checking on pets left in trailer alone

[JohnD]

I've been wanting to get a wifi camera to leave set up at home while we are on the road to check on the cats we don't take with us.

Four of our six like to travel . . . the other two prefer to stay home and be our watch cats!

We generally only take three with us when trailering.

 

[TravelTiger]

Tony, I've been looking at these. My concern was the WIFI access. Do you rely on the campground WIFI or do you use cellular access? If you use campground WIFI does that mean you have to do a setup each time you move. Would really be interested in a review of the product after you've had time to setup and use.

It's Erika, but that's ok!

At the moment I am using park wifi. The cameras communicate via wireless to a "Sync Module". The Sync Module connects to your personal network (router) via wifi or Ethernet.

I don't think the Sync Module cares how it gets the Internet, it's talking to the router. I do have to set up my router each time I move to use park wifi, or cellular, depending on the quality.

The cameras have an adjustable motion detector and only record 10 seconds, so if you are wanting to "detect motion" and alert you, there's not much bandwidth used.

You can at any time view in "Live Mode" which again gives you about 10 seconds of viewing, then asks if you want to continue. They advertise that these limits are to keep you from using lots of data.

I haven't tried it out being away from the rig yet, but I will report more after using it a bit.




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[rxbristol]

Got mine today. Setup and working great.

 

[TravelTiger]

A follow up on the Blink cameras. They do a fair job of being able to check in on things. Sometimes at night I'll use them to check on what the cats are doing in the living room, while I'm in bed in the bedroom!

However, my internet connection through this RV park does not give me smooth viewing -- it tends to be a bit choppy.

I have a new arrangement within our new trailer, so I have set up the Blink camera's sync module and our wifi router to be hooked up to our battery backup UPS (uninterruptible power supply.)

My monitored security system is not hooked up to the UPS, so if we have a power outage, the security system will send an alert that there is a power outage, and that it is now running on it's own battery.

Since the Blink sync and wifi router will then be on battery backup (for up to 2 hours), I can view what's going on as well as monitor the temps with the Blink cameras.


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[capehank]

Here is an idea, I set my laptop up with Skype running and positioned the camera so I could see the entire room. I downloaded the Skype app on my smart phone which allowed me to keep Skype running on my smart phone while I was out.

How well does this work for you? How long are you able to keep Skype running? I have never used Skype.

Thanks for the idea.

 

[TravelTiger]

All, I found the Blink Cameras came in handy this weekend. We left the cats at home and we were on an out of state trip. I had someone coming to check on them and feed them. My monitored alarm system alerts me when a door is opened and the alarm is disabled, so I could check on things when she was there.

We also had an alarm go off for the basement door, and we used the cameras to check for anything suspicious.


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[jhardin]

JohnD, if you haven't got a camera yet, I bought a Canary from Verizon for the house. 1080 pix, can zoom in and also works AWSOME at night. It will send you an email on movement and record, you cane make an emergency call, sound a siren, check temp, humidity and air circulation from smartphone. All you need is an ac outlet and wifi. I did a lot of research and this is the best bang for the Bucks IMO. You can add more than one also.

 

[TravelTiger]

I recently found this:

https://rvpetsafety.com/product/pet-temperature-monitor/

Don't have any info other than what you see here.


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[Rhyph]

Has anyone taken a closer look at or tried this: http://a.co/0ahNxQS

It is looking like Motorola has come out with a full line of camera's in various types/form factors, including PTZ, indoor/outdoor, etc. The most important feature this one has for me is the remote temp monitoring and alerting. I'm tempted to grab one to give it a try. The reviews are pretty mixed. I'm not looking for fabulous image quality, but something to give me an idea of what's going on and temperature seems to be what this hits on.

 

[TravelTiger]

This sounds like a good idea, but remember that when your coach's power goes out, it can't report anything unless you have made arrangements for the camera and your internet connecting devices to run on another power source. Also know if you are using park wifi and the area's power goes out, likely the park wifi will be out as well.


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