Picture at driveway gate? (lots of constraints)

[bupkes]

I'd like to have a picture sent to me (MMS, email whatever) each time someone comes up my .5 mi long driveway. The challenge is limited connectivity and power.

The gate operator is a DoorKing 1808 using preprogrammed codes or push-to-call serviced by a regular PSTN line; all powered by a small solar set up.

Connectivity: There is Verizon but not ATT wireless service at the gate/on the driveway (so the Covert Black Ops trailcam didn't work). I'm not sure if there's a way to "use" the PSTN.

Power: There's the solar array feeding the gate with battery backup.

Sensor: Video motion on an IP camera would probably be set off by background too frequently. PIR seems not to catch cars reliably. Magneto buried might work. Hose might work. There's the ground loop for the gate. And there's the relay used by the door king once a code / remote authorization happens.

Not sure how to make any of these possible sensors work within the constraints.
 

 

[tmbrown97]

Just to clarify, you want to catch the picture as soon as someone pulls into your driveway, or only after they've successfully entered a code and passed through the gate?
 
What about the wiring from the gate to the house - what do you have "spare"?  Often at the very least there's a spare pair of wires for the phone line - and if so, those could be used with a vdsl setup to get data out there; conversely, if the wires run from the gate to the house in a conduit, there may well be room to run more - I'm working on one of these right now, though luckily it's only .2 miles...  Depending on what you have to work with here, you may be able to solve for more than just data - you may be able to get fiber/power.
 
If you just want a picture of a car that's entering the driveway AFTER they've accessed the gate, then the relay off the gate into a camera's i/o inputs seems easy enough.
 
If you can't get any more wires and have no more existing wires to use, then it's likely you'll need to up the solar setup.  The data shouldn't be too hard as you should be able to do a wireless backhaul using something like Ubiquiti's radios along with an IP camera that can do what you need - then you would need to size a solar package accordingly.
 
Depending on your answers, we can elaborate on a particular solution.
 
Also, do you have a budget? 

 

[az1324]

http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/25243-controlmonitor-a-motorized-gate-at-the-end-of-a-long-driveway/

 

[bupkes]

Just to clarify, you want to catch the picture as soon as someone pulls into your driveway, or only after they've successfully entered a code and passed through the gate?

 
Ideally when they've made it through the gate.  This is to check on service folks, UPS, etc
 

What about the wiring from the gate to the house - what do you have "spare"?  Often at the very least there's a spare pair of wires for the phone line - and if so, those could be used with a vdsl setup to get data out there; conversely, if the wires run from the gate to the house in a conduit, there may well be room to run more - I'm working on one of these right now, though luckily it's only .2 miles...  Depending on what you have to work with here, you may be able to solve for more than just data - you may be able to get fiber/power.

 
There is no wire/conduit etc to the gate from the house.  The house does not have line-of-sight to the gate.
 

If you just want a picture of a car that's entering the driveway AFTER they've accessed the gate, then the relay off the gate into a camera's i/o inputs seems easy enough.
 
If you can't get any more wires and have no more existing wires to use, then it's likely you'll need to up the solar setup.  The data shouldn't be too hard as you should be able to do a wireless backhaul using something like Ubiquiti's radios along with an IP camera that can do what you need - then you would need to size a solar package accordingly.
 
Depending on your answers, we can elaborate on a particular solution.
 
Also, do you have a budget? 

 
$2k or less?  I think trenching would be cost-prohibitive.

 

[bupkes]

http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/25243-controlmonitor-a-motorized-gate-at-the-end-of-a-long-driveway/

 
Thanks .. somehow this didn't appear in my searches.  However I do not have wire or conduit from the house to the gate.  Therein lies the problem

 

[az1324]

Some of the suggestions in that thread still apply. 

 

[Desert_AIP]

You can use something like this, powered with solar, to get the data back to the main house.
 

 
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/624112_CCTV_cameras_101_____Table_of_Contents_in_OP____Updated_14_Sep.html&page=36#i10907919
 
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/624112_CCTV_cameras_101_____Table_of_Contents_in_OP____Updated_14_Sep.html&page=45#i10961305
 
That thread has a lot of good info.

 

[az1324]

How much power does that consume?  Depending on boot times for the camera/wireless it would be preferable to use a sensor to turn them on only when they need to capture/transmit.  But if the boot times are too long then this is not an option.  Large solar panels and batteries would be required.

 

[Desert_AIP]

That's all 12VDC.
It can't be more than ~20W with the camera and wireless uplink.
 
The Locostation uses ~5.5W
Most IP Cameras are under 10W

 

[tmbrown97]

Hows this PSTN line work?  You have a separate POTS line to the gate that doesn't run to the house?  Did you build this or buy the house this way?  I ask because most of the doorking setups I've seen have a tie back to the house's phone line - and if that's the case, there's likely an extra pair of wires that can be accessed to move data.
 
Solar setups like this aren't too hard - though most people totally underestimate how to size them correctly.  The idea is to calculate the loads and size the batteries such that they can run the setup for 3 days - to account for shortages in sunlight... then for the the solar panels, you want a solar panel that can charge the calculated batteries in 8-hours of sunlight (or less depending on where you live and how much sunlight is available in a day).
 
I've never seen a camera that'd boot fast enough and take a contact trigger and connect to the data network in time to do anythign based purely on a trigger - it would need to be powered up and ready to go.
 
I'm still holding out though to find out how the phone line for the gate is hooked up, because, as I mentioned, usually they tap into the phone line at the house then run it through the gate, so you can pick up any house in the phone to open the gate and tie it into the phone line for forwarding outside the house, etc.  DoorKing does make a wireless module but it's pretty recent.

 

[az1324]

That's all 12VDC.
It can't be more than ~20W with the camera and wireless uplink.
 
The Locostation uses ~5.5W
Most IP Cameras are under 10W

 
Yes so let's say 15W which is 360Wh per day.  You want a solar panel that can generate probably 3x that much, separate from the power required for the gate motor and dialer.  So let's say 1kWh in 1 day of solar production which we can say 7 hours of sunlight at an average of 60% production/conversion.  I don't know if that is a good estimate.  That would require approximately a 250W solar panel which is basically a 3'x5' high-efficiency panel.

 

[bupkes]

Hows this PSTN line work?  You have a separate POTS line to the gate that doesn't run to the house?  Did you build this or buy the house this way?  I ask because most of the doorking setups I've seen have a tie back to the house's phone line - and if that's the case, there's likely an extra pair of wires that can be accessed to move data.
 ...
 
I'm still holding out though to find out how the phone line for the gate is hooked up, because, as I mentioned, usually they tap into the phone line at the house then run it through the gate, so you can pick up any house in the phone to open the gate and tie it into the phone line for forwarding outside the house, etc.  DoorKing does make a wireless module but it's pretty recet.

No tie-in to the house. We got the phone company to drop us a line from the telephone pole at the bottom of the driveway. The door king uses the pstn to dial our cellphones for "push to call"

 

[tmbrown97]

Oh wow... OK, well then - a solar setup it is!  What do you think about the ideas above?  Of course, the other option is to rent a Ditch Witch for a weekend and get to work on some conduit!  If you can cut that phone line at the street, you could probably also save some money month to month to help recoup the investment!

 

[lazyone]

I do a little CCTV at work and was contacted by these guys.  The system is wireless, 3g and solar.  Not sure of price.  I have no affiliation.
 
http://safesite-remote.videofied.com/

 

[Del91574]

There's a few 100% wireless units out there, including some intended for use on loading docks/truck yards etc. but I've seen Videofied the most common and available to mass consumers, FWIW.