UPDATE: So I had someone comment about power being a problem with most setups. So I got to thinking… why not use solar power to run the camera during the day and charge a 12v gel cell battery for night use. This will also solve the problem of someone cutting your power cord. I’m going to investigate this further. For now I’m thinking about a panel like this…
I’ve always been fascinated with time lapse photography. There’s something about seeing things happen faster than realtime. When I was in the planning phases of building my house, I wanted to have a record from start to finish. I wanted to see the construction from developing the land, to the end product. One way I could do this was to mount a camera and keep it there recording the whole process, but that would give me about 1.5 years of realtime footage. The other option was to take snapshots during the day and then later turn those into a movie sequence. Doing something like this in the past wasn’t very practical, but today, with Wi-Fi and Network Cameras you can do it fairly economical. I first asked a couple of my friends to see if they had any extra network cams laying around, that got me a Axis Cam
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="1px" width="1px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
The first one was easy, I went over to SuperCircuits and bought one of their heated camera enclosures. That allowed me to mount the camera safely away from the weather… during extreme cold conditions, the heater keeps the electronics and window frost free.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="293px" width="390px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Next, I had to convert a non Wi-Fi camera to wireless… I bought a Linksys WET11
With all that aside, I had to figure out how to power all the units. The camera, the WET11, and the heater. I visited my second home, Home Depot, and found a PVC enclosure that was big enough to fit my power supplies.
Next, I mounted everything on a 4×4″ post, 16′ in the air and ran an extension cord down the mast and plugged her in. After setting up the camera and the WET11, I was taking in a vantage point I couldn’t usually see.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="267px" width="186px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
The house is pretty much done and I have thousands of snapshots that I can now turn into a nice timelapse movie. With the camera’s original purpose fulfilled, I’m repurposing it to act as my fourth outdoor security camera.
You’re probably wondering why I skipped the part on how I got Wi-Fi to the camera… that’s going to be in a separate post, where I explain how I lit up my whole block with a Wi-Fi access point, signal booster, and a waterproof outdoor signal repeater (coupled with a 8db omnidirectional antenna). I live across the street from a park and it was a no brainer to also give it some Wi-Fi loving. Anyways, I’ll try to get that DIY posted here this week or next. Stay tuned…
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1 2 Next »Danny,
VERY cool - BTW, how big was the concrete footer (or whatever) you used to put the post in? Also curious why you didn't go with an Axis webcam that come with built-in wireless, although I loved your hack to make it work, and yea, it all fits like it belongs.
If you have a chance, I would really appreciate your thoughts/comments on my attempt to do my christmas lights webcam ... for real this time! ;-)
http://www.komar.org/xmas/real/
since you are actually doing this type of stuff.
Thanx,
alek
P.S. I'm real interested in your attenna/repeater article since 802.11g isn't rock-solid across the street - boy, wouldn't it be nice if 802.11n was here today, eh?!?
Danny,
VERY cool - BTW, how big was the concrete footer (or whatever) you used to put the post in? Also curious why you didn't go with an Axis webcam that come with built-in wireless, although I loved your hack to make it work, and yea, it all fits like it belongs.
If you have a chance, I would really appreciate your thoughts/comments on my attempt to do my christmas lights webcam ... for real this time! ;-)
http://www.komar.org/xmas/real/
since you are actually doing this type of stuff.
Thanx,
alek
P.S. I'm real interested in your attenna/repeater article since 802.11g isn't rock-solid across the street - boy, wouldn't it be nice if 802.11n was here today, eh?!?
Danny,
Thanx for the info and I look forward to your attenna post - you have me re-thinking the idea of using built-in wireless since easier to hack a solution if need be.
WRT Xmas Hoax: The best hoax stretches the imagination, and I've said all along what I did was doable, although some challenges for the average Joe homeowner - see:
http://www.komar.org/xmas/hoax/#real
But yea, with some work, I might be able to pull it off this year - do you think anyone will believe it?!? ;-)
alek
Danny,
Thanx for the info and I look forward to your attenna post - you have me re-thinking the idea of using built-in wireless since easier to hack a solution if need be.
WRT Xmas Hoax: The best hoax stretches the imagination, and I've said all along what I did was doable, although some challenges for the average Joe homeowner - see:
http://www.komar.org/xmas/hoax/#real
But yea, with some work, I might be able to pull it off this year - do you think anyone will believe it?!? ;-)
alek
Clay,
Wow! Impressive... That's good to know... I'm only using the single wireless setup and it does fine... I can't imaging having more than 2 on a given wireless network. For the rest of the house security I'm using three bulletcams that are mounted out of reach (and sight). Those are power and video over Cat5e and then connected via BNC to my server which encodes the video for web access and is also modulated on a CATV channel for indoor viewing. The server records based on motion... I'm still adjusting the system, but plan on posting about that as well.
Have you tried using solar for power during the day which also charges the batteries for night use? Most of these devices run at 5v @ 2amp peak. At least the linksys stuff does. Can't remember about the camera... I know it's easier said than done... but maybe this is something you can easily design.
Danny
Clay,
Wow! Impressive... That's good to know... I'm only using the single wireless setup and it does fine... I can't imaging having more than 2 on a given wireless network. For the rest of the house security I'm using three bulletcams that are mounted out of reach (and sight). Those are power and video over Cat5e and then connected via BNC to my server which encodes the video for web access and is also modulated on a CATV channel for indoor viewing. The server records based on motion... I'm still adjusting the system, but plan on posting about that as well.
Have you tried using solar for power during the day which also charges the batteries for night use? Most of these devices run at 5v @ 2amp peak. At least the linksys stuff does. Can't remember about the camera... I know it's easier said than done... but maybe this is something you can easily design.
Danny
I was able to find a wireless network IP camera at http://www.icpcparts.com reasonably priced and an outdoor enclosure that can be easily modified without voiding the lifetime warranty of the IP network camera. Here is link to the cam if anyone needs a demo of the cam just email me. if I post it here it will suck up all my bandwith. here is the link to the cam http://www.icpcparts.com/catalog2/wireless-network-camera-p-180.html with the wired cam or wireless you can use a power over ethernet adapter to supply power to the cam with an rj45 cable.
Storm
I was able to find a wireless network IP camera at http://www.icpcparts.com reasonably priced and an outdoor enclosure that can be easily modified without voiding the lifetime warranty of the IP network camera. Here is link to the cam if anyone needs a demo of the cam just email me. if I post it here it will suck up all my bandwith. here is the link to the cam http://www.icpcparts.com/catalog2/wireless-network-camera-p-180.html with the wired cam or wireless you can use a power over ethernet adapter to supply power to the cam with an rj45 cable.
Storm
How did you calculate the type of db antennae that you would need? Did you use an Yoggi or a mon aerial antennae for reception?
How did you calculate the type of db antennae that you would need? Did you use an Yoggi or a mon aerial antennae for reception?