Public Discussion Forum

I have 2 video cameras on my Selene 57 that need replacing. For clarity I'm talking about video to help in docking and operating the boat, not security or remote monitoring. The existing cameras are old, low res, and the screens are small and failing. I'd like to connect them to my Timezero system and display them on a pilot house display.

Timezero is compatible with up to 4 AXIS IP cameras and converters (pan/tilt/zoom included), FLIR, fixed H264, and ONVIF cameras. It's probably safest to stick with AXIS products.

I currently have 2 cameras, one in the engine room and one on the arch looking back. The engine room camera is fine and I can monitor much of the engine room with it. The camera on the arch will allow me to see boats overtaking me, but it is no use in docking.

I know less than nothing about camera systems for boats, best places to mount cameras (that is easy to run wires too), and hardware to choose. I'm thinking one in the engine room, one on the arch looking aft, and either one or two under the boat deck (or sides of the boat?) for docking.

What camera equipment and mounting location has worked for you?

Thanks,

Richard

Untethered, 57-22

Hi Richard, If Timezero isn't too picky about the cameras, I just use Amcrest ip cams from amazon with my Simrad. No PTZ but 132 degree field of view gives good coverage and inexpensive. They may not last as long as an Axis but I can replace them many times over at $60 each. I've used them at home for years and the aft cam has been on the boat for two years, semi exposed, right at the edge of the cockpit roof. The attached ER image is in total darkness and the light in the center top is the other IR cam looking down the other side of the space. Normally underway I would have the ER lights on and they would be in color and much sharper. The are invaluable in the ER but don't replace regular underway visits. Today, during, pre-check, I found I had a leak on the silicon bellow on my exhaust. I tightened the clamps before we set out and I was able to watch it between ER visits while under way from my Simrad, computer and phone.

BTW, when pulling in Ethernet cable, use flat Ethernet cables. You can get several cables in the same space as a round one. I taped 4 together to a fish tape and pulled them from the cockpit through salon and galley, the pilot house watch bunk and forward to the helm in on shot. I just staggered the ends so the connectors passed through the tight spaces and corners one at a time. They also seem to slide better than the round, for some reason.

My POE switch is managed so I can login and reboot any of the POE devices on an individual port any time, from anywhere. Each port can be labeled so you can easily find the device. That comes in handy if a POE device glitches and you don't want to reboot everything or figure out what cable to remove.

Good luck

Joe

I believe the original post mentioned ONVIF capability. These are ONVIF. Until a recent rev they were not as easy to install on the Simrad system but once Simrad adopted ONVIF, they're pretty much plug and play. This may be the case with TZ. It might be worth a try as you can always send them back to Amazon. Richard, if our paths cross I have spares on board. We can drop one in and see if it works.

Joe

OK, here's an update on my camera quest...

First, Joe on 401(Play) loaned me an Amcrest 129 deg fixed field of view camera to try out. They are very affordable, nice build quality, and available on Amazon. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work with my TimeZero Pro system. I could get it set up on the network (with Joe's help), and TZ would recognize it, but it wouldn't display the output. I set it up first as an ONVID camera, then an H264 camera. Neither would work. TZ gave me a yellow status indicator (not green like it should be, or red), but no indication why. Maybe with more IT expertise I could get it to work, but I think I'll stick with AXIS cameras. BTW, I had to buy the $500 TZ "Camera, Augmented Reality" module to get it to work (this was not mentioned in the user manual, but was confirmed when I called Nobeltec - this practice of charging for modules started with their version 5.0).

Second, I looked into the difference between the AXIS M5525e PTZ camera that Mark recommended and its successor the M5526e PTZ. It's the same size package, but it looks like a significant upgrade to the sensor (higher resolution and light sensitivity) and the electronics (more memory and more features/compatibility). Whether I need these additional features is questionable. A note in the TZ user manual says, "To achieve better performance and optimize network bandwidth, it is recommended to limit the camera resolution to a maximum of 720p and the camera frame rate (fps) to 15 fps." I did find some good pricing on ebay, so I need to look at this some more and compare features and price.

Third, I researched TZ and how it uses cameras. It has some cool "augmented reality" features, like overlaying AIS target information on the camera screen, automatically tracking MOB coordinates and AIS targets, and putting up a visible fence on the screen to identify shallow areas or charted obstacles.

So what to do? I think I will get an Axis M5525e or M5526e PTZ camera, hook it up with a long Cat 5 cable and see where I'd like to mount additional cameras, and what field of view I should have. I know I want a PTZ camera in the engine room, so I can always use it there. I think I would like a high mounted camera over the arch like Phil Davies recommended. That way I could lock onto AIS targets and zoom 10X to see them better. I may want one or two fixed focal length camera(s) mounted to the cockpit ceiling. With a long cable I can play around with it before I start drilling holes and running wires.

I am going to install a Furuno SCX20 satellite compass which provides NMEA2000 pitch, roll, and heave data. This will correct the camera so the horizon remains horizontal among other advantages.

I'll make another post when I have it all finalized. I'm open to any other thoughts and recommendations.

Richard