LONG range wireless camera setup

[kevin917z]

Ok so I am looking to setup a wireless camera or two in order to catch trespassers at a gate on the farm that is about 1/2 Mile from the house, there is a slight rise preventing direct line of sight and when the grass grows high in the summer or crops in the field get too tall you can't see the gate until you are a 1/4 mile from the house.

What I am wanting to do is use a car battery or lawn mower battery with solar panel and some kinda of repeater and good antenna to get the signal at the house.

I know there are some threads about long distance wireless setups but they appear dated.

I am wondering about using one of the cameras like people have indoor that can pan and tilt but one made for outdoors. Can I put a better directional wifi antenna on a wireless camera to get better range? I would need to put the camera about 400yds from the gate to cover the whole section of fence that people have been crossing. I need it to be able to see people and vehicles, not concerned with faces or license plates. I can get down there and run them off when I spot them. Usually when they see me come towards them they leave really fast. I am wondering if any camera is going to be able to see a person at 400 yds even 3 or 4 mp. I was thinking of trying to stay at 3 mp and a narrow field of view to improve resolution. Not looking to spend thousands here but keep the price low. I have no power at the gate and don't want to run a line 1/2 mile, I'm sure voltage drop would be an issue anyways besides cost.

Any suggestions? I've heard there are ubiquity? Repeaters that can go kilometers in distance. I have No experience with that kind of equip though

 

[scott492010]

no car or lawn mower battery. has to be a deep cycle battery.

I bought a camera off of ebay this summer that is ptz wifi el cheapo chinese 20 x zoom camera.
Wireless Wifi 20X Zoom PTZ IP Camera Outdoor Pan Tilt IR HD 960P 1.3MP ONVIF P2P

I so far have used a wifi extender in my garage window and while in line of sight been reaching 185 to 200 yards. It has endured several intense thunder storms with super heavy rain. https://goo.gl/photos/76vzUhNNi4jUk4wR8

I use Blue Iris software on my pc and it is the best security camera software i have every witnessed. I ended up purchasing a license for it and could not be happier with the software. You can set something like 20 preset target areas to observe. each target can be at different zoom, tilt, or whatever. Then once you set this up it can scan each spot continuously until the batteries die. using the blue iris software i have set it up to capture video when there is movement. there are tons of different setting for sensitivity etc etc. For what you are describing i think Blue Iris is definitely what you need on your computer for this camera setup you desire.

I too plan on setting up a more long distance wifi setup. with my camera which is 20x zoom i would suggest you get a 30x zoom or better if possible. although if mounted appropriately my 20x zoom might do what you need. Also i would recommend mounting your ptz camera as high as possible. Maybe on a light pole or something. That will also get you above the tall grass and or crops or hills.

For power i am currently using the 3 12v deep cycle batteries that came from advanced auto parts. The biggest ones they have. i think they are 125 amp hours. These batteries also drive my cushman at 36v. I then used a golf cart 36v to 12v converter i bought off ebay for under $20 to run power to the camera while still able to drive the cushman to the area i want it to sit. I recently had to replace my batteries because they were three years old and i previously had been using them for my 101lb thrust minn kota trolling motor. They were wore out. Nevertheless, with those wore out batteries i could average 5 to 7 days without recharging. I also plan on eventually going solar. When the batteries get low the camera gets hot and when its already hot out during the summer it really stresses the batteries. When the batteries are fully charged and healthy the camera does not seem to get hot.

In the videos i will submit in this post the camera is 185 yrds from the house which you can see in the videos. That should give you an idea of the situation at hand. all of the video captured via wifi was done automatically using the blue iris software.


I look forward to you reporting in this forum of your experience with your long range wifi setup. I myself have looked into using cellphone networks but it seems to expensive. currently it is next to impossible to use live video on anything other than wifi while still be able to afford it. I also looked into other methods and non seem worthy.

after searching thru my videos i realized i do not have any yet that are prepared which shows any kind of full zoom.... I will try to prepare a video this week which demonstrates full zoom at 185 yrds with 20x zoom.

 

[th3bloody9]

A couple of these (TP-Link CPE510) should be capable for bridging that distance wirelessly:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-300Mbps-dual-polarized-directional-CPE510/dp/B00N2RO63U/

Claims up to 15km point to point range in the specs! …I have no idea how realistic that is, but 1/2 mile sounds like it should be no problem.

You'll probably need to raise the remote one on a pole to get line-of-sight between them (will be a nice mounting point for camera too).

• One CPE on the side of the house (wired into LAN)
• One CPE on a pole at the gate/fence
• Camera connected to remote CPE via ethernet cable

I'm not sure what camera is best for you, but it sounds like a PTZ would be best option so you can remotely move it to check the fence line at will and zoom in on areas of interest. This is probably going to be your cheapest starting point for something decent:

Dahua 2MP 25x Starlight IR PTZ Network Camera (SD49225T-HN)

I don't know much about solar but I think that could be the priciest part of the whole setup, you are meant to use a proper deep-cycle battery not just a regular car battery.

Beam crossing alarms might also be worth looking into. Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/HTZSAFE-Wireless-Driveway-Perimeter-Business/dp/B071F4LKWW/

 

[kevin917z]

Thanks, that camera really has a bright ir light on it, could see the house pretty well. This is exactly what I would want to do but not automated, I would be afraid the cows all around would always be getting tracked and not the people. I'm just trying to catch people before they steal things or poach deer. The crossing alarm would be ideal but there are just too many turkey and deer.

these tp link wireless bridges appear directional so wouldn't I need 3 they would be back to back in the middle since they are directional?

I can't mount anything on a pole around here because it's so flat it would get nailed by lightning.

I was also suggested something like this: Wireless Transmitter & Receiver Audio Video FPV 2.5G 4CH 1500-2000m

 

[looney2ns]

Many, many folks on here report great success with the Ubiquity equipment.
Read the second post in this thread: WIFI recomendations requested

I second this: Dahua 2MP 25x Starlight IR PTZ Network Camera (SD49225T-HN)

The cam listed above would do an admirable job for what you want.

Lightning being a concern, ground everything.

 

[th3bloody9]

these tp link wireless bridges appear directional so wouldn't I need 3 they would be back to back in the middle since they are directional?

No you would only need 2. Directional means the antenna transmits and receives only in the direction it is aimed, compared to omnidirectional which has 360 coverage.

The Ubiquiti PowerBeam's @looney2ns mentioned look very nice too, and seem to do the exact same thing.

 

[NoloC]

Here's a link to one of the Ubiquity products with a very informative video from Nelly's.
Pre-Configured Pair of Ubiquiti Nano Station Loco M5 Wireless Access Points

They will pre configure for you at an additional charge. Otherwise they get 90 bucks for the pair. These work great, you will probably want 2.4ghz though as it is a bit better when LOS is not perfect.

 

[th3bloody9]

I was also suggested something like this: Wireless Transmitter & Receiver Audio Video FPV 2.5G 4CH 1500-2000m

Hmm I don't think that would be a good fit for you. That's analog equipment, the picture quality will be pretty terrible with lots of interference, also you will not be able to hook it up to a IP camera. I believe that sort of equipment is used for FPV flying remote control planes/drones etc. it's good for having very little lag but picture quality is poor.