Anybody set up wireless cameras to watch their ponds when away?

[addy1]

EH no it did not, we bought it separate, well worth it though, love scrolling around the yard.

When we had an issue I followed my neighbor around the pond telling her what to check via the phone while I directed her via the camera. We found the issue and saved the pond, it had dropped 8 inches, a new pipe install got blocked (from the preforms) made it overflow. Our pond would have been drained by the time we got back if we had not caught it. I had her just turn off the ball valve, then it rained and refilled the pond.

I did not try to get a static ip, comcast is such a pain to work with, was not worth it. Easier to use their dns service.

 

[TekWarren]

Just to chime in as I have done some work in this area. Wired cameras will always give you the best quality. I personally have a few wireless N cameras placed around my home but it takes careful placement and a solid wireless router to make it work well. My setup does what I need, and I did not have to mess with running hard wires over long distances (and I can move my cameras easily within range). I started out with a single foscam FI8910w that I picked up on sale to test out. It was around $65 and can be wired or wireless and has a nice range of P/T motion...no zoom. I ended up getting a few more around that same price range but I hunted around for sales. With the correct setup you can remotely live view each camera. My goal was functionality on a budget so I am doing a few things in my setup. I am using a spare laptop as my DVR/multi-purpose server at home, this is wired directly to the router. The software I am using is called iSpy, it is free for local access and use and it has worked great for me. There is a pay option for remote features but I don't need them. Now here is a key point for all to consider: I have any motion detection recordings save on the laptop/DVR BUT...I also have these clips instantly sync to the cloud via DropBox (any cloud sync solution could work). Why this is important? Well unless your DVR is hidden very well and/or physically locked down, someone can pick it up and take it with them...evidence gone. This was really easy to setup and by the time an intruder found the gear that runs my solution...their recorded actions are already stored off site accessible from any other computer I have dropbox on and choose to sync that folder to.

As for my pond area, I don't have a camera on that yet but I do have one camera not in use that I will setup for that area.

Oh I forgot to add I have a great app on my android phone (galaxy s3) also that lets me live view my cameras from anywhere "TinyCam Monitor Pro". It has listening and mic/speaking abilities. The listening seems to work better than speaking. Sometimes I mess with our dogs while at home on my local LAN and talk to them from outside or another room LOL.

 

[addy1]

neat idea about the drop box. Mine is mainly to watch the pond and yard. That is how I caught the first heron attack, saw the sucker on the camera walking up to the pond. We are rural enough it is pretty quiet out here, our drive goes right by two neighbors then 200 feet back to our house, they watch over us when we are gone.

 

[studiovette]

Some great ideas in here, thank you

 

[ididntdoit99]

I bought one of these a few weeks ago for the front of my house, i plan to buy another for the back of my house if i like it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008SBVPKC/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I may have to try that Ispy software, i have had this hooke dup for about 5 minutes to check out the picture quality, but that was about it so far, I tried playing with some of the features with the software that came with it, and they didnt seem to work well (motion detection was supposed to email and text me, and it wasnt working) So maybe i'll try that Ispy and see if it works for me so i can get this thing hooked up permanently.

I looked into the dvr systems, but really just wanted 2 cameras, and didnt want to run those wires all over, so this wireless one i think will be great for me also.

 

[studiovette]

Do these cameras have to be protected from rain/snow? I don't really see them saying indoors only . Wondering how the cheap wireless ones will hold up over time

 

[Event Horizon]

Some of the newer DVR’s will have a push function. When a alarm is triggered it will send the video or pictures to a mobile device. This would be handy for what TekWaren is saying about stealing all the evidence. I did not go that route as we already have an alarm system in the house.

 

[ididntdoit99]

Do these cameras have to be protected from rain/snow? I don't really see them saying indoors only . Wondering how the cheap wireless ones will hold up over time

From what I have read putting them under an eve will do just fine.

 

[Event Horizon]

EH no it did not, we bought it separate, well worth it though, love scrolling around the yard.

is your PTZ camera inside or is it a outdoor camera? I have spent my budget on the new DVR and 3 new wide angle cameras for now. The next camera will be a PTZ, like you said that would be good fun to be able to roam the yard remotely. I often have the system playing at work and would love to zoom in on things.

 

[Event Horizon]

A couple of years ago I had a problem with school kids coming up at lunch time filling a dope pipe with water from my hose and leaving it running. I made this poster and hung it above the tap. He he he you should have seen him run when he saw that! Problem solved.

 

[Event Horizon]

The two pictures in the centre I took with my camera not from the security system. I could have confronted him but figured I would have a bit of fun.

 

[TekWarren]

That is to funny!

 

[addy1]

is your PTZ camera inside or is it a outdoor camera? I have spent my budget on the new DVR and 3 new wide angle cameras for now. The next camera will be a PTZ, like you said that would be good fun to be able to roam the yard remotely. I often have the system playing at work and would love to zoom in on things.

It is outside, slightly under an eve, but still gets rain and snow on it. It has been there for 3 yrs now. I would love an even more powerful one, maybe one day.

My other cameras are all outside, the hawk uses one as its hunting perch.

 

[studiovette]

I definetely would want a camera with zoom and movement feature. If it has to go under an eve it would be mounted about 30 ft away so I would have to account for that or buy a more expensive outdoor rated cam that I can mount to one of my outdoor lanterns or up on 2nd floor facing pond from my sons room. Great Birdseye view from there.

 

[addy1]

The way our land slopes the camera looks down over the back yard, about a 30 foot drop