Need ideas for waterproof wifi cam for harbor seals

S

soundkite

n3wb
May 26, 2014
27
8
1 or 2 years ago, I produced a viral video of seal pups struggling with my surfboard... using a GoPro camera mounted to the board. I now have a sturdier 4x6' platform on the buoy and would like to attach an HD wifi ptz camera for the return of the seal pups in August. Does anyone know of a compact IP67 wifi HD camera (ptz or otherwise) which I could tether to a 12v battery? Ideally, cam would also have 'alarm output' relay. All ideas welcome, thanks!
 
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soundkite said:
1 or 2 years ago, I produced a viral video of seal pups struggling with my surfboard... using a GoPro camera mounted to the board. I now have a sturdier 4x6' platform on the buoy and would like to attach an HD wifi ptz camera for the return of the seal pups in August. Does anyone know of a compact IP67 wifi HD camera (ptz or otherwise) which I could tether to a 12v battery? Ideally, cam would also have 'alarm output' relay. All ideas welcome, thanks!
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It may be hard to find a HD IP camera with PTZ, IP66, WIFI and run off a battery... @networkcameracritic or @vector18 might have some ideas...



Im guessing it was this video? 2 million views... nice...


 
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It will be hard to get something to last on a battery. If you figure that part out or don't mind the battery dying, than build an enclosure and use a wireless bridge rather than a wifi camera. Than get a directional WAP in your house and direct it to where your bridge is. Or, now that you have that PTZ, why not have your surfboard close to your home and zoom in to the board? Just make sure you stay within the optical range for best resolution though.
 
Nice idea for a wireless bridge! I have the battery with enclosure figured out, as well as waterproofing container and compression fittings. Zoom camera is great from shore, but because the raft moves around, it requires manual PTZ'ing. A raft mounted camera will allow me to get automated motion activated footage whenever the seals arrive, and you can see from my older vid, the point of view is priceless. Vector18, your wireless bridge suggestion opens up so many more camera options, thanks.
 
The Wifi JVC CU-PC1 Pan Cradle looks like an interesting DYI solution for remote pan/tilt...


I may try this on some of my Hikvision Bullets...




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vector18 said:
Get two of these and use them as point to point.
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Because my platform drifts with the tides from left to right, should I get the omnidirectional bridge for the raft (ns500ext), but stick with the one you recommend for shore, as I could just point that one towards the general location of the raft for a decent signal?
 
The range is pretty good. You really do not have to point it perfectly. But you might as well just go with the omni. Just make sure it's 5ghz, not 2.4. You want fast communication for these ptz's.
 
Very cool video.

You could add a small solar panel and charge controller possibly to augment the juice in the battery.

How about just two or four static bullets on little outriggers offset from the board / raft? Similar to what you did, but with an extra camera or two, if you want to capture more angles. Positioned so they're not in each other's view. The cool/cute aspect of the video is that you can just imagine being in the water next your board and the pups try to hop on, and you're getting kind of a POV view of what is going on. I think the PTZ hanging off of a pole might be overdoing it a bit and is going to require monitoring of the camera, etc. still some good results to be had, we've all seen the critter cams, rock cam, dung cam etc, but it is more hands on than hands off; and may be complicating matters and jacking up the price needlessly.
 
You can get a single solar panel that can easily power the setup and a marine battery for cloudy days. You need the panel + charge controller so you don't damage the battery and a battery. Probably mount that on top of the box with the electronics camera and bridge. Make sure you get a camera capable of 12V.

Just so you know, those 5Khz bridges need complete line of sight, will not go through a wall, will not magically bend over the circumference of the globe despite that they can go several miles. A boat in between can disrupt the signal. If the raft can spin around as I'm sure it can, you will have a heck of a time keeping it pointed towards your shore connection so you will need an omnidirectional antenna on the raft so you'll need a bridge with a separate antenna connection An alternative would be to go with wireless broadband but pricey.

Why do you need PTZ, is it to just pan/tilt the camera or do you need a zoom and if so, how much zoom? The problem with a fixed lens camera is that it won't likely be focused on that close of a range and may be blurry 1-2' away. A PTZ can autofocus so that helps. There's some inexpensive HD PTZ's now for under $600. The downside is you need to operate the PTZ.
 
Lots of great suggestions! I don't need the zoom feature, but panning and tilting will help me film more than half a seal all the time. I'm going to need to search for other wireless bridge options, as I have a waterproof 12v battery and it looks like those 5ghz bridges require 24v.
 
I don't know about Engenius wireless stuff but Ubiquiti products work from 12 to 24 volts. Problem is I don't think they have a good, modern, all-in-one omnidirectional 5 ghz radio anymore.
 
You would have to get the Rocket series from Ubiquiti and put an omnidirectional antenna on it but still, 24V. I think all their radios are 24V.
 
UBNT stuff advertises 24 volts but it will run on 12 volts just fine (easily verifiable via google). The Bullet series would work also, with a different antenna connector. But Rocket is probably faster.
 
Here's the reason I would recommend the ds-2cd2732f-is instead. First it's built sturdier out of aluminum vs. plastic. The lens is varifocal which may or may not be of value to you but it's focusable. The 2532 has a glued-in fixed lens that can't be focused and it's not likely going to be focused for an object 1-2' away on a 4' raft. Both have SD card slots.
 
Aren't those small domes fixed domes?

I thought soundkite wants live/remote PTZ.

I don't need the zoom feature, but panning and tilting will help me film more than half a seal all the time.
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Maybe in a few years we'll get live PTZ in a standard small dome?
 
Everybody wants PTZ, but few are willing to pay for it. There is a standard PTZ small dome, standard PoE, 10x optical, 1080P, very nice little camera, the ACTi B95 I reviewed. Side by side with other vandal domes, it's about the same size and probably the fastest performing dome I've used.

icerabbit said:
Aren't those small domes fixed domes?

I thought soundkite wants live/remote PTZ.



Maybe in a few years we'll get live PTZ in a standard small dome?
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I know almost nothing about them, so I'll just ask. Might this not be a good application for a fisheye camera, presuming that it would be in focus at the desired distance?
 
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