They were designed to intimidate shoplifters by implying that someone was moving the camera and watching them.

[@SakariNy]

It has "cameras" to every direction but yet spins fully around. It's indeed meant to scare off stupid people.

[@Ts6451]

+SakariNy Actually, it isn't that stupid. Back then the camera would have been an expensive part, so it wouldn't be viable for a shop to have full coverage, and an openly visible moving camera would make it easy for a criminal to predict where it was pointing. So, by having all the lenses around the big thing with a flashing light, they make it very visible, but more difficult to know where the actual camera is pointing, and so more likely to work as a deterrent. Today you would probably just use relatively cheap cameras to cover the entire shop, but there are dome cameras with "smoked" domes that serves a similar purpose.

[@crocellian2972]

I love the electromechanical stuff. Please do more. Maybe a pinball. That would be really fun.

[@surreyboy84]

I remember these cameras when I was a kid in the late 80/early 90s. Found them to be a bit intimidating.

[@williefleete]

337 is an NPN transistor 327 is the PNP complementary

[@Forssa1]

These are very common too.

[@BenjaminEsposti]

2Sx337 or BC337 or...?

[@mjouwbuis]

Well known standard types. BC, though some people mistake them for 2SC since Philips often only printed a C on them.

[@strobey1]

Aside from it looking cool, the lamp will be on pre-heat to extend it's life. "quite neat"... :)

[@clanmac66]

The big black round ones that Woolies had, always fascinated me.

[@snik2pl]

Keeping lamp filament glowing/warm was used to increase lifetime of blinking lamps. Incandescent mostly fail at startup when filament is cold and has low resistance you have big startup current that damages filament. Probably that's why it's glowing also in this camera.

[@jtveg]

Whenever you flash an incandescent bulb you don't want a full voltage pulse going from 0V because it can burn out the bulb. You should know this. This is also done in old car flasher circuits. The element remains warm and greatly increases its life expectancy and also reduces the current spike making it reach full brightness quicker.

[@HerbySystems]

Did you try and intentionally make the start of the video as sinister as possible? Because it worked hahaha

[@PotnoodleUK]

Wow that was cool. I remember them scary Dalek CCTV things. Cheers Clive great video.

[@LuganWanian]

i have now officially watched every video on KZbin during quarantine

[@firefox3187]

I figured these things out when I was 6 in Woolworths, “if there all Cameras why is it turning mummy?”

[@ceejayc6502]

A fellow Klepto? :)

[@subigirlawd_7307]

George Lucas called he wants his movie prop back! 😝

[@gorillaau]

I think Blakes7 used one of these for the head of a security robot.

[@andreash.9615]

I remember seeing one of these in Harrods around 1998 when I was 12, interesting to be able to have a look inside!

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

When you were describing the "memory" effect of the microswitches, it didn't make sense at first, until I realised that if the camera were to pan continuously, it would drive the person watching the security monitors to distraction. An intermittent motion in either direction would let the camera pause on a scene for a few seconds so that one could better perceive if anything of interest is happening. Nowadays the problem would have been solved with stepper motors and a microcontroller, so that was a clever solution for something designed in the 1970s.