Cheap old cell phone coop cam

[Kiki]

Yes, that's it! I had to go look at the actual Google store pic.

Thanks again!

 

[Bio cryo guy]

I attached a picture of what the "night mode" does using a Samsung Galaxy S6. It's still a black box. It's about 30 minutes past sunset and there is still a tiny amount of light in the sky. Not sure I'm willing to add any type of light in the coop to fix that issue, but a different phone might work better. The audio still works great though. Ha ha ha.

 

[Bio cryo guy]

Thanks again!

You're very welcome!

 

[junkman56]

I was looking into buying a camera for my chicken coop, and was quickly discouraged by the price. I looked into cellphone apps that turn an unused phone into a WiFi camera, and thought to give it a try. Currently I'm trying out the Alfred app, and am satisfied I can now check in any time I want. The setup isn't perfect, and the video feed definitely leaves a lot of room for improvement. There is a paid version of the app that provides HD quality video, but I don't see the need for that kind of detail at this time. Has anyone else tried a setup similar to this before, and are there other apps you've tried that you like?

I attached (hopefully) a screenshot from when I was watching the live video feed. You can see it's quite grainy, but I'm working on improving WiFi reception in the area to get a better picture.

How far away is your coop from your wifi, I tried that app and set it up on two phones, placed one inside my coop which is aproximently 100ft away from my house, the camera would not connect to the wifi, so needless to say it didn't work for me

 

[Bio cryo guy]

My wifi router is in the front left of my house about 7 ft in the air. (Elevating your router can greatly improve it's range and performance.) My chicken coop is in the back right corner of my property. The signal travels through about 5 walls in the house over about 40 ft. Then it's about 80 ft to the camera in the coop. Technically, there is a shed partially obstructing the path as well. Signal strength in the camera phone is usually good, but sometimes poor. The picture is always some degree of grainy, which is fine. I'm not interested in paying for the app to get HD quality.

The devices and internet service you use will greatly affect performance. I use a Linksys WRT 1900 ACS router about 3 maybe 4 years old. This is hooked up to Spectrum 100mbps internet service. The camera phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6, which is 4 years old.

I have been using the camera for a few reasons, mainly just observing them when things change. For instance, they recently experienced snow for the first time. I checked in while at work to see if they were hiding indoors or not. Fortunately, I have curious AND courageous birds, so they were outside. My niece loves talking to them over the mic, and they will even talk back! We all like using it to see if there are eggs to collect as well. I hope you can get it to work!

 

[goldysgirl]

I was looking into buying a camera for my chicken coop, and was quickly discouraged by the price. I looked into cellphone apps that turn an unused phone into a WiFi camera, and thought to give it a try. Currently I'm trying out the Alfred app, and am satisfied I can now check in any time I want. The setup isn't perfect, and the video feed definitely leaves a lot of room for improvement. There is a paid version of the app that provides HD quality video, but I don't see the need for that kind of detail at this time. Has anyone else tried a setup similar to this before, and are there other apps you've tried that you like?

I attached (hopefully) a screenshot from when I was watching the live video feed. You can see it's quite grainy, but I'm working on improving WiFi reception in the area to get a better picture.

Huh...fantastic idea! How resourceful!

 

[junkman56]

My wifi router is in the front left of my house about 7 ft in the air. (Elevating your router can greatly improve it's range and performance.) My chicken coop is in the back right corner of my property. The signal travels through about 5 walls in the house over about 40 ft. Then it's about 80 ft to the camera in the coop. Technically, there is a shed partially obstructing the path as well. Signal strength in the camera phone is usually good, but sometimes poor. The picture is always some degree of grainy, which is fine. I'm not interested in paying for the app to get HD quality.

The devices and internet service you use will greatly affect performance. I use a Linksys WRT 1900 ACS router about 3 maybe 4 years old. This is hooked up to Spectrum 100mbps internet service. The camera phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6, which is 4 years old.

I have been using the camera for a few reasons, mainly just observing them when things change. For instance, they recently experienced snow for the first time. I checked in while at work to see if they were hiding indoors or not. Fortunately, I have curious AND courageous birds, so they were outside. My niece loves talking to them over the mic, and they will even talk back! We all like using it to see if there are eggs to collect as well. I hope you can get it to work!

I will try and move my router and see what happens

 

[junkman56]

I moved the router, and I can view the chickens .... it worked

 

[junkman56]

This is a short video of the alfred cam app....
I couldn't apply the video, I dont know how.
Here is a screen shot from the video

 

[aart]

I couldn't apply the video, I dont know how.

Vids have to be uploaded to youtube or similar platform then a link pasted here.