looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
It's not fish eye, but I think that one of these would do well, has ir, it's small.
Review-Dahua SD1A203T-GN Starlight Mini PTZ
Feral Cat Shelter
- Thread starter Q™
- Start date
It's not fish eye, but I think that one of these would do well, has ir, it's small.
Review-Dahua SD1A203T-GN Starlight Mini PTZ
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
That's probably a better idea. I'm wondering how well a fish-eye could really work in such close quarters anyway? It looks like the top of the box is only a foot or so away from a standing cat. I'd imagine the image would be one big barrel distorted blob that close with a fish-eye. It would have to be able to focus that close too though.
I did a quick swap of the camera to one of the corners of the feral cat shelter where it is now taped with gorilla tape. It’s an ugly install, but it gives us an idea of the coverage we get with a 3.6 mm lens mounted in the corner. On the left side of the image you can see the left-door and on the on the right side of the image you can see the right door. I’m not too happy with the quality of the video. I’d like to see color, but I don’t believe the IR light is sufficient to provide good quality color images. I think I’ll experiment with a 110-volt 600 lumen LED bulb to determine if such lighting will be sufficient for good color video (Ibelieve it will).
yeah for the corner you'd ideally want 2.8mm I think, you'd get a better cover of the door to the left. IR won't give colour at all, maybe a pinkish hue if the camera is in colour mode but not full colour by any stretch. A starvis with a low power white LED should work ok tho, so long as its positioned to not create flare in the lens. Is kinda maybe a good application for one of these with an external light to suppliment (yeah I know, cheapie but gives a good pic and will fit much tighter into the corner):
Sony Starvis IMX290 2MP Mini WIFI IP Camera 1080P Pinhole 3.7mm lens 2 Way Audio Alarm SD Card Slot H.265/H.264 ONVIF IP Camera -in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
Just spec for a 2.8mm lens (they fitted ones with IRcut filters on the back when I ordered, so wouldn't work with IR), I swapped the factory lens with 2.8mm 6MP Treeye starlights and even in very low light I get a colour view of my back garden which has very little light pollution from the street. Its just after 2130 here and gloomy light but the camera view looks like this, external IR x2 hasn't quite come on yet but they're facing toward the sunset direction. (in fact just as I sent this the IR turned on, pic much the same tho)
Otherwise, consider mounting the camera through the "building" and use roofing felt to provide weather protection to it and the kitties, would give the lens the best angle/field of view to work with...
Sony Starvis IMX290 2MP Mini WIFI IP Camera 1080P Pinhole 3.7mm lens 2 Way Audio Alarm SD Card Slot H.265/H.264 ONVIF IP Camera -in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
Just spec for a 2.8mm lens (they fitted ones with IRcut filters on the back when I ordered, so wouldn't work with IR), I swapped the factory lens with 2.8mm 6MP Treeye starlights and even in very low light I get a colour view of my back garden which has very little light pollution from the street. Its just after 2130 here and gloomy light but the camera view looks like this, external IR x2 hasn't quite come on yet but they're facing toward the sunset direction. (in fact just as I sent this the IR turned on, pic much the same tho)
Otherwise, consider mounting the camera through the "building" and use roofing felt to provide weather protection to it and the kitties, would give the lens the best angle/field of view to work with...
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Thanks @Aengus4h...both doors are presently tied open. After the colony gets used to the shelter the doors will be closed, one at a time (over several weeks). Both doors are tinted dark gray, so — when the doors are closed — I don’t believe they will allow a lot of light into the shelter. I’d like to find a 1.8 or 2.1 mm lens on a decent Dahua or Hikvision camera. I’m going to intall a (always on) 600 lumen LED light to eliminate the need for IR, which should allow for good color images.
problem you may get with that short a focal length is catching the light source in the image view or creating flare effects in the image. Would have to experiment with placement to get the best results.
Fastb
Known around here
Cats are clean. 'Coons will crap where they sleep.
We had a semi-smart cat door. The cat's collar would have a magnet mounted on it, to unlock the cat door, so the cat could push IN the door inwards, to reach food bowl in the garage, and a sleeping bed.
The raccoons figured out they could hook their nails around the door, and could pull OUT the door and enter the garage to reach cat food .
Smart cat doors use an electronic device on the cat collar (maybe RFID)
so ONLY the right cat could enter. I didn't buy one, so can't say if a raccoon could pull the flap outwards.
Raccoons have hands/fingers and are quite dexterous....
We had a semi-smart cat door. The cat's collar would have a magnet mounted on it, to unlock the cat door, so the cat could push IN the door inwards, to reach food bowl in the garage, and a sleeping bed.
The raccoons figured out they could hook their nails around the door, and could pull OUT the door and enter the garage to reach cat food .
Smart cat doors use an electronic device on the cat collar (maybe RFID)
so ONLY the right cat could enter. I didn't buy one, so can't say if a raccoon could pull the flap outwards.
Raccoons have hands/fingers and are quite dexterous....
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
there's 2 types of smart flap that read embedded chips, the ones that control in & out and so have a reader on both sides would keep the flap fully latched until the correct cat(s) present themselves, quite pricey tho. The more common ones only have the reader on the outside so tend to be open latched for exit (unless in vet/night mode) and controlled inbound, so can be pulled open if the critter is dexterous enough, some cats manage this feat too.
Chip collars on feral cats probably isn’t a viable option; the flap doors I installed were $20.00 each and had (IMO well-deserved) very good Amazon reviews. If Rocky won’t let the shelter be I’ll trap him and release him in a new home far away...but before the cold weather hits so he’ll have a better survival chance.
hehe well if you're gonna catch/spay/release you could get em chipped and then program the flaps when you bring them back, tho trying to do that for 2 flaps will be interesting, chain mail gloves required, methinks :-D
Fastb
Known around here
Aengus4h,
"embedded chips" caused to do some research. Technology has come a long way. The cat door indeed reads the under-skin chip.
This cat door has a "racoon mode", to prevent the problem I had 20 years ago:
Raccoon Mode
When custom mode 5 has been activated, as soon as the sensors detect an animal’s head in the tunnel of the product, it scans to read the animal’s chip. If the animal is not one whose identity is stored in the door’s memory, the two locks on the exterior of the door are activated for added security. At this point the unit will keep scanning for a microchip and the exterior locks will remain engaged until approximately 10 seconds after the intruder animal has moved away from the door. When the exterior locks are engaged it makes it impossible for the raccoon to open the door towards them in order to get in. The interior locks prevent the raccoon from pushing through the door into the house – the combination of the two sets of locks have proved impenetrable to raccoons in our product testing.
SureFlap Microchip Pet Door | Dog & Cat Doors | PetDoors.com
