DIY Beecam

[Roola]

Right, I'm sure this has been discussed before but as a result there may be some people out there to offer advice.

Im looking to set up a webcam looking down at my hive entrance, I'll be using an IP wireless indoor one with pan/tilt which I'm going to enclose on a pole attached to stand, this runs off 5V at 2a. The location is out of reach of mains power which means I was thinking of using a remote option. What I'm thinking and this is where I'm looking for advice/experience: my plan would be to use a 12V deep cycle lead acid battery (I'd have to use a device to reduce voltage from 12 to 5). I'd then get a 10Watt 12Volt solar cell which would trickle charge the battery. I'm hoping to remove the stock antenna and plug in a TPLink directonl antenna to protect the signal to a second one at my flat.

Has anyone done anything like this and to what success? I'm really keen to do this project and looking for ideas!

Thanks all!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Right, I'm sure this has been discussed before but as a result there may be some people out there to offer advice.

Im looking to set up a webcam looking down at my hive entrance, I'll be using an IP wireless indoor one with pan/tilt which I'm going to enclose on a pole attached to stand, this runs off 5V at 2a. The location is out of reach of mains power which means I was thinking of using a remote option. What I'm thinking and this is where I'm looking for advice/experience: my plan would be to use a 12V deep cycle lead acid battery (I'd have to use a device to reduce voltage from 12 to 5). I'd then get a 10Watt 12Volt solar cell which would trickle charge the battery. I'm hoping to remove the stock antenna and plug in a TPLink directonl antenna to protect the signal to a second one at my flat.

Has anyone done anything like this and to what success? I'm really keen to do this project and looking for ideas!

Thanks all!

Have you taken into account the actual charge from the solar cell is only present under appropriate light levels and non existent in the dark?
You may need significantly bigger solar panel with higher cost.
Is the hive too far for a cable link to a dvr in the house and get a weatherproof cctv camera. There are many reasonably priced options under cctv on ebay.

 

[joe9052]

interesting,
have a look at what I have done...(I cant add my link....!!)

I use a pan and tilt camera mounted on a wooden pole, powered via the Ethernet cable (via POE). I tried using it via the WiFi link, but the picture was not great. I did try different positions/aerials etc.

I eventually choose to run a single Ethernet cable over 30m to my camera, this was the easiest for me.

I also have a solar powered video link that beams a standard video camera feed into my conservatory, this has been working well over the last 2 years, although there isn't enough solar power to keep it going throughout the winter. This is positioned just below the IP camera.

Looking at your solar panel spec, you wont charge the battery very much with that. Remember that 10W is just under 1Amp in bright sunshine, ie when the sun cast a strong shadow. Your camera will soon discharge a battery.

With my video link I have two solar panels and a 7Ahr LA battery, to save power I designed a radio link and timer to turn on the cameras for a short time period, automatically turning it self off after 8min. This saves power considerable.