As someone always on the road, I felt rather uneasy about the security of my home when no one was there when I was away. Especially during this modern era, where crime rates are rising, a security system must be a versatile solution.
I decided to build a battery-powered Wi-Fi security camera for my home. I thought everyone should pursue this idea, so I will share my experience helping you build a security system to protect your home in this article.
Supplies and materials that you needed
This is the list of all the supplies and equipment that you would need to configure the following setup procedure for your security camera that I’m going to explain to you:
- CCD camera (a PC to one 3xs camera)
- Motion sensor relay
- Wireless transmitter – this device works whenever it sees motion; then it will power on another device only when a person or object moves in front of the camera, so this way, it won’t drain the power supply.
- DC power supply
- Multimeter
- breadboard
- 1.2 GHZ 700 MW video transmitter
Procedures to assemble
I will start by reiterating all the supplies and materials needed for this assembly, beginning with the DC power supply.
First, you take the multimeter that indicates how much power you will be put out; then, it sends power to an experimental model of an electric circuit known as a breadboard.
The power will run down the middle of the breadboard. The breadboard will be turned on at 11 volts but for this purpose, then adjust that number to 12 because everything you are using for this camera setup will take 12 volts. (1)
Next, you will set up your camera and a wireless transmitter, which should be straightforward. You are going to connect your video connectors and your power connector.
This transmitter has a simple little harness that plugs into the transmitter itself and plugs into the end of the harness. Then you will take a connector to power up the transmitter, which in turn powers up your camera.
Connecting your camera to your TV or your other media devices
After connecting all the devices, you would turn on the DC power supply again. The DC power supply indicates a 16-channel transmitter, which should be on channel one.
You add the antenna to the receiver to allow video signals and plug it into your DVR or TV. In this case, you would plug it into your TV and see the power on channel 1. Now you can see that the yellow cable is going to your TV, so turn the TV on and then see yourself on the screen.
You realize your camera works because you can see all the moving images around your surroundings.
Everything is working at this point because the relay between the camera and the transmitter works together.
Testing your security camera
Next, you are going to test the power supply. How you use your security camera will vary depending on how much power supply you require. For instance, a doorbell security camera will maintain a constant power supply.
In this case, if you have outlets near the doorbell, it is possible to use an AC-to-DC converter to supply constant power. Still, a battery would do the job if you only use your security camera as a temporary setup. For this to occur, you have to calculate how many amps you have in your battery supply versus the draw of the equipment you are deploying.
In this particular setup, the camera is 100 million trolls, the transmitter is 250 trolls, and the relay is approximately 20 milliamp draw when it’s not in use. This type of relay setup will save your battery power.
This equation is difficult to figure out because it depends on how much movement the security camera will detect, which, in turn, uses up more power supply the more detection work it does.
Anyways, you can use this setup with the DC power supply because it is easier and provides constant power. (2)
The last thing I suggest you do is to take a wooden block and put it up somewhere, say against a wall, then plug in the DC power supply. This does because whenever the security camera detects movement, it will record this.
Before the final thoughts, we recommend you check this learning guide to answer the question: How long do battery-powered security cameras last?
Wrapping Up
Well, now you have succeeded in building a battery-powered Wi-Fi security camera for the safety of your home.
As you realize, it is not a hard task to achieve, and it is all up to your imagination on how you want to configure the setup. What I have demonstrated is one of many ways that you can go about setting up your security camera.
The only thing to keep in mind is that whatever setup you choose, ensure a sufficient power supply for your camera to work properly.
You may want to check the best battery-powered security camera in the market nowadays.
References
(1) breadboard – https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-breadboard/
(2) AC to DC – https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/en/electromagnetic-fields/glossary/abc/alternating-current.htm
