Wireless Motion Camera Upgrade to my Site with Night Vision

[Bird Brain]

I've seen increased activity at my site over the last 2 seasons. I'm always wondering how much activity I didn't see. I probably miss over 90% of the activity due to being inside, being at work and son on. I bought a BLINK security camera and mounted it so I can catch all the activity this year. This camera seems to be perfect for my hobby. No wires at all. Lasts 2 years on double A batteries. 1080p H.D. Has a motion detector and infrared night vision. Instantly alerts me on my smart phone with a video if motion sensor detects something. Very affordable. I already have one of these focused on my gourd rack and it has so far exceeded my expectations. I'm ordering another one for my bird bath. The infrared night vision is pretty good also. I believe it would alert me of an owl attack at night. This system may not work if your martin pole is really far from your house since the sync module connects to your wifi. This season I will finally witness all the activity that occurs and will be able to gauge if I'm making progress or not. Here's the link.

https://blinkforhome.com/collections/ou ... ity-camera

You can also order these on Amazon which is what I did with my wife's prime membership.

[tboydshirt]

wow! 2 years on 2 AA batteries including ir night lights? I'm interested because if you check my last year's posts, you'll see my efforts at a similar thing. it's a point/tilt/zoom camera which I can control from the keyboard and review recorded activities. unfortunately, I'm still waiting for martins to establish here. if I do get them this year, I might try to set up one of those nest cams but my wifi will need a boost to get that far.
good luck this year, Bird Brain!

[flyin-lowe]

I have those cameras myself for home security. The battery rating is accurate for normal home security use. However if you have it set up where there is constant activity and it is constantly recording (especially at night) or if you are watching them in real time they battery will go dead in no time.
They are designed as a motion camera for home security. So I turn ours on when we go to work or go to bed. 99% if the time they are not doing anything, once they detect motion the will start to record a clip and send it to your cell phone, notifying you that someone is at your house. They are not designed to sit and watch all the time or constantly be tripped and set to record. They are great cameras for their designed purpose but I don't think they are ideal to watch a martin colony.

[Dave Reynolds]

I have those cameras myself for home security. The battery rating is accurate for normal home security use. However if you have it set up where there is constant activity and it is constantly recording (especially at night) or if you are watching them in real time they battery will go dead in no time.
They are designed as a motion camera for home security. So I turn ours on when we go to work or go to bed. 99% if the time they are not doing anything, once they detect motion the will start to record a clip and send it to your cell phone, notifying you that someone is at your house. They are not designed to sit and watch all the time or constantly be tripped and set to record. They are great cameras for their designed purpose but I don't think they are ideal to watch a martin colony.

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Thanks -- flyin-lowe for the battery life information,, Good to know what you can expect and not to expect with these systems..

Dave

[flyin-lowe]

Like I said, they are great for security purposes, I got them early on and have turned many people on to them. I have had mine up for 2 years now on the original batteries. However they only turn on once a month or so and that is for 20 seconds at a time. You can set the clip length for longer if you want. Mine is set up so if there is motion detected it records for 10 seconds, then if after that it detects motion it will record again for another 10 seconds. You instantly get the video sent to your phone. The good thing about them for security is that there is no monthly fee and all the video is stored on a cloud. The other thing to consider is you have to have at least 2.0 mbps upload speed on your internet. Most people with fast internet speeds have more then that but I am in the country on a local wireless internet service and by default it did not have that much upload speed. I got them to up my speed a little before I bought the cameras.

We also do like the cameras because they have a live view. So if for some reason i need to look and see something in the house I can do that.

[csmibert]

I used the blink camera system on my PM house last year and it worked great, love it. You do have to buy batteries at least once during your PM season, but they aren’t that costly, so not a big deal.

[flyin-lowe]

Just curious, did you just keep it off and then turn on the live view from time to time? I can't imagine having it set to motion and getting text messages everytime a bird moves. Just curious what settings you use and how you utilize it.

[Spiderman]

This sounds like a valuable addition for night time owls.

How far from your home router will they work effectively. My racks are about 175' away from my home.

If there is an owl, my phone charges in my bedroom at night so a text message would be ideal.

[Bird Brain]

I think 175 feet is too far but I'm not 100% sure. Flyin-Low, I agree that constant alerts from moving martins would become annoying. I don't have martins yet so I don't have that problem. I simply want to witness all the activity this year that I've probably missed over the last 2 years. If I had a thriving colony, I would simply take the camera down or only use it at night to alert me to predators. I'm quite sure this camera would alert me to owls and raccoons, so it could potentially prevent a colony from being wiped out. I'm not sure if the motion sensor would detect a rat snake, since the move so slowly. If the snake caused a gourd to swing a little, then even a snake could be detected. Still important to use predator guards and netting anyway. If the predator did get past your predator guards and netting, the motion sensor might give you one last opportunity to detect and rectify. One thing I've noticed. If it's very windy, the swinging of the gourds can cause multiple motion alerts. Should this occur, you can easily adjust the motion sensor or disarm the entire system until the wind dies down. I'm also looking forward to a more rapid detection of house sparrows with this system so I can rectify them more expeditiously. Also, a good solid camera mount is important to minimize motion alerts. You don't want the wind to be able to cause any camera movement. I used fence hardware to mount my camera to the pea trap on my roof. I'll post a couple of pics.

[flyin-lowe]

If I remember correctly the max range is 100 foot from the sync module. That is a small device that you link to your WiFi and then the cameras talk to the module. Yes a raccoon or other predator would set it off, I have had possums and small cats set mine off at night.