Remote Internet Monitoring of a Tank?

UH_OH_5_OH

UH_OH_5_OH

New member
Okay so it's not for a tank but I was curious if the DIY Overlords on here can tell me if it's possible to hook these cameras:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47546


....to be visually accessed from a website camera ?!


I think I'm saying that right.....basically I want to be able to click a link on a website that will let me look at what this camera is watching which in this case is Falcons.


I'm sure it's doable but a security consultant told us that to do it up right was $26,000.00

He was escorted from the premesis without delay !


So..........IN LAYMENS TERMS.......how would this be done ???



and thanks for the help !!!
 
How "hard" it will be depends on how you connect to the Internet. If you have a broadband connection with a static IP address, you can do it for under 200 dollars, easily.

To find out if you have a static IP address or not, go to www.ipchicken.com and write down the address it gives you. Bunch of numbers with dots in it.
Turn your PC off.
Turn off your modem - unplug it.
Wait 3 minutes.
Turn the modem back on.
Turn the PC on.
Re-check the IP address.

If they are the same, then you have a static IP address.
With a static IP address, you can go to www.apache.org and download the Apache server software (free). Then you find live webcam software (you can find free as well as paid). Then you are just providing a live feed to the server software.
You could register a domain name (not required) or access it directly via IP address.
The only issue might come about trying to feed it a live TV feed instead of a video format. That is easily solved by using a standard computer webcam camera instead of the camera from Harbor Freight.

I have set up about 8 or 9 of these over the last 10 years and you can do it for under 200 dollars.

If you decide to do it this way, send me a PM and I will give you my phone number and am willing to talk you through the entire setup process or even talk to you to figure out the best way to do it.

Good luck with it.
 
check out costco... they have great deals on DVR recorders and camera sets, some of which are the remote-viewable types as well.
http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?ec=BC-EC3-Cat79&pos=6&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=4802&eCat=BC|79|4802&lang=en-US

And $26,000. That guy must have been out of his mind. ADT installed 8 cameras with a 500gb DVR, hosting webpage, and instillation for $2,450. The cameras are all outdoor night vision cameras as well and the image quality is excellent.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13004611#post13004611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralfragger101
How would you go about this if you DO NOT have a static IP Address?
Click to expand...

The same way. The only difference is one of convenience you need to know what your current IP address is to access the page. Of course as it happens there are several dynamic DNS providers who will automagicly point your domain name at what ever new IP address you have been assigned.

Do a quick google search on Dynamic DNS and you'll find several providers.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13004448#post13004448 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by One Dumm Hikk
How "hard" it will be depends on how you connect to the Internet. If you have a broadband connection with a static IP address, you can do it for under 200 dollars, easily.

To find out if you have a static IP address or not, go to www.ipchicken.com and write down the address it gives you. Bunch of numbers with dots in it.
Turn your PC off.
Turn off your modem - unplug it.
Wait 3 minutes.
Turn the modem back on.
Turn the PC on.
Re-check the IP address.
Click to expand...

Only if somebody else grabs the IP you were using... you could easily end up with the same IP address depending on many variables. Is the service DHCP, PPOE, BOOTP, etc. What are the lease times, how large is the pool and how many users are assigned to that pool. Is the IP assigned by MAC and is the MAC cashed?

Lets put it another way... most folks that have a static IP know that they have a static IP because they had to request it :) If they don't know what a static IP is they are in turn going to have a hard time setting up any type of server or host without first doing a lot of homework.

Bean
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13004469#post13004469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thirschmann
check out costco... they have great deals on DVR recorders and camera sets, some of which are the remote-viewable types as well.
http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?ec=BC-EC3-Cat79&pos=6&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=4802&eCat=BC|79|4802&lang=en-US

And $26,000. That guy must have been out of his mind. ADT installed 8 cameras with a 500gb DVR, hosting webpage, and instillation for $2,450. The cameras are all outdoor night vision cameras as well and the image quality is excellent.
Click to expand...

It all depends on the quality you are looking for.

The costco stuff is garbage, the ADT stuff us garbage. FWIW ADT gives the junk away for free (lease to own) so that they can sell you monitoring and other montly money makers.

Anyway, you get what you pay for in cameras and DVRs. I am working on a quote this morning for 36 IP cameras split over two sites they will be using fixed zoom IP cameras. The installed cost will be close to $65,000 and that is a deal. I have an install later this week in a pharmacy. It will be 4 cameras and a host PC. The installed cost will be $7,500.

A good PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) camera is $3,000. Lower end IP PTZ cameras start at around $800. Decent fixed indoor IP cameras starts at around $300 and the higher end ones are around $1500.

You don't need a DVR or capture card if you go with an IP camera, you can use a PC. All you need is a router. The camera goes on the same network as your computer. You can access it via the internet just like you would your computer. The comptuer can be used to store the recorded video.
 
What if you just wanted to use a normal PTZ web cam from logitech and didn't need the recording capability? COuld you use say a $100 webcam and some free software to setup a website where you could view your tank by going to your tanks website?
 
BeanAnimal-
I agree that the standard cameras from ADT are CRAP but I've upgraded them through my rep to something decent, funny thing was that the cost wasn't all that more but the image quality was significantly better. I was basing my suggestion on the quality of camera the original poster referred to by his link.

I am actually looking for 2 nice PTZ cameras for my fish tank and equipment rooms. Any suggestions? Resolution and zoom are the key factors I'm interested in as they will be mostly used to check on my system while I'm away. Thanks for any information you can provide.
 
I've got a similar set up to remotely check on my tank in my office. I have two cameras (older Itel units nothin' special) running on WebCam XP. Once the router is set up and you assign a static IP to the computer running the cam software you're good to go. The software builds the page, let's you access the PTZ functions of the cameras. Grant it, the image quality isn't great but the set up cost me nearly nuthin, just the software. Can check on my tank 24/7/365.
 
thirsch...

Axis and Canon both make very good PTZ cameras. AXIS has mechanical and soft PTZ models in varying resolutions and zoom ratios.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13005215#post13005215 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cpeisher
What if you just wanted to use a normal PTZ web cam from logitech and didn't need the recording capability? COuld you use say a $100 webcam and some free software to setup a website where you could view your tank by going to your tanks website?
Click to expand...

Yea - this is what I want. Nothing fancy. I just want to be able to check on things when I'm out of town on vacation or something.

I can invision the following scenerio. I'm away on vacation and my neighbor (who knows nothing about reef tanks) is watching over the place. He suspects a problem. I can log onto a web site and SEE what is going on. While talking on the phone to him I could even have him move the camera to various parts of the system so that I can SEE it all and figure out what is wrong.

This is easily feasable?

So what does it take to do this?

I have a webcam already.
 
I don't suspect the webcam has anywhere near the resolution you need to determine what is goin on with the tank.... if it does, then all you need is webcamXP or similar software and either a static Ip address or a dynamic IP address update service as mentioned above.
 
to get around the dynaimic IP issues at my place I use a free service from www.no-ip.com. If you install their Dynamic Update Client (DUC) on a PC in your home it will automatically update the referral address with the right IP. You can then access the page via UH_OH_5_OH.no-ip.info or any other name you pick.

I want to set up a system like this as well but mine I want to be even more difficult with SMS/text messaging of tank parameters and warnings... Still doing research on that stuff...lol. It will probably be awhile before it gets built but I will for sure be posting the plans when it is done.
 
bean,
You obviously know way more about this me, but it seems to me that the resolution on a high def webcam would be sufficient to "check on things" The $100 Logitech QC Pro 9000 says it has 1600x1200 resolution, that seems like it would be fairly good. What are the resolutions of the camera your talking about?

On another note, one of the things i was day dreaming about one day was a way to put a PTZ camera INTO the tank, say in a submersible acrylic box, that way if i was out of the house or something i could actually see the fish and corals doing their thing around in the tank. Has anyone done this or seen it done?
 
At that high of resolution the amount of streaming video would really bog down most internet connections.

Did you look into a video capture card like ATI All In Wonder? You could use that and WEbcamXP and NO-IP.com to set up a camera using a standard video camera.

See if you can access this. It can't be reached behind a lot of corporate firewalls.

http://faszl.no-ip.com:88

I run that using an ATI card, a video capture card and home based web server. When I leave the house for a few days I will put a camera on the main tank so I can see the temperature, water level and the fish. I also use Homeseer software to control lights, pumps and heat but that is a whole other issue.


Faz
 
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