Need Help with Security Camera

These may or may not be the best newsgroups for this question. If there is a better one, please advise me.

I bought a security camera to put in my barn. I presently have a pregnant horse that I want to monitor, and there are other times I want to watch a horse that is sick or something and not spend all my time in the barn (especially in cold weather).

The camera is intended to transmit 400ft. It's made by 2.4ghz Wisecomm brand. The instructions say it will transmit 400ft. in a straight line with no obstructions. Well, there is one tree, but this time of year there are no leaves, so I dont see that as a problem, and I have moved the receiver unit in the house to different locations, and put it by windows to eliminate walls, which are aluminum sided. The windows are just glass and fiberglass screens.

The camera works fine when I plugged in both the receiver (camera) and the transmitter inside the house, and I took it to the furthest corners of the house and even took it outdoors using an extension cord.

However, once I put it inside the barn, I do not get a signal on the receiver inside the house. The barn is only about 250 ft. away, so it's within the limits. Yet, when I took a portable tv and the receiver into the barn, it worked in there. My thought is that it's because the barn has steel siding, and the signal is not getting thru the metal walls.

Can anyone think of any way to make this setup work? I know I can return this camera and could buy one that needs a wire. They only come with 50 ft of coax, so I'd have to buy another 200 ft. But then, stringing all that wire thru the yard, and avoiding tree branches and still keeping it high enough over the driveway so that farm machinery can pass, would be a challenge in itself.

With that said, I got to thinking about plugging the transmitter camera AND the receiver (in the barn) into the inputs of an old vcr (I have several of them who eat tapes but the electronics still work). Then I could run the output of the vcr to the house, but via coax, but once again, I am back to stringing coax.

My next thought, is there some sort of transmitter that I could buy that would transmit the output of the camera (both parts) via an antenna on the barn roof, directly to my rooftop tv antenna on the house? I recall years ago, they had these things that were called "The Rabbit" or something like that, and they were supposed to transmit a vcr to the whole house. So far that seems like the most promising idea, but if I can even fond one of those things, will it transmit the 250ft, or actually more like 280 to my antenna.

Does anyone have any other ideas how to do this. So far, everything seems pretty complicated. I was concerned about the metal barn walls posing a problem, but the store clerk insisted that the 2.4ghz signal will go right thru any walls. So much for that......

Maybe there is an entire different camera system made for my needs, and if I need to return this one and get something else, that is another option, as long as the price is fairly reasonable. I paid $130 for this one, and it works well without the barn walls.

Finally, the antenna from the camera (receiver) is not removable. It's a built in rubber thing about 2 inches long and does not come off the camera. Otherwise I'd run coax from the camera, and mount the antenna on the roof of the barn. But it's not removable, so that's out.

Yes, I did email to

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as seems to be the case with most companies these days, no one returns a reply or they wait months to reply.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Alvin

Reply to
alvinamorey
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they have wireless that go 10x as far

Reply to
ransley

The metal siding would cut down or stop the RF signal for sure.

Is it possible for you to run a Video wire from the barn to the house? Yeah, I know you said the distance is 250 feet.

RG6 cable at 250 feet would probably work for video OK. And RG6 is weather proof. You would have to put video connectors on each end of the RG6 Cable.

Here is a camera that uses the power line to transmit the video.

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Another one: Works on a Mac computer.
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Here is a transmitter and receiver that works over the power line.
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If you have a power line from the house to the barn, it might work. It may not work if the barn is on a separate power meter.

Reply to
CSM1

You may be able to run a single insulated wire from inside the barn to outside the barn and this may carry the signal outside. Can be a small cheap wire.

Or maybe wrap this wire around the antenna on the camera (does not need to make contact), then run the wire to outside of the barn.

So signal "transfers" to wire wrapped around camera antenna, then wire is run outside and this can then transmit the signal to your house.

If the wire is bare and is touching something like the metal on your barn, it would "ground out" and not carry the transmission.

If there is a tree outside the barn, you could string the wire to the tree up in the air for example.

Reply to
Bill

Well, that's easy enough to verify.

Put the receiver and TV outside the barn door, like fifteen feet from the camera. Do you get a picture?

Nitwit clerks.

Can you configure the setup so the camera is next to a window? Can you mount a (wooden) box on the outside of the barn to house the camera with a hole in the wall?

Reply to
HeyBub

I would guess that you need to get an antenna of a transmitter outside the metal barn, on the house side. You could try some kind of separate transmitter if there is no way to get the one you have out there. Run a cable from the camera to the transmitter on the outside of the barn. There are a number of things like "the rabbit" available these days, although you will need to verify the range.

Bob

Reply to
Bob F

Completely useless link to a spam site !!!!

Reply to
3in1oil

When dealing with the microwave band, you want to go for height and place your antenna away from obstructions (both the receive and send antennas)

You may already have enough power, but your existing cheap antennas probably disperse the signal to much.. There are antennas available that provide higher gain and more directional confinement of the signal.

If you are in a lightning prone area, I would avoid hard copper cables (fiber might be OK). Copper cables can be made safe, but you need to consider lightning arrestors and grounding.

Reply to
Beachcomber

You may be able to use a "passive" antenna. This is an antenna that sits near the transmitter (some even wrap around the existing transmitter antenna, as another poster sugessted), connected to a run of coax to the outside where another antenna is located.

Joe

Reply to
dada

Several options.

Better forum.

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Wireless Video Modulator.

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Attach this to a video camera. I bought several used at flea market for around $50.00 that work perfect.
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Range extender
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Reply to
Jonathan

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Reply to
Jonathan

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