natureoncam technical and links

Technical specs of cameras and other useful information will be available
here, as will suppliers and hints and tips as I hopefully solve the problems that
are bound to occur.
Shown above is some of the wiring and the four cams of different types which
are now in place.
Three cameras will be focused on two bird feeders and a nesting box and
one used to film any nocturnal visitors to our garden.
Two of the cameras are equipped with day night vision using LED's, the other
two have microphones.
All four are hard wired, wireless was not considered due to very thick walls, an
existing abundance of wireless networks in the area and many trees.
The thick stone walls of the house have proved to be a major problem, I
eventually used a professional SDS plus drill after destroying my very old DIY
quality drill, it is amazing how simple jobs are when you use the right tools.
It took ten minutes to drill the other holes that I needed!
The cables have been laid in the garden and the waterproof junction boxes
fitted for the interconnections. One cam is fitted to a suet ball type feeder and
hopefully will provide plenty of action, another is housed in a old bird feeder
overlooking our main seed feeder which is in constant use.
I will be using iCatcher software combined with a Euresys Picolo Junior 4 PC
card to capture and display the images.
My PC is a dual core Intel running at 3Ghz plus with plenty of graphics power
as well, using Windows 7 32bit.
One concern I do have is the squirrels attacking and destroying the cables
and or the cameras. The cameras will all be housed in sturdy wooden boxes
but obviously will require to be open at one end for the lens. The concern over
the squirrels is well justified, a cable on a feeder pole was chewed through in
three places!
Problem solved by laying the cable in some old copper piping.
The cable up the tree to the nest box has been run in some 1" diameter hose
piping rescued from a pond we used to have in another house.
In these days of recession and global warming it is even more necessary to
re-use bits and pieces rescued from old projects and if necessary modify
them to suit your current needs. If nothing available in your shed try Maplins or
CPC, reasonable prices and normally available off the shelf.