Grow room monitoring camera ideas?

O

oill

Well-Known Member
Hi guys,

I was thinking that if I have a room in my attic, I could use a wireless Web am to monitor the room, even if I am not at home over the Internet.

You can get wifi remote control cameras.. So you can pivot and tilt the camera. The idea is I can miminise ladder action. Have temp and humidity in view too.

Has anyone done this?
Any security concerns?
Any recommendations on camera?

Cheers.
 
GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Foscam has some nice pan/tilt/zoom WiFi cameras at reasonable prices. I've used some of their models for 4+ years and just had one die on me in that time. They have a ton of features including the ability to take snapshots, record video, and motion detection.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_4_0?me=A3F3ZKMU0NXC4F&fst=as:off&rh=p_4:Foscam&ie=UTF8&qid=1511737229

Also for RH/Temp monitoring I've been using the Lacrosse RF/WiFi monitors, you can see/check your readings anytime through their app or browser and download up to 2 weeks of data at a time if you want to keep/analyze history.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/temperature-and-humidity-monitor-and-alert-system/

With the camera, if you're in a non-legal state and want to access it remotely (outside of your home WiFi connection) I'd recommend to use their cloud service. You can connect to them in various ways but the cloud service or vpn into your network/router are about the only safe bets. Exposing the cameras directly to the internet is pretty easy to hack. Not just these cameras, any device directly exposed will get hacked at some point.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
GroErr said:
Foscam has some nice pan/tilt/zoom WiFi cameras at reasonable prices. I've used some of their models for 4+ years and just had one die on me in that time. They have a ton of features including the ability to take snapshots, record video, and motion detection.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_4_0?me=A3F3ZKMU0NXC4F&fst=as:off&rh=p_4:Foscam&ie=UTF8&qid=1511737229

Also for RH/Temp monitoring I've been using the Lacrosse RF/WiFi monitors, you can see/check your readings anytime through their app or browser and download up to 2 weeks of data at a time if you want to keep/analyze history.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/temperature-and-humidity-monitor-and-alert-system/

With the camera, if you're in a non-legal state and want to access it remotely (outside of your home WiFi connection) I'd recommend to use their cloud service. You can connect to them in various ways but the cloud service or vpn into your network/router are about the only safe bets. Exposing the cameras directly to the internet is pretty easy to hack. Not just these cameras, any device directly exposed will get hacked at some point.
Click to expand...
Surely to connect the camera to a cloud service, ie has to be connected to the Internet? What's better about the cloud service? Better encryption?

Glad to hear there is someone else doing this.

Was thinking about it some more... Actually, because I live in a city, might be more at risk of someone seeing a phone screen full of weed. Could increase risk in itself
 
GroErr

GroErr

Well-Known Member
oill said:
Surely to connect the camera to a cloud service, ie has to be connected to the Internet? What's better about the cloud service? Better encryption?

Glad to hear there is someone else doing this.

Was thinking about it some more... Actually, because I live in a city, might be more at risk of someone seeing a phone screen full of weed. Could increase risk in itself
Click to expand...
Yes, for the cloud service of course it would be connected to the internet but it's not directly exposed in that the connections are into the service provider, not the camera. Connections to cloud services are also encrypted and typically more modern protocols as they have to protect their customers and reduce liability.

I personally don't expose my cameras at all and if I do need to access them remotely I vpn into my network, then connect to the cameras once I'm inside my network but I'm in the business and have the vpn setup to do it, clouds services are easier for most users. Yeah, definitely have to be careful where you're accessing the cameras in public places...
 
cheemo

cheemo

Well-Known Member
searching threads for wifi room monitoring cameras and this one came up. my question about them is regarding to the infrared night vision, the camera automatically turns on the infrared lights when it senses darkness, will that spectrum interfere with light off periods? I keep the infrared light setting off unless I'm peeking in on them during the dark, can a person leave them on or is a guy looking for trouble?

thanks for any help provided.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
cheemo said:
searching threads for wifi room monitoring cameras and this one came up. my question about them is regarding to the infrared night vision, the camera automatically turns on the infrared lights when it senses darkness, will that spectrum interfere with light off periods? I keep the infrared light setting off unless I'm peeking in on them during the dark, can a person leave them on or is a guy looking for trouble?

thanks for any help provided.
Click to expand...
So I bought a camera but I 3nded up sending it back.... But it did have ir night vision.

The issue was that in the day the lights were too bright for the camera to see anything. I put a lense from an old pair of sunglasses over it, but then the ir night vision didn't work.

Think it's possible but might be hard to get it to work dayand night.
 
cheemo

cheemo

Well-Known Member
oill said:
So I bought a camera but I 3nded up sending it back.... But it did have ir night vision.

The issue was that in the day the lights were too bright for the camera to see anything. I put a lense from an old pair of sunglasses over it, but then the ir night vision didn't work.

Think it's possible but might be hard to get it to work dayand night.
Click to expand...
mine is the same, just like trying to take photos with my phone's camera...light is too strong and makes horizontal lines across the video image. but all I really need it to do is see that the light comes on when it's programmed to, and see if there are any water leaks or water laying on the floor. my only concern is leaving the IR feature on when it gets dark, don't want it to mess with the plants in flowering when it gets dark for 12hrs. I'll just keep the IR turned off and only turn it on remotely when I want to look in there when it's dark I guess.
 
O

oill

Well-Known Member
cheemo said:
mine is the same, just like trying to take photos with my phone's camera...light is too strong and makes horizontal lines across the video image. but all I really need it to do is see that the light comes on when it's programmed to, and see if there are any water leaks or water laying on the floor. my only concern is leaving the IR feature on when it gets dark, don't want it to mess with the plants in flowering when it gets dark for 12hrs. I'll just keep the IR turned off and only turn it on remotely when I want to look in there when it's dark I guess.
Click to expand...
If you have reason to doubt your lights or your plumbing then I would focus on that and anything that might contain a leek. I have a home made water catch that would contain all the water in the system if anything went wrong
 
cheemo

cheemo

Well-Known Member
oill said:
If you have reason to doubt your lights or your plumbing then I would focus on that and anything that might contain a leek. I have a home made water catch that would contain all the water in the system if anything went wrong
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I have no reason to doubt my system or any of it's components, but shit happens. and it's fun to just look at them when I'm away from home, or talk to my boy through the two way speaker when he's changing water etc.
 
nurrgle

nurrgle

Well-Known Member
I have Arlos in my home and work places. It notifies me if anyone is moving around, has night vision, and I can tell mofo’s to beat feet if it alerts me through the speaker. All wireless and you can have 9 cameras on your app before you have to pay any fees.

I used to use game cameras and the wired cameras, these are a game changer. It is possible to hack the system I suppose as its on my network and through the Arlo system. But if you are worried about that and someone has enough info to pull a warrant your already fucked
 
cheemo

cheemo

Well-Known Member
I have the Yi cameras indoors, no subscription fees required for those. they also have motion detection, 2 way speaker/mic etc but my outdoor cameras are Nest. subscription required for those but they are loaded with features, motion detection, sound detection, face recognition, and stores 30 days of continuous HD video. sends email and text messages when motion is detected, my driveway is 300 meters long and it can detect vehicles turning off the highway into my yard. handy.

we can legally grow 4 plants here in Alberta, I'm more worried about criminals creeping my place than cops. they don't give a fuck about property crimes here.
 
jdworld

jdworld

Active Member
nurrgle said:
I have Arlos in my home and work places. It notifies me if anyone is moving around, has night vision, and I can tell mofo’s to beat feet if it alerts me through the speaker. All wireless and you can have 9 cameras on your app before you have to pay any fees.

I used to use game cameras and the wired cameras, these are a game changer. It is possible to hack the system I suppose as its on my network and through the Arlo system. But if you are worried about that and someone has enough info to pull a warrant your already fucked
Click to expand...
Another vote from me using the Arlos Cam's, they are excellent :)
 
cheemo

cheemo

Well-Known Member
I looked at the Arlo cameras but they aren't guaranteed to function at temperatures below 0 Celsius. kind of a deal breaker here where it can drop well below -40 C on occasion.
 
djwimbo

djwimbo

Well-Known Member
My “kitty cam” has auto IR. So if it’s setup in the dining room with the light off, it flips to B&W with IR. Turn the light on it flips back to color and the IR turns off.
I want more of a webcam type for daily pics. I really want to do a time lapse of a grow.
There’s inexpensive options around $25-50. But I agree on the cloud option, I don’t trust the Internet or people.
 
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