WiFi Camera's

[Indy]

I'm in a situation where i can't tend to my plants everyday for a spell, so i'm looking for something to monitor my grow (via my phone) while i can't attend to them. I do like the functions that come with baby monitors today. But i'm looking for something a bit more secure, and doesn't support or can turn off Cloud Storage.

So yeah, i'm not up to speed with the latest gear out there. Does anyone know of something that might be suitable?

Also, a curious question. Would the infra-red led's used for night-vision affect a plant/s while it's flowering?

 

[R3za92]

I'm in a situation where i can't tend to my plants everyday for a spell, so i'm looking for something to monitor my grow (via my phone) while i can't attend to them. I do like the functions that come with baby monitors today. But i'm looking for something a bit more secure, and doesn't support or can turn off Cloud Storage.

So yeah, i'm not up to speed with the latest gear out there. Does anyone know of something that might be suitable?

Also, a curious question. Would the infra-red led's used for night-vision affect a plant/s while it's flowering

It’s contested but plants do detect the IR spectrum so imo any ir night vision has the possibility to effect plants in some way.

Could just go with one of the cheap security dvr off eBay hooked up To ya wifi. I’m sure there’s more than a few YouTube guides on how to set them up securely. I’d pop the camera apart and disable the ir leds but I’m pretty sure they can also be turned off in the software.

 

[DosFish]

Raspberry pi has a NoIR camera accessory. (NoIR = No Infrared filter.). apparently it can be used to monitor health of plants by indicating levels of chlorophyll - see link below for info on this.

It can be installed on Raspberry Pi "Pico" which is cheap and has wifi.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/whats-that-blue-thing-doing-here/

 

[thefullspectrum]

The 2 wifi/bluetooth cameras I tried are fucking useless. Just wont transmit out of the growbox. Too much insulation and foil maybe. Probably shit quality, I'd like to try a better quality one.

The nightvision IR is dim but like Bruce Bugbee says, If you cant read a book under the light its not enough to affect the photoperiod in short spurts. However the cumulative affect could pose a problem if its on a lot.

 

[ThaliaGreen]

I've heard that the wyze cameras are ok.

But I don't own one, so I don't know

 

[itchybro]

i've been considering these things for my next setup when i "eventually" get to where i'm going

do I/you have to have a cam if you can monitor & control your grow room remotely ?

if your not near your room & the vision shows a problem you won't be in position to repair the problem anyway
although you might be looking at it from " i've got kids " point of view then a cam might be all you need , as well as a wife to direct the kids away while dad fixes an issue

grow room monitor only via phone app & can setup alerts to let you know of potential probs , can buy in oz
grow room monitor & comtrol via phone app , not sure if this one is available in oz but i think there should be something similar here
grow media moisture monitoring via phone app , i think this is available in oz , this won't turn anything off or on just monitor but with the unit above you could turn a pump on & off as needs be

a little more costly than buying a cam on it's own of cause , but i do like having the remote control & monitoring of many aspects of your grow , as well as having a history of monitoring you can look back at over a day , week , month , grow

 

[Indy]

if your not near your room & the vision shows a problem you won't be in position to repair the problem anyway

Well, I do to some extent with inkbirds, etc.. where I can regulate temps and air flows. But in worst case scenario, I can still get someone to shut the whole show down. But yeah, beyond that im screwed.

 

[Mellow oldfark]

May be able to Gaffa tape over some ir,s?

 

[R3za92]

The 2 wifi/bluetooth cameras I tried are fucking useless. Just wont transmit out of the growbox. Too much insulation and foil maybe. Probably shit quality, I'd like to try a better quality one.

The nightvision IR is dim but like Bruce Bugbee says, If you cant read a book under the light its not enough to affect the photoperiod in short spurts. However the cumulative affect could pose a problem if its on a lot.

Yeah I’d go a wired camera to dvr model (personlly I like power over Ethernet devices so it’s only 1 cord for power and data)

 

[Indy]

A few years back I ran a fair bit of Cat6 cable all over this joint, just haven't hooked it all up to a CCTV hub, server, etc..

But yeah, looking for a quick fix for now.

 

[Billygoat]

used netgear Arlo. earlier models that dont require subscription.

Turn off the motion sensor, so you can just log in when you want. Leave it plugged in to power (but they do last a few months on battery). log into it when you like.

no idea on IR.

 

[Pure]

A few years back I ran a fair bit of Cat6 cable all over this joint, just haven't hooked it all up to a CCTV hub, server, etc..

But yeah, looking for a quick fix for now.

Anything you can access on your phone is going to be cloud integrated/accessible unless you want to setup something private for yourself. Plenty of providers don't store or let you record the stream but the stream still exists if that's an issue.

If you are ok and have the technical background my recommendation would be some ESP32 based cameras linked up to something like Home Assistant and a VPN into your home to access it. That's a simplified version of what I personally do but a little more advanced camera wise than the little ESP32 ones. It's also something you can likely find 100 guides online about

Honestly though it's easy enough to hide in any of the hundreds of Tuya based IP camera eco systems. in a stream of billions they need to be looking for something to give a shit and then you likely have bigger problems anyway.

Unifi have some decent products but I wouldn't suggest them for the paranoid

My bigger concern with anything wireless is some kid in the neighborhood stumbling onto something while they learn about IT security.

 

[Madmick]

I've got Swan security cameras , all the files are held on the unit itself

I can get access to the files on my phone , I don't ghink they ever reach the cloud

I turned off notifications though

 

[Indy]

Cheers, Pure. There certainly many security issues like you mentioned that is fairly daunting. If i get the time i'll look into the ESP32 based systems that you mentioned.

But yeah, it does make one wonder if it's all worthwhile.

 

[Indy]

I've got Swan security cameras , all the files are held on the unit itself

I can get access to the files on my phone , I don't ghink they ever reach the cloud

I turned off notifications though

Thats a CCTV based system, mate?

 

[Madmick]

I think so

 

[Indy]

I think so

Yeah, i think thats about the only way to play it safe, mate. I was looking for something that i could possibly use while i was away from home.

 

[Madmick]

You can mate , got a app that's let's you check cameras wherever you are long as got got internet

 

[benn0]

I use a raspberry pi with motioneye and a few webcams, pretty neat setup and I have an RTL-SDR dongle attatched to pick up the bunnings remote sensor and dump it into a sql database

 

[Pure]

You can mate , got a app that's let's you check cameras wherever you are long as got got internet

Absolutely means you are using a cloud service.

Regardless of who you use even NVR wise when you can access it through your phone it means it connects back through their cloud. This is how the devices work by default

Now saying that you CAN set them up to operate on a Private Network, not use their cloud etc but then you are into the argument of needing to actually needing to publish the service yourself which is arguably more risk than hiding amoungst the crowd.