Equipment security cameras

[rontaki]

What about motion-activated lights? Bright lights, with loud alarm! Maybe with a (fake) camera that is visible to the theif? You might not get a picture of them, but if the light coming on scares them away, the main goal is met.

 

[Camofurever1]

There are PTZ cameras that are small and fairly inexpensive. These are more oriented towards home or business and would require a decent size battery for an extended amount of power. Most PTZ cameras that do auto tracking are not done within the camera itself. You can set the software trip wires within the camera, but the NVR software on a mini computer is what will usually control the auto track of the PTZ motion. I have several PTZ cameras that I have auto tracking setup on. And, they do it very well. You will also have the issue of night time illumination. I am not talking bright white lights, I am talking infrared illumination so the camera can see in the dark to detect someone or something entering the trip wire zone of the camera. Ideally, you want infrared illumination that will extend to a minimum of 200'. It would need to be mounted on the outside of the tractor glass. You will also need several spotter cams that have no PTZ function, but are a fixed focal range with their own tripwire functions built into them, monitoring a different zone. These small spotter cams will alert the PTZ cam that they have motion detected in their viewing zone and tell the PTZ to swing around, to their zone, zoom in and focus on the moving object and track it. These can be inexpensive cams, but to put together a system that would do what you want, you are now looking at costs around $1000 and up. I don't believe there is a stand alone plug and play type of system available.

Then, you have to know how to program the NVR to do what you want with the PTZ camera.

Most big box store camera systems have very small CCD sensors in them. The picture looks great during the daytime, but at night, all you get is pixelation, motion blur and ghosting effects. You really need a minimum of 1 1/8 CCD in the camera and a lower megapixel count for good nighttime image capture. (2MP-4MP) Otherwise, you get a picture like shown on the news: A very pixelated blob that looks like a character from a 8 bit video game from the 1990's, asking: Can you help identify this person?

If you have questions, I suggest this site. There many many years of accumulated knowledge on this site, as well as manufacturers and MFR reps.

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[t1kilo]

Instead of 1 PTZ camera, why not mount 2 fixed lens wide angle cameras in opposite corners of the cab? I don’t know much about reolink, but they offer battery and solar operated cameras that would probably be suitable.


Reolink FE-P - 6MP PoE 360° Panoramic Fisheye Camera | Reolink Official

This one is battery operated and cellular.

Edit: I was mistaken. This one is not cell capable. These are:


Battery Powered Security Cameras | Reolink Battery Wire-Free Cameras

 

[Torvy]

I wish I had more to offer.

I'd almost be more interested in a detector that lights up, then calls you and/or the local sheriff. Risk being false alarms.

If this is a common problem in your area, maybe they would cooperate to set up a sting or something.

 

[Hay Dude]

No, not common, but as the old adage goes, “real men have enemies”.
Environmentalists hate us.

 

[2manyrocks]

At least you have more options to power cameras for sustained periods of times these days that could be charged from the tractor 12v system during daily operation to provide camera power overnight. Some of the Jackery, Anker, and Ecoflow power station battery systems could power outdoor motion sensor lights. Even solar powered motion sensor lights are inexpensive.

 

[Hay Dude]

At least you have more options to power cameras for sustained periods of times these days that could be charged from the tractor 12v system during daily operation to provide camera power overnight. Some of the Jackery, Anker, and Ecoflow power station battery systems could power outdoor motion sensor lights. Even solar powered motion sensor lights are inexpensive.

Yeah, was thinking similar.
You could mount a couple solar powered landscape lights under the cab roof eave. Anyone approaching would get “lit-up” and it might be enough to scare some off.

One of my farming buddies had all the glass shot out of his tractor cab-probably from the woods at a decent distance a few years back.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

There are also a bunch of cellular game cam options as well.

That's likely your best bet. They can be hidden pretty well.

 

[terraformer]

The cameras should be 4k resolution, The faces will have to be within about 10 feet to be identified.

I would presume that they come at night making lighting very important for quality ID.

Picking up license plates on every car that passes is also worthwhile.

 

[dkmc]

Neighbors event barn/ ice cream store, cameras caught perp stealing their utility trailer. Then they
found it for sale on marketplace (by HIM). State police wouldn't do NOTHING. Video proof of him taking trailer off the property. Best of luck.......

 

[MikeyCrews]

I have 6 cams in and around my house and 5 trail cams around my property. I would use the trail cams and possibly another trail cam watching that trail cam watching the camera. That way they may trash the first trail cam but you will get proff of that. I use Moultrie edge, and I use the rechargebale batteries. I get months of service out of each charge and I buy an extra battery so when I go by I can just switch out batteries. You can monitor everything from your cell phone as well as adjusting the parameters. Camera $50, batteries $50, plan $100 per year. I use them and recomend them. I put mine up high with a ladder and dont leave a ladder laying around. I also place one on the road in and out to get tag numbers and I try to hide these.
Good Luck

 

[Hay Dude]

I have 6 cams in and around my house and 5 trail cams around my property. I would use the trail cams and possibly another trail cam watching that trail cam watching the camera. That way they may trash the first trail cam but you will get proff of that. I use Moultrie edge, and I use the rechargebale batteries. I get months of service out of each charge and I buy an extra battery so when I go by I can just switch out batteries. You can monitor everything from your cell phone as well as adjusting the parameters. Camera $50, batteries $50, plan $100 per year. I use them and recomend them. I put mine up high with a ladder and dont leave a ladder laying around. I also place one on the road in and out to get tag numbers and I try to hide these.
Good Luck

But you do realize I do not have the time to set up multiple trail cams around a tractor on a nearly daily basis, right?
I am moving equipment around-sometimes a few miles, sometimes 20 miles and it’s hammer down until we are done.
Just don’t have the time.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think the issue with most cameras is having to lower the resolution to send the image. Video is even worse because of how much data has to be sent.

I think that a Nanny Camera setup might work best. Get a tiny spy camera, or camaras. Hide it and run a wire to a hidden location in the tractor to record all night. No motion sensor, just start recording when you leave for the day. If nothing is wrong when you come back, you record over everything the next night.

I've been told about people with systems like this in their houses. Some of them run off of C cell batteries. I was told that they only look at the video if something is missing. They have lots of people working and doing things in their houses all the time, and if something is missing, they look at the footage.

If I was wanting something like this, I think I would talk to a business that does video security type of work. See what they sell and go from there.

 

[Gord Baker]

Anyone have something like this?
I have been leaving equipment parked in the middle of nowhere, where there isn’t even a house nearby for years and have had 2 pretty bad vandalism attacks.
One was slashed tires, the other was someone jumped on the tractor hood and destroyed it. Would really like to catch the punks, then a knock on their doors with video evidence.

Looking for a camera that could be mounted in or outside the cab and would swivel to the approaching motion and send to my phone or maybe it would have to be stored in the camera itself?

What would be perfect is something that uses the tractors battery power.

I’m a novice at this stuff, so looking for suggestions or help.

After the first ocurrance and after Police investigated, Park somewhere else!

 

[Hay Dude]

After the first ocurrance and after Police investigated, Park somewhere else!

#GordBarker- I have 16 different locations to cut hay at, not just one.

Besides, what guarantee does “parking somewhere else” give me?

You must have no idea what is going on.

 

[Murphys Law Farmer]

I plan on putting the camera inside the locked cab. They might not ever see it. Ot they might realize the camera is videoing them and run away.

Cameras with IR lights do not work well through windows after dark. Too much light is reflected back at them. It makes the picture, if any, all grainy. You may not be able to make out anything more than “something” was there. But you might still get an alert. I suppose that could be helpful if you or police could /would respond immediately.

IR lights would be visible in the dark for your vandal to see. But some game cameras have less obvious lighting.

I doubt that solar charging would happen inside a cab either. You would need that to be a wired remote mounted outside—maybe flat on the roof would be less visible.

 

[Hay Dude]

Cameras with IR lights do not work well through windows after dark. Too much light is reflected back at them. It makes the picture, if any, all grainy. You may not be able to make out anything more than “something” was there. But you might still get an alert. I suppose that could be helpful if you or police could /would respond immediately.

IR lights would be visible in the dark for your vandal to see. But some game cameras have less obvious lighting.

Good intel, thanks.

I doubt that solar charging would happen inside a cab either. You would need that to be a wired remote mounted outside—maybe flat on the roof would be less visible.

I plan on mounting solar panel on top of roof, and wiring to camera inside cab. They make cameras with a solar panel that is connected to camera with a wire to allow remote mounting of solar panel.

 

[bordercollie]

Whatever you do, just be sure to get real time uploads to the cloud or your phone. My cousin had vandalism/thievery going on at the old homeplace deep in the woods. He put up a low end basic deer cam and of course they stole it as well. If only it had the cellular feature they would have been caught.
If they see the camera inside your cab, they will probably break the door . I'd also see about getting a lockable fuel cap with those evil suckers around.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

I know you think the game cameras are too labor intensive. Have you considered to mount them INSIDE the cab? Then it's no big deal, you can simply turn it on, or leave it on all the time. The beauty of having one of the newer Cell cameras is you can be notified via a text within about a minute (at least mine notifies me when it spots deer moving in the targeted area).

I use rechargeable lithium batteries and they last for thousands of shots. You could place two inside for different angles as needed. It automatically finds the best cell coverage for the area its at.

My camera plan is $15 a month unlimited pics or videos, cameras were $199 for two (reveal 3.0 pro). Tricky part is videos are stored on the SSD camera not in the web like the pics. You can set it up for multiple pics if desired. It also notifies you of low battery. I use rechargeable lithium AA so far they work great. They do make a lithium battery pack for it too.

Just another idea. Good luck in finding the right tool to capture the vandals/thieves.

 

[Hay Dude]

I know you think the game cameras are too labor intensive. Have you considered to mount them INSIDE the cab? Then it's no big deal, you can simply turn it on, or leave it on all the time. The beauty of having one of the newer Cell cameras is you can be notified via a text within about a minute (at least mine notifies me when it spots deer moving in the targeted area).

I use rechargeable lithium batteries and they last for thousands of shots. You could place two inside for different angles as needed. It automatically finds the best cell coverage for the area its at.

My camera plan is $15 a month unlimited pics or videos, cameras were $199 for two (reveal 3.0 pro). Tricky part is videos are stored on the SSD camera not in the web like the pics. You can set it up for multiple pics if desired. It also notifies you of low battery. I use rechargeable lithium AA so far they work great. They do make a lithium battery pack for it too.

Just another idea. Good luck in finding the right tool to capture the vandals/thieves.

I’ve been suggesting a camera in the cab since the first posting of the thread, but yeah thanks!
Think I like about the swivel camera is it could also be mounted in the cab and respond to motion from 360 degrees.