Birdwatching has become more and more popular lately. And with the invention of the bird box camera, doing so gets a whole lot easier even from the comfort of your home. This tiny camera fits easily inside your nest box so you can get up close and personal with the resident wildlife without disturbing them. After an easy plug-and-play setup, you can watch the nesting birds basically anytime, anywhere.
As an expert in the field, Green Backyard has launched a range of bird box cameras that can be watched on your smartphone, tablet, PC and even on TV. In today’s post, we’ll introduce a bird box camera that can be watched both on your smartphone and TV, to give you the best of both worlds.
Birdhouse Camera HD with Wireless Transmission
This birdhouse camera is specially designed to work with various display options, including your smartphone, tablet, PC/Mac and TV. Inside the camera is a wireless transmitter, which will send the footage to the included receiver without the need for extra video cables. Our newly designed transmitter (built-in) and the receiver use the latest technology to give you good interference-free video and audio quality over long distances. This birdhouse camera produces 3MP color images by day and crisp B&W images at night. A 7000 Hz microphone is also incorporated to record all the cheeps and whistles inside the nest box. Featuring a field of view of 120°, its lens can also be adjusted to fine-tune the focus. Besides, this birdhouse camera also supports various power options like mains and batteries.
Wireless Transmission over 50 Meters
Unlike the classic wired bird box camera that comes with a solid TV cable connection, this birdhouse camera transmits video and audio wirelessly to the receiver up to 50 meters away. So there’s no need to run a video cable from your bird box. And as the wireless network can be easily extended to hard-to-reach places where the cable finds itself hard to fit in, it gives you greater flexibility on where to place the camera. Once connected to the network, the birdhouse camera will compress and transmit the video wirelessly to the receiver, and the receiver will decipher the message and convert the source into the HDMI display, which is then transmitted over the HDMI cable to the TV. And the receiver can carry 2-3 cameras at a time. The only limitation is that you need a clear line of sight between the birdhouse camera and the receiver, or the signal will start to degrade as it goes through walls and other objects.
The signal strength tends to decrease as you move away from it. The distance can cause a serious connection problem if you own a large property or use the WiFi connection outdoors. But this bird box camera comes with a larger antenna to boost your signal strength and enable you to use your camera in a broader range of places. This omnidirectional antenna sends and receives signals from all directions to create a larger coverage range and improve signal strength along the way. And as the signal can travel further, you can easily extend network coverage to your backyard. This birdhouse camera is an ideal solution if you’re renting a house or you simply don’t want to open another hole in your wall to route the cable out. Just plug the bird box camera into a power source, connect it to the network and you’re good to go!
How to Connect the Camera to Your TV?
When it comes to professional video streaming, it’s always smart to look for ways to make your set safer, easier, and more up-to-date in terms of technology. Simple as the setup goes: the only thing you need to do is to install this HD birdhouse camera in your garden, use the wireless receiver to pick up the signals and convert the data into the HDMI format, and then use an HDMI cable to connect the receiver to the TV.
Now, follow the instructions below to complete the setup:
1. Power the birdhouse camera with the mains power and reset it by pressing and holding the reset button for 3 seconds.
2. Install the antenna on the wireless receiver, hook it up to power, wire it to the TV with an HDMI cable, and plug your wired mouse into the USB port on the receiver.
3. On your TV, you’ll see a window where you can configure the settings of your bird box camera. Then use your mouse to click ‘Code for Wireless’, and then the receiver will start searching for the camera nearby.
4. Once the navigation is completed, the IP address of that birdhouse camera will pop up on the screen. Add that camera to the list and then the connection status will switch from ‘Not Logged In’ to ‘Connected’.
5. Then, the live video will be displayed on the TV screen.
How to Record the Footage?
Since this birdhouse camera doesn’t support SD card recording, to record the footage, you need to install an SDD (solid-state drive) on the receiver.
First, install the SDD: 1) Disconnect all the cables from the receiver, unscrew the casing and remove the top cover; 2) Connect one end of the SDD data cable to the SATA interface on the motherboard, and then the power cord. Run the cables through the protection ring on the receiver and then put the cover back in place; 3) Connect the two cables to the SDD, restore all the connections and turn on the receiver.
Second, playback the footage: 1) Right-click to select PlayBack; 2) In the next window, you can choose the time and which birdhouse camera you want to check out (4 channels in total); 3) At the bottom is a timeline where you can navigate the footage and skip back and forth; 4) For the backup, you can use the USB flash drive to copy the footage. Insert the USB flash drive into the wireless receiver, click the ‘scissor’ icon to edit the footage to be saved, export the footage to MP4 format and download the video to the flash drive.
How to Connect the Camera to Your Smartphone?
Unlike the wireless bird box camera which transmits the video over the airwaves, in this bird box camera system, the transmitter only sends video and audio signals to the receiver only. But to view the live videos on the smartphone, you need to stream the footage online. To accomplish this, you’ll need an ICSee account and a robust WiFi network.
Now, follow the instructions below to complete the setup:
1. Power up the birdhouse camera and the receiver and connect them together.
2. Register for ICSee: download the app, tap ‘Sign Up’ to create an account, enter your email address, and then the verification code, and finally set a password.
3. Connect the wireless receiver to your home router with a network cable. And make sure it’s connected to the same router your smartphone is connected to.
4. Open ICSee, click the ‘+’ icon at the top right of the screen, choose other connection options and search for the device connected to the same router. After a minute or so, the wireless receiver will be added to the system
5. Go back to the main page, you’ll see four newly added channels. And choose one of them, and you can then watch the birdhouse camera on your phone.
