DVR design for a mountain cabin without electricity

[licahoratiu 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I been searching for quite some time to find the right solution for this. All I found was some expensive recorders on eBay that has GPS, 3G capability. I dont need this features. I tried before solar panel>power regulator 12v>car battery>power invertor to 110v>dvr power adapter. But doesn't work good. I know that im loosing a lot of power by going up/down and down/up with 12v and 110v.

 

Any sugestion for a setup with 4 cameras. Already have the cameras. Buget for DVR I will say no more than 200$.

 

Also is it posible to connect any DVR to a car battery? Cause power consumption said 12dc.

 

Thanks.

[GrouchoBoucho 0]

any dvr that has a 12v power adapter can run directly off a car battery.

[RecycledEl 0]

Let's do the math.

 

Let's say you need a 12V, 5A power supply. That's 60W.

 

There are 24 hours in a day, do you need 60*24 = 1440WH per day. (120AH per day)

 

A typical car battery has ~40AH reserve capacity.

 

You will need some way to charge the battery.

 

A solar panel rated at 40 watts assumes you are using active cooling and mirrors to get more juice out of it. If it just sits there, during a sunny day, in a good location, it will produce 40*4=160WH per day.

 

So, to get 1440WH per day, you need 360 watts of solar panels. This ignores inefficiencies in the system, and it ignores cloudy days.

 

That will cost of a solar panel is under $1 per watt, not counting the cost of installation, charge controllers, and deep-cycle batteries.

 

-=-=-=-so-=-=-=-

 

My first suggestion would be to find a system that saves power. I wonder if there are car-based DVRs that record to 2.5" hard disks, and only support 1-2 cameras?

 

-=-=-=-also-=-=-=-

 

How often will you check it? A remote internet connection so you can log in and see if the door has been kicked in may be useful. If course, that adds to the bill.

[SectorSecurity 0]

If you are not looking for remote viewing why not go with a camera that records straight to SD card and just put in something like a 64GB SDHC card?

[RecycledEl 0]

If you are not looking for remote viewing why not go with a camera that records straight to SD card and just put in something like a 64GB SDHC card?

 

I thought of that, but did not suggest it. There is no guarantee this camera will be checked regularly. A 64GB card may be recorded over every 14-34 hours, depending on the resolution.

 

It will not help find out who dumped the trash several days (or weeks!) ago.

[GrouchoBoucho 0]

drop a pm to user named 'hiddenmountain', he's done something exactly like this and has plenty of experience with what you're trying to do.

 

check out these posts

[GrouchoBoucho 0]

If you are not looking for remote viewing why not go with a camera that records straight to SD card and just put in something like a 64GB SDHC card?

 

I thought of that, but did not suggest it. There is no guarantee this camera will be checked regularly. A 64GB card may be recorded over every 14-34 hours, depending on the resolution.

 

It will not help find out who dumped the trash several days (or weeks!) ago.

horsehockey. configure proper motion detection, don't run everything at maximum quality, and you should be able to get anywhere from days to months on a 64gb card.

[Kawboy12R 0]

Might even be able to buy some of hiddenmountain's gear. Not sure if he upgraded, gave up, sold the place, this is a different system, or what's going on.

 

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=34544

[wyattwic 0]

I am doing something exactly like this out at my ranch with IP cameras.

 

All you need is a deep cycle battery, or multiple batteries in parallel and the correct amount of solar panels. I would suggest using a voltage regulating circuit to keep it at a constant 12V (variations in the voltages when connected direct to the battery will kill the HDD and cameras).

 

Another thing I would do if possible, have as large of a battery bank as you can. Save extra energy for a cloudy day and you could use the excess stored power for an inverter when you are around. Who doesn't like a little reading light at night.

 

In the way of a camera system, I would suggest the Q-See QSDR744KRTS-500. The DVR has its own 7" retractable LCD and 4 all weather NV cameras in an aluminum housing.

 

Here is one! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271169046345

[HiddenMountain 0]

I am doing something exactly like this out at my ranch with IP cameras.

 

All you need is a deep cycle battery, or multiple batteries in parallel and the correct amount of solar panels. I would suggest using a voltage regulating circuit to keep it at a constant 12V (variations in the voltages when connected direct to the battery will kill the HDD and cameras).

 

Another thing I would do if possible, have as large of a battery bank as you can. Save extra energy for a cloudy day and you could use the excess stored power for an inverter when you are around. Who doesn't like a little reading light at night.

 

In the way of a camera system, I would suggest the Q-See QSDR744KRTS-500. The DVR has its own 7" retractable LCD and 4 all weather NV cameras in an aluminum housing.

 

Here is one! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271169046345

 

Well dang, I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

In this case, solar sounds like the best option. A car battery is not designed for long term, deep discharging. They are made to start a car. Cold Cranking Amps mean absolutely nothing in an off-grid power set up. You are looking for the Amp Hour rating. Of course, the higher the better, but not all deep cycle batteries are created equal. Marine deep cycle are useless as well, even though it's call a "deep cycle".

Let's do the math.

 

Let's say you need a 12V, 5A power supply. That's 60W.

 

There are 24 hours in a day, do you need 60*24 = 1440WH per day. (120AH per day)

 

A typical car battery has ~40AH reserve capacity.

 

You will need some way to charge the battery.

 

A solar panel rated at 40 watts assumes you are using active cooling and mirrors to get more juice out of it. If it just sits there, during a sunny day, in a good location, it will produce 40*4=160WH per day.

 

So, to get 1440WH per day, you need 360 watts of solar panels. This ignores inefficiencies in the system, and it ignores cloudy days.

 

That will cost of a solar panel is under $1 per watt, not counting the cost of installation, charge controllers, and deep-cycle batteries.

 

I love it when someone else has done the work for me! ^^^ what he said...

 

And like groucho said, game cams will work as well, and if they are powered with an auxiliary battery, they can go for months without a charge up. And with motion detection they won't fill up an SD card too quickly, unless there's unwanted motion "noise". And a small solar panel wouldn't hurt...

 

Also, I can tell you from personal experience, the ability to check your cameras from a smart phone or on your home computer is invaluable. You can set the DVR or NVR to send you an email with a picture of the perps too. Of course, this depends on available internet connection and bandwidth...