Having watched some "Winterwatch Unsprung" I feel inspired to fit an IR IP cam at the back of our house. Anyone done this? Got any recommendations regarding kit?
Just had a quick look on eBay and came across this.
Tim
Beasties eh?
This one big and bad enough?
A common type, probably all coming out of the same chinese factory with different brand labels on. Shop about I'm sure they are available cheaper.
It's not weather proof either. To avoid reflections of the camera itself or the IR LEDs you don't really want it on a window sill inside... There are similar spec and price "weather proof" cameras but they lack the remote PZT.
I can't comment on the kit you are looking at, as my experiences go back a few years to when I was a hedgehog carer and had a camera in my garden to watch their night-time antics.
When a hedgehog was fully recovered after treatment, I would do a "voluntary release" in which they'd be placed in a special brick-built hidey-hole with lots of straw, water and food, and an open entrance at the end of a short tunnel. They could stay in it if they wanted, or venture out, knowing they had a safe place to return.
Most followed the same pattern: short ventures to start with, then longer ones, and after three or four days they wouldn't come back.
Anyway, the roof was made of a transparent plastic sheet, with a sheet of wood covering it during the day. At night I'd remove the wood sheet, so the camera could see inside. I didn't have movement detection back then, so it was a matter of recording all night and then fast-forwarding to the interesting bits.
You know how hedgehogs love to eat slugs and snails? Well, one night I recorded the hedgehog feeding at its bowl of cat food, and standing(?) right next to it, also feeding at the cat food, was a big juicy slug. I don't know if they called a truce, or the cat food tasted better than a slug, or maybe the hog was deliberately fattening up the slug to eat at some other time.
On another occasion I saw the hog eating at its bowl, and in wandered a rat, who went straight to the water bowl and started drinking. I wondered how they might interact, but interestingly both the hog and the rat completely ignored each other, despite being at adjacent bowls and no more than three inches between them. After a while the rat wandered off again. I was surprised, as I'd expected there to be some kind of competition for the food or water.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll have some fun with it.
Ah, well spotted. Hadn't realised that.
Cheers. Looks like I will need to spend a bit more.
Tim
In message , Tim+ writes
Was it not one of these, or one very similar, that hit the press last year when someone hacked into it and started swearing at a families baby via it?
His garden looks a bit of a mess
The "bonehead" lad on last night mentioned a trail camera - the sort of thing that the BBC uses to leave out near, er, trails. I don't know if they are still only or video, but the must be rainproof. Might be worth looking for that sort of thing.
I built one with a Raspberry Pi board, and its noir camera module, in a housing with an IR led illuminator ring.
Not very expensive all in. I had to get (from memory)
Pi board (I had 3 already, but £30 if you have to get one) Powered USB Hub (so I can power stuff) £10 USB WiFi adapter for Pi £8 Pi NOIR camera module £20 CCTV camera housing £12 IR Illuminator ring £3
It's all a bit tab-a into slot-b, rather than an actual 'project' as such, but still fun. I managed to get some soldering out of wiring up the illuminator, and powering it.
Software wise, running the latest raspbian, and the motion-mmal motion detection and video recording software on it.
The pi camera uses its wifi to store the stills and videos from motion-mmal on to my NAS via a share.
The video quality from the NOIR camera board is great. If you want daylight use, choose the standard camera though, as the colours are all sci-fi on the noir one.
Anyway, there are lots of Pi camera guides on the net. It's fun to mess with.
I expect its supposed to appeal to wildlife. After all uou don't see badgers putting in neat rows of beans or cutting back their hedges do you? Brian
In message , Brian Gaff writes
Some pretty frothy threads on the farming forums:-)
Curious how the regular dog walkers disappear once I start trimming my hedges.
Tim+ used his keyboard to write :
The camera is not suitable for outdoor mounting, so would have to be mounted indoors looking through glass. Mounted behind glass, the IR LED's on the camera cannot be used, as they would simply reflect back from the glass, so some form of separate IR illumination would be needed.
If you want to put a IP camera outside then you will need a waterproof one. I have 2 Y-Cam Bullets and a Lilin 7022E4. The Lilin gives better pictures in my view than the Y-Cam Bullets do.
Or you can make an umbrella for it, which is what I did. Obviously not as good as a real waterproof one, but mine lasted ages, and was still working fine when I got bored with it.
Now that's interesting. It would be mounted tight underneath the soffit of the roof overhang at the back of the house. Barring a severe gale, I can't see it ever getting wet directly.
Tim
I have some non-weather-proofed light fittings under a soffit by my front door, which have never failed due to water ingress, so I'd be inclined to go for it.
Given the amount of time he seems to spend wielding a camera I'm not surprised.
Mark Carver may have some input here, he's had a nestboxcam for years on his website.
Richard
Link
Richard
I'm still trying to work that one out.
Are you particularly careless with the hedgetrimmer/chainsaw/flail- cutter?
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