Waiting for the school bus cam

[lhfarm]

My first-grader granddaughter has started riding the bus to school. When the weather is less than perfect, she would like to stay in the house until the bus is almost at her door. I don't think I can mount a camera on the house and have a view up the street to "see" the bus coming. The house is back 50' or so from the street and has other houses and trees in the line of sight.

This wouldn't need to be a super camera, just good enough to see a bus coming (daylight and darkness). So I'm considering a Foscam or similar wireless IP camera. I need to figure out how to get power to the camera and how to mount the camera near the lot corner/street.

Any ideas for a suitable camera, mounting and power options? Anyone else doing this?

Thanks,
Barry

 

[Rupp]

A long time ago one HomeSeer user mounted one of the X10 cameras in the woods and powered it with a battery and a solar charger. He used a cantenna to direct the signal back to the receiver. The X10 cameras use very little power so maybe a derivative of this could work.

 

[tmbrown97]

It's perfectly doable - its gonna cost you a couple hundred bucks though.

If there's any way at all to run a wire, that's you best bet by far. If you have to go solar it's a little on the expensive side. The cheap foscam would work just fine. If you wanted to hook to a simple TV, then there is a device Grandstream makes that'll convert back to analog - or Lorex makes some decent cameras that are totally wireless (not wifi but to an analog receiver). It depends on just how much of an issue the signal will be.

Do you have any power out by the street? A lamp, low voltage lights; anything at all?

 

[lhfarm]

There is low voltage lighting at the front of the house, so I'm sure there is a power outlet somewhere. I think it would be pretty easy to run some low voltage cable out to the street. The grandkids have their own iPods and there are several computers around the house. I was looking at a wireless IP camera with the idea of having her watch a Web page. Luckily, they live on a cul de sac so there isn't a lot of traffic.

I can't get to the house for a week or so, but when I do, I'll do some measurements and take some pictures of what I'm dealing with. I appreciate the ideas/thoughts.

Barry

 

[lhfarm]

We had a successful test of the "bus cam" this morning. The granddaughter was able to leave the house and be at the end of the driveway just as the bus pulled up. It was 22 degrees out.

I ended up with a Foscam FI8904W, currently setting in the fork of a tree. Power is from a couple of extension cords. The wireless works extremely well. I have about 90' of low voltage cable to get in the ground. The power supply is 5v DC/2.0 A. At that distance do I need up the voltage a little? Also, does anyone have a cable recommendation?

Thanks,
Barry

 

[tmbrown97]

Awesome!!

You'll definitely have voltage drop at that distance and need to either have an adjustable power supply or do the voltage drop later in the run - I've read that the foscam's are really picky about their voltage, and the lower the voltage the more susceptible to voltage loss it is.

I can't easily recommend cable - but something burial grade or in conduit. For that matter, 120V to a box near the root of the tree isn't all that hard to do.

 

[lhfarm]

UPDATE - The camera is working well. I made a mount out of aluminum stock for the fork of the tree. Can actually see the bus turning the corner and the camera has been much appreciated this winter.

Is there a way to by-pass the Foscam log-in? Or maybe some other software that would make the startup a little simpler? We are using Chrome with a desktop shortcut. However, haven't found a way to go start to a view of the camera.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Barry

 

[kevkmartin]

Use the URL:

http://:/videostream.cgi?user=&pwd=

Should work for foscams/clones.