Convert Dummy Camera Into a Real CCTV Camera

Hi All,

A few months back I made a Simple Wifi CCTV camera for my door (reusing an old wifi camera), to stop people from stealing milk and other items.

While the setup worked, the design had flaws...

• Changing angles was not possible.
• It did not look like a CCCTV camera

So I looked at my options,

• Continue with the existing setup and relocate the camera for a better view
• 3D print: I tried designing it as a 3d model, but printing and getting perfect clearance was impossible
• Additional Dummy camera to fool people

Then It hit me, I could fit my cheap camera in a dummy camera... A dummy camera has a good body case with a led light and no camera...

Improvements that I did in this version

• Adjustable angles in the x and y axis
• 5v adapter embedded inside the camera ( not available in any outdoor CCTV cameras)
• Looks like a real CCTC camera
• Can be made with basic tools
• No 3d Parts

In this instructable, I will share how I managed to put a cheap wifi camera inside of a dummy camera and make it real

• A dummy camera (Amazon.in)
• Wifi V380 pro Camera (Reusing wifi camera I bought few years back)
• 5v Mobile charger
• Wires
• Double side Tape
• Hacksaw
• Wire cutters
• Soldering iron
• Sandpaper (80 grit)

• Carefully look at the dummy camera
• Remove the wall installation plate, then the case
• The core is ideally a housing for led with a 9V battery
• Open it and remove the led and dummy camera plates

• The core body had spacers and pillars to support the dummy camera plate and battery
• Inspect if the real wifi camera fits in it, Mine was slightly bigger than the hole
• Using a cutter, remove all unwanted spacers and pillars, leaving the ones that are needed to lock the case parts together
• Widen the hole using sandpaper, till the real wifi camera can fit inside it

• The front cover was simpler but the back cover did not fit ( as shown in pics)
• As the first step, remove any spacers and pillars
• Now remove the back plate of the wifi camera and test if the back cover fits
• It worked, but I have 2 new challenges
• The circuit board was lose
• Mic and Speaker needed to be secured in a good position

• Break open the body of the 5v charger
• Remove any connectors etc
• Solder 2 wires for 220V (White and black wires in the picture)
• Solder red and Blue for +5V and -Ve
• Using a multimeter, locate +5v and -ve points on the WIFI camera circuit
• Solder the +5v from the charger to +5v wifi camera circuit and -ve as shown
• Using a temporary wire and taking all precautions, connect the mobile charger to 220V power
• Check if the Wifi camera works as expected
• If the WIFI camera does not boot, check the wires and solder connections

• Most of the wifi cameras have micro SD card slots
• I wanted to access the card without opening the whole camera
• I was lucky that the SD cards' position was at the join of the case, So I cut a slot as shown in the picture.
• Another problem solved

As mentioned, I faced 2 new challenges, which I did not plan for

• The circuit board was lose
• I used a plastic cover from pringles to make a thin plate
• With the help of the original screws, the circuit was now locked in its place
• Mic and Speaker needed to be secured in a good position
• Using double side tape stick the backs of the speaker and mic
• Using some paper tape for wire management
• Stick the charger using the double side tape on the back cover
• Interlock the back cover and the front

• Now that the core of the camera is ready,
• Reassemble the camera body with the wall plate
• Test the wifi camera in different positions and angles using double side tape
• Once happy, drill final holes for mounting the camera on a wall
• Power on the camera and start monitoring

Hope you like this. Please share our comments and suggestions