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wireless calving cameras
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[/Quote]Absolutly none as all, im a dairy farmer in laois, just was impressed with the service i got and how simple their product is
Quote=just do it;80930021]
Hi JonRecently purchased an ip camera for my calving shed from a company in Wicklow, www.camba.tv excellent system, just plug in and it works. Ended up using 3G broadband as my eircom was way so slow
Do you have any affiliation with this company by any chance?
Welcome to boards!
3G is hit and miss from what I gather, although you appear to be having good results. Are you using it got your home BB as well? I've slow eircom but it is sufficient for a calving camera - I think
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Hey will be in the big apple over christmas and I was wondering if I invest in a PTZ camera in the US will it work over here. Also can you tell me what is the best make and if there are other bits and pieces that I need to get. Budget is modest enough so Im looking at good quality rather than top of the range. Cheers Skippy
Hi
I do have an affiliation with a company that manufacturers / supplies lambing and calving cameras but I'm not here just to link drop. Hopefully can give you some advice re your question.
You've first got to decide whether you want a fixed camera (or multiple fixed cameras) or a PTZ camera.
The advantage of the PTZ camera is of course that you can move it around the shed. This obviously means you can cover a large area without having to have lots of cameras. The more expensive PTZ cameras have optical zoom which means the zoom works like a digital camera where the lens slides in and out.
Therefore you can stick the camera high up in the centre of the roof of the shed, and move it around / zoom in wherever you like. Works great :cool:
But there are some big disadvantages. Firstly cost. A decent outdoor rated 360 degree PTZ with optical zoom will set you back about a grand. If you can afford that and have a big shed then it's a no brainer.
There are lots of cheaper PTZs about. Foscam / Storage Options / TrendNet etc. They range in price from about £30 quid to £300 quid. My honest advice is avoid them like the plague. They are not waterproof, the image sensor and importantly the lens is very poor quality resulting in a rubbish image, the infrared lights are hopeless. They also tend to pack up after ~9 months and there is no chance of getting them repaired under warranty.
The second problem is the software / website that you use to view the camera. These cameras are all made in China, frequently in people's front rooms. Every other man and woman in Shenzhen manufacture IP cameras. The problem is none of them can write software, so they rely on buying the software from a third party. This is why the cameras all look very similar. The thing is the person who does write the software for these cameras is really not very good at it. They are terribly cumbersome to use and generally only work well in Internet Explorer (so no use if you use a Mac).
The Foscam type PTZs are gradually improving, but the price is also creeping up and they still have a long way to go before they are in line with Axis / Sony / Panasonic etc. I'd steer well clear of them.
If you're budget isn't going to stretch for a decent PTZ, I'd go for a couple of decent fixed cameras. You get much more bang for your buck especially in terms of image quality (especially at night under infrared). There also a much better option if you have low ceilings or separate areas because you can have multiple cameras looking at different areas.
A decent quality fixed (non PTZ) camera will cost about £200. There are cheaper models available, but again, I'd avoid anything that looks too good to be true, because it more than likely is.
If you want to go shopping in the US, I'd recommend an Axis or Panasonic camera if you want to go for a PTZ. There will be a good saving, but it may not be as big as you think, and you've also got to worry about how to get it back to the UK without smashing it. (lots of glass in PTZ camera - couriers will not insure them). You would also have problems with warranty because you would have to send it back to the US if you ever needed warranty work. Most decent PTZs will come with a 3 year warranty.
The other problem with buying from the US may be getting the camera set up. Typically these cameras are used for industrial security applications and there is a lot of settings on them. It can be a frustrating experience getting them set up. We make sure you get your camera working and are always at the end of a phone to help you out if you have problems - you may not get this if you buy it from just the cheapest retailer who knows nothing about the actual camera.
Hope that helps
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kevthegaff wrote: »what roughly would ye charge for a ptz camera working wirelessly to the house, im around 30 yards from the shed direct line
It largely depends on how big (and how high) the shed is! Theres a big difference in price between a camera that will do a 60' x 120' shed and one more suited to a 30' x 30' shed :cool:
For smaller sheds we would generally recommend fixed cameras in preference to a PTZ. It gives you a lot more flexibility when mounting the cameras because you can have two or more 'viewpoints' - ie one camera on both sides of the shed lets you see both sides of the animals so you're more likely to be able to spot something.
You can also have watch multiple 'views' at once on the same screen, whereas with a PTZ it can only be pointing in one direction at a time. And finally the fixed cameras tend to be easier to use from a phone (PTZ can be fiddly to control from phone especially if your internet connection is not great - lots of lag before camera moves).
The fixed cameras also have (good) built in infrared lighting so you can see in the dark without disturbing the animals. The PTZ cameras don't have that benefit and I would avoid any PTZs that do (it's impossible - you would need a totally different IR spread when the camera was zoomed in / zoomed out).
If you want to go the PTZ route the big difference in cost is whether you want a full on PTZ with real optical zoom (moving lens) or if you just want pan / tilt and no zoom. If you are going to mount the camera high then you want optical zoom so you can individually zoom in on sheep / cows to see whats happening. The pan / tilt only cameras are better suited were you have limited height in the shed.
To answer your question - for the proper PTZ camera with optical zoom (made by Axis) and the wireless link kit to connect it back will run you about €1500 euros incl. VAT with a 3 year warranty. A fixed camera starts at about €350 and a pan / tilt only camera is in the middle of the two.Thanks for that Agricamera. Thought about what you said and I think Ill be better off going for multiple fixed cameras as I have one up already. I need to get them linked up to the web though. What would this sort of system set me back also what part of the country are you based in
At the risk of being seen as advertising have a look at our website: http://agricamera.co.uk/. The 'The AgriCamera System' pages explain it far better than I can here. We're across the water in the south west England 0 -
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