On board security camera

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plumbob

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Thinking seriously about fitting one of the many internal cctv type cameras for a bit of extra security. Loads available. Have permanent WiFi available and shore power. YooSee seems to be the best free app and all for about 50 quid. Any suggestions. Legal and sensible only please ?
 
Have a look at the reolink range, reliable and secure cameras, but depends how small you want it. Amazon does a huge range of wifi mini / spy cameras. Before you buy anything, check the APP reviews as some apps go unsupported and stop working and hence some cameras can't be used. Also consider battery backup to cover you if someone disconnects the shorepower, USB type camera can use a battery pack used for mobile phones, if battery is not built in.
 
I looked at Reolink but not sure their cloud service is available in the UK yet. Foscam has some good ones e.g. C2M with decent megapixel, USB powered, easily mounted and angled, and can save to SD or upload to your own remote storage in order to avoid paying service fees forever. As above, USB allows you to use a battery bank connected to power, so you capture footage when the power is off as well.
 
plumbob said:
Thinking seriously about fitting one of the many internal cctv type cameras for a bit of extra security. Loads available. Have permanent WiFi available and shore power. YooSee seems to be the best free app and all for about 50 quid. Any suggestions. Legal and sensible only please ?
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I have an Amazon Blink on the boat - it is excellent and cheap with no running costs.
 
Might be worth dropping HenryF on here a PM , He has a CCTV business.
Very good service I have just purchased a system for home and has remote viewing
 
EugeneR said:
I looked at Reolink but not sure their cloud service is available in the UK yet. Foscam has some good ones e.g. C2M with decent megapixel, USB powered, easily mounted and angled, and can save to SD or upload to your own remote storage in order to avoid paying service fees forever. As above, USB allows you to use a battery bank connected to power, so you capture footage when the power is off as well.
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You don’t needed to subscribe to reolink cloud service to use their range of camera, they have SD card slots to upload footage etc basically similar to many camera avaliable like foscam as mentioned. Reolink augus 2 worth a look, battery life in months, USB connection, pir instead of motion detection so less false positives, colour at night (starlight) and wifi.
 
Scubadoo said:
You don’t needed to subscribe to reolink cloud service to use their range of camera, they have SD card slots to upload footage etc basically similar to many camera avaliable like foscam as mentioned. Reolink augus 2 worth a look, battery life in months, USB connection, pir instead of motion detection so less false positives, colour at night (starlight) and wifi.
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I do not trust SD alone - an intruder can simply remove or destroy it - and with OP having WIFI, he might want to upload footage somewhere more secure. Somewhere that allows him to view footage even after the boat was stolen or caught fire etc. Ideally somewhere free, which is why I chose Foscam since it can do FTP and a bunch of other transfer methods to the Internet, apart from SD.

I agree with you about the Argus 2 being a good option, though.
 
EugeneR said:
I do not trust SD alone - an intruder can simply remove or destroy it - and with OP having WIFI, he might want to upload footage somewhere more secure. Somewhere that allows him to view footage even after the boat was stolen or caught fire etc. Ideally somewhere free, which is why I chose Foscam since it can do FTP and a bunch of other transfer methods to the Internet, apart from SD.

I agree with you about the Argus 2 being a good option, though.
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Just to add to your comment, upon an alarm event, cameras like reolink will send an email with a still picture and a few apps download series of still pictures from the camera ready for viewing in the event access is lost to the camera. Avoid cameras that use camhi app as it is reported as not secure, but that depends if security is an issue for a boat compared to a house etc.
 
markc said:
I bought this one about 18 months ago and it's worked really well. The app is good and I get alerts when movement is detected. I place the camera so that I can pan round to see as much of the boat as possible. I'm not sure that a battery back up is a good idea as when mine goes off-line I know the shore power has gone off so I can phone someone to get it sorted. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CB14GTB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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I have the same one on my boat connected to a mifi hotspot I have onboard. Its very frustrating being sat at home in the UK while viewing a live feed on the boat in Spain but unable to get there!
 
LittleSister said:
It'd be most unfortunate if someone broke into your boat to nick the cameras! ;)
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Agreed. The more likely situation is someone breaks in, realises they were caught on camera and removes / destroys the card containing the evidence.

As above, email alert is OK although may not contain the duration of footage you want.

Combination of SD (protect against network outage) and remote storage (FTP, dropbox, subscription service) is safest IMHO.
 
I use Y-Cam cameras for home, cheap enough, work well and they also do an alarm system working on the same app, modular so you could build a boat rig easily enough.
 
For the last couple of years, I have been using cheap Escam G02 cameras from Ebay - about between 20 and 30 quid each.
They have a pan and tilt and can be controlled from either an app or via a web interface.
A web interface, of course, will require some special internet routing.
These cheap cameras can also be set up to send emails whenever activated.
Sometimes, I get a false alarm as boats pass by and light/shadows set it off.
The alarm works by comparing two video frames - if they differ, an alarm is triggered.

WARNING
Here's a warning for all these devices and other cheap IoT devices.
The apps work by connecting to an external internet server - both that app and the camera.
The camera then creates an electronic path/connection between the server and the camera.
Then the app can use that path that was created between the external internet server and the camera thus tunnelling through any NAT routers/firewalls on the way.
This is all fine until you realise that the external internet server is probably in China!!!
I have no evidence of this being abused but is it, technically, possible for these IoT type devices to attack your LAN.
It on;y needs a "back door" in the IoT software and "they are in".
This includes devices like Alexa and set top boxes.
So, I have two WiFi networks at home and two on the boat.
Both on the boat and at home, I have a secure network for all my computers and an insecure network for my IoT devices.
Not just separate WiFi networks - the secure networks are completely separate from the insecure ones.
You can call me paranoid but I did get attacked once.
 
EugeneR said:
Agreed. The more likely situation is someone breaks in, realises they were caught on camera and removes / destroys the card containing the evidence.

As above, email alert is OK although may not contain the duration of footage you want.

Combination of SD (protect against network outage) and remote storage (FTP, dropbox, subscription service) is safest IMHO.
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Depends on the number of cameras installed, firstly you want a camera giving an external view Eg. Bow, bath platform, entry points etc, and additional cameras within the cabins etc. A intruder is unlikely to find all cameras particularly if you back this up with an intruder alarm etc. Lastly have you seen how difficult/fiddly it is to remove SD cards from some cameras, just make sure they are fixed down to slow any attempt.
 
The Blink camera is battery operators and can be placed anywhere, battery lasts about 2 years with normal use. If it gets nicked by an angry intruder don’t worry, they are easily replaceable from eBay and the camera immediately uploads images or video to the blink server so you still have your evidence for the insurance company or if you are lucky you can maybe identify the local marina bandit.
 
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