Security Camera Setup

[unbusted67]

Hello,

I'm wondering what everyone uses for security cameras. I've got two boats that live on moorings without solar or wind chargers and I am looking for simple and easy security camera options that won't drain my batteries. Has anyone tried using deer cams? What does everyone use?

[AKA-None]

Well a deer camera will document what happened after the fact if that is what you want

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Well a deer camera will document what happened after the fact if that is what you want

That would probably be fine.

[Bill O]

How about setting up a motion detected video camera that can live stream?

It's a raspberry pi project. https://www.instructables.com/Raspbe...curity-Camera/

A little more work than just purchasing a game camera, but much better end results.

[smac999]

If they steal the boat or cam you will having nothing to look at.

But without power and onboard internet that is your only option.

[Sam Woodbridge]

Since you mentioned deer cameras. Have you considered the “ring door bell” by Amazon? The battery lasts a long time if you turn off all the bells and whistles. I had one at my last condominium and it was great. Anyone who walked close to the camera it would record and upload to the cloud. You can turn it on remotely and view what the camera is seeing too. *it will need a Wi-Fi connection*

Sam

[Rumrace]

Yes I use a raspberry pi
The 4 comes with 2 camera ports.
The new raspberry pi camera recently took the best quality photograph from a land based camera. It’s 6mm. Sony tech.
It’s overkill for a boat Several good cameras with wide angle lens $35.00
I’ve added to the raspberry board
Servo shield 32 channel controls servo or stepper motor
AV shield Mini card memory chip to record data or film
Battery Shield 2500mA Lipo charger 3.5V

The raspberry consumes 1250mA an hour @ 3.5V it controls 5V servos and relays through a step.
The servo shield unlock a hatch and another push pin opens the hatch for 45 minutes then relocks. The command is start air.
The shield also runs two 5V servos for an out door camera. I 3D printed a housing to hold a camera and two tiny servos. The camera worked the servos froze in the winter and were fine in spring. The raspberry watches battery state humidity and turns on two golden rods to reduce the chance of mildew.
I also made with my grandson a dissolved oxygen sensor which worked great till it drew 2Amps.
So we are winging it.
I designed and printed a case for the whole mess with cooling fans and stuffed it in a wall. It has wifi blue tooth and I could add a cell number for $30.00 a year and another shield to solder up.
The front cabin roof is 6’. The door isn’t I always hit it. Might be the rum. So I sleep in the aft has 6’ door. My wife found a 2D Duck about 4” I drilled a hole it it and have the raspberry camera hidden in it. If you enter the boat my phone or my wife’s will get video. It will also pretty much kill the battery.
I need to add a direct step down power source to fix that. There is no room for a bigger battery and I don’t want to add the heat.
2 minutes of camera recording and it’s dead. It’s actually caught me hitting my head. The exterior camera is good to -10c then anyone’s guess. Would work perfect in the correct climate. I have designs for clamp on and screw on. Mine was just a weighted base. It’s easy to print 7 parts and two micro servos the 9mm and the camera can swivel 355 Aim -10 to 110 degrees. I printed in white Asa which has great UV chemical fuels resistance as strong as cast aluminum. It’s on my top five plastics list but perfect for marine.

[Rumrace]

Now if you just wanted camera and sensors without servos I have a small unit doesn’t require a fan and it’s water proof to one atmosphere (32 feet) has two water tight feed ports and a strap mount option.
I made a solar panel holder for a 4watt panel which can attach on top or remote.
The parts take 16 hours to print
The carriage and panel holders

[Rumrace]

So the back view here is a cell phone and 2500mA battery. The other side hold Raspberry and recording shield. Text is easy and saves battery. You need to get a device cell phone line which are dirt cheap.

[unbusted67]

I just want a security camera, not a computer design project. I've got two young kids and a 70 hr/week job. Has anyone tried the Oefy solo wireless cameras?

[Henryko]

Welp, for boat security, I’ve had good results with one great security system. We had a similar issue with a boat on a mooring without power sources. Their system was straightforward to set up and doesn’t drain batteries quickly. We use it on a couple of properties where solar isn’t an option.

[barnakiel]

There are many exterior cameras that record to SD card. The problem is that if someone takes the boat ... they will take that camera too.


You can then get a camera that works over the mobile network. This one allows you to look up the boat real time. And locate the boat via the 'lost phone' option.


b.

[pnw2022]

I use: https://alfred.camera

I have internet on the boat 24x7 and had some leftover phones/tablets.
Just today I was trying to figure out what I want to do with this, and whether I should improve it (raspberry Pi getting installed this fall) and am going to just keep using it.

The subscription fee is pretty reasonable and they do need to pay for their servers and infrastructure.

I have a little mount in the main cabin where the iPad goes for background noise when doing dishes and such, and when I leave the boat I just startup the Alfred app. It covers the main cabin, and through the companion way into the center of the cockpit. Took a bit of tuning the motion/sound sensitivity for alerts but it's cheap and easy.

I have never had to, but you can also work with somebody remotely through it. Like if you needed a friend to check something on the boat when you were out of town. And you can see what they point they phone at, etc and talk with them about flipping a switch or whatever. Extra bonus since there is a flashlight built into the phone/tablet already as well, and you can turn that on/off remotely, etc.

EDIT - just saw the bit about no power at the boat. So yeah - different situation. This app has a low power mode and could be used with one of those portable power packs, but I have never tested how much like an old iPhone8SE would drain. And of course would need cellular connectivity as well. I tend to agree with others, that if you are not sending the the video/sound capture off to the internet there it may not be worth the effort. They will just steal the camera with the boat, or toss in the water, or whatever?

[Franziska]

Forget motion detection as camera control on a boat on a mooring if mounting it outside

We bought a solar light with motion detection and it switches on and off all the time.

To many variables. Seabirds, wave reflections, boat parts moving.

[Cheyne]

We have a few Blink (Amazon) cameras on our boat. All are motion. Never had a problem with them going off due to boat motion. They do require internet, but we have Starlink which stays on all the time. I have one in the Saloon, one in cockpit, one in our electrical room and one in each engine compartment. The saloon and cockpit are on timers and arm at 10pm and disarm at 6am. The rest are on all the time.

Cheyne