Using high def security cameras and NVRs as trail cams
- Thread starter ksJoe
- Start date
I've been distracted with other projects, but I'm trying to get back to this. The previously mentioned building is now built (24x40x13). It will be a few months before I put solar on it and can add cameras there. My project list is growing instead of shrinking, so it will be a while before I make a plow to bury cat5 for cameras. But I was getting impatient on adding cameras. So instead of waiting until I can put camera cable below ground, I went above ground.
I ran a small steel cable 65 feet from the blind to a tree by the creek, then put 2 cat5 wires in 1/2" irrigation tubing for protection and wrapped it around the steel cable.
Then in the tree one cat5 cable goes to the camara, and the other is supplying power to an IR flood light.
Inside the blind I have a dimmer to control the IR flood light:
I'm already planning to move the IR flood light to up on the tree so it covers a wider area and difusses more. Its too bright right now.
I tried to update the firmware on the NVR remotely (from home) and its been offline since. Hopefully I just need to power cycle it next time I'm down. But until then no pictures from the new camera. I was having fun with it until upgraded the firmware
Products for this phase:
- around $100 for 4K 8MP PTZ PoE Camera with Auto Tracking and Smart (person/vehicle/pet) Detection, 3x optical zoom
- around $25 for dusk/dawn IR flood light
- the other stuff I had on hand
up next: I'm ordering supplies to build out a wifi network from the blind. I'll be putting a wifi/solar/battary-powered reolink camera in a clearing 40-70 yards from the blind. For this one I'll probably try one that comes with built in battery and reolink supplied solar. It will limit my camera choices quite a bit but will be quicker/easier/cheaper than DIYing the power.
Once the wifi network is up, I'll test the range. If long range antennas can get through 300 yards of trees, my irrigation system is deliberately overpowered so I can put several cameras there with one shared wifi link back to the blind.
I ran a small steel cable 65 feet from the blind to a tree by the creek, then put 2 cat5 wires in 1/2" irrigation tubing for protection and wrapped it around the steel cable.
Then in the tree one cat5 cable goes to the camara, and the other is supplying power to an IR flood light.
Inside the blind I have a dimmer to control the IR flood light:
I'm already planning to move the IR flood light to up on the tree so it covers a wider area and difusses more. Its too bright right now.
I tried to update the firmware on the NVR remotely (from home) and its been offline since. Hopefully I just need to power cycle it next time I'm down. But until then no pictures from the new camera. I was having fun with it until upgraded the firmware
Products for this phase:
- around $100 for 4K 8MP PTZ PoE Camera with Auto Tracking and Smart (person/vehicle/pet) Detection, 3x optical zoom
- around $25 for dusk/dawn IR flood light
- the other stuff I had on hand
up next: I'm ordering supplies to build out a wifi network from the blind. I'll be putting a wifi/solar/battary-powered reolink camera in a clearing 40-70 yards from the blind. For this one I'll probably try one that comes with built in battery and reolink supplied solar. It will limit my camera choices quite a bit but will be quicker/easier/cheaper than DIYing the power.
Once the wifi network is up, I'll test the range. If long range antennas can get through 300 yards of trees, my irrigation system is deliberately overpowered so I can put several cameras there with one shared wifi link back to the blind.
The reolink "pet" detection is working great. It flags deer and racoons very accurately. I can flip through lots of animal clips with virtually no non-animal motion. At night it has been confused by just a few bugs flying by the camera that it ID'd as a pet. With the current sensitivy settings I have its probably about 95% legit animals (I'm guessing, I didn't do math).
The brush pile is around 20 yards from the camera and it flags dear easily at that distance. I've not aimed it in a direction with more distance for long enough to know how far out will ID them.
This is good. I'm happy. Next up: wifi network.
The brush pile is around 20 yards from the camera and it flags dear easily at that distance. I've not aimed it in a direction with more distance for long enough to know how far out will ID them.
This is good. I'm happy. Next up: wifi network.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I had spent some time trying to put together a similar system. It's still on the idea board, but there are a few things I hadn't figured yet. I'm also on solar, and it's not easy figuring out the power draw on a lot of that equipment. Most of the information i've found is translated, sketchy. and incomplete. I wanted to try wifi repeaters, but i'd need to whack some pretty good lines of sight to make that work on my place. I had also thought about just lining the trails on my place with repeaters, but a few extra of those makes that more expensive quickly.
@SD51555 The way I understand it, the gov. restricts the power output to the wifi antennas, but not the antenna itself. So you can get larger more efficient antennas, or get directional antennas that focus the signal in a narrow direction to get more range (but just in that direction). Also, lower frequencys are slower (carry less data), but go for a longer distance. So I'm only attempting 2.4ghz, and I'm starting with these access points, and directional antennas. I'm hoping that with a directional antenna at both ends I go a few hundred yards. Then for close to the blind, I'm looking at an omnidirectional outdoor antenna.
If I can get 400 yards point to point with directional antennas and 70 yards with omnidirectional outdoor antennas, this will go well. If I can't get those distances, I'm not sure what I'll do.
If anyone tries anything similar, I'd appreciate hearing about what works or what doesn't.
If I can get 400 yards point to point with directional antennas and 70 yards with omnidirectional outdoor antennas, this will go well. If I can't get those distances, I'm not sure what I'll do.
If anyone tries anything similar, I'd appreciate hearing about what works or what doesn't.
MadMadHoosier
5 year old buck +
I’ve been using a “backfire” directional antenna on a Ubiquiti “bullet” access point, to provide WiFi connectivity to a LiftMaster MyQ (solar) gate operator about 365 yards from the cabin. It has proven very reliable for several years now. Early on I wondered how far it might reach, and took a (wifi only) iPad an additional 400 yards and still had reliable signal a total of 765 yards. High water kept me from going into the hardwood bottoms to find the eventual limit, and I never bothered trying again. But assume the hardwoods would kill the signal from continuing much further. I’d expect this setup to get over 1000 yards with unobstructed line of sight.
Edited to add: Just the standard omnidirectional antenna on the gate operator, and the standard internal antenna on the iPad.
Attachments
Telemark
5 year old buck +
I use directional antennas over the water for work. We can get a few kilometers out of them. The government of each country does restrict the frequency and the power according to their use, but you can change the settings. You shouldn't have a problem if you are using it outdoors though.
@omicron1792 how is your battery life? How rapidly does it drop when you're playing with the cameras (pan/zoom)? How fast does it come up on a sunny day? Does your solar panel have clear view of the sun for the entire day? Have you ever ran down the battery? If so, how many times, under what circumstances?
Yesterday I got a reolink TrackMix battery/solar. I suspect the solar and batteries are similar to what's in your reolink keen cameras. I'm having trouble getting it to charge unless I plug it into a power supply. With direct sun straight on the panel, sometimes it charges, sometimes it seems like it isn't charging. Since it charges quickly with a DC power supply, I'm wondering if the solar panel is defective.
But I'm starting to wonder if fixing the solar pane will be enough. That battery drains pretty quick if I live stream from it and pan around.
Yesterday I got a reolink TrackMix battery/solar. I suspect the solar and batteries are similar to what's in your reolink keen cameras. I'm having trouble getting it to charge unless I plug it into a power supply. With direct sun straight on the panel, sometimes it charges, sometimes it seems like it isn't charging. Since it charges quickly with a DC power supply, I'm wondering if the solar panel is defective.
But I'm starting to wonder if fixing the solar pane will be enough. That battery drains pretty quick if I live stream from it and pan around.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
For my cameras in full to half a day of sun they always stay at 100. Never had to mess with them.
I have one in a shaded spot that gets no direct sun. It stays good for a month or two. I usually take a battery bank when it goes dead. Plug it in without removing and let it charge while I’m at farm then take it off and hook solar back up at end of day. Good for another couple of months.
The closest thing I have thought of for this is using the ReoLink 4G standalone cameras as game cameras. Now, they have branded one of them under the Keen Ranger name and are working on Ai recognition of animals specifically for game camera use.
I currently run a fleet of regular browning cameras and 2 Moultrie Mobile Edge cameras. Most of my hunting is on public land, but I have considered dropping one of those Keen Rangers at a small piece of private I have been managing if a mature buck will ever show up. That would free up the second Mobile Edge camera for public land use.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I currently run a fleet of regular browning cameras and 2 Moultrie Mobile Edge cameras. Most of my hunting is on public land, but I have considered dropping one of those Keen Rangers at a small piece of private I have been managing if a mature buck will ever show up. That would free up the second Mobile Edge camera for public land use.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Eight keen rangers? Nice!!
How are the data usages on those?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks, good info. I think I figured out my problem. It was my fault lol. I had turned the sensitivity way up messing around with stuff and didn't realize how aggressive it was. It was recording 1-2 video clips per minute, all day. In total it wrote over 30GB to the sd card. Apparently, writing to the SD card takes a lot of power. I changed the motion deteciton settings to be more reasonable, charged it with a power cord overnight, and the next day (in my back yard, full sun most of the day) it never dropped off 100%.
Last night we drove down to the land and put it up temporarily in a tree. Messing around with it that evening I ran the battery down to 88%. This morning it was 84% (so -4% overnight), with recording one deer clip at 6:30 am this morning. It has clear sun for mid to late afternoon, and partly shady the rest of the day. It has a little more sun coming today, but so far its back up to 90% (+6% so far). In its current place it should be usable. I might look to place it with better sun. Worst case, I can put the solar panel on a pole to get it above the trees.
Another thing I've learned, playing with the pan/tilt runs the battery down faster than recording. So the battery should be fine for necessary use, I just can't play with it too much :(
A pleasant surprise is the dual lens digital zoom. It has a wide angle lens and a telephoto lens, and does digital zoom between the two. It can show both video streams, or just the adjustable zoom stream. Here's a screenshot from my phone showing the two streams (with the second stream at maximum zoom). The grey building is my blind about 60 yards away (center of the first stream, top center of the second stream). So it should be usable for deer at 5-60 yards. That's better than I was expecting.
Last night we drove down to the land and put it up temporarily in a tree. Messing around with it that evening I ran the battery down to 88%. This morning it was 84% (so -4% overnight), with recording one deer clip at 6:30 am this morning. It has clear sun for mid to late afternoon, and partly shady the rest of the day. It has a little more sun coming today, but so far its back up to 90% (+6% so far). In its current place it should be usable. I might look to place it with better sun. Worst case, I can put the solar panel on a pole to get it above the trees.
Another thing I've learned, playing with the pan/tilt runs the battery down faster than recording. So the battery should be fine for necessary use, I just can't play with it too much :(
A pleasant surprise is the dual lens digital zoom. It has a wide angle lens and a telephoto lens, and does digital zoom between the two. It can show both video streams, or just the adjustable zoom stream. Here's a screenshot from my phone showing the two streams (with the second stream at maximum zoom). The grey building is my blind about 60 yards away (center of the first stream, top center of the second stream). So it should be usable for deer at 5-60 yards. That's better than I was expecting.
I'm building out power-over-ethernet and wifi connected cameras, with a single shared data link to the internet (current a $10/mo phone). So no keen cameras for me, unless they start offering more than cell network connected cameras. But their regular security cameras are working great for me. Their AI recognition on the regular security cameras now detects "pets". In my experience, any animal matching the size limits I've configured is labeled as a pet. And there is a ton of options in their security cameras, so I'm loving this.
There's cheap POE cameras starting at about $50, 180 degree viewing angle cameras, wide angle PTZs, PTZs that can zoom in to a 3 degree viewing angle, etc.
On my next battery powered wifi camera, I'll probably DIY the power so I can have more battery capacity and 24/7 recording to the NVR. But that won't happen to a while. I've got too many projects going.
Its clear at this point, my battery issues when playing in the back yard were my mistake. With the settings set to something that doesn't generate constant false alarms, the battery power drops 4-5% overnight, then promptly gets back to 100% when the sun comes out. If I play with the PTZ at night, it can drop the battery a percent or two in just a few minutes. This should be fine during cloudy winter weather.
But since it only records on motion triggering the AI, I only get recordings for the active deer movement that's close enough to analyze (+/- a few seconds). Since my POE cameras that record to the NVR, they record 24/7. When they detect an animal I can look at the time before & after the detection to see their route in & out of the area. I do miss that with the battery camera.
I think the solar/battery powered cameras will be great for scouting areas, and I'll probably stick to the POE or wifi cameras for areas I know I want permanent coverage.
I had a cheap trail cam stolen last year during deer season. I assume it was a hunter who didn't want to get caught. I got a little sign to try to convince trespassers stealing the camera won't help them.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
That is great my man!
That right there is a HUGE advantage over game cameras…
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I use wyze cameras around my house. They are relatively cheap, pretty amazing and a bit frightening. Wyze and others don't use ir motion detection, they are essentially recording all the time and look for changes in pixels, which was then expanded using AI to also identify what it is that is moving. The night vision is ok, ir illumination on the camera is weak, but I believe you can get remote illumination that is activated by the camera.
Something I noticed that has me scratching my head is with the stealth cam app AI is able to identify a fox in a picture that is virtually all black; the animal is not at all illuminated.
Something I noticed that has me scratching my head is with the stealth cam app AI is able to identify a fox in a picture that is virtually all black; the animal is not at all illuminated.
Once it got past the first few days, mine stays at 100% too. Even first thing in the morning it says 100%, which doesn't really make sense. I suspect they calibrated it to show 100% even when its not quite 100. Regardless, the battery is plenty good and should continue to be fine even as capacity diminishes with age.
In other news, a couple weeks ago I bought a 180 degree viewing angle dual lense camera to put above the door on the blind.
I got power in the garage now, and reolink has a good sale this evening (30-37% off some cameras), so just ordered some stuff to get started on the garage. Two more 180 degree cameras and a dual lens track mix (all POE), and a 16 channel NVR. One of those 180s will probably go in the blind to free up a 90 degree camera for the garage.
I really like the dual lens track mix camera. That's what my battery camera is, and just ordered another in PoE one for the garage. Its a bit cheaper than than a 5x optical zoom track mix with similar viewing angle range. But with the dual lens, you get 2 video streams recorded (one zoomed out, one zoomed in). So you aim how you want it for the zoomed in channel, and you get that recorded, plus a 4.5x zoomed out video stream too. For my use, it is better than the single stream 5x optical zoom, even though the optical zoom would be a little better video quality.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
If you have Wi-Fi, a big if on a farm, you can buy a multi camera setup with storage at Costco. Having power and Wi-Fi is the big cost and pain.
