Camera

Can anyone recommend a stand alone camera system (not part of a chartplotter) for my lower helm station? I want to be able to see if any boats are coming up behind me.

For about $125 the 18 wheel trucks use a pair of cameras that record as well as view the scene.

NOT waterproof , mount out of rain and sea wash only.

Isn't that a radar on the mast in the OP's avatar?

caltexflanc said:

Isn't that a radar on the mast in the OP's avatar?

Click to expand...

Your point?

Try monitoring a cluttered radar screen in the ICW or other close quarters during a weekend day.

I too am installing two cameras, one looking aft and one for the ER.

Would you rather have a radar monitoring what is coming up from behind - or a radar and camera?

caltexflanc said:

Isn't that a radar on the mast in the OP's avatar?

Click to expand...

Like Menzies said, I would like to see what's happening behind me rather than rely on radar. There are a lot of small fast express cruisers and fishing boats on Puget Sound that don't show up well on radar.

menzies said:

I too am installing two cameras, one looking aft and one for the ER.

Would you rather have a radar monitoring what is coming up from behind - or a radar and camera?

Click to expand...

.......

Search for back-up cameras on Amazon. Tons of choices.

I got a monitor and two infra-red capable cameras, one for the ER, the other I think I'll mount looking aft. I also bought a wireless adapter so I don't need snake a wire from the flybridge down to the ER.

I haven't yet had a chance to play with them, but for very short money I figure if it helps even a little it'll be worth it. Here's what I got:


I have no clue why Amazon split it into two orders. They do that sometimes.

I dislike proprietary hardware solutions, and wifi for security cameras on a boat is not ideal for a variety of reasons including bandwidth and connectivity.

Here's an example from just this week - I grabbed this helm shot and expected to have my ER image (WiFi) on the laptop. It was there seconds before I snapped the image but...



It came back 30 seconds later. I really need to cable that cam.


Keith

menzies said:

Your point?

Try monitoring a cluttered radar screen in the ICW or other close quarters during a weekend day.

I too am installing two cameras, one looking aft and one for the ER.

Would you rather have a radar monitoring what is coming up from behind - or a radar and camera?

Click to expand...

I have tried it, many many times. Including on a Mainship 430 (nice boat, btw) as a matter of fact. For me radar makes it easier to determine how far away they are and what speed they are proceeding at. Not to mention the fact when night falls or fog settles in you have a much better feel for what the radar is telling you.

If your helm doesn't have good visibility, or you want to see what the heck that is back there, an occasional look out the door does the trick. When it came to buying a boat, good all around visibility from both helms was an absolute must for us. If you feel you need cameras because your boat has poor visibility, go right ahead. But consider for a moment 1) adding to all the other electronic input you are now faced with processing.. beware of TMI! 2) the point at the end of the first paragraph.

Some boats have great radar...others have the bare essential.


For some, their radar may be OK for picking out targets in open water...but with lower gain (even auto gain) in crowded areas lessening sensitivity...nothing like a quick visual.


Shame to have to spend the money....but if it makes some feel comfy...that has been an overriding theme for most rec guys...be comfy or be gone from the boating scene.

psneeld said:

Some boats have great radar...others have the bare essential.


For some, their radar may be OK for picking out targets in open water...but with lower gain (even auto gain) in crowded areas lessening sensitivity...nothing like a quick visual.


Shame to have to spend the money....but if it makes some feel comfy...that has been an overriding theme for most rec guys...be comfy or be gone from the boating scene.

Click to expand...

Comfy, or increased safety?

menzies said:

Comfy, or increased safety?

Click to expand...

your call...for me comfy...I have alternative methods to cameras and radar...plus what is behind me is of the lowest priority.

Depending on the budget, there are cheap ones, and then there are good ones.

I have experience with mostly good ones. If it were me, I would install a mobotix Q25 or M25.

If you had a covered cockpit, the Q25 would be perfect since it sees 360 degrees all around. Not only could you see behind you, but all of the cockpit, as well as port / starboard and if mounted on the aft edge of the ceiling, it could cover the swim platform too.

That would also be a GREAT engine room camera as well. Rather than having several cameras pointing in different directions, mount one 360 degree camera where it can see the gauges and switch settings and you're done.

Q26 Hemispheric

You would need a POE source to feed Power over Ethernet to the cameras, and then hook the cameras into your router. Then any Ethernet device can see the cameras.

The M25 is a high resolution fixed point IP camera where the Q25 is a 360 degree camera. The M15 has both B/W and Color cameras so you have very good quality in low light levels, since it switches to B/W at night. It also works well with IR Illuminators too.
M26 Allround

These are not your vanilla cameras, but have a full linux system running inside and can record to local memory, or send email notifications with images or video. They have circular queues so you can set a trigger and start recording several seconds before the trigger occurred.

You can set trip lines where anything that moves will generate an event, with images or email, but that means you need to have access to internet.

I am not affiliated with Mobotix, but have used their cameras in several projects.

I mostly rely on the stern-facing windows of the pilothouse (one of my "must haves.")

$79.00 Amazon.com Dlink camera.

This is a live shot. I'm 150 miles from the boat, but of course it works just as well (actually better) when I'm onboard.

This is a live shot of my engine room.

Just get some large truck side mirrors. And no, I'm not kidding.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Just get some large truck side mirrors. And no, I'm not kidding.

Click to expand...

Haven't we been here before?

Here is a remote image from an older Mobotix Q12 camera.

Compare the clarity

This camera was hung from a support beam about 18 feet over the concrete.

The bottom half image is one 180 degree view, and the top half is the other 180 degree view. You can create separate views of any part of the image, with higher resolution.

stubones99 said:

Haven't we been here before?

Here is a remote image from an older Mobotix Q12 camera.

Compare the clarity

This camera was hung from a support beam about 18 feet over the concrete.

The bottom half image is one 180 degree view, and the top half is the other 180 degree view. You can create separate views of any part of the image, with higher resolution.

Click to expand...

That's one hell of a lazarette you have there!

I'm thinking it was a serious question and deserves a serious answer. I have been thinking the same thing, a rear facing video camera and display would be a good safety feature.

We have a rear facing camera hooked up on the mast and there is a small "window" that can be opened on "Coastal Explorer" to view the image. You can view that image full screen as well but CE runs in the background. It's just "ok" and really not all that useful for docking. I find interpreting distances and speed of travel from that image difficult, so tend to select the radar to 0.125-0.25 nm, when another vessel approaches from the stern. And while I really like the wheelhouse on the KK42, the rear windows are marginal. My main solution is to stick my head out the door and see what's going on.

Love that shirt Mark!


Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

markpierce said:

I mostly rely on the stern-facing windows of the pilothouse (one of my "must haves.")

Click to expand...

Also works very well on my boat and cost zero $$. I've been on some boats that there was no way to see what's behind you, when going stern in to a slip it is either from the bridge or another pair of eyes out the back yelling instructions.


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

I can see vessels astern while under way but need extra eyes when maneuvering. We have headsets though so no yelling.


Keith

River Cruiser said:

Also works very well on my boat and cost zero $$. I've been on some boats that there was no way to see what's behind you, when going stern in to a slip it is either from the bridge or another pair of eyes out the back yelling instructions.


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

Click to expand...

Love the t-shirt. We have 360' view from our pilot house. I'd like an engine room camera though. Which one works best in the dark?

in the dark? thermal cameras... Neat, but expensive.

in near dark? black and white cameras...

or leave a light on / IR illuminator powered off the camera, or contained within the camera housing.

A camera with an IR illuminator will take a black / white image in darkness, since we can't see above about 880 nanometer wavelength light. Even though IR illuminators are not that bright, it is NEVER a good idea to look into the IR light source. I've had some IR illuminators that would blind you (within a few days) since your retina gets severe sunburn and you don't know it until well after the fact.

Also, if you select the camera and illuminator separately, make sure the camera has a selectable IR cut filter or it won't see the IR illuminator. For example, iPhones earlier than iPhone5 could see IR, but later ones have a fixed IR cut filter blocking out IR light.

That's why the iphone 3/4 could see the LED in a TV remote, but later ones won't show it blinking.

Ok - so this raises a question that puzzles me. I have seen many examples of IR cameras in engine rooms lit with IR LEDs. What's the point? Why not just use visible light and a regular camera? It seems to me that IR is useful in situations where you don't want light pollution - who cares in your ER?

Richard

Britannia said:

Ok - so this raises a question that puzzles me. I have seen many examples of IR cameras in engine rooms lit with IR LEDs. What's the point? Why not just use visible light and a regular camera? It seems to me that IR is useful in situations where you don't want light pollution - who cares in your ER?

Richard

Click to expand...

I have LED lighting on all the time in my ER, although my camera is IR capable.

This is a live shot

IR illumination means not having to leave a light on. And many cameras come with some type of IR leds built into the camera housing with a light sensor so they turn on when ambient light drops below a threshold. IR leds are low power draw, so on a boat with limited power capacity, that's a benefit.

Many industrial functions use IR to not have light pollution problems and anyone onsite will need a light, which is an easy indicator that someone's onsite...

I'm not sold on the need for engine-room cameras in my situation. Already have high-temperature and high-water warning lights at the helmsman's station, which is immediately above the engine compartment so can readily monitor sounds and, if any, smells.



Surprised Al FlyWright hasn't responded. He has two black-and-white cameras in the engine room, and visibility on the TV is good to excellent without any lights.

stubones99 said:

IR illumination means not having to leave a light on. And many cameras come with some type of IR leds built into the camera housing with a light sensor so they turn on when ambient light drops below a threshold. IR leds are low power draw, so on a boat with limited power capacity, that's a benefit.

Many industrial functions use IR to not have light pollution problems and anyone onsite will need a light, which is an easy indicator that someone's onsite...

Click to expand...

Ok - so is it that most of this type of camera have IR LEDs? So it's easily available?

Visible light LEDs are also low power - and have the advantage that you can see what's illuminated as well as the camera.

Given a choice I'd want visible light LEDs. Am I missing something?

Richard