Hi,
I just wanted to pass on my experience with the nestcam setup I'm using for my nest box. I've gone through several network cameras and this is the best one, for the price, I've used so far.
Make/Model: VIVOTEK FD8151V
It's a 1.3MP Power over Ethernet (PoE) camera. Cost is around $250 - $300 depending on where you purchase. It's a very small camera. It has a wide viewing angle so you don't have to install too far above the entrance hole (keeps you box a little bit smaller heightwise). It also comes with some great software so you can set it up to record any motion to your hard drive.
From the camera I'm running a 140' Cat6 outdoor cable connected to a TRENDnet 8-port (model: TPE-TG44g) Gigabit PoE switch which has 4 Gigabit PoE ports and 4 standard Gigabit ports. I also have three other PoE nestcams connected to this switch with no issues with power or performance.
So far everything's been running great. Only minor problem so far is some dust being transferred from the Kestrels tail to the lens cover. So I've had to clean that off a few times.
Here's a link to the live stream.
http://kestrelnestcam.click2stream.com/
Hopefully this information helps and if you have any questions I'd be happy to try and help you out.
Darin
Comments:
Hi Darin. Thanks for posting
Hi Darin. Thanks for posting this. I haven't used a Vivotek before, is it easy to capture the stream for publishing to click2stream.com? Also, does the Vivotek software require Windows, or do they have Mac or Linux versions?
Thanks.
Paul
Very easy. Just grab the RTSP
Very easy. Just grab the RTSP information from your camera and enter it into click2stream account you create.
Example: rtsp://XX.XX.XX.XXX:YYYY/live2.sdp
XX.XX.XX.XXX = home IP address
YYYY = RTSP port number
live2.sdp = access name for stream you want to broadcast
Also, be sure to open the RTSP port in your router via port forwarding.
Below is what I copied/pasted from users manual for software.
Minimum System Requirements
Before installing the software, please make sure your system meets the following recommended minimum system requirements.
If you would like to install ST7501 Server only, please follow the requirements as below:
If you would like to install both the server and client programs, please follow the requirements as below:
Server
Operating System Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 / Windows XP Professional (32 and 64 bit),
Windows Vista Business (32 and 64 bit), Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
Recording Channels Below 32 CH 32 ~ 64 CH 64CH
CPU 2nd Generation Intel®
Core™ i3 Processors
2nd Generation Intel®
Core™ i5 Processors
2nd Generation Intel®
Core™ i7 Processors
RAM 2 GB or above 4GB or above 4GB or above
Network Interface Card Ethernet, 1 Gbit recommended
Graphics Adapter DirectX 9 compatible 1GB graphics card
Hard Disk Type SATA, SCSI, SAS (7200 rpm or faster) in NTFS format
Hard Disk Space 750 GB free *
• The specifications is based on following camera settings: 1920 x 1080, 4Mbps, H.2644
• .The test result is base on the JBOD configuration, and the RAID configuration will provide different
result. Software RAID will reduce the VMS performance.
LiveClient and Playback
Operating System Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 / Windows XP Professional (32 and 64 bit), Windows Vista Business (32 and 64 bit), Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
Channels 8 CH 16 CH 24 CH
CPU 2nd Generation Intel®
Core™ i3 Processors
2nd Generation Intel®
Core™ i5 Processors
2nd Generation Intel® Core™
i7 Processors
RAM 2 GB or above 4GB or above 4GB or above
Network Interface Card Ethernet, 1Gbit recommended
Graphics Adapter DirectX 9 compatible 1GB graphics card
Hard Disk Type SATA, SCSI, SAS (7200 rpm or faster) in NTFS format
Hard Disk Space 750 GB free *
• .The specifications is based on following camera settings: 1280 x 1024, 2Mbps, H.264
• 3MP fisheye camera requires 1 channel decoder.
• 5MP fisheye camera requires 1.5 channel decoder.
If you install the Server & Client (LiveView/Playback) in the same PC, please refer the CPU load to select the display channel
Darin
That is interesting - I'm
That is interesting - I'm looking into options for my nest box, for next season. The info on this model states it is for indoor application, so that is a bit of a concern to me. Also, it seems very Windows centric - not good for a solid Mac guy.
Glad it's working for you, and appreciate the idea.
I'm almost leaning toward dialing in a way to make a GoPro work, for just occasional shots, but use the same entry for a quick look, too, when the camera is not in the case that would be attached to the box, if I went this way.
A part of what is important to me is better quality of capture, especially stills. Most of the cams I've seen are pretty low quality in these regards.
I'm using the same camera
I'm using the same camera model for two nestboxes and an outdoor weathercam (attached to exterior of my house) since last summer. So far no issues with the weather camera being snowed or rained on. Technically it's not an outdoor camera but it's sealed rather well and has a wide temp operating range.
I have several stills that can be seen on my flickr page if you want to check out still quality. Definitely not GoPro or digital camera quality but not too bad for a mid-range priced network camera.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dziegler/