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I have a Motorola MBP36 (binatone) video baby monitor model MBP36. We (actually a lot of people) want to display the video to a TV, RCA or HDMI (whatever works). No one can find the correct USB output cable for it, and Motorola(and binatone) is being, well, unhelpful.

Given a the output port is a USB mini-B 5 pin output, whats a good way to find a working Audio Visual output cable?

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To what does the monitor actually connect? Is the monitor outputting USB or is it just sending audio/video signal over the port? What kind of test equipment do you have? If you happen to find someone with an oscilloscope, you could determine which signal is which and make a cable, if the USB is just used as a plug. If the monitor actually uses real USB, then it would be quite complicated to do something since you'd basically have to write a new driver, and that's assuming that the monitor is actually capable of sending video over USB. – AndrejaKo Apr 12 '12 at 8:08
I have no test equipment. I currently have manual listing "avout" on an usb mini-b port, rather sad. I have linked from a usb mini-b to full usb on several machines and received no signal. Could the manufacturer make a dead output? – BozoJoe Apr 12 '12 at 8:27
Yes, sometimes it's cheaper to put the output there and not use it instead of removing it. This is especially true if the the device passed tests required by various safety regulations with the port installed. If it's removed, the tests would have to be done again and that may be more expensive than to manufacture it with the port. – AndrejaKo Apr 12 '12 at 8:50
Unfortunately, there's pretty much no way for you to do anything useful here. If you have an old TV, you could try cutting the A side of a USB A to mini B cable and trying to connect that to various inputs of a TV, but if you don't even have a multimeter, don't expect good results. Also in the worst case you could damage the TV and the monitor. – AndrejaKo Apr 12 '12 at 8:51

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

from http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/archive/index.php/t-63579.html

I mixed up the pinout again, but now it seems that I got it right. When holding the device so you're looking at the AV OUT recepticle and the lettering is upright, pin #1 is the pin on the left. When holding the mini USB connector so you're looking at the plug (not cable) side and the wider side of the outer metal sleeve is on top, pin 1 is on the right. The pinout, from pin 1 to pin 5, is the following one:

Not connected. Audio (white). Not connected. Video (yellow). Ground (black).

See the attachment for a photograph of a mini USB plug showing the pins

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was there an attachment to your answer? – BozoJoe Apr 18 '12 at 23:17
up vote 0 down vote

It's described as an 'optional TV adapter cable', you can probably purchase it by calling Motorola:

  • US and Canada 1-888-331-3383
  • UK 0845 218 0890

The user manual from binatonetelecom says on page 10, in section 2.5 View Video Through TV:

"Connect a suitable AV cable into the AV OUT socket on the side of the Parent Unit and into the AV input of the TV. Scroll through the AV inputs on the TV menu until the Baby monitor picture is visible.
AV cable is an optional accessory, which is to be purchased separately"

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Phone numbers say this is spam and should be deleted. Spammers user accounts are incinerated. – Federico Russo Apr 17 '12 at 8:45
@FedericoRusso - Easy there, killer! Tony's been a user for almost two weeks and contributed 63 answers in that time period! They're not always the most highly-upvoted posts (they're usually lacking in detail), but I see no reason to believe that they're offered in anything other than good faith. There's nothing wrong with posting a phone number, and that phone number is for Motorola's cordless phone division. If we're getting spammed by Motorola, well, that's some pretty impressive news! – Kevin Vermeer Apr 17 '12 at 9:09
@KevinVermeer: It's an ad for a commercial product, even if it's not his own. I thought we didn't want commercial products, and that was the reason shopping questions are not allowed. – Federico Russo Apr 17 '12 at 9:19
We don't want commercial products, no, but the appropriate action is to close the question, not flag a legitimate answer as spam! This has survived for a week and received 43 views, including those of yourself and of AndrejaKo, with nary a negative comment, vote-to-close, or downovte, so I was content to downvote the question and move on. I was hoping for a discussion of the suitability of USB cables and connectors for analog AV signals; this isn't the first time I've seen or heard of custom USB cables like this. – Kevin Vermeer Apr 17 '12 at 9:23
@Federico - Tony is not a spammer, he's been trying to give useful answers for the short time he's been here. However I think this answer is inappropriate: we're Electronic Engineering (we would have loved to be Electronic Design), this is Electronic Selling. – stevenvh Apr 17 '12 at 10:35

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