Blink XT Camera System Sync Module USB details
I wanted a simple home security camera system. Something brainless to set up and manage – enough to monitor the front gate of where I live, with some additional coverage for the back yard. After a lot of research I bought the Blink wireless, battery camera system – specifically the Blink XT Camera System, which are the cameras designed to be used outside.
I bought a pack of five cameras and two Blink sync modules.
Two sync modules were necessary because of the location of my wifi router and the distance between the cameras, the modules, and the router.
I won’t recap all the stats and specs, those are all on the Blink camera website, but in brief, I bought the system beacuse the Blink XT cameras are wireless, water and weather-proof, run on two lithium double batteries, and have a phone app with free video clip recording storage. It’s a simple approach to a home security system that should work for most use cases.
USB port on Blink Sync Module
The Blink sync module has a USB port on the side. Apparently it provides power out – the community portal has more discussion about it. The port is supposed to be for future, undefined capability. The sync module also has a microUSB port for the wall power charger. People have had success running the sync module off a battery or even a solar panel.
Anyway, I noticed that the Blink cameras also have a micro-USB port, and the documentation stated that the camera could be powered over USB. After some poking around, I got details on how this port can actually be used.
The USB port on the Blink XT camera conforms to the USB 2.0 specification. Specifically, the XT camera can run off 5 watts at 1 amp, up to 5 meters in USB cable length. Technically this is 16 feet and 5 inches maximum, but that might lead to power loss – and even though the XT camera is sealed up, using it with a cable outside negates the full weatherproofing because of the USB hole in the back cover has no rubber seal protecting it. Batteries are best unless you want to roll the dice with some diaelectric sealant.
Add USB Storage to the Blink Camera?
I’ve had some questions about using the Blink module’s USB port for extra storage. As far as I know, this is not possible. The USB port doesn’t let you pop a thumb or flash drive, or an external USB hard drive in to store video, unfortunately. So no, you can’t use the USB port in this way.
