cockpit video surveillance?

[grady]

GoPro.

[sailboatmike]

Have a look at http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-FPV-S ... -2734.html , drone stuff would work and is as cheap as chips.

[Flightfollowing]

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=24873

Previous post using wifi waterproof point and shoot camera

[Russ]

Backup Camera

https://www.amazon.com/Camecho-Wireless ... mera&psc=1

[mac n cheese]

Technology has come a long way since this post in 2006. Has anyone found a camera that can be mounted on the bow that is Bluetooth controlled and will display on a smart phone.

Dave

For anyone interested. Another gadget for the smartphone.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188CGMWG/re ... H6G1GYP6MR

[NiceAft]

I have a Nikon Coolpix AW130.

It's waterproof. It can also be operated from my Apple 7plus phone.

Ray

It also takes great pix's.

[Todd]

I picked up the action cam Sony HDR-AS300 along with a kit-pack which has mounts that would work on a pulpit. It came with a waterproof case. Gone with the Wynns on youtube did a pretty good comparison of this, a go pro and another brand...I think Yi. The biggest downside to the Sony is the audio is significantly muffled when in its waterproof case. However...the video is really good both above and below water and the audio out of the case is stereo and superior to the others.

Regarding the bluetooth/wifi- With the apple product you connect through wifi then the manual says it uses bluetooth to talk once it is connected. Made no sense to me at all.

Here is how it works in reality....the camera has the ability to broadcast a Wifi signal so you go into the camera settings and turn that on. Then you go to your Iphone, macbook or ipod and connect to the wifi signal just like you would a network wifi signal at your house. Once connected you fire up the app, in this case it is Sony's PlayMemories and sure enough all the sudden you are staring at the camera video on your handheld apple device. At this point you can take pictures or start/stop video, change from wide to medium to narrow angle shots etc. The other plus on the Sony cam is it has the image stabilization which is important for me because I don't have steady hands. It also works with Android the same way but I think uses the bluetooth as well.

All of that may sound complex but its not. In about 15 -20 seconds I can power up the camera and connect to my phone and be filming...and the camera is tiny, unobtrusive and lightweight. Great for a grab and go set up.

The other learning I had that would apply directly to the use you are referring too putting it on the bow and view at the cockpit. In fact I may try it out the next time I go to the lake. As soon as I turned the Wifi on the battery life expedited its drainage of itself! I happened to order an extra charger so one for the camper one for the house. It came with 2 extra batteries so I should get quite a bit of footage before I am out of juice. The range was good enough to go about 30 feet in my house through several walls so it should work on a Mac.

The video transfer is not efficient in its transfer rate to the remote viewing device so keep your expectations low...it is choppy and delayed by a second or two. The recorded video is good when you review it.
Now that I am typing this I am realizing that you could use this as remote video and not record...just as a bow cam as you were suggesting.


Icing on the cake....when I wanted transfer images to my Ipad I was able to do everything with just the camcorder and my ipad...using the Wifi and App...no 3rd computer required.

[Todd]

so I am replying to my own post in a way here-- hoping it is useful to someone.

After sleeping on it I realized I had more questions about my little Sony Camera and how it could be used as a A: remote monitor B: surveillance cam C: other fun stuff

I played with it some more this morning and found a few more features that are pretty cool.

The bluetooth is for low power communications. When connected to your phone/tablet the camera wifi the camera stays on indefinitely. When you disconnect the phone/tablet from the camera it powers down in about 30 seconds.

however....when you go into the Sony App on your phone/tablet there is a remote camera power/on and off. This is what puts uses the bluetooth. It allows the user to shut the camera down and save power while using the low power blue tooth to enable remote power up.

So how does this apply to boating? especially since this isn't a camera forum..

Since this camera, even without the waterproof case is still waterproof I could go to an anchorage and mount the camera on the mast pointing down at the cockpit. Assuming I have some sort of lighting running like an anchor lite or lifeline hanging lamps if I hear a "bump" in the night I theoretically would be able to grab my phone-- power up the camera--- then connect to the wifi of the camera and watch the incoming video to see what is going on.

When using the camera as video monitoring device rather than a recording device there is no red light that comes on so it is a stealth camera to a large degree.

Now for putting it on the Bow or way up on the mast (since you can lower the mast so easy on a Mac..why not!?!) to film or use as a remote monitoring this feature also allows for a lot better battery management as you can turn it on and off at your leisure. I would be willing to bet I get an entire day out of the battery if it is just in blue-tooth mode.

on a side note-- my son figured out that his cheap $80 drone w/camera also can be used in the same way. We had to find a different app for that brand of camera but it worked great and was 30% the cost of the nicer action cams.

[Catigale]

If goPro only read our Forum, they would have had an 11 year jump on the market..

[Tomfoolery]

Now for putting it on the Bow or way up on the mast (since you can lower the mast so easy on a Mac..why not!?!) to film or use as a remote monitoring . . .

You could mount it to the underside of a small platform with a 'saddle' to cup the mast, and haul it up with the halyard (with a tailing line, of course, so you can get it back down). Attach the halyard at a point away from the mast a little so it's pulling it into the mast at the top. Get over obstructions like the spreaders by simply holding it away with the tailing line. Unless someone knows what to look for, in the dark, they're not going to know there's a camera up there. Maybe paint the mounting device black to help it disappear.

But I don't think I'd leave it up there unattended, or at least not for a long time. But in my marina, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I once left my WM heavy-duty, long reach, brand new boat hook on the dock finger across from mine after using it to snag my electric line (which was suspended under the floating docks but out of the water), in the fall when there weren't many boats left, for about 2 weeks. I even saw it laying there the week before, next to another boat, and didn't realize it was mine until I started prepping to haul the boat and went looking for the boat hook in preparation for hauling it without help.

[Highlander]

Yep Definitely a sign of Old Timer,s Creepin Up On U !!
J