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Dock video camera equivalent of a Ring doorbell?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Drifter, Nov 20, 2022.

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  1. Drifter

    Drifter Member

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    Does a dock video camera equivalent of a Ring doorbell exist? Does installation require an electrician and special wiring into the power pole? I don't believe I need the audio portion. Just wondering what manufacturing standard stands up to a saltwater environment. Does the lens get dirty and need to be cleaned?
  2. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    Are you looking for a camera to put on the dock or on your boat? I have 6 cameras on my boat tied into my GOST system. I can pull them up from anywhere on my phone or tablet.
  3. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    GOST aboard, and then a Swann system ashore looking back at the boat. Come to find out after the big check to GOST that they're reliant on the Swann cloud. Swann is fairly simple to buy as well as to install. I did opt to not-use the lan cables provided by Swann, choosing a higher quality instead...
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  4. Drifter

    Drifter Member

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    Dock
  5. Drifter

    Drifter Member

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    1 Camera on the dock, pointed at the boat. Aren't there any residential applications that will work with the marina's wifi?
  6. ranger58sb

    ranger58sb Senior member

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    The cameras I know about need power from somewhere. AC plug, low voltage doorbell power (Ring), etc.

    You might be able to power a Ring or a Wyze or whatever on board... and then connect that to your own router (assuming you have one)... which can be in turn connected to marina WiFi.

    Maybe.

    Outside view from the inside of the boat?

    -Chris
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  7. mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    Wow, and I thought to have gone OTT with three in my boat!
    You must need some crew just to watch them all...? :)
  8. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Swann has an app and doesn't require a static IP. The unit communicates with their cloud. Reliant on a hooky wifi, likely, but the system is fairly easy to both install as well as access. Easy to pick up online or Best Buy or even Lowes or Depot, I think.

    Actually, you could go with an IP camera system and find a place close to the boat with 110v, allowing the DVD to be aboard the boat, talking to the camera....
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  9. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    I have several more than that, many of which are in the ER looking at bilges and breaker panels, etc. Allows you peace of mind when leaving her for any stretch.
  10. gr8trn

    gr8trn Senior Member

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    Serious question for owner operator's with online access to your camera views. Particularly related to the OP's stated goal, an outside view of the boat.

    What are you going to do when you see a stranger boarding, what do you do when the spring line looks out of order, is this not going to drive you nuts?

    I get it, I am away from my boats. I have weekly wash crew so they can alert me, I have great dock/marina work crew who are watching, but sure if the ER camera shows you water where it should not be, the sooner the better.

    What do you do when you get an alert like from Ring that someone is in the proximity of your boat and you are not there?
  11. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    My 6 cameras are: 4 in the engine room, 1 in the salon and 1 in the cockpit. The 4 in the engine room are in each corner looking inward so I get most areas covered.
    My main maintenance/repair guy lives on his boat one float over from me. I also have several friends that live within 10-15 minutes of my marina. If I see a problem I have many I can call for assistance.
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  12. mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    Like DM (aside from having less cameras!), I also have chaps in the marina and in the village where the boat is berthed, who can come onboard.
    So far, I only had to ask once, after I noticed with the camera pointed on the electrical panel a RCD tripped off.
    I'd never trust cameras for spotting water entering the e/r (or anywhere else), though.
    A bilge alarm is MUCH more effective for that purpose.
  13. MountainGuy

    MountainGuy Member

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  14. ranger58sb

    ranger58sb Senior member

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    Yesterday I confirmed this approaches possible, with our own setup. I moved a spare WYZE camera from home to the boat, and it connected up as expected and without any issues. I didn't focus on exterior views, but there are several places inside the boat that would offer a decent look at the docks, cockpit, etc.,

    -Chris
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  15. CWV

    CWV Member

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    Pretty good success with blink cameras and 24/7 hotspot. Cheap, disposable, all weather cameras. Have temp * built in (great for ER). 7 of them on the boat. If cameras go down it’s likely going to be tied to a dockside power loss, so you can have someone check. You’d be amazed at how much they’ve captured in the past year…

    People in other boats with close calls to hitting our boat, wash team doing sub par work, people hopping aboard for photo op, mechanic attempting to work on wrong boat, different mechanic over billing hours, crazy psych woman hanging out in the cockpit for a day with her bags (wife was very curious and I was traveling out of state). Video evidence even supported our position with law enforcement in detaining trespassers temporarily.

    I will never have a yacht without them again
  16. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    Gosh, what marina are you at ??
  17. CWV

    CWV Member

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    We travel. Boat stays on the move and is left for short periods at various locations since we have school age kids and professional schedules to juggle.
  18. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    Got it.
  19. JadePanama

    JadePanama Member

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    Our boat is moored downtown Seattle. Up until a few months ago, our dock was not even behind a locked gate. You can imagine the angst one could get and the issues that may arise. We have several different video solutions all with different purposes. There is the wired Axis system that feeds the Garmin's for underway (Engines, aft, side views etc). But for security, we use a combination of Ring and Blink. The blinks are so inexpensive and as noted above allow you to remote check on temperature. We have about 20 of these around the vessel covering all exterior access areas, and then some inside mostly for temp monitoring, but also there just in case. On top of this, we have 2 dual battery powered Ring devices. They will detect human motion, turn on a spot light, and remotely I can also trigger a 105 DB siren. In addition to all of these, I have 3 other remotely activated 110DB alarms. We are also close to finalizing our Maretron install which has sensors on every door, window, hatch, port hole, bilge pump, CO2, Smoke Detector, AC, DC, and several motion detectors. This will hopefully be our primary solution going forward, but until its complete I rely on the above.

    Yes, it seems like overkill, but it was born out of necessity. Last year about this time we had a homeless person scale the side of the vessel, climb up the wheel house windows to the upper level, shimmy around the side, and rummaged around the Fly Bridge. Stole various radios etc. The second he was on there we were notified. I live 30 min away. I grabbed a pistol and hauled ass. My wife called 911 which we didn't expect anything from. Surprisingly when I arrive, Police had the person detained with all my gear, my videos allowed them to haul him for Felony breaking and entering and trespassing. Given its Seattle, I am sure he was free the next day but we haven't seen him since. Prior to this, we would catch this guy frequently jumping on board our swim step to use it to transfer to a finger pier to get to neighboring vessels that were less secure. At this point we just had the Blink Cameras.

    We were feeling pretty good and a new security gate was going in soon this Fall until we were in Maui and we get a call from the marina manager one day. Asking if we were having work done on the vessel. We were not. He found the boat floating free in her slip, all lines untied, and all my fenders untied or slashed. I pulled up video to see some tweaker and his drunk girlfriend rummaging all around the outside of the vessel. In his frustration that he couldn't get inside or get to anything, he decided to tear down many of my blinks, throw them in the water, and proceed to untie the vessel and fenders. Luckily he didn't see the bow line on the other side and it was a calm night so she stayed put. When I returned I added fixed Ring cameras that will turn on a spot light and siren with motion and I now sleep with my apple watch on to be alerted if they go off.

    There are several folks who live aboard at the marina and they are on speed dial should I ever catch someone on camera again but since the gate is up, things seem much calmer. It's at least removed the casual lurker. I keep everything closed up, stairway to upper deck locked, so there is very little anyone can get into. It shouldn't have to be this way, but it is what it is.

    All that long story to say... for the OP... Get a Ring Camera. Their batteries last a long time and also have an option of a small solar panel to keep charged. They will handle the marine environment pretty well. They may not last forever, but I would expect minimum several years and they are pretty inexpensive. Will connect easily to marina WiFi.
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  20. 54bertram

    54bertram New Member

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    Location:
    port aransas tx.
    have the T-Mobile data router powered by a 12 to 110 inverter hooked to amazon blink cameras that are battery powered
    never loose connection as long as there is a cell signal and the T-Mobile streams great to my smart tvs
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