WiPics

Introduction

The WiPics transmitter was originally concieved as part of an electrical engineering thesis project by RIT student Dave Rea. An early version was shown of at the 2003 PMA tradeshow. The device finnally shipped in 2005 with a very different design than the early prototype.
This transmitter is currently the only aftermarket device of its type. While the transmitters manufactured by both Nikon and Canon are designed to work with a specific group of their own cameras, this transmitter will function with any camera supporting Compactflash memory cards. As such, it is currently the only option for photographers using other types of digital cameras.
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Configuration

The WiPics transmitter can be configured via the small LCD on it's top plate or via an integrated web server. When the later is used, the transmitter is connected to the user's network (usually via ethernet) and settings can be dialed in via any web browser. Alternately, products like ITP have automated mechanisms that can dial in these settings automatically. Once set up, the WiPics transmitter can send images via FTP and/or store them on Compactflash cards or an optional internal hard drive.
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RF Characteristics

Using information collected from various sources, the following tables provide basic information about the RF characteristics of the WiPics transmitter.
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Basic Information

FCC ID	?
Frequency Range	2401MHz-2474MHz
Adapter Type	MiniPCI (PRISM-based)
Stock EIRP	?
Antenna Type	RP-SMA

Source: Specifications
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Transmit Power

Frequency	Power
2412MHz (Ch. 1)	? ()
2437MHz (Ch. 6)	? ()
2462MHz (Ch. 11)	? ()

Source: Pending
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Antenna Gain

Antenna	Gain
Stock (Nearson 131-CL)	2dBi

Source: David Rea (link)
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Design

The WiPics is a belt mounted device that connects to cameras via a dumby Compactflash card. Using this interface, the camera believes that the WiPics is a normal memory card and saves images directly to the device. Those images are then stored either on Compactflash cards placed inside of the WiPics, or an optional hard drive. The device can then transmit images via 802.11g or its ethernet port.
It is important to note that the WiPics device does not have an internal power supply, so it is reliant on external battery packs to opperate. The WiPics device can, however, accept a wide range of voltages (from 6 to 24), so photographers have some flexibility in this matter.
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Options

In addition to the basic WiPics device, users can purchase the transmitter with a couple of factory-installed options. Firstly, the WiPics can be equipped with a 20GB internal hard drive to store large numbers of images on. This drive appears as a 20GB memory card to any FAT32-capable camera so it provides much more capacity than conventional systems allow. Secondly, the WiPics can also be equipped with a bar code scanner that allows photographers to associate additional data with their digital images.
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Compatibility

Due to its unique design, the WiPics can be used with a wide variety of different digital cameras. Any camera that can accept type II Compactflash cards will be able to work with the WiPics transmitter. Note that to effectively use the hard drive option, however, the camera should have FAT32 support as it will not otherwise be able to access all of the available capacity.
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See Also

ITP, FTP server specially designed to work with the WiPics and other wireless transmitters.
Nikon WT-2/2A, Nikon's second generation transmitter using the faster 802.11g protocol and adding a number of new features.
Nikon WT-1/1A, Nikon's first generation transmitter using the slower 802.11b protocol.
Canon WFT-E1/1A, Canon's first wireless transmitter functions with many of their DSLRs and uses the 802.11g protocol.
802.11g, The wireless protocol used by the WiPics transmitter.
FTP, The protocol used to transfer image files over the wireless network.

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External Links