Ever wondered if a CCTV Camera could be used to record live-action footage? Dice Jashnani ’29 made SCRAmera (SCRAP-camera) to give an old, used CCTV camera new life as a cartoon-y camcorder. Every part is derived from an older, decommissioned electronic device, including a Blu-ray player cable, a recording unit out of a drone, and a display from an old car.
At EXP Makerspace, Dice used various tools from the electronics bench. The oscilloscope especially came in handy for fixing any signaling issues. These issues came from nonstandard pinouts for the scrap cable parts. She was able to source connectors, but organizing and integrating all scrap pieces took multiple days of troubleshooting and learning new tools to isolate the cables as the issue.
Dice plans to take the SCRAmera to record rock bands. It has already filmed four bands, and “fits into the already prevalent scrappy / DIY nature of these shows,” where she “gets to nerd out with showgoers about the tech and process.”
