IP cameras

[supermanotorious]

So if you followed the great New River easement wars of 2018 you know I invested in some cameras to see all around my property. Well I've bought more that can't be connected to my DVR and just run on the WiFi.

I have some creative ideas on where to mount them but their stupid power transformers are my hang up.

Have any of you gotten creative with powering these IP cameras?

I want to install one kinda remote, WiFi is there, but not power. I could weld a secure battery box to mount near the camera and pair it with a solar panel.

I would need to reduce the 12V or 6V battery to working voltage for the camera. Ideas?

 

[anickode]

So if you followed the great New River easement wars of 2018 you know I invested in some cameras to see all around my property. Well I've bought more that can't be connected to my DVR and just run on the WiFi.

I have some creative ideas on where to mount them but their stupid power transformers are my hang up.

Have any of you gotten creative with powering these IP cameras?

I want to install one kinda remote, WiFi is there, but not power. I could weld a secure battery box to mount near the camera and pair it with a solar panel.

I would need to reduce the 12V or 6V battery to working voltage for the camera. Ideas?

Find a cigarette lighter power supply that outputs the right voltage and has the right barrel plug and chop it up.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

What voltage does the camera need?

I'd find out what kind of current it pulls first. Constantly transmitting video over WiFi is going to use a lot of juice. It would help a lot if the camera has some kind of a "wake on motion" power saving feature.

 

[itsid]

Find a cigarette lighter power supply that outputs the right voltage and has the right barrel plug and chop it up.

No actually DON'T!

cig lighter converters are the cheapest and worst way to step down the voltage (too much loss ~30% of the power is wasted)

You can find buck converters on ebay specifically made for Arduino and alike ...
or even better check adafruit for such converters.
They are more expensive alright but usually within less than 5% of loss.
And they can be set to whatever voltage your camera needs..
(5V or 3V or even 24V or whatnot)

In case of a 5V camera however, (USB powered??)
you can savely hook it up to a 6V battery,
as long as you have a current limiter.
The camera will have an internal voltage regulator
(I have not seen anything without one yet that runs on 5V..)
And that voltage regulator tolerates at least 7Volts
(usually 9 sometimes 12) but since we do not want to take any risks.. let's assume 7...

And if you are worried about the 6V..
then just get a loooong USB cable (cheap one) I got a 10ft cable
that has an internal voltage drop of ~.9V
bringing your 6V battery to 5.1
(still wasted energy.. but should still be better than the chinese six leggers you find in most cig lighter adapters)

'sid

PS If you camera has no motion detection and want one for power saving..
adafruit offers you all the small goodies you need to toggle the power on motion detection,
it takes time of course from detected motion via handshake protocoll to actually transmit but depending on signal strength that should be within 2or3 seconds
plus the cameras bootup time of course.

 

[jmaack]

I have done things similar to this. I really only use unifi at home and for setting up for others. You might have seen it already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdsf-W6D2L8&t=275s

 

[supermanotorious]

Wow, sometimes I'm a ding dong, these cameras run on 12V so no step down required. So yes jmaack your setup is what I have in mind, except I'm going to mount to the wood power pole in my front yard where power comes in from the street. I'll fabricate a rack to hold battery box and solar panel, I'll be sure to get some pictures up when done. Will be kind of wild to see a 12V battery box suspend 15'+ in the air

 

[itsid]

beloved 12V comes to a rescue once again

'sid

 

[jmaack]

Wow, sometimes I'm a ding dong, these cameras run on 12V so no step down required. So yes jmaack your setup is what I have in mind, except I'm going to mount to the wood power pole in my front yard where power comes in from the street. I'll fabricate a rack to hold battery box and solar panel, I'll be sure to get some pictures up when done. Will be kind of wild to see a 12V battery box suspend 15'+ in the air

I just realized that it looks like that is my video. it is not. I have used his ideas for myself.

 

[supermanotorious]

dang, I've been doing research, I think I could easily power the camera remotely for just under $100

however I'm a little skeptical of the mppt charge controller as it has no reviews...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TG7PJ4...colid=JB6QTTYKZITS&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X9T95V...colid=JB6QTTYKZITS&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G53TUH...&colid=JB6QTTYKZITS&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1