In previous blogs i had shared my issues of having the RPi B+ running MotionEyeOs with multiple cameras and wireless networking enabled.
Today I have had success getting everything outside and monitoring the Farm!
First off, hardwired I have had zero issues with the MotionEyeOs software. I have been able to add cameras and test everything out without any issues other then the RPi B+ is (not surprisingly) noticeably slower for response then the RPi3 that I first used.
But once I attempted to go enable WiFi I constantly ran into issues. Finally after creating a brand new image, ensuring all of the WiFi credential information was correct and running off the same AP for all of my communications I was able to get WiFi running last night. Things were looking good.
But today when I had reassembled all of my gear and installed it outside I was not able to connect.
After verifying power and all connections I could watch the RPi B+ boot up and the WiPi flash but when I tried to connect to the static IP, no luck. After pulling off the extra cameras and trying it just as a base system and still having no luck I decided to completely bring everything back inside and retry it there.
Success! Right away I was connected again via Wireless and able to see all 3 cameras.
Doing a little research on others experience with the WiPi made it sound like some people had issues with some of the dongles having limited range. Very limited range.
This had not been factored into my planning since I have my AP at an outside window and pretty much all of our electronics have been successful connecting from the outside and streaming the kids various flavor of entertainment at that moment. Youtube, Spotify, Netflix, it all was useable.
Luckily I had a Realtek wireless dongle and I swapped that in for the WiPi and everything was working again. Outside!
MotionEyeOs even automatically adjusted for the different card and I was able to both ping the RPi B+ and connect into the monitoring software.
Camera 1 is the baby box monitor, currently looking at the rear of the Momma Rabbit. As of today, no babies, but they are expected soon.
Camera 2 is the front of the Momma Rabbits cage, usually she is right there checking things out, but right now she is trying to figure out what that camera is doing in her box. :-)
Camera 3 is the View to the Chicken Casa.
Here in Camera 1 we can see Momma's Ear, she had just put her eye right up to the camera checking everything out.
Here is Momma starting to get a little concerned from all of the camera's and activity.
Here I tried to zoom externally on the Chicken Casa Camera, hard to tell but there is a variety of Chickens and G.O.A.Ts scrambling for treats. The image is a lot easier to see on screen then it is when captured.
Here is a close up of the Baby Box, I put a block of wood in the corner as a focal point.
I quickly shutdown all of the activity around the Rabbits and Monitoring Station to allow Momma to get used to everything. I think I may move Camera 2 over to monitor another part of the Farm and allow for just Camera 1 to watch the Baby Box. Letting her get used to everything.
I really like the functionality of the Cameras and will be ordering some more to see about combining cameras to get a broader range of monitoring. I used a clear snack box as a cover for the USB Cameras and it functioned very well. I wanted to add more weather proofing then just having the cameras under a shelter roof.
Yes, I like the way the whole setup is working now and look forward to adding/improving upon it!
And as a final picture, here is a test run of the efforts of my son and I for making a larger Duck Pond. I wanted to see how level everything is and how long the water naturally stays in our heavy clay area.
Eventually a little bridge will be added over that middle giving the ducks more shade to work with and the kids something neat to walk across and see their ducklings.
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