Remote camera monitoring

[Supa Dexta]

Want to hook up some cameras in an outbuilding - will be used for monitoring livestock.

There is a small amount of wifi signal there - its about 100 ft from the house, but through a few walls and slightly down a hill.

So what all would I need to make this work?

If I got something like this:

https://www.amazon.ca/JOOAN-TC-703NV...8WWQSG0NTHR55C

What goes where? Does that package all mount in the barn, and then it just needs wifi from the house? What type of wiring goes to each camera?

And then I need some kind of wifi booster to get it reliable signal?

Never looked into any of this stuff, so not up to speed on any of it.

[Supa Dexta]

I see this posted on another forum:

https://postimg.cc/image/45kopkglv/

Shot with a Samsung sds p4080

But I dont know anything of the set up.

[revelations]

You probably don't need 1080p to spy on cows. The 720 with 1TB storage would be almost 1/2 the cost.

As far as WiFi - if your home sending unit is good and located on a good spot for the signal (eg. window) , and you have a decent WiFi bridge in the barn area, it "should" stream the 720 ok. Otherwise you'll have to tweak the live streaming resolution until it can work with any WiFi bandwidth issues.

The package would be set up in the barn, each camera just needs cat5 cable to run to it. Power runs through the cat5.

[Supa Dexta]

Awesome, thanks for that. So something like this would work good? :

https://www.amazon.ca/Superior-Surve...3K120VFTRV#Ask

As for brand names, seems to be a ton of no names - anything I should seek out/avoid brand wise?

[revelations]

For cameras, yea its a hodge podge but you usually get what you pay for. No real "brand name" specifically unless you're going very high-end. Most of the components are very similar at the same price levels.

Lens aperture size seems to be the biggest factor as bigger is usually better (1/3" vs 1/4") - but you're watching cows and not trying to capture a face for criminal identification or a license plate at speed.


Identify your need very specifically (for the camera).

Things like - but not limited to:

- Is the barn lit at night?
- Do you need colour?
- Do you need good movement tracking?
- If you need IR vision, do you need a long-range IR sender? (if camera cant be mounted too close for eg.)

[Supa Dexta]

Alright I grabbed this one to try>

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So as long as I can get my house router to beam an ok signal to the barn, I can use another router (I have a few) in the barn to pick up the signal and relay the video back?

[revelations]

Yep, make sure router supports bridge mode - or hack the router using DDWRT or other open firmware to make is so!

[Zorac]

i would skip the coax camera solutions and use something is cat5 with poe. careful where you put the dvr as well, outdoor cameras are ip66 and should be ok, but dvrs aren't rated for outdoors, and a barn environment can be pretty nasty and usually required a sealed device to keep out dust and corrosive gasses.

if its just monitoring and you don't need recording, maybe just get cameras?

https://www.costco.ca/Swann%E2%84%A2...100148894.html

revelations gave a good list of considerations to consider as well which will impact your camera selection. light levels/good picture is always a tough one.

[Supa Dexta]

Yeah I'll seal it inside a plastic tote or something. I'll probably add a ptz at some point watching the yard/ entrance also, so I made a point to get one that had a port for that and had recording ability. A decent ptz costs more than this whole unit though.

[revelations]

Make sure the tote has vent holes in it, otherwise it can heat up beyond the range of the unit.

[Supa Dexta]

Thanks. While I have you what would be the difference between these 2 cameras:

One says

4-Megapixel 1440P 2560x1440 POE PTZ Security IP Camera 4X Optical Motorized Zoom,6x Digital Zoom

https://www.amazon.ca/Reolink-4-Mega...ct_top?ie=UTF8

and the other

2.0MP 1920*1080P 20X Zoom IP High Speed Dome Camera

http://www.lightinthebox.com/gt-view...98&prm=1.2.1.1


How would they compare with the 2 vs 4mp, and the 4x/6x, vs 20x. Does the 4 and 6 equate to a 24x?

Roughly same cost, ~350

[revelations]

The first appears to offer better resolution, but gives no lens aperture information. The real zoom is 4x , while the 6x digital just focuses on the pixels more.

The second offers far better range of optical zoom, is about 4 times heavier, has a good aperture (1/3") and thus, probably better night vision ability.

[kenny]

Both those cameras have 1/3" sized sensors (not aperture). The 2MP will perform better in low light, while the 4MP camera will produce a better image if the lighting is going to be really good (doubt that is the case if its in a barn).

If you're using it over wifi, you should be able to configure it appropriately (reduce framerate and bitrate) for a more stable feed.

[revelations]

Thx Kenny, good info.

[Supa Dexta]

The ptz will be watching the yard - there is a street light.

In the barn I have a couple of lights I can leave on that leave a low glow throughout - without keeping all of the lights on all the time.

I think I've actually found the same cameras on ebay for 100 bux less

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/121917635624?...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Supa Dexta]

I've been doing so much reading on adding a ptz I think I've just dug a bigger hole.

What style connection is best for me to get from the ptz to the dvr while maintaining the quality of the ptz - 2mp/1080p?

The options how I see them are:

1- Ptz with bnc> run coax > directly into bnc on dvr, supply power to camera separately (some also need RS485 ran to control ptz, others say they can control ptz over coax?)

2- ptz with cat 5 > to bnc adaptor> into bnc on dvr - power/video/rs485 sent over cat 5 with those also connected to cat 5

3- ptz with cat 5 > to POE switch> to router> to DVR (used as NVR?)


However when it says:

DVR: 8CH@1080N/ 8CH@720P
HVR: 4CH@720P (Analog) + 4CH@720P(network) IP Camera
NVR: 2CH@1080P+2CH@720P/ 8CH 720P IP Cameras
*IP Cameras must support ONVIF


Does that mean I can only get the 1080p of the ptz if hooked up as an NVR (powered switch option I believe?)

The ptz bnc output camera option is the cheapest option but lists that I need an 'AHD DVR', but the description doesn't say specifically if my DVR is AHD - and I dont know what resolution makes it an AHD?

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
Alright I grabbed this one to try>

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01...UTF8&psc=1

So as long as I can get my house router to beam an ok signal to the barn, I can use another router (I have a few) in the barn to pick up the signal and relay the video back?

Thanks for this. I actually ordered it too to monitor around my house, my truck, front door, and the garage.

looks like it will do the job just fine.

[Supa Dexta]

No problem, I'm not even sure it can utilize the 960p cameras, with the input of 8x720p - But we shall see how it works.

[Gestalt]

All I can say is the comon fixed 1080p cameras are almoat useless. They typically have too wide of a view, so even with 1080p, they get grainy if you need any detail even at 20 feet.

If you want car license plates, especially at night, forget it. You must have a bright motion snesor light, get the cameras to switch to day time mode, and then you might be able to see something. Our cameras caught a car theft on the street that we gave to police, besides getting make and model, it couldn't even give colour or anything else of value.

If we could do it again, a nd had a bit more budget, I would not do kess than 5mp, or a decent ptz with good optical zoom.

[Gestalt]

Oh, and your NVR is your video encoder. If its only good for 1080p, then your ultra 4k camera will be useless to record,

And for intall, poe is so much easier,