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The Swamphouse


Swamp_Yankee

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Got my box of goodies from Amazon today as per @KBfishing 's recommendations-the Swamphouse is going high-tech:

20191216_092007.thumb.jpg.3a367ec38d7e6af30dd399343a998f3c.jpg

Reolink WiFi/Solar camera, 64GB SD card, and Wavlink WiFi Extender.  I'm going to start by mounting the extender in the attic near the peak of the roof on the east (back) wall of the house facing my stand.  From there I'll verify that I have a strong enough WiFi signal in my stand and as long as I do, I'll then mount the camera and solar panel.  The whole setup cost me about $175 on Amazon, so about as much as a cellular camera, but with this setup I don't need a data plan.  I'll get alerts on my phone wherever I am, and I have 64GB of storage.  Another nice feature that @KBfishing told me about is that these cameras offer two-way communication so if I get an alert and I find out that it's a flock of turkeys or a bunch of trash pandas on my bait pile I can yell at them through my phone to get the hell off my bait :laughing:  I'm hoping to get this setup ASAP so that between now and January 4th I have a good idea of who is back there and when they're coming in.  Stay tuned for more updates on the "Swampcam."  

Edited by Swamp_Yankee

I live back in the woods you see

My woman and the kids and the dogs and me

I got a shotgun a rifle and a four wheel drive and a country boy can survive

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45 minutes ago, KBfishing said:

Hope you get the distance you need. It is worth every penny

The specs claim 2 kilometers, but I'm guessing that's impossible-to-replicate-in-the-field test lab conditions.  The extender will end up being mounted nearly 60' higher than the camera because I'm going to put it up in the attic right below the peak of the roof which is 32' above grade.  However, my property slopes down toward the back (hence why my stand is in a swamp) about 25' according to a topo map I have, so I'm hoping that I'll get very good signal propagation.  

I live back in the woods you see

My woman and the kids and the dogs and me

I got a shotgun a rifle and a four wheel drive and a country boy can survive

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So I decided to just quick and dirty it to see if I could get it to work and I just mounted the extender on the door jamb of my walkout basement door.  Mounting it in the attic will require moving the modem, running a bunch of phone line for the DSL up the side of the house, etc...  I have line-of-sight from the camera to my basement door (can just barely make it out through the trees) and signal strength (as measured by my phone) is "fair."  It seems to be good enough:

LsQHOk6.png

I should probably cut down those briers so they don't give me false alarms in the wind.

I live back in the woods you see

My woman and the kids and the dogs and me

I got a shotgun a rifle and a four wheel drive and a country boy can survive

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On 12/16/2019 at 9:17 PM, Swamp_Yankee said:

The specs claim 2 kilometers, but I'm guessing that's impossible-to-replicate-in-the-field test lab conditions.  The extender will end up being mounted nearly 60' higher than the camera because I'm going to put it up in the attic right below the peak of the roof which is 32' above grade.  However, my property slopes down toward the back (hence why my stand is in a swamp) about 25' according to a topo map I have, so I'm hoping that I'll get very good signal propagation.  

2 kilometers is over a mile..wireless signal?

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1 hour ago, Lunatic said:

2 kilometers is over a mile..wireless signal?

That's the claim on the box but I'm guessing it would have to be line of sight across an open field, extender mounted high on a mast, perfect atmospheric conditions, etc...  In looking at the feed this morning I got a message from the camera saying the network is unstable so I will likely end up mounting it higher to get better signal propagation.  The camera and extender are about 150 yards apart with uneven terrain and trees in between.

I live back in the woods you see

My woman and the kids and the dogs and me

I got a shotgun a rifle and a four wheel drive and a country boy can survive

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1 hour ago, tcook8296 said:

Whatever it says on the box, cut it in half if you are lucky

Well, back to the drawing board.  I haven't been able to connect to the camera since the sun came up.  Radio signals always travel farther at night due to a lack of electromagnetic interference from the sun and other atmospheric conditions, so I guess my "fair" connection is only good enough for nighttime use.  Hopefully mounting it up higher will solve the problem.

I live back in the woods you see

My woman and the kids and the dogs and me

I got a shotgun a rifle and a four wheel drive and a country boy can survive

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