Computer/software for calving setup

[M4TTDUFFY]

Hey folks I'm in the midst of building a calving camera as I can't afford the overpriced systems that are offered to farmers which don't really fit my needs.
Here's my plan I'd like to run upto 8 cameras eventually but at the moment I can only afford 2 in my budget but once I've sorted a computer/software I might be able to get another one or 2.
Anyway back on topic. Currently waiting on 2 601-d20x's to be delivered which will be powered by poe switch in the barn in the middle of the 2 cameras about 90m away in either direction. They should should intersect the corrals creating no blind spots as one will be 35ft up and the other on top of the old windmill. My plan for the software is to be able to monitor it from dads house where I will base the main computer, but also create local wireless hotspots so I can view the cameras from my house and the shop and from inside the calving barns. I have a few old routers to add in to the system. My main question is what software would support being accessed like this not via the internet all the time. Only when I leave the ranch.
I have my eye on a refurbished i5 pc to run the software was thinking blue iris but my computer is a mac and I use an iPhone but I could view on an old laptop in my house if need be any help would be appreciated

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

After checking blue iris site and finishing a few more pages looks like I'm after an i7 with quick sync whether I can budget for that is another question

 

[fenderman]

After checking blue iris site and finishing a few more pages looks like I'm after an i7 with quick sync whether I can budget for that is another question

You dont need an i7 for 8 2mp cameras. Also stay away from sunba...there is a dahua starlight ptz for 350...read the thread.
You can buy a modern optiplex 5040 with warranty for 350, that old 3010 is a ripoff.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

You dont need an i7 for 8 2mp cameras. Also stay away from sunba...there is a dahua starlight ptz for 350...read the thread.
You can buy a modern optiplex 5040 with warranty for 350, that old 3010 is a ripoff.

Ah bit late I already ordered the cameras but I did get 2 of them for $500us delivered to Canada.
Also been looking for systems on eBay but no look il do a quick Google now for the system you mentioned

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Found some 5040's on eBay. With warranty for a year so thinking to go with one of these once I read up on the 2 processors but already in Canada. With i3 6100 and i5 6500's

 

[fenderman]

Found some 5040's on eBay. With warranty for a year so thinking to go with one of these once I read up on the 2 processors but already in Canada. With i3 6100 and i5 6500's

you want the i5 6500 for headroom and further expansion..

 

[sledhead406]

Hey Ive been trolling this site for info since about a day after I ordered a Sunba 805 (of course I find out about the Dahua after the order...)

Matt I have the exact same role for my cam setup, calving system. My parents have a $3000+ setup at their place which has amazing cameras and far more capability than they could ever dream of using. You can count points on elk a mile away easily. I unfortunately bought my place a year before cattle prices dropped 50%, so Im building my own (budget) system, and I like to tinker.

About the Sunba cams: their device manager software was unable to modify or even identify the camera. It took extensive work to change router settings, computer settings, etc. to access the cam initially just to change the ip subnet. This may be easy for you depending on how many clients are on your network or if your router is already 192.168.1.1. It would have been much easier for me but I have a DHCP/NAS/media server, multiple switches, CNC machines, etc. all on the same network which is 192.168.0.1.

After you get the ip subnet settings to all match up, setup was quick and easy. I have Blue iris demo right now running just one cam. It works -OK-. My expectations were pretty high after seeing my parents' system. I have had the camera reboot twice as I was panning/tilting/zooming around, just in the past two hours.

The camera has clear crisp stream within 100 yards and focuses pretty well. I need to climb up and tilt the mount back a bit to zoom in to further distances, so no info on focus when zooming in far away. Wind blowing snow at 28 mph right now.. Ill do that later!

Also, for Blue Iris I have the cam recording direct to disk right now for testing on my shop computer with an old Phenom II x4 955 and it is consistantly running at 19% CPU. I will test out writing direct to my server later as well as zoneminder (Linux server).

Id like to know if you have any problems with their software or rebooting issues when you get it up and running. Where in Canada are you?

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

I know it's typical about finding out about Dahua after but I couldn't afford the price difference atm anyway.
I'm setting up a separate network for the calving cams to avoid any conflicts.
Thanks for the offer I might take you up on that if and probly when I run into some issues. Hoping to get better cams for next year.
I'm in the same issue as you expect I bought bred heifers at high price then it dropped this year. But I have loads of work ahead of me repairing corrals and building on to pens. Luckily managed to bring my calving pens from the uk so that will make a big difference for this year compared to last year.
Back to cameras you mentioned blowing snow, that was a question I had but couldn't find any info on how these cameras perform in the cold?. I was planning on taking them down for most of the winter and putting them back up start of march each year as it hits upto -40 here in Manitoba so didn't want to subject them to that. But they will see -20's upto when I start calving in April.

Cnc's are in my future plans for when I get chance to build my new shop but I'm only in my second year here so paying for ranch and cows is taking priority right now. il still have all my toys from the uk like plasma, mig, tig, and enough tools to sink a battleship so helps in the mean time. I do everything in house here to keep costs to bare bones.

Hey Ive been trolling this site for info since about a day after I ordered a Sunba 805 (of course I find out about the Dahua after the order...)

Matt I have the exact same role for my cam setup, calving system. My parents have a $3000+ setup at their place which has amazing cameras and far more capability than they could ever dream of using. You can count points on elk a mile away easily. I unfortunately bought my place a year before cattle prices dropped 50%, so Im building my own (budget) system, and I like to tinker.

About the Sunba cams: their device manager software was unable to modify or even identify the camera. It took extensive work to change router settings, computer settings, etc. to access the cam initially just to change the ip subnet. This may be easy for you depending on how many clients are on your network or if your router is already 192.168.1.1. It would have been much easier for me but I have a DHCP/NAS/media server, multiple switches, CNC machines, etc. all on the same network which is 192.168.0.1.

After you get the ip subnet settings to all match up, setup was quick and easy. I have Blue iris demo right now running just one cam. It works -OK-. My expectations were pretty high after seeing my parents' system. I have had the camera reboot twice as I was panning/tilting/zooming around, just in the past two hours.

The camera has clear crisp stream within 100 yards and focuses pretty well. I need to climb up and tilt the mount back a bit to zoom in to further distances, so no info on focus when zooming in far away. Wind blowing snow at 28 mph right now.. Ill do that later!

Also, for Blue Iris I have the cam recording direct to disk right now for testing on my shop computer with an old Phenom II x4 955 and it is consistantly running at 19% CPU. I will test out writing direct to my server later as well as zoneminder (Linux server).

Let me know if you have any problems with their software or rebooting issues. Where in Canada are you?

 

[sledhead406]

No info on cold for this camera, it has only been up and running since last night for me. It was only down to 5F (-15c) last night, but worked fine when I looked at it at 3 AM. The parents' cam did fine in December at -38F. Of course Im sure the specs on it are way different than the Sunba cams. The Dahua PTZ I looked at was rated down to -40. We get wild temperature changes here on the edge of the mountains though so I have seen theirs fog up temporarily. It only happens with a rapid chinook.

Im in Montana and the wife is from by Edmonton, I spent a ton of time in Alberta before buying my place. Now its just building and working 24/7 as you know since it sounds like were in the same situation!

I know it's typical about finding out about Dahua after but I couldn't afford the price difference atm anyway.
I'm setting up a separate network for the calving cams to avoid any conflicts.
Thanks for the offer I might take you up on that if and probly when I run into some issues. Hoping to get better cams for next year.
I'm in the same issue as you expect I bought bred heifers at high price then it dropped this year. But I have loads of work ahead of me repairing corrals and building on to pens. Luckily managed to bring my calving pens from the uk so that will make a big difference for this year compared to last year.
Back to cameras you mentioned blowing snow, that was a question I had but couldn't find any info on how these cameras perform in the cold?. I was planning on taking them down for most of the winter and putting them back up start of march each year as it hits upto -40 here in Manitoba so didn't want to subject them to that. But they will see -20's upto when I start calving in April.

Cnc's are in my future plans for when I get chance to build my new shop but I'm only in my second year here so paying for ranch and cows is taking priority right now. il still have all my toys from the uk like plasma, mig, tig, and enough tools to sink a battleship so helps in the mean time. I do everything in house here to keep costs to bare bones.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Still good that it at least works in -15. I have a friend from Montana and he used to say the same about the mountains he got caught out hiking one time when a front came in.
Yep now if only someone could arrange for time to move slower for us than it does for the animals so we can get more done.

No info on cold for this camera, it has only been up and running since last night for me. It was only down to 5F (-15c) last night, but worked fine when I looked at it at 3 AM. The parents' cam did fine in December at -38F. Of course Im sure the specs on it are way different than the Sunba cams. The Dahua PTZ I looked at was rated down to -40. We get wild temperature changes here on the edge of the mountains though so I have seen theirs fog up temporarily. It only happens with a rapid chinook.

Im in Montana and the wife is from by Edmonton, I spent a ton of time in Alberta before buying my place. Now its just building and working 24/7 as you know since it sounds like were in the same situation!

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Has anyone tried using the blue iris apps on a local network not connected to the internet or do they have to be connected to work? Bit hard to try without cams here.

 

[sledhead406]

I dont think it needs to be connected to internet outside the LAN unless you want remote access. I could be wrong though. FWIW I am getting smoother playback and better PTZ operation with the CMS software that comes with the Sunba camera than Blue Iris. Im sure that has to do with settings. I have not had time to mess with the settings outside of initial setup.

I have black Angus cows and the contrast on snow is not great in sunshine. Also while snowing I am having a tough time focusing on animals out past 100 feet at night. It seems to automatically focus on the near snowflakes when the IR is on. I can manually focus it out but it seems to adjust back within a few minutes since I have autofocus on. Still no problems with temp, I had the cam on a tour hitting 3 presets all night and it was cycling fine each time I looked at it, temp was hovering around 0F (-18C) most the night.

I wired a dedicated circuit for this camera and the future POE switch that will run more cameras. The idea is when I do not need the cams I can just throw the breaker and turn them all off at once.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

I'm having a heck of a problem trying to change my IP address on the camera like you said

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Got the cams kinda working, just gotta play with more settings and then figure some stuff out

 

[sledhead406]

Good. The support guys did suggest their VMS software (as opposed to CMS or device manager) to change IP settings. I never did as I manually figured it out before getting that suggestion. It might be useful for anyone else reading this.

 

[sledhead406]

I just installed VMS for the heck of it. It is a modern, much better program than their CMS software for viewing and PTZ movement. It looks like there are Blue Iris settings or maybe even a Blue Iris demo included in the .rar file.

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

I'm running the vms on my mac for checking the one camera I have up at the moment. Have blue iris installed on the old mans laptop at the moment until I can find a cheaper computer with enough power. I need another 3 ptz's 1 for each barn to check on calving pens and one similar quality to the 601 for the last pen. But my budget only has about CA$1000 so like $750US left for it all. Can't find an optiplex for less than CA$650 delivered with i5 quicksync and that will eat my budget up

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

Bit the bullet and ordered everything I needed. Got it all up and running working great just having issues with remote access.
Loving the night vision and the range on the zoom

 

[M4TTDUFFY]

I just installed VMS for the heck of it. It is a modern, much better program than their CMS software for viewing and PTZ movement. It looks like there are Blue Iris settings or maybe even a Blue Iris demo included in the .rar file.

Just thought I'd ask if your cameras were affected by the net surveillance issue as of tuesday?

 

[sledhead406]

Just thought I'd ask if your cameras were affected by the net surveillance issue as of tuesday?

I have been busy with too many things to pay much attention. I did open VMS today or yesterday to see when a bull shipper was pulling in- it showed the cam with a red x next to the IP address.

I figured it was random and cycling the power would fix it, I have not actually gotten to that yet.

You have Same issue? Did a reboot fix it or is this going to be a real pain?