Barn Camera Which ones are the best?

[MBhorses]

I am thinking of getting barn camera.I want to know which ones are the best and why or why not.I also would like the prices and websites of the ones you have.Please share the pro and cons of the system.I was thinking wireless.I have a foaling alarm system already from keeport.Share how you watch on your tv or what?also if you have your camera online, if so how does that what?I would love a camera so others could help me watch mares while I am at work.

Share your link so I can see the different of the cameras.

thanks

 

[MindyLee]

I would love to have one BUT my barn is aprox 800-1000 feet from the house.

So needless to say, I do it the old fashion way... sleep in the barn!

 

[REO]

Bump. I would like to know this too! Our old one died and we need a new one asap!

Come on everyone, please share!

 

[Becky]

I have two cameras. Both a wired and a wireless. I've had my wired camera up since 1995. I bought it new at Radio Shack. It is permanently mounted to monitor two stalls in the barn. That camera connects through the antenna connection to a TV in my bedroom. I also have a wireless Swann camera I bought a few years ago. I don't think they are still in business, but there are many cameras out there like them. I paid less than $100 for that camera and while I get a little interference with it, I can still see everything I need to. The receiver connects to the A/V channel on my bedroom TV. The wired camera works on Channel 3 and the Wireless on the A/V channel, so I flip between the two if I have mares on both. I use an Equipage system on the mares, so I just check to see who is setting it off if I am monitoring multiple mares.

Unfortunately, my old, wired camera doesn't support the technology to put it online. But, I think any newer model camera would work online.

 

[targetsmom]

We bought a Riverwind color camera as recommended on Mare Stare. Here is the cam right now (no light on in daytime, light on at night).

http://www.marestare...?alias=ontarget (Yes I know it is weird to see more than one horse, but it is all explained on the LB Mare Stare board)

Compare with other cams you see on Mare Stare. It is a wired cam and has a couple hundred feet of wire.

ETA: we also have a wireless cam which we may need this year for the 3 mares. (We have alarms for all three, 2 Equipage and one foal buzzer w/baby monitor). The wireless cam gets a LOT of interference, especially at night, but will work if everything is set up just so. But it means we can't have the TV in the bedroom.... so not very convenient. I LOVE having the wired one, where we run the wires thru PVC pipes (under the snow right now) and have on Mare Stare.

 

[ruffian]

We bought our cameras at Harbor Freight for about $40. They are wired, but if you know a cable guy you can probably get the wire pretty cheap. I like it because weather or trees don't interfere. I bring it to a TV could probably do it online if I knew how.

 

[ohmt]

Wired is best because it much more reliable and usually better quality (so says those i've talked to on mare stare). I ran my cables through pvc pipe-it will be buried come spring, but for now is doing fine sitting on the snow. Get CCD cams-better quality than CMOS. Also, you'll want at least 460/480 line resolution so make sure the cam you buy isn't lower than that. A 3.6 mm lens is what I was told most use for their stalls. The larger the number, the smaller the space it will cover.

This where Heather from Mare Stare gets her wired cams: http://www.closeoutcctv.com/Outdoor-Security-Cameras-s/27.htm

 

[ohmt]

If you have time, there is a plethora of information regarding cams and how to get them hooked up to marestare here: http://latigo.marestare.com/forum/index.php?topic=2720.0

Everyone at Mare Stare is amazing to work with. Heather can set your computer up to their software herself and they can walk you through hooking up everything else. You'll need a DVR-they recommend the Dazzler, I believe. And depending how many cams you have, you'll probably need a quad processor. It's all confusing, I know, but reading through what Rich writes on the Mare Stare thread really helps.

 

[Lakeview]

We have a wired system that I bought probably 5 or 6 years ago on ebay. The seller is out of Canada and is very helpful. It was all plug and play ready right to the house tv. It holds up to 8 cameras. Just looked and the sellers name is unique 634. Cameras do have night vision feature although with darker colored mares we have found it is better to leave lights on over night.

 

[Jill]

We have 5 inexpensive "Swann Night Hawk" cameras and two receivers that hook to spare tv's. Each TV can "watch" 4 at once, rotating. The image is great, even in pitch dark, and it carries sound very well. The setup has worked great for us in conjunction with halter buzzers.

 

[tagalong]

We have exactly the same set up as Jill - the Swann cameras rotating through 4 stations. It works VERY well and was inexpensive compared to other systems...

 

[wildoak]

We had some older cameras/monitors that had slowly been dying and recently replaced everything with a Swann system. We are still figuring it out, but I can check it via computer or from my cell phone.... way cool lol.

Jan

 

[MBhorses]

Jill where did you get the cameras?

 

[Jill]

I bought them online, but it's been so long ago, I don't remember where...