[Another try] Request for Comment/Insight: Convert Indoor WiFi Cam to Weatherproof Outdoor Cam

[BonzaiDuck]

Trying to kill two birds with one stone, I posted this lengthy thread the other day. The moderator moved it to the Suggestions forum where it is doomed to die without responses:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...c-today-internal-vs-external-cameras.2521528/

So let's skip to the essential question with only essential information. Here's an Amcrest Wi-Fi Indoor Robotic PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera:

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-IP2M...7561123&sr=8-1&keywords=amcrest+indoor+camera

You could read the original thread, or I will say that I'm not interested in POE cameras in either Indoor or Outdoor flavors -- not now anyway. But they leave the user with the same feature: he must still manage a single wire between a source or switch and the camera when he installs it. There are few if any outdoor PTZ cams.

I think I can make an indoor cam weatherproof for outdoor use in our mild So-Cal climate here. That is:

1) I can mount it in a perpetually shaded area while still giving full panoramic viewing of an entire patio and hillside;
2) I can keep the camera fairly waterproof without compromising the optical quality with glare or obstruction.

My plan is to use a clear-plastic circular grocery-store cake-box, waterproofing the wired power connection and the cake-box, and mounting the assembly on the bottom of a 2nd-story waterproof deck overlooking a patio. The only drawback might be moisture condensation from the air already sealed in the box.

What do you think? Do you have other ideas? Does it seem feasible?

 

[Elixer]

use a clear-plastic circular grocery-store cake-box

Those aren't very clear, and tend to fog up.
I would use a birdhouse (add some holes on the bottom for more venting), with some glass in the opening.
You also got the benefit that when people look at it, they see a birdhouse, not a camera.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Each day, I think I'm getting dumber. Somehow the existence of a Digital Video and Camera forum didn't register with me, so this was the second time my post to "peripherals" was moved. It did, indeed, belong in DV&C.

Yes -- the optical quality of the plastic "DIY-Homemade-Dome" would have a lot to do with it. Moisture would indeed be the issue. But here in Riverside Co of So-Cal, it even dries out quickly after rains in the rainy season. I keep wondering if there would be any condensation from the dry air inside the enclosure after I seal it.

I've so far found three candidates for the dome/enclosure. The cake-box is indeed optically inferior. Another item of appropriate size was a plastic bottle that came with salted pretzels from the grocery. Optically, it is quite good, with few irregularities in the molded shape. A similar, smaller enclosure was also leftover after a pretzel purchase.

I guess the only thing I can do is try, using a PTZ robotic camera I already have. If it looks shitty aesthetically, I might eventually replace it with a standard, manually adjustable bullet cam. If it doesn't truly weatherproof the unit, it leaves the risk that the camera already-purchased will degrade or die.

To be honest, I can install the camera by itself in a very dry corner location that is ideal for its viewing angles and operation. It would only be exposed to moisture as water vapor during rainy days. Temperatures in that corner are likely to be at most 90F on a dry 100F day. Lows here allow me to grow tomatoes year-round. With climate trends, the last time temps dropped to 32 to 33F, was a decade-and-a-half past.

I just can't figure out why PTZ models aren't easy to locate for the weatherproof outdoor cams. There has to be a reason for it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The big thing is temperature. An indoor only camera may not like -40's or +30's. An outdoor camera will be more robust in how it's built, so it can withstand more extreme temps. You can buy a dome type box that is heated and you can put the camera inside, that could work.

Just did a quick search so could not find the dome ones, but did find this:

https://www.amazon.com/HBPRO-601HB-...8386099&sr=1-1&keywords=heated+camera+housing

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The big thing is temperature. An indoor only camera may not like -40's or +30's. An outdoor camera will be more robust in how it's built, so it can withstand more extreme temps. You can buy a dome type box that is heated and you can put the camera inside, that could work.

Just did a quick search so could not find the dome ones, but did find this:

https://www.amazon.com/HBPRO-601HB-...8386099&sr=1-1&keywords=heated+camera+housing

Once the outdoor temperature here dropped briefly to 34 to 36F at night over a two day period. that was more than ten years ago. Mostly, outdoor evening temperatures don't fall below 50F during the winter months.

Once you commit to buy a certain type of camera, you may be confined to using it with a certain piece of software. I think there are software packages -- possibly open-source -- which allow integration of IP cameras from several manufacturers. But I'd only found mention of it, and didn't pursue the web-links.

Foscam and Amcrest are essentially the same camera from different affiliated companies in Asia and the US. There are so many of these camera models and manufactures. If I build my "home-security surveillance" as I'd planned long ago, I won't be buying a "kit." I think I can do this with just cameras from Amcrest/Foscam. I'm trying to convince myself that buying a camera at a time is a good idea. It seems like a good idea. But there are other aspects, like audio communication. Things like motion-detection.

Maybe I'll buy a third camera next month. Maybe I'll buy two of them.