Author Topic: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?  (Read 22228 times)

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Offline billunger

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solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« on: December 31, 2011, 09:18:21 AM »
Very new to the weather watching world, but am quickly thinking about "next" steps!  :-)

It would be very cool to run an outdoor weather cam ( possibly attached to the mast holding my sensors ), but I don't have power available at the location and don't want to run a long ethernet cable ( for power-over-ethernet ).

Does a decent solar-powered, wireless camera exist without busting the bank?

tia,
Bill

Offline Axelvold

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2011, 10:24:21 AM »
Very new to the weather watching world, but am quickly thinking about "next" steps!  :-)

It would be very cool to run an outdoor weather cam ( possibly attached to the mast holding my sensors ), but I don't have power available at the location and don't want to run a long ethernet cable ( for power-over-ethernet ).

Does a decent solar-powered, wireless camera exist without busting the bank?

tia,
Bill

You could buy a standard out door cam.

Most of them runs on 12V through a 110V - 220v power adapter.

So all you have to do is connect a solar panel instead of the power adapter.
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline xykotik

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2011, 11:08:55 AM »
    You might give some thought to these considerations for your solar power supplied camera...

    • How far from your wireless router will your cam be located?  Can it reach (reception)?
    • What is the power draw of the cam?  Use the rated number on the unit.  This will help you size the panel.
    • Do you want to run it 24x7 or just when the sun is shining?
      • If only when the sun is shining, can it handle constant power-drops and reboots?
      • If 24x7 will you be able to facilitate storage (battery) and regulator near the panel/post?
      • If 24x7 you will need to increase the wattage output of your panel (ergo larger), to charge the battery for night use
    • Considering the above, does a buryable cat-5 cable for POE sound more attractive?


Facit solem suum oriri super bonos et malos et pluit super iustos et iniustos.

Springtime in Seattle...  March comes in like a lion and out like a wet lion.

Offline billunger

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2011, 02:47:51 PM »
Creating my own solar-powered cam sounds a bit too involved for me.  ;-)  Was hoping that lots of people might already be using one....  What is the most "common" implementation for a weather cam?

-  a camera inside a house looking out a window?

-  an outdoor "wired" camera ( poe )

-  other?



Thanks
Bill

Offline WeatherHost

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2011, 02:56:18 PM »
From what I've seen on this board, most people either have them mounted inside or under an overhang of some kind.

If I can get it all worked out, mine will be outside, 40' up, inside a clear housing, wired LAN with separate 5v power.  Pan/Tilt control by web browser.

I have a plan for a second camera that might use a solar cell charging a battery running the camera, but that might be a ways down the road yet.



Offline Axelvold

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2011, 03:05:22 PM »
At the moment I have 6 usb cams mounted inside and 2 waterproof wireless IP cams outside.

And I have 4 more on the way, 2 waterproof wireless IP cams and 2 indoor wireless IP cams.
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline billunger

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2011, 05:02:13 PM »
At the moment I have 6 usb cams mounted inside and 2 waterproof wireless IP cams outside.

And I have 4 more on the way, 2 waterproof wireless IP cams and 2 indoor wireless IP cams.

I just checked out your website - EXTREMELY impressive!!!

What are you using for the tilt/pan/zoom camera?

Bill

Offline Axelvold

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2011, 05:17:18 PM »
At the moment I have 6 usb cams mounted inside and 2 waterproof wireless IP cams outside.

And I have 4 more on the way, 2 waterproof wireless IP cams and 2 indoor wireless IP cams.

I just checked out your website - EXTREMELY impressive!!!

What are you using for the tilt/pan/zoom camera?

Bill

Thanks Bill

At the moment I don't have any tilt/pan/zoom camera, but I expect they will arrive next week.

It's this cam, http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/ip-surveillance-camera-with-angle-control-and-motion-detection/

 
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline WeatherHost

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2011, 05:45:06 PM »
I don't see a Zoom on that.  It's a Chinese knockoff of the Foscam FI8918W that I have.

http://foscam.us/foscam-fi8918w-wireless-ip-camera-11.html
« Last Edit: December 31, 2011, 05:47:47 PM by WeatherHost »

Offline Axelvold

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2011, 06:52:49 PM »
I don't see a Zoom on that.  It's a Chinese knockoff of the Foscam FI8918W that I have.

http://foscam.us/foscam-fi8918w-wireless-ip-camera-11.html

I could live with that, allmost half the price.
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline billunger

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2012, 12:31:31 PM »
I don't see a Zoom on that.  It's a Chinese knockoff of the Foscam FI8918W that I have.

http://foscam.us/foscam-fi8918w-wireless-ip-camera-11.html


Are you using the Foscam?

Offline WeatherHost

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #11 on: January 01, 2012, 12:55:37 PM »
So far.

It may not be the best one on the market, but for $80, I had to try it.  Resolution is fair, not high-def by any means.  Has a weird issue of re-booting for no reason and going back to a home position.  Not a problem for me, since I'm not using it for security.  Others are complaining about it though.

Wireless works fine for me, but I'll be running a LAN cable to it when I place it on the mast later.

No Zoom, but the Pan/Tilt works well.  There's a bit of a color issue, not sure how to describe it.  Colors seem washed out unless you play with the Brightness and Contrast.  If you hit an area that is part bright sun, part shadows, the image gets overdriven to just a dark and light area, with little detail.  Move to either the sun or shadows and the image corrects.

On a limited budget, it's worth the $80 easily.  I'd go with a $500 camera if I could afford it.

One thing this does that I haven't seen on the more expensive units is that it tilts above or below 90° depending on how you have it mounted.  Mine is upside down and I can look above the horizon towards the sky at clouds and approaching storms.  I mounted it that way so I could look straight down around my property also.  On a previous system where I worked, the $1100 camera could only tilt up to about 80° or so and you couldn't even look straight out to the horizon.


Offline WeatherHost

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #12 on: January 01, 2012, 01:03:05 PM »
Ideally, I'd like to see a camera inside a weatherproof orb mounted on some sort of rotating yoke system where you could pan/tilt nearly 360° in any direction.  I'm not sure that's physically possible though.

Offline wmcatty

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #13 on: January 03, 2012, 11:24:58 AM »
After considering these options, could someone tell me how much power a solar panel could generate and what the power consumption would be on a camera.  It seems that any camera mounted with p/t/z would also have to be IP (and what is the range of the wireless signal on average) and even POE does not provide adequate power for alot of the larger cameras that do not even have p/t/z capabilities.  I guess I am looking for energy production/supply/consumption analysis. Thanks
« Last Edit: January 03, 2012, 11:28:49 AM by wmcatty »
Davis Wireless Pro2 with Solar Sensor; Weatherlink 5.9.3; VWS; WLIP; CWOP DW8373; Wunderground KTXGATES4; CoCoRaHS=TX-CRL-4

Offline xykotik

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #14 on: January 03, 2012, 08:11:39 PM »
Look at the power consumption rating in Watts for the camera.   This is usually a continuous number, but motorized units (tilt/pan) may have a separate "peak" draw.  You need a supply (battery with regulator) that can handle the current draw (ohms law considerations here) and then take into account what hours of "peak sun" will charge the system (not as much of a problem in your part of Texas I suppose) and then spec your charging system to keep the battery from discharging completely before the next charge cycle, plus some.  Once you get an idea of some of that, you can find some pre-built systems (with or without storage and regulators) to take care of that.  Here are a couple of links to solar panels without storage, as well as some pieces/parts...

http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-90599.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-watt-solar-battery-charger-41144.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-12-volt-solar-panel-96418.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-amp-solar-charge-regulator-96728.html

I haven't used any of these and some people don't like Harbor Freight.  It's just to give you an idea.


Facit solem suum oriri super bonos et malos et pluit super iustos et iniustos.

Springtime in Seattle...  March comes in like a lion and out like a wet lion.

Offline mickopla

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #15 on: January 03, 2012, 11:16:03 PM »
So far.

It may not be the best one on the market, but for $80, I had to try it.  Resolution is fair, not high-def by any means.  Has a weird issue of re-booting for no reason and going back to a home position.  Not a problem for me, since I'm not using it for security.  Others are complaining about it though.

Wireless works fine for me, but I'll be running a LAN cable to it when I place it on the mast later.

No Zoom, but the Pan/Tilt works well.  There's a bit of a color issue, not sure how to describe it.  Colors seem washed out unless you play with the Brightness and Contrast.  If you hit an area that is part bright sun, part shadows, the image gets overdriven to just a dark and light area, with little detail.  Move to either the sun or shadows and the image corrects.

On a limited budget, it's worth the $80 easily.  I'd go with a $500 camera if I could afford it.

One thing this does that I haven't seen on the more expensive units is that it tilts above or below 90° depending on how you have it mounted.  Mine is upside down and I can look above the horizon towards the sky at clouds and approaching storms.  I mounted it that way so I could look straight down around my property also.  On a previous system where I worked, the $1100 camera could only tilt up to about 80° or so and you couldn't even look straight out to the horizon.



I have this cam too and you have described it very well in your post. The major drawback for me is the Color issue you mentioned. Dirt cheap cams can get the color right so its disappointing that this one is so poor. I wonder is there anyway to improve the color issue through software or firmware updates?

Mick

Offline dogdad

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2012, 06:49:22 AM »
Could anyone provide actual experience with transmit-distance with these?  I saw somewhere in the literature that 600 ft was mentioned, but that's probably optimistic under real-world conditions.

TIA

Offline lmolson

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2012, 06:05:06 PM »
A good example someone could build on:

http://billandkaren.net/blog/?p=409

Offline xykotik

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Re: solar-powered wireless outdoor cam?
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2012, 06:35:05 PM »
Quote
The total cost for the project was $564.60

That's awesome.  They ran the numbers and found the components.  Nice DIY build description too.


Facit solem suum oriri super bonos et malos et pluit super iustos et iniustos.

Springtime in Seattle...  March comes in like a lion and out like a wet lion.

 

anything