Cameras in and around your RV - anyone do this or interested in doing it?

[jbeletti]

How many cameras in total and how much does the whole system cost?

Bear in mind - this is in my home, not in my RV. Costs are rough numbers...

$100 to $1000 per camera depending on needs. Most of mine are $130 but I have one that is $600 (PTZ and powerful IR)

Most of my cameras are POE (power over Ethernet) - this requires a POE power supply. I use an 8-port 150 watt switch - $150

I think I spent maybe $600 on the computer plus another $150 for a Western Digital Purple HDD (note that I also use this computer as my home digital media server for music, movies, TV shows and pictures).

Then there's some infrastructure like Ethernet cabling, connectors, fasteners and misc. Figure maybe another $20 per camera for this.

Blue Iris is about $50

Hope this helps.

 

[dlw930]

I found that a great camera for inside the RV is the Samsung SmartCam HD Pro. What I like about it:

• Price: $150
• Form Factor - smallish
• Great Video (wide field of view) and 2-Way Audio
• Free Mobile App and Browser-based Viewer
• WiFi connectable to your network (your MiFi, JetPack, Hotspot, campground WiFi etc.)
• No need to manage your or campground's router to forward or open a port*
• Does not until you call for the feed*

* The last two items are really important in a mobile application such as an RV. By not having to manage any router settings, anyone can install the camera. And since the camera does not broadcast its feed until you call for it, there is no impact on your data plan.

I have one of these and was using it in the RV. I'm using it in my home right now and plan order another for use in the RV.

I just got one of these at Sam's Club for $100 w/instant rebate. Sam's is discontinuing carrying it in store inventory. It appears to work great, but is AC powered. We played around with placing a thermometer near the camera in its field of view but without affecting the overall field of view and found we could read the thermometer on our smartphone by zooming in a bit. . We can save video to the cloud, an SD card (cam came with a 16G card), our phones, or just view live feed on demand. For the price, I think it will be a winner.


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