There's a thread going on about bad customer service from a company that sells target cam systems. I was going to post this over there, but it's off topic from the title of the thread.
I was thinking about this for awhile, and think I have a low-cost solution for target cams using wireless Ethernet. Let me know what you think of this idea...
At the target:
1) Wireless Ethernet access point (router) with built-in switch (between free and $100)
2) PoE adapter (about $40)
3) Cantenna (about $50 pre-built... can be built easily for $20 and under)
4) PoE capable IP Camera (between $100 and $150)
basic schematic (in words
):
- The Cantenna is connected to the antenna jack on the WLAN router, and pointed at the shooter's location
- A short Cat5 cable from one of the switch ports on the router to the PoE adapter
- Cat5 cable from the PoE adapter to the security camera; the camera pointed at the target.
(you could use a PoE switch, but they're costly when compared to adding a converter to a standard switch. Unless you need multiple PoE connections (multiple PoE capable cameras).
=============
At the Bench:
1) Laptop
2) WLAN card with external antenna jack (USB or PCMCIA... Quick google search, and I found a USB donlge with an external antenna for $1.50)
3) Cantenna
Schematic:
- stick the WLAN card in your laptop
- connect the cantenna to the WLAN card
=============================
Total cost varies with what you buy, or already have on hand...
At the target - approx $250
at the bench - approx $60 (laptop not included, but most of us already have one)
Total - approx $310
============================
The only thing I have not included here is a power supply for the equipment at the target. The router and the PoE converter are the only devices that require power. Both are DC powered, so a battery would work. A tractor battery or a car battery combined with the appropriate resistors would give you the appropriate output voltage and amperage required by the router and PoE converter. (I'm not too good with power calculations, so I'd have to dig into this a bit)
IP cameras generally use a web browser for the video feed (They act as a web server). Therefore you'll need 2-way communications (that's why you would need a cantenna at each end. (This could be beneficial if you are shooting at multiple targets that won't fit into the camera's field of view. IP cameras in a slightly higher price range offer remote pan/tilt/zoom through soft controls in the browser page. That feature would be pretty cool for a few reasons. From what I've seen this would be one of very few systems that offers 2-way communications between the user and the remote equipment.
People have used cantenna's successfully over a mile in clear line of sight (LOS) without much effort. Some people have reported ranges over 2 miles, and even up to 5 miles.
The PoE camera is a cool idea, because you can run the Cat5 cable up to about 100 meters. That would allow you to keep the power supply (battery), the router, and PoE converter away from the line of fire. The only item in danger would be the camera its self (if placed in the line of fire).
If you were to use an Ethernet switch at each end, you could set up a camera at each target, and only need a single pair of Cantenna's to backhaul the video. If you were equipping a range with mutliple targets, I think this would be a very cost effective solution. Multiple cameras, and multiple monitors, all using a single wireless link. To add an additional camera to a system like this would only cost what you spend on the camera and the Cat5e cabling to run from the switch to the camera. (If you know someone like me, then cat5e patch cables are free!)
Am I way out of line here, or does this sound feasible?
This post ended up longer than what I wanted... sorry ;D
I was thinking about this for awhile, and think I have a low-cost solution for target cams using wireless Ethernet. Let me know what you think of this idea...
At the target:
1) Wireless Ethernet access point (router) with built-in switch (between free and $100)
2) PoE adapter (about $40)
3) Cantenna (about $50 pre-built... can be built easily for $20 and under)
4) PoE capable IP Camera (between $100 and $150)
basic schematic (in words
):- The Cantenna is connected to the antenna jack on the WLAN router, and pointed at the shooter's location
- A short Cat5 cable from one of the switch ports on the router to the PoE adapter
- Cat5 cable from the PoE adapter to the security camera; the camera pointed at the target.
(you could use a PoE switch, but they're costly when compared to adding a converter to a standard switch. Unless you need multiple PoE connections (multiple PoE capable cameras).
=============
At the Bench:
1) Laptop
2) WLAN card with external antenna jack (USB or PCMCIA... Quick google search, and I found a USB donlge with an external antenna for $1.50)
3) Cantenna
Schematic:
- stick the WLAN card in your laptop
- connect the cantenna to the WLAN card
=============================
Total cost varies with what you buy, or already have on hand...
At the target - approx $250
at the bench - approx $60 (laptop not included, but most of us already have one)
Total - approx $310
============================
The only thing I have not included here is a power supply for the equipment at the target. The router and the PoE converter are the only devices that require power. Both are DC powered, so a battery would work. A tractor battery or a car battery combined with the appropriate resistors would give you the appropriate output voltage and amperage required by the router and PoE converter. (I'm not too good with power calculations, so I'd have to dig into this a bit)
IP cameras generally use a web browser for the video feed (They act as a web server). Therefore you'll need 2-way communications (that's why you would need a cantenna at each end. (This could be beneficial if you are shooting at multiple targets that won't fit into the camera's field of view. IP cameras in a slightly higher price range offer remote pan/tilt/zoom through soft controls in the browser page. That feature would be pretty cool for a few reasons. From what I've seen this would be one of very few systems that offers 2-way communications between the user and the remote equipment.
People have used cantenna's successfully over a mile in clear line of sight (LOS) without much effort. Some people have reported ranges over 2 miles, and even up to 5 miles.
The PoE camera is a cool idea, because you can run the Cat5 cable up to about 100 meters. That would allow you to keep the power supply (battery), the router, and PoE converter away from the line of fire. The only item in danger would be the camera its self (if placed in the line of fire).
If you were to use an Ethernet switch at each end, you could set up a camera at each target, and only need a single pair of Cantenna's to backhaul the video. If you were equipping a range with mutliple targets, I think this would be a very cost effective solution. Multiple cameras, and multiple monitors, all using a single wireless link.
To add an additional camera to a system like this would only cost what you spend on the camera and the Cat5e cabling to run from the switch to the camera. (If you know someone like me, then cat5e patch cables are free!)Am I way out of line here, or does this sound feasible?
This post ended up longer than what I wanted... sorry ;D
