New webcam for backup camera. (Evil laugh)

[MV Wanderlust]

I'm going to pay for this one. No doubt in my mind.

We've been wanting a backup camera on our boat. Mrs doesn't want holes drilled or wires run. I found this little gem on Amazon:

Wireless, battery-powered webcam

It has two way audio, automatic night vision which works surprisingly well, and is waterproof. It also has a number of features two work as a security camera but we didn't care about any of those. In fact, we disabled the motion detection because every time the wind blew the flag or someone walked down the dock, it was trying to alert me.

We really only wanted it for an on-demand, live webcam. It can be accessed remotely through free iPhone or Android software. When not being accessed, it returns to sleep mode to conserve battery power.

Saturday, I installed it inside the eisenglass on the aft deck ceiling.



It's already waterproof but also nicely protected from the elements behind the eisenglass. It has been running for three days now and still shows 100% battery strength with an estimated 120 days before recharge is necessary. This is consistent with online reviews of it. Pretty cool!

The camera body has a pretty powerful magnet in it and it magnetically attaches to the round ball base. It is surprisingly secure yet easy to remove or reposition, if needed.

This is a screen shot of a live view from the camera. It'll do nicely to see where the back of the boat is.



So, today I'm at work. Mrs sends a text message to say she was going out on the aft deck to do some cleaning. I accessed the camera remotely from my iPhone and waited until I heard her out there. Then I keyed the remote mic and said, "Hey baby!"

She screamed.

Yeah, I might be paying for that one for a while. LMAO

But the camera is awesome!

John

[wefleenor]

John,

I bought an identical looking camera a few months ago. I first installed it on my fence in the backyard and left it for over 2 months and never charged it. I put it on my boat last month and that very afternoon I got a call from the marina saying someone suspicious had been spotted on my boat. I opened my phone from home the next day to notice that it also takes a photo when a human body is detected. Had a photo of the culprit. Here is the cockpit of my trawler just now. Now trying to load Android OS onto a Raspberry Pi so I can see back (and engine rooms) on a larger screen. Have ordered more.

[SundayMorning]

This looks very nice. Does it need access to the internet, or just to a wifi router on your boat? Using it as a back-up camera, I often wouldn't have access to the internet until after I had docked. Can it be used when your router has no internet access?

[wefleenor]

Originally Posted by SundayMorning

Can it be used when your router has no internet access?

Yes, I have tried that to make sure. Of course, you need internet to access it remotely. IF you browse Bangood you will find several different 'brands' that are obviously made in the same factory.

Bill
Double-Wide

[fatherchronica]

That is a good idea, I had a boat named Boa back into my Monitor wind vane while attempting to back into a slip in Mexico once. He needed one for sure. Might not have helped though. He sank a year later when he hit a whale at the extreme Northern end of the Sea of Cortez.

[Capt Jerry]

I really appreciate your post. I have been thinking of getting a couple of cameras for security purposes and to check on the boat remotely. This looks like its great for back up too.

By the way, for those who don't have internet unless they are hooked up at the dock, try the Nighthawk. Its a mobile router that works like a cell phone hot-spot. I got one recently and have been very pleased. It works dockside and out on the water too, as long as you have a cell signal.

[PuttingDoctor]

I just got my 2 PTZ security camera and have not yet mounted them. I’m going to mount one forward at spreader height on the port side (I walk to port) and the other on my aft arch.
I can go wireless but will likely use the wired features as that will allow me to run them to my Zeus2 that takes 2 video inputs.
Being able to view remotely is great but using them to dock a 46’ center console sailboat is the reason I bought them.
Using my LAN I can have wifi without internet so it’s kinda the best of both worlds.

[grecko]

Nice cam. The image quality is quite impressive.