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Hi
I'm involved in a re-wilding project and need some tech advice. I figured I'd ask here before delving into Reddit.
Part of the project is wildlife tracking/observing. I am looking at setting up a mammal box with an ESP32 cam and streaming it through Youtube.
From the research I have done I can use an ESP32 cam with a wifi range extender which gives me about 1km in a straight line but the problem I have is theres a small hill in the way between the proposed site for the camera and my house where the Raspberry Pi will be based. However on the top of the hill there are some traffic signs.
Can I use a second ESP32 as a transmitter between the Raspberry Pi I'll be using and the webcam in the mammal box? (Raspberry Pi in my house -> booster on top of traffic sign on top of hill -> webcam in mammal box)
Apologies if this is ludicrous and for my ignorance, just want to find out what is within the realms of possibility.
Thanks in advance.
First question: how will you power them?
About 18 years ago a friend and I set up a wireless link between our houses which is about 2 miles line of sight.
It was incredibly difficult to do and the data transfer rate was miniscule... Basically we were just about able to ping each other!!
I think you'll struggle. May be better to set up a pi with a webcam and a 3/4g mobile connection.
Ah knew I forgot something.
I was looking at a cheapo solar panel from amazon/eBay for powering stuff.
Got a feeling I'm being overly ambitious. The other option is just having a motion sensor in the box so it captures movement to a memory card and is powered by a powerbank. Every day we can just swap the memory cards over and quickly edit a highlights reel to show whats been in the box.
Got a feeling I’m being overly ambitious.
Possibly but it's good to try stuff!
The other option is just having a motion sensor in the box so it captures movement to a memory card and is powered by a powerbank.
I wouldn't plan on a solar panel being hugely helpful.
You'll need to do a runtime test with the powerbank but you'll be amazed at how much power you need.
Don't forget that even for a motion sensor the camera has to be running all the time and as such using power.
Skip all of the Raspberry Pi and ESP32 stuff.
Buy a cheap second-hand Android phone and use that instead.
Yeah. I have done a few Pi & ESP projects but unless you’ve got experience they’ll be grief setting up - an old android phone will give you everything except I guess decent night vision (don’t know if that’s an issue)
Without knowing anything about them I’d guess WiFi range extender in your scenario is a bit of a red herring and you’d want a GSM module anyway.
There's plenty of off the shelf self contained 3G/4G solutions for this, I kind of feel like it's one of those projects where your scope keeps growing and then you've invested so much time / money by the end you regret it and wish out bought an off the shelf job.
Have you looked at them?