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PTZ webcam with tethered phone (for the lulz)


ronnietucker

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My latest madcap experiment (aka: possible way to drain my battery) is an old android phone with tether mode enabled to act as a wifi point for a cheap PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) webcam.

 

The USB hub is in a 2.1A socket and uses 5.3V / 0.02A with nothing plugged into it.

The phone (while charging) in the USB hub uses 4.9V / 0.7A

The webcam in the USB hub uses 4.9V / 0.6A

 

First, the phone has to be in tether mode to act as a wifi point. For this you give it a hotspot name and password:

IMG_20190302_121737.jpg.d82047e12da2b003cc37c36de81db8cd.jpg

 

The little circular looking wifi icon at the top means it's functioning as a wifi router:

IMG_20190302_121759.jpg.b278ab58258ae50e4e38e5145ee26485.jpg

 

I'd previously setup the camera before going to the boat, but the procedure is to get the old phone into tether mode, open the app, sign up for an account (free) and tell the app to link the tether wifi to the camera, give the app the tether password, and the camera should connect to the tether and be all good.

 

Here she is in action:

IMG_20190302_122033.jpg.3d4fdb25e9c9315e04b1bbfdf00e4591.jpg

IMG_20190302_122043.jpg.decf507249fdd02ef9a3ac3caf4f0ea7.jpg

 

On my daily phone (using 4G data, so not connected to the tether), I open the app, sign in and I should hopefully see my camera:

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-21-19-928_com.ipc360.png.41f57896212490a6a098bfb2d8e49886.png

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-21-30-373_com.ipc360.png.dcf354e3d9f9c340662c2be71083899b.png

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-21-38-954_com.ipc360.png.f089a12dabf1153623664aa659b33b0e.png

 

Lovely!

 

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-22-24-575_com.ipc360.png.55b5e90ed11b5e5fcdb914d0ffc97b02.png

 

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-23-03-923_com.ipc360.png.90ac101e60a60b84e380b3bd8dba061c.png

 

So I'm basically hoping that I can get some sunshine on my solar panel before the camera and phone drain the battery.

 

Screenshot_2019-03-02-12-23-18-134_com.ipc360.png.2f8ffc9539e480c959e843d099330c8d.png

 

The camera has a ton of good settings and is recording 24/7 to an SD card inside it. I can set it to trigger remotely if it detects motion, and even send sound.

 

Yes, it's not vandal/theft proof as is, but I'm just using it to have a looksy when I'm missing her.  :D

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We just connect our camera to the router via wifi and it sends us emails if there is any movement on the boat.

Easy to keep an eye on things all the time.

You'll struggle if you ever get to Braunston. I router with an external antenna is far better than a phone.

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I havnt a flippin clue what all that was about ? It made me think though as  a confirmed dinosaur is there anything out there like a camera thingy that I could leave switched on that I could somehow access from my mobile fone when not onboard. Just for a laugh like its not life or death so if its a hassle I dont need to bovver?

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18 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I havnt a flippin clue what all that was about ? It made me think though as  a confirmed dinosaur is there anything out there like a camera thingy that I could leave switched on that I could somehow access from my mobile fone when not onboard.

Yes, that’s what the OP described :D

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13 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Yes, that’s what the OP described :D

.....but much simpler.

Take camera out of box. Connect to router...or midi unit.......and log in to camera manufactures web site.

Siiiimple.

You do need to leave the router on when you leave the boat but that is what we do if on shore power or for up to 2 nights if we park in the sun.

 

 

eta....Ronnie makes it sound like rocket science. Maybe he has his connected up to his plasma regeneration circuit so in his case it probably is.

 

Edited by Dr Bob
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11 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

.....but much simpler.

Take camera out of box. Connect to router...or midi unit.......and log in to camera manufactures web site.

Siiiimple.

You do need to leave the router on when you leave the boat but that is what we do if on shore power or for up to 2 nights if we park in the sun.

 

 

eta....Ronnie makes it sound like rocket science. Maybe he has his connected up to his plasma regeneration circuit so in his case it probably is.

 

The idea of the tethered phone is for those of us who don't have access to wifi onboard.

 

And it's still running almost 24hrs later. So it hasn't completely drained the battery.  :)

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12 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

.....but much simpler.

Take camera out of box. Connect to router...or midi unit.......and log in to camera manufactures web site.

Siiiimple.

You do need to leave the router on when you leave the boat but that is what we do if on shore power or for up to 2 nights if we park in the sun.

 

 

eta....Ronnie makes it sound like rocket science. Maybe he has his connected up to his plasma regeneration circuit so in his case it probably is.

 

I watched a 20 minute video on it last night. Google “victure camera” . It was about 10 mins longer than necessary, but worth watching as there are a couple of things that could trip up the non expert - no point reinventing the wheel and all that :) 

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13 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I havnt a flippin clue what all that was about ? It made me think though as  a confirmed dinosaur is there anything out there like a camera thingy that I could leave switched on that I could somehow access from my mobile fone when not onboard. Just for a laugh like its not life or death so if its a hassle I dont need to bovver?

You could draw a picture or take a photo of the inside of your boat and just look at it now and again.  Chances are it's all gonna be ok, so mostly it'll be just as helpful as a live video feed.  Should anything ever go wrong, you're not going to sort it out til you get back to the boat for a proper assessment anyway, so you'll only be marginally disadvantaged by this analogue method. ;)

 

Don't have nightmares; do sleep well. :D

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

You could draw a picture or take a photo of the inside of your boat and just look at it now and again.  Chances are it's all gonna be ok, so mostly it'll be just as helpful as a live video feed.  Should anything ever go wrong, you're not going to sort it out til you get back to the boat for a proper assessment anyway, so you'll only be marginally disadvantaged by this analogue method. ;)

 

Don't have nightmares; do sleep well. :D

 

 

:P

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1 hour ago, Richard10002 said:

I watched a 20 minute video on it last night. Google “victure camera” . It was about 10 mins longer than necessary, but worth watching as there are a couple of things that could trip up the non expert - no point reinventing the wheel and all that :) 

Not sure if it's in the video, but it tripped me up, was the little reset button under the rotating lens of the camera. That's used when you're linking the camera to the wifi.

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

You could draw a picture or take a photo of the inside of your boat and just look at it now and again.  Chances are it's all gonna be ok, so mostly it'll be just as helpful as a live video feed.  Should anything ever go wrong, you're not going to sort it out til you get back to the boat for a proper assessment anyway, so you'll only be marginally disadvantaged by this analogue method. ;)

 

Don't have nightmares; do sleep well. :D

 

 

Ah, but mine is purposely positioned at the window so I can also look across/up/down the canal. See? Thinking ahead.  :D

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Reading with great interest, but one thing I'm not quite sure of.  Does the old phone doing the tethering need any internet connection of its own?  If it does - is it using up data all the time?

Edited by Tom Morgan
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41 minutes ago, Tom Morgan said:

Reading with great interest, but one thing I'm not quite sure of.  Does the old phone doing the tethering need any internet connection of its own?  If it does - is it using up data all the time?

The old phone is using its mobile data package (2GB/mth on GiffGaff - we'll see if that package is suitable) for me using the camera from the outside world.

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38 minutes ago, Tom Morgan said:

Thanks for your reply, Ronnie.  I'm very much interested in replicating your setup.  (Later in the year, when I have a suitable solar panel to keep the battery topped up.

Obviously that'll be dependent on there being power to spare after ensuring a reliable supply for the wine/beer cooler, right Tom? (priorities, priorities) ;)

 

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10 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

wine/beer cooler

 

Oh, you mean that void under the floor? ;)  :D

 

53 minutes ago, Tom Morgan said:

Thanks for your reply, Ronnie.  I'm very much interested in replicating your setup.  (Later in the year, when I have a suitable solar panel to keep the battery topped up.

Yeah, it definitely needs a solar panel or shore power to keep topping up what the phone and camera are using up. But even if the battery was reeeeeally low the phone and camera should still carry on running as the most they need is 5V.

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