Who has camera or monitor in coop? Come on, I know you do. Looking for advice.

[tntchix]

Camera or monitor in your coop? What do you like or dislike about your setup?

I have no power in my coop as of yet and am thinking video baby monitor or possibly a game cam just to check on the girls. I have a bunch just beginning to lay and would like to know which ones they are and be able to hear/see if problems arise.

The coop is about 100 ft from the house so I really don't want wires going everywhere across the driveway and house.

Kicking around ideas and would love your input...

 

[tntchix]

Thoughts? Anyone?

Please.

 

[Indoroowet]

Harbor Freight has a Monitor for about 70 green ones,
which I have had for a long time and previously used to watch the kids play.
It has one monitor and two small cameras.
I have one camera inside the coop *looking* at the nest box, and one *looking* at the run.
Only two small diameter wires run from the coop to wherever the monitor is.
http://www.harborfreight.com/Color-...bfe&utm_source=1032&cid=mEmail_s1032_c4914bfe

If you do not want any wires, you may have to go wire-less and that will run into a lot of money ....
because you will have to buy a whole system, meaning, a camera AND a monitor such as a smart phone (you may already have) or a computer (you probably have).

If wireless is the only way you want to go, then *Google* for
Wireless IP camera
e.g.
http://foscam.us/wireless-ip-cameras.html/

Caution:
Depending on where the camera and the monitor is, the set up may not work ...

 

[daddyman]

Ooh! Good question.

Subscribed.

 

[Wxguru]

I am about to install cameras...I am going with the Foscam 8910W....

 

[tntchix]

@Indoroowet I don't hate the wires I may have to go that route. I like that one. I just have a very wide driveway section right there with lots of traffic coming and going out of barn.

 

[Indoroowet]

I just have a very wide driveway section right there with lots of traffic coming and going out of barn.

If so, then I suggest, in *burying* the wires.

Due to the distance, you may have to buy two extensions cords.

Is there some way you could *span* a steel wire from one building to the other and hang the two small video feeds on that wire ?
The same way the phone line or power lines come into your house ?
Somewhere, there must be the shortest distance to do this.

The problem with *encasing* the wires, is the size of the connectors.
Somewhere , you HAVE to get those connectors thru a tube or some other cover.
There IS a way to do it thru a rather small tube, but you have to rig up the connectors a certain way.
The tube I have, has been sitting on the grass for a while and presently can hardly be seen any more.
It has *sunk* down a bit and the grass has almost covered it completely.

As I said before, depending on the physical situation,
a wireless set-up may not work due to interference of whatever is in between the camera and the monitor.

I wonder if you still could buy a wireless unit that hooks up to your smart phone.
Then try it, and if you bought it from Amazon, you may be able to return it due to the fact that you can not operate the unit successfully.
Amazon seems to have a very good return policy !

The Foscam mentioned in one post does have some *neat* features like pan and zoom, so one camera can monitor quite a large area.
It is only 20 some dollars more than the Harbour Freight one which is wired.

Another suggestion may work ...
I assume the barn is wired for power ?
If so, there are cameras which connect by means of CAT 5 cable.
There is a way when two items are connected via CAT 5 cable, like your modem and computer,'
you could get one of those doohickies that plug into the electrical circuits of your house and barn.
Those items function as a modem and thus you can have the camera connected to your computer via that mode.
Just something to think about !

One last comment:
The Harbor Freight units work but have really lousy colour !
Except I did not care about colour !
But ... , they have excellent night vision !

I just saw this one:
http://foscam.us/wireless-ip-cameras/foscam-fi8910w-wireless-ip-camera.html
I think it is the one the above poster mentioned !

 

[tntchix]

@Indoroowet Thank you so much for your detailed response. Lots of ideas. I will be looking into this.