FYI -- for my camera, I got a 2x4 board, cut it to about 18 inches in length, painted it olive drab, drilled some small holes in it and screwed the solar panel to it up top and screwed the camera mount to the bottom, then use Easy Straps to strap it to trees or posts or whatever. So I have nice little security module I can move around to various locations and easily mount to trees and not even have to nail or screw into a tree.
Yea thats how I feel about it too. The next one they sent is wifi based so we will see how that compares. On balance I think I would prefer to make my own which is a video that will be coming out after having a look at the ones avaliable to purchase.
I've had mine (when it was marketed as Keen Ranger Go/PT) for five months now. The motion sensor range is poor at best. So it has to be positioned right next to the area you are monitoring which means it is mostly a wildlife trail camera in terms of functionality. For use as a security camera, it's most ideal application is to provide live viewing capability because in order to place it in an area where trespassers will not see it puts it out of motion sensor range. For me the live view capability is adequate as I have other trail cams with SD cards collecting evidence of trespassers (they have further detection range). My Ranger is placed far enough away that trespassers might not see it at all or might see it and avoid my lot altogether (like the lady next door who was trespassing quite a bit until I invested in trail cams). I watched her peering from behind a bush on her property one night trying to figure out how she was going to sneak onto my property now with this new fangled camera with the solar panel up on the hill overlooking the property line. She is flummoxed. But she is persistent. I have other cams hidden way on her likely alternate approaches. LOL
You are absolutely right, I had another look at a dedicated trail camera and it did much much better than this one. I think I expected more from it but it wasnt until I had used it for a while that I realised its shortcommings.
Reading the manual the camera does not use motion detection in the video but it is using a PIR sensor. The PIR sensor should be pointed to the interest area. Nice looking camera with the solar panel. It's not clear to me if the ONVIF protocol is supported to stream the video/audio to a NVR system.
almost all battery powered cameras will not support ONVIF as they only turn the camera on when the separate PIR sensor picks up motion to save power, i assume this is the same.
@@joshywoshy2530 You are right still hoping to find for my situation a camera's like this one witch supports ONVIF. With the solar panel solution (maybe bigger) it should be possible to stream video for a longer time.
I totally get it that it is fun. And in your situation the perfect setup. I had the most fun when one day I noticed a recording from a very disappointed heron who was not able to reach the fish in my fish pond. It was wondering around for 20 minutes or so, trying to figure out a weak spot in the defense system that I have put up against the herons, but it could not find one, so the bird left without catching a fish. 😁
You need to adjust the 'pre event' if this camera allows, as otherwise all your clips are the back of an animal just about to walk out of the scene. To get pre event it needs to be writing to the card all the time, then constantly deleting it, if theres a motion event it wont delete the clip from before the event, sort of like a dash cam when you press the button. If it doesnt have pre event just chuck it in the bin
Thanks I think someone else mentioned that as well so I will have a proper look at the settings now that I know that the solution might be there. I would imagine it should as its not a cheap camera but I will have a look
I am working on a really big project at the moment and have been doing a lot of research into lora zigbee APC220 and NRF24L01 so I am so grateful for the info in the comments because its making that project a lot easier
@@offgridscotland I live in a northern England valley and when I go walking with the dog it's hard to stay connected at home. Meshtastic on a lillygo T-Deck as a portable and a home node is the solution I'm looking into to fix it. Like starlink is great for away at work but not for something niche.
I use a Spypoint flex s at my off grid place. So far so good. Dual sim pre installed, reasonably priced subscription levels. Have you met a wood wasp yet??
The Spypoint looks really good! I diddnt know I had until you mentioned it and now that I googled what a wood wasp is I have seen one although I diddnt get too close as it looked like it might bne hungry
Interesting. I've got cameras but they're powered and monitored by Blue Iris software on a windows PC. Rock solid for security purposes. But for your purposes, the Reolink looks great. I suppose the questions are what the data cost is arising from having to use a SIM, whether the system can trace back a few seconds ahead of motion detection (so you can see the animal arrive), and what happens when the card gets full (does it record over the oldest recordings?). Thanks for sharing.
Those are really good points. The sim is a pain but the next camera is wifi rather than cellular so at least it will be cheaper. I haddnt thought about the sim being a reason for the delayed capture
I think with the cable so long the solar panel is meant to be mounted on a branch, not a trunk. Then again, it's probably an easy thing to replace with something longer if need be. I bet if you put some food in the camera's view you'd have more success. Good video regardless 👍
That sounds about right. I dont think it does it automatically which would be amazing if it did. The sound is really minimal and I dont think any animal would hear it. When it moves which you have to do manually it is also really quiet but not silent so if something was directly under it the camera would startle the animal but I dont think it would notice if it was a few meters away.
The motion capture seems to be lacking. It should do like dash cams and continually record but only save the clips that include trigger events plus one before and one after. That way you can save the whole event, not just the end. Waiting until after you've decided there's something to record means you will ALWAYS miss the best or most crucial part of the event. With traditional wildlife cams that didn't have solar panels you had to strictly minimise power usage, but one with a solar panel should have the power system optimized to fit the requirements of the camera in winter, shade and cloudy days. Doing it backwards and making the camera optimized for an inadequate power system makes the power system - and the camera - pointless. But most of those older type cameras did a much better job than this one of catching the interesting part, even without the benefit of continual recording. But the bottom line is that this camera can't have very well designed capture algorithms. It's far better for something like this to have a bunch of recordings of nothing than to have a few recordings of ALMOST something. It needs to err on the side of too much rather than not enough. I would be extremely frustrated only capturing the very end of events. So much so that I would rather be without it entirely.
Yea I was really hoping to get them at the beginning as that was likely the best bit. Someone else mentioned there might be a setting I could change to adjust the record settings.
Great minds 360Pic, I wondered if the "stem" of the solar panel would drop through the longer strap so that the longer strap secured both. That birdsong was nice, nothing wrong with the audio quality!
It looked a lot like a badger, the pine martin we spotted here ambled along like a badger as well. Wish I had captured the beginning bit as well so I could have seen the whole animal
The Reo link solar powered CCTV cameras are awesome; we have five in our woods and use the Vodafone smart Sim at £4 a month for unlimited data on the camera¡ 🎉
@@joshywoshy2530 I was with Vodafone smart V Sim. Sadly, I received a message today that they are cancelling this service on the 1st of August, which is absolutely crazy! 😔🤔
@@joshywoshy2530 it was with Vodafone V smart Sim; just heard today that they are ending the plan in August which is really frustrating so on the lookout for new plans!
Be careful, that's a power pole, if it discharges to earth it will destroy your camera. Re catching the animals - you should be able to adjust the trigger delay for recording in the software somewhere.
So, getting and reviewing free-stuff? Well well, nice to see you escaping the rat-race (OH NO! you seem to have brought the rat race attitude with you)
I had considered not agreeing to product reviews for quite a while but in the end I thought there might be viewers who would want to see them and others who wouldnt and they can decide if they watch or not
He is reviewing a product that he would’ve bought anyway you need to understand that lots of people on social media need to make enough money for me that they can afford to live
I get your points but science has proven reviews are more favourable when the person is paid or product is received for free. Unconscious favouritism I mean, where there is no bad intent.
It's beyond belief that you didn't realise to just use the one long strap for camera and solar panel ! As shown on Reolinks own website (I looked after watching this banal vacuous video!) It was obvious whilst watching the video to both me and my 9yr old Son ! How do you cope day to day!?!?!? 😂 I'm sure Reolink will be non to pleased that you specifically criticised the strap design problem which isn't a problem ! #user error ! 😂
Then the camera and solar panel would have to be mounted on the same trunk/branch you nuffy! You don’t want the camera pointing at the sun like the solar panel. Think before you comment, save yourself the embarrassment 😂
@@aymenpedram5650I love that you think you'd have to have them pointing in the same direction ! It's like you don't have the mental capacity to comprehend simple solutions .. why if the camera is pointing wherever but not at the sun ! Would the solar panel not be able to be positioned on the same strap but however many degrees in whichever direction pointing at the Sun !? Your reply just makes no sense ! You're the embarrassment! 😂
FYI -- for my camera, I got a 2x4 board, cut it to about 18 inches in length, painted it olive drab, drilled some small holes in it and screwed the solar panel to it up top and screwed the camera mount to the bottom, then use Easy Straps to strap it to trees or posts or whatever. So I have nice little security module I can move around to various locations and easily mount to trees and not even have to nail or screw into a tree.
Thats a great idea!
With any CCTV i recommend having it local instead of cloud hosted
Yea thats how I feel about it too. The next one they sent is wifi based so we will see how that compares. On balance I think I would prefer to make my own which is a video that will be coming out after having a look at the ones avaliable to purchase.
Yes always good fun - I use my trail camera to monitor the wildlife here in rural Norfolk. Just battery operated but works fine.
Great! I am glad you have some fun with yours too
I've had mine (when it was marketed as Keen Ranger Go/PT) for five months now. The motion sensor range is poor at best. So it has to be positioned right next to the area you are monitoring which means it is mostly a wildlife trail camera in terms of functionality. For use as a security camera, it's most ideal application is to provide live viewing capability because in order to place it in an area where trespassers will not see it puts it out of motion sensor range. For me the live view capability is adequate as I have other trail cams with SD cards collecting evidence of trespassers (they have further detection range). My Ranger is placed far enough away that trespassers might not see it at all or might see it and avoid my lot altogether (like the lady next door who was trespassing quite a bit until I invested in trail cams). I watched her peering from behind a bush on her property one night trying to figure out how she was going to sneak onto my property now with this new fangled camera with the solar panel up on the hill overlooking the property line. She is flummoxed. But she is persistent. I have other cams hidden way on her likely alternate approaches. LOL
You are absolutely right, I had another look at a dedicated trail camera and it did much much better than this one. I think I expected more from it but it wasnt until I had used it for a while that I realised its shortcommings.
Reading the manual the camera does not use motion detection in the video but it is using a PIR sensor. The PIR sensor should be pointed to the interest area. Nice looking camera with the solar panel. It's not clear to me if the ONVIF protocol is supported to stream the video/audio to a NVR system.
almost all battery powered cameras will not support ONVIF as they only turn the camera on when the separate PIR sensor picks up motion to save power, i assume this is the same.
@@joshywoshy2530 You are right still hoping to find for my situation a camera's like this one witch supports ONVIF. With the solar panel solution (maybe bigger) it should be possible to stream video for a longer time.
You seem to know way more than me on this topic but thanks for the info
Another great video mate. I am very envious of your off grid setup. Love these videos. Great work.
Thanks! 😁
What a great camera, perfect for your land which i really wish i owned a slice of👍👊
Thanks Dave 😁
I totally get it that it is fun. And in your situation the perfect setup. I had the most fun when one day I noticed a recording from a very disappointed heron who was not able to reach the fish in my fish pond. It was wondering around for 20 minutes or so, trying to figure out a weak spot in the defense system that I have put up against the herons, but it could not find one, so the bird left without catching a fish. 😁
I agree its great. Its a way of seeing nature in a way that you might not be able to if you were there in person to disturb it
To attach the solar panel on wide poles, you can use the strap in the camera strap to attach to a pole
Thats probably what is supposed to be done I just haddnt thought about it
You need to adjust the 'pre event' if this camera allows, as otherwise all your clips are the back of an animal just about to walk out of the scene. To get pre event it needs to be writing to the card all the time, then constantly deleting it, if theres a motion event it wont delete the clip from before the event, sort of like a dash cam when you press the button. If it doesnt have pre event just chuck it in the bin
Thanks I think someone else mentioned that as well so I will have a proper look at the settings now that I know that the solution might be there. I would imagine it should as its not a cheap camera but I will have a look
So glad to see this after our LoRa chat last video. This is a great solution.
I am working on a really big project at the moment and have been doing a lot of research into lora zigbee APC220 and NRF24L01 so I am so grateful for the info in the comments because its making that project a lot easier
@@offgridscotland I live in a northern England valley and when I go walking with the dog it's hard to stay connected at home. Meshtastic on a lillygo T-Deck as a portable and a home node is the solution I'm looking into to fix it. Like starlink is great for away at work but not for something niche.
I use a Spypoint flex s at my off grid place. So far so good. Dual sim pre installed, reasonably priced subscription levels. Have you met a wood wasp yet??
The Spypoint looks really good! I diddnt know I had until you mentioned it and now that I googled what a wood wasp is I have seen one although I diddnt get too close as it looked like it might bne hungry
Interesting. I've got cameras but they're powered and monitored by Blue Iris software on a windows PC. Rock solid for security purposes. But for your purposes, the Reolink looks great. I suppose the questions are what the data cost is arising from having to use a SIM, whether the system can trace back a few seconds ahead of motion detection (so you can see the animal arrive), and what happens when the card gets full (does it record over the oldest recordings?). Thanks for sharing.
Those are really good points. The sim is a pain but the next camera is wifi rather than cellular so at least it will be cheaper. I haddnt thought about the sim being a reason for the delayed capture
I think with the cable so long the solar panel is meant to be mounted on a branch, not a trunk. Then again, it's probably an easy thing to replace with something longer if need be. I bet if you put some food in the camera's view you'd have more success. Good video regardless 👍
I had thought about baiting the area but there was limited time for this video so I diddnt get around to it
Does PT mean point and tilt? Can you ask the camera to track animals when detected movement? How much sound does the camera make?
That sounds about right. I dont think it does it automatically which would be amazing if it did. The sound is really minimal and I dont think any animal would hear it. When it moves which you have to do manually it is also really quiet but not silent so if something was directly under it the camera would startle the animal but I dont think it would notice if it was a few meters away.
The motion capture seems to be lacking. It should do like dash cams and continually record but only save the clips that include trigger events plus one before and one after. That way you can save the whole event, not just the end. Waiting until after you've decided there's something to record means you will ALWAYS miss the best or most crucial part of the event. With traditional wildlife cams that didn't have solar panels you had to strictly minimise power usage, but one with a solar panel should have the power system optimized to fit the requirements of the camera in winter, shade and cloudy days. Doing it backwards and making the camera optimized for an inadequate power system makes the power system - and the camera - pointless. But most of those older type cameras did a much better job than this one of catching the interesting part, even without the benefit of continual recording.
But the bottom line is that this camera can't have very well designed capture algorithms. It's far better for something like this to have a bunch of recordings of nothing than to have a few recordings of ALMOST something. It needs to err on the side of too much rather than not enough.
I would be extremely frustrated only capturing the very end of events. So much so that I would rather be without it entirely.
Yea I was really hoping to get them at the beginning as that was likely the best bit. Someone else mentioned there might be a setting I could change to adjust the record settings.
Could you put both the solar panel and the camera on the long strap?
Great minds 360Pic, I wondered if the "stem" of the solar panel would drop through the longer strap so that the longer strap secured both. That birdsong was nice, nothing wrong with the audio quality!
Great idea I think it would fit
Great video the last clip of the wildlife seems to be a badger
It looked a lot like a badger, the pine martin we spotted here ambled along like a badger as well. Wish I had captured the beginning bit as well so I could have seen the whole animal
👍
Thanks
Looks great. Reminds me of a minion with it's rotating eye. 😁
Yea it does! 😁
The Reo link solar powered CCTV cameras are awesome; we have five in our woods and use the Vodafone smart Sim at £4 a month for unlimited data on the camera¡ 🎉
where are you getting a £4 a month for unlimited data sim?
Brilliant! They sent us one of their new ones to have a look at this/next week
@@joshywoshy2530 I was with Vodafone smart V Sim. Sadly, I received a message today that they are cancelling this service on the 1st of August, which is absolutely crazy! 😔🤔
@@joshywoshy2530 it was with Vodafone V smart Sim; just heard today that they are ending the plan in August which is really frustrating so on the lookout for new plans!
In info mine says no battery included
Be careful, that's a power pole, if it discharges to earth it will destroy your camera.
Re catching the animals - you should be able to adjust the trigger delay for recording in the software somewhere.
Thanks I wondered if there was a setting I could adjust. It might be set for low power mode by default
I've a Reolink Trackmix 4g in the forest for a while. Catching wildlife regularly! Here is from 10 days ago: czcams.com/video/vK8UUy6y6o4/video.html
That footage is amazing! you could see the deer had noticed the camera after it moved but it diddnt scare them away
What in hell did I just try to watch? I’m sending you a bill for wasting my time.
Sorry you feel that way
So, getting and reviewing free-stuff? Well well, nice to see you escaping the rat-race (OH NO! you seem to have brought the rat race attitude with you)
I had considered not agreeing to product reviews for quite a while but in the end I thought there might be viewers who would want to see them and others who wouldnt and they can decide if they watch or not
Total RUBBSIH!!!!
Thanks for your thoughts
Oh great... another sponsored video
The man has bills to pay and it is not like he is reviewing something that has nothing to do with his life.
He is reviewing a product that he would’ve bought anyway you need to understand that lots of people on social media need to make enough money for me that they can afford to live
I get your points but science has proven reviews are more favourable when the person is paid or product is received for free. Unconscious favouritism I mean, where there is no bad intent.
@@lewiskelly14Off you go then, see you later. GREAT video.
@@lewiskelly14 that is true and that is why everyone should do their own research before buying a product.
Hosre Shit - is this it????
Thanks for your thoughts
It's beyond belief that you didn't realise to just use the one long strap for camera and solar panel ! As shown on Reolinks own website (I looked after watching this banal vacuous video!)
It was obvious whilst watching the video to both me and my 9yr old Son !
How do you cope day to day!?!?!? 😂 I'm sure Reolink will be non to pleased that you specifically criticised the strap design problem which isn't a problem ! #user error ! 😂
Then the camera and solar panel would have to be mounted on the same trunk/branch you nuffy!
You don’t want the camera pointing at the sun like the solar panel. Think before you comment, save yourself the embarrassment 😂
why do you think it comes with 2 straps?
@@joshywoshy2530 good call
@@aymenpedram5650I love that you think you'd have to have them pointing in the same direction ! It's like you don't have the mental capacity to comprehend simple solutions .. why if the camera is pointing wherever but not at the sun ! Would the solar panel not be able to be positioned on the same strap but however many degrees in whichever direction pointing at the Sun !? Your reply just makes no sense ! You're the embarrassment! 😂
I always try to include my mistakes in the video rather than editing them out. Thank you for your feedback